#symbolism in spn
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force it down, swallow it whole
#azaleas can be a symbol of womanhood but its also poisonous. consume enough and it will be fatal#well! read this how u will#sam winchester#spn#supernatural#spn fanart#my art#spn flower series#yes its a series. i have 3ish more coming#cw blood
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Suptober - Day 16 | Falling
#suptober24#destiel#castiel#dean Winchester#spn art#spn fanart#spnfanart#wiggleart#WHOAAA WERE HALF WAY THEREEEEE#WHOOAAAAA LIVING ON A PRAAAYYERR#halfway through suptober lol#every time I read the word fall or falling I think of that#scene where Dean tips the angel statue over in the heaven waiting room lol#and I like how it was the symbolism about what was happening with cas#since shortly after cas literally makes it up as he goes
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This is me trying to bypass Tumblr censorship, attempt 1
Just in case, the full fanart is on ao3
Details under the cut! (It's a bit long, I'm warning you)
Here's the frankly too long explaination.
I basically crammed in this drawing all my favourite motifs and all of my studies.
The tattoo on Sam's back is something I designed myself and represents Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows or Madonna Addolorata) with a stanza from the prayer "Stabat Mater" that goes as folows - "Through her soul, of joy bereaved, bowed with anguish, deeply grieved, now at length the sword hath passed."
Then we have Saint Michael slaughtering the Devil on Dean's arm. This is a mesh up of different stock images; usually Saint Michael stands over a serpent not a dragon and has a sword, not a halberd, those come from Saint George (Patron Saint of soldiers, so not a random choice)
Then there's the scripts. (Open the first pic)
The roman numbers on Dean's collarbone: II.V.XCIII = 2.5.83, Sam's date of birth.
The matching latin tattoos on their bicepts: The whole quote actually is "Nec tecum, nec sine te vivere possum" by Ovidius, which means "I can't live with you nor without you" and I thought of splitting it like that because I think it sums up their relationship pretty well. They can't be together, especially Sam imo (forever the runaway), because it's basically self-destructive, but being apart maybe is even worse (suicidal Dean anyone?).
A mandala with a mantra on Sam's tigh: गते गते पारगते पारसंगते बोधि स्वाहा . The Devanāgarī, for those unfamiliar, is a South Asian writing system. Here we have the mantra that closes the Heart Sutra "Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, Awakening, Svaha." (Svaha is the Hindu goddess of sacrifices; in a Buddhist context the term is used as denoument for mantras, espicially duing rites and offerings).
The characters on Dean's bicept, next to Saint Michael: 天罰. Those are technically Hanja aka Traditional Chinese characters used to write Korean (mostly because I first encountered this word in my korean phylology studies and that's how I know it), but they mean the same thing in Korean, Chinese and Japanese, "Divine Punishment", sooo - the only difference is the ponunciation. Korean: 천벌 (cheonbeol) Japanese: てんばつ (tenbatsu) Chinese: 天罚 (tiān fá).
Lastly, on Dean ribs, say hi to my bestie Hammurabi and his famous Code: here we have the Law 196 which actually even rocks know about; An eye for an eye. The full text says: "If a man has blinded the eye of another man, his eye will be blinded." Can't really offer you a transcript but if you're curious here's the transliteration:
" šum-ma a-wi-lum i-in DUMU a-wi-lim úḫ-tap-pí-id i-in-šu ú-ḫa-ap-pa-du " There's this really neat website here that is a digital version of the whole code and it's also my source.
#and I'm also insane#but I guess we alredy got that down with the whole supernatural deal#they already took it down once urgh#the symbols on his abdomen come from the show#when they got x rays after castiel imprinted a sigil on their ribcages#trans!dean#dean winchester#sam winchester#wincest#spn#supernatural#🐭#tattoos
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9x16 Blade Runners
#9x16#blade runners#spn#spn aesthetic#supernatural#supernatural aesthetic#thebeautyofspn#dean winchester#impala#symbols & sigils#forests woods & trees#season 9
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My coworker after seeing my tattoo: So, Sam or Dean?
