#tfw + shadow motivations

[shallowseeker]

I'm the one who requested the broken glass analysis. I was really surprised. Thank you!!! You say it's crack meta, but the bit about Dean and Cas being broken open and exposed blew me away.

I thought I'd frightened you away tbh. But hey, glad you liked it.

[beevean]

Tfw you spend most of your life thinking Silver is the dumbest motherfucker alive but then here comes N!Hector forming a gravitational singularity with his negative IQ

Silver 🤝 N!Hector

Long, white haired boys with special superpowers and a tragic past that supposedly should explain why they fell for the manipulations of the most suspicious villains in the world. also, they both watch a woman they care about (and get shipped with frequently) die...? at least blaze's death didn't make me cheer

The hands separate when you realize that Silver was motivated by an earnest sense of justice, he eventually managed to turn on his one braincell and fix some of the damage he'd done, and oh yeah, he kicked Sonic's ass! And I don't mean this in a "only badass characters matter" way, I mean that he did something, we saw his impressive powers! Silver is a beast! He didn't exist to be enslaved!

"but Hector also activates his one braincell in S4" 1) it's so out of nowhere that at this point it feels OOC, and I don't accept this half-assed meta apology; 2) Hector's plan was, again out of nowhere, to revive Dracula to atone for his stupidity, which doesn't happen because Big Good Isaac doesn't want it, and at the end of the day Hector's only accomplishment in the show was to allow Isaac to fight Carmilla, because fuck you Hector Isaac is the real protagonist of the show; 3) fuck S4 and how Hector still cares for his abuser instead of taking revenge against her like the finale of S3 implied

like. at least silver tries? Admittedly Silver doesn't do much compared to Shadow (still more important than Sonic though), but he starts to have doubts when Amy defends Sonic, he helps Shadow seal Mephiles inside the Scepter of Darkness in the past, he helps Sonic go back in time to save Elise, he fights Iblis himself, and he tries to seal it inside of him before discovering that he couldn't. It's not much, and normally I wouldn't bother to defend this writing, but there is the will to cooperate here! I'll take it over Hector being used as fetish material until the very end!

tl;dr: sonic 06 is still not going to win any awards for best story ever, but my god, as boring and messy as it is it didn't feel like a personal insult

[tenaciousdecapitator]

I posted 2,951 times in 2022

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I tagged 2,951 of my posts in 2022

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I can only assume that during the development of Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe, Galactic Cafe managed to get a few seconds into their "So we need some new games for the "Let's play someone else's games" ending-" request before Campo Santo and Psyonix were like "HOLY SHIT, YES, HERE'S THE ASSET FILES, GO NUTS"

61 notes - Posted May 1, 2022

#4

AroAce Hunter and/or Willow theorists when they see Hunter in the previews seemingly dressed as a Borg version of Data from TNG, who was (albeit roughly handled) aspec coded:

AroAce Hunter and/or Willow theorists when they realize Hunter’s cosplay character is named after Chief Engineer Miles O’ Brien from TNG/DS9, who canonically marries a botanist:

102 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

#3

So. I have a theory about this. Blue Pearl commissioned Bismuth to make wedding armor for Yellow Pearl potentially because, after attending a lecture on Medieval Knighthood by Pearl, she finds out about the concept of courtly love. She sees a parallel with it to her own centuries-long relationship with YP, and a wedding theme is cemented. The armor’s cape is green because BP heard about Garnet’s Tux-Dress and wanted a similar result, so she went to Bismuth, who canonically has a method of crafting armor that shifts and grows with its wearer. We never saw what BP’s dress looks like because the Crewniverse wanted to keep its design as open to interpretation as the various other plot prompts that SUF left unresolved, like the continuing adventures of Captain Centi and the Nephrite Crew. All I know is, Vidalia deserves to be maid of honor.

109 notes - Posted March 1, 2022

#2

Entrapta, like Catra, has all the foundations for a corruption arc. Pre-existing deviance, a solid motivation for revenge, climbing up the enemy ranks until she is the head boss's left hand, and then gaining powet over Hordak himself. Like many villain scientists she assists and joins with the good guys from time to time.