Me: Destiel
Coworker: ha nice
#supernatural#dean winchester#destiel#castiel#sam winchester#mental illness#spn#jensen ackles#misha collins#i have the antipossesion symbol on my shoulder#new job
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am i making you feel sick?
destiel + ethel cain = my new obsession
#spn#supernatural#dean winchester#destiel#deancas#castiel#ethel cain#spn religious#am i making you feel sick#religious symbolism supernatural
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I need people to understand how S&P (standards and practices) works in television and how much influence they have over what gets to stay IN an episode of a show and how the big time network execs are the ones holding the purse strings and making final decisions on a show's content, not the writers / showrunners / creatives involved.
So many creators have shared S&P notes over the years of the wild and nonsensical things networks wanted them to omit / change / forbid. Most famously on tumblr, I've seen it so many times, is the notes from Gravity Falls. But here's a post compiling a bunch of particularly bad ones from various networks too. Do you see the things they're asking to be changed / cut ?
Now imagine, anything you want to get into your show and actually air has to get through S&P and the network execs. A lot of creators have had to resort to underhanded methods. A lot of creators have had to relegate things to subtext and innuendo and scenes that are "open to interpretation" instead of explicit in meaning. Things have had to be coded and symbolized. And they're relying on their audience to be good readers, good at media literacy, to notice and get it. This stuff isn't the ramblings of conspiracy theorists, it's the true practices creatives have had to use to be able to tell diverse stories for ages. The Hays Code is pretty well known, it exists because of censorship. It was a way to symbolize certain things and get past censors.
Queercoding, in particular, has been used for ages in both visual media and literature do signal to queer audiences that yes, this character is one of us, but no, we can't be explicit about it because TPTB won't allow it. It's a wink-wink, nudge-nudge to those in the know. It's the deliberate use of certain queer imagery / clothing / mannerisms / phrases / references to other queer media / subtle glances and lingering touches. Things that offer plausible deniability and can be explained away or go unnoticed by straight audiences to get past those network censors. But that queer viewers WILL (hopefully) pick up on.
Because, unfortunately, still to this day, a lot of antiquated network execs don't think queer narratives are profitable. They don't think they'll appeal to general audiences, because that's what matters, whatever appeals to most of the audience demographic so they can keep watching and keep making the network more money. The networks don't care about telling good stories! Most of them are old white cishet business men, not creatives. They don't care about character arcs and what will make fans happy. They don't care about storytelling. What they care about is profit and they're basing their ideas of what's profitable on what they believe is the predominate target demographic, usually white cis heterosexual audiences.
So, imagine a show that started airing in the early 2000s. Imagine a show where the two main characters are based on two characters from a famous Beat Generation novel, where one of the characters is queer! based on a real like bisexual man! The creator is aware of this, most definitely. And sure, it's 2005, there's no way they were thinking of making that explicit about Dean in the text because it just wouldn't fly back then to have a main character be queer. But! it's made subtext. And there are nods to that queerness placed in the text. Things that are open to interpretation. Things that are drenched in metaphor (looking at you 1x06 Skin "I know I'm a freak" "maybe this thing was born human but was different...hated. Until he learned to become someone else.") Things that are blink-and-you-miss-it and left to plausible deniability (things like seemingly spending an hour in the men's bathroom, or always reacting a little vulnerable and awkward when you're clocked instead of laughing it off and making a homophobic joke abt it)
And then, years later there's a ship! It's popular and at first the writers aren't really seriously thinking about it but they'll throw the fans a bone here and there. Then, some writers do get on the destiel train and start actively writing scenes for them that are suggestive. And only a fraction of what they write actually makes it into the text. So many lines left on the cutting room floor: i love past you. i forgive you i love you. i lost cas and it damn near broke me. spread cas's ashes alone. of course i wanted you to stay. if cas were here. -- etc. Everything cut was not cut by the writers! Why would a writer write something to then sabotage their own story and cut it? No, these are things that didn't make it past the network. Somewhere a note was made maybe "too gay" or "don't feed the shippers" or simply "no destiel."
So, "no destiel." That's pretty clearly the message we got from the CW for years. "No destiel. Destiel will alienate our general audience. Two of our main characters being queer? And in a relationship? No way." So what can the pro-destiel creatives involved do, if the network is saying no? What can the writers do if most of their explicit destiel (or queer dean) lines / moments are getting cut? Relegate things to subtext. Make jokes that straight people can wave off but queer people can read into. Make costuming and set design choices that the hardcore fans who are already looking will notice while the general audience and the out-of-touch network execs won't blink and eye at (I'm looking at you Jerry and your lamps and disappearing second nightstands and your gay flamingo bar!)
And then, when the audience asks, "is destiel real? is this proof of destiel?" what can the creatives do but deny? Yes, it hurts, to be told "No no I don't know what you're talking about. There's no destiel in supernatural" a la "there is no war in Ba Sing Se" but! if the network said "no destiel!" and you and your creative team have been working to keep putting destiel in the subtext of the narrative in a way that will get past censors, you can't just go "Yes, actually, all that subtext and symbolism you're picking up, yea it's because destiel is actually in the narrative."
But, there's a BIG difference between actively putting queer themes and subtext into the narrative and then saying it's not there (but it is! and the audience sees it!) versus NOT putting any queer content into the text but SAYING it is there to entice queer fans to continue watching. The latter, is textbook queerbaiting. The former? Is not. The former is the tactics so many creatives have had to use for years, decades, centuries, to get past censorship and signal to those in the know that yea, characters like you are here, they exist in this story.
Were the spn writers perfect? No, absolutely not. And I don't think every instance of queer content was a secret signal. Some stuff, depending on the writer, might've been a period-typical gay joke. These writers are flawed. But it's no secret that there were pro-destiel writers in the writing room throughout the years, and that efforts were made to make it explicitly canon (the market research!)
So no, the writers weren't ever perfect or a homogeneous entity. But they definitely were fighting an uphill battle constantly for 15 yrs against S&P and network execs with antiquated ideas of what's profitable / appealing.
Spn even called out the networks before, on the show, using a silly example of complaints abt the lighting of the show and how dark the early seasons were. Brightening the later seasons wasn't a creative choice, but a network choice. And if the networks can complain abt and change something as trivial as the lighting of a show, they definitely are having a hand in influencing the content of the show, especially queer content.
Even in s15, (seasons fifteen!!!) Misha has said he worried Castiel's confession would not air. In 2020!!! And Jensen recorded that scene on his personal phone! Why? Sure, for the memories. But also, I do not doubt for a second that part of it was for insurance, should the scene mysteriously disappear completely. We've seen the finale script. We've seen the omitted omitted omitted scenes. We all saw how they hacked the confession scene to bits. The weird cuts and close-ups. That's not the writers doing. That's likely not even the editors (willingly). That's orders from on high. All of the fuckery we saw in s15 reeks of network interference. Writers are not trying to sabotage their own stories, believe me.
Anyways, TLDR: Networks have a lot more power than many think and they get final say in what makes it to air. And for years creative teams have had to find ways to get past network censorship if they want "banned" or "unapproved" "unprofitable" "unwanted" content to make it into the show. That means relying on techniques like symbolism, subtext, and queercoding, and then shutting up about it. Denying its there, saying it's all "open to interpretation" all while they continue to put that open to interpretation content into the show. And that's not queerbaiting, as frustrating as it might be for queer audiences to be told that what they're seeing isn't there, it's still not queerbaiting. Queerbaiting is a marketing technique to draw in queer fans by baiting them with the promise of queer content and then having no queer content in said media. But if you are picking up on queer themes / subtext / symbolism / coding that is in front of your face IN the text, that's not queerbaiting. It's there, covertly, for you, because someone higher up didn't want it to be there explicitly or at all.
#long post#LONG-ass post#but it needed to be said!#i'm sorry if you think every creative involved with spn was a braindead asshole but the thing is.#even the most mediocre of writers understands a thing or two abt symbolism and writers working in TV are plagued by S&P#countless writers have talked abt the S&P bullshit and having to tweak and edit down their work to get past censors#it's a reality of writing for television#and the people who understand all this and understand the context of making TV in the early 2000s (to present tbh!) aren't 'delusional'#i'm sorry but it's naive to think that queer stories and queer characters are free to be told even nowadays. it's still a constant battle#times have changed but unfortunately not as much as you'd think#the confession !!!!! the confession still struggled to air and what we got was so obviously hacked down to bits!!!!!!#how can anyone think getting destiel content into the show was ever easy?#how can anyone think the pro-destiel writers weren't constantly having to be careful and underhanded in their writing?#there's a reason queercoding and subtext exist and it's this!!! it's censorship from TPTB#anyways. people much older than me have been talking abt this for ages. younger fans who are used to more open queer rep need to understand#it hasn't always been that easy and even nowadays SO many networks are still not willing to take a risk on queer stories#so creators do what they can#vic.txt
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Happy "It's-- amazing. You did-- amazing," Monday!
"It's-- amazing. You did-- amazing."
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Do you even realize how amazing you are to me?
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15x09 The Trap (Text Attributions// Supernatural scripts here via @spnscripthunt. Transcripts are located here via SPNWiki. Visit their Tumblr to donate.)
#days of the week script celebrations#spn days of the week#dean + the symbolic giving of the heart#dean/cas + the love got a little smushed#dean/cas + the flower of free will#dean + the imperfect dream#dean/cas + trial separation#dean/cas + the choosing to weather the storm together#spn 15x09#spn the trap#i know how to Q
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oh? this piece of media has religious symbolism? with extreme religious guilt?????
perfect.
#spn#supernatural#castiel supernatural#castiel#dean winchester#sam winchester#elliotts sleep deprived posts#religious trauma#religious imagery#religious symbolism#religious guilt
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expanding on the idea of sam's imaginary friend sully S11E8
Sam's brief mention somewhere in S4E13 when he told john he was afraid of a thing in his closet n john gave him a .45 => little 9yo sam coped with this by naming his guns and pretending theyre his (imaginary) friends
dean starting to adopt this belief and name his guns too not sure what names dean would give his guns but i think it would be something macho/masc like Titan-Rex crusher 2000 or The Incredible Steel Hulk or something corny like that...
#sleeping with their guns as a stand-in for plushies#DOES anyone see my vision...#naming guns as a coping mechanism#the splatters actually symbolize gunshot wounds#sam winchester#dean winchester#sam and dean#winchester bros#and their unhealthy relationship with firearms#spn#spn fanart#supernatural#my art
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black sheep who can't get the rotting carcass off || well tamed german sheperd who's mask is falling off
#supernatural#sam winchester#dean winchester#sam and dean#spn#supernatural fanart#love insane fanart where you cant even tell who the guys r bc i put masks on them :))#WINCESTERS..........................ITS ON SIGHT#sacrificial lamb + black sheep of the family sam ITS OBVIOUS#and german sheperd dean bc : well trained dog by his dad. tasked with keeping sam safe + keeping him caged#idk how to integrate cas to this concept he's a cat but just in a fun furry way. like theres no symbolism its just that cats r autistics#this is just a sam and dean concept i think..#anyway. yea i gave sam stigmata. its 2023. grow up
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I just haven’t learned how to be human as you are yet
#blue irises symbolize faith and hope!#I love having fun with flower symbolism#lyrics from against the kitchen floor by will wood#supernatural#castiel#spn#supernatural fanart#spn fanart#castiel fanart#artists on tumblr#traditional art#painting#watercolor#my art
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I’m trying to design a castiel inspired tattoo with six seraph wings and I want to know where the fandom stands here. Im planning on going with black so color isnt a major factor here
#destiel#castiel#spn#castiel novak#deancas#sastiel#supernatural#tagging ships for more exposure#i love the thematic symbolism of an albatross but i think it’s too marine looking
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10x19 The Werther Project
#10x19#the werther project#spn#supernatural#spn aesthetic#supernatural aesthetic#thebeautyofspn#sam winchester#the bunker#symbols & sigils#hands#a favorite#newspapers & books#season 10
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#the symbolism is strong in this one#supernatural#dean winchester#jensen ackles#season 4#my screencaps#listen to our podcast#misha collins#castiel#who are all these demons#lucifer rising#spn 4x22
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the penetration metaphor/motif surrounding dean’s character should be studied
#it’s the FOURTH example (from kripke era)#someone (me) should make a compilation#anyway this is about the enjoyment of violence & the feeling of control that comes with it#the ph*allic symbols + his need to kill by brutally penetrating#and all of these scenes are outrageously s*exually framed#in other words he gets rock hard from inflicting violence on others which is blatant text btw#post hell dean’s confession (“i tortured souls and i enjoyed it”)#and yes it’s about control because most of these brutal killings happen when he’s angry/grieving#he can’t control his emotions so it always comes out through violence#as an attempt to regain control that he desperately craves#dean winchester#spn
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