What makes Entrapta different is that, through all of this, she ISNT a mastermind, morally grey ends justifies the means scientist. She is in fact a complete cinnamon roll who's hurt by what happened but doesn't hold a grudge at all and has joined the villains because they gave her sense of belonging, and a place to foster her love of science. So you have the top dog villain at the start of season 3 when shes finally got power over Hordak, and she's using it to tell him to love himself, to show him that our flaws are what make us beautiful and they shouldn't be masked, especially if we need help. And in season 5 she's not the sneaky ex villain getting a questionable redemption, she's literally leading the front lines in terms of converting people to the Rebellion, pulling one clone of a million clones out from under Prime and immediately being able to connect with him, being the one to tell Prime to his face he will never understand love, wrecking his brainwashing network, her connection with Hordak leading to Prime's death.

It's... so OPPOSITE to Shadow Weaver, who joined the rebellion about the same time Entrapta overtook Catra in the horde and then disappeared. Weaver has the standard "redemption" arc but doesn't learn a damn thing in her life, has no humility, and is constantly fucking with people's heads underneath her silver tongued words, all stuff Entrapta literally cannot do.

So you have this very compassionate pure of heart character influencing the iron cold leader of the villains, and this incredibly manipulative abusive character influencing the leaders of the heroes.

I think it's interested how shera plays so hard with tropes.

Yes! Exactly! One of my favorite parts about Entrapta’s character is that, in seemingly direct contrast to Shadow Weaver who looks, talks, and acts like a fairy tale Disney villain evil witch 24/7, with even her attempted ‘redemption martyr moment’ just piling more mental scars onto her surrogate daughters,  everything that we’re presented with in the first few minutes System Failure gives us the idea that Entrapta is this typical (albeit sweet-toothed) Mad Scientist soon-to-be-if-not-already-villain. She lives in a classically evil scary castle on a mountain, it’s full of traps, secret passageways, and (conveniently timed) robot zombies, and there’s mutants in the sewers apparently?!? Especially since some fans know her old incarnation was a shallow villain, once she finally crawls out of a vent like a goddamn Xenomorph with welding mask eyes glowing with menace the audience thinks they have her character figured out, and then she subverts these expectations by greeting our heroes with a genuine, cheery, hospitable welcome that still acknowledges the immediate danger they’re facing and her direct involvement in it. And ever since then, all she’s wanted to do is help people and do science (and hopefully make friends with people by doing those two things). Even when she learns She Ra’s most direct and effective weakness, even when she’s given the chance to use that weakness *again* after she thinks the BFS and Princess Alliance left her for dead, she still doesn’t take the opportunity to go full "They laughed at my experiments, but now I’ll show them all! Brand New Day! Muahahahaha!” etc etc. Shadow Weaver WISHES she could’ve climbed the evil corporate ladder as fast as Entrapta did, and ironically she accomplished it by doing the exact opposite approach to SW: Being 100% genuine and honest about her opinions, knowledge, and feelings. And Hordak establishes time and time again that he hates dishonesty in his ranks (mostly because he’s not great at subterfuge and trickery himself) and gains valuable knowledge and self-worth from Entrapta’s genuine honesty. I may be forgetting something, but I’m pretty sure the one and only time Entrapta intentionally, consciously lies about something is that bit in System Failure where she find the lab and says “We’re here! Uh, I mean, of course we’re here, we were never lost.” Of course, just because she never even considers taking steps towards actual, conscious Villainy and Vengeance doesn’t mean we can’t think up AUs where she does go down that path a bit.  One concept that I’ve yet to make into a proper fic is an alternate ending to Season 5 in which she has a more active role in usurping Prime, fully disconnecting him from the other Clones before Hordak does the Darth Vader/Emperor reference, then taking over the Velvet Glove’s army of clones, droids, and drones in order to collect data on the flora, fauna, and magic of Etheria before expanding her DC Brainiac style "data collection” to the rest of the newly entered galaxy. 

anyway thanks for prompting and then coming to my Ted Talk

135 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

So, due to some unexpected yet welcome news presented during tonight’s Owl House charity stream, I made some edits of one particular shared Season 2b screencap. Enjoy, and use with credit! 

187 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[randomnameless]

IDK if you’ve done the paralogue opening up in this chapter? 

It’s about Seteth and Rhea taking their kids out for a family outing to whack bandits !

Curious how they’ll handle this. Because if Dimitri does talk to her and it becomes clear he’s after TWSITD, what does Edelgard do? Keep insisting on war or give up and team up with Dimitri against TWSITD? It’s OOC for her to give up and let Rhea and the Kingdom live their lives, but prioritizing killing Dimitri and Rhea above even taking TWSITD down would be, eh, questionable on her end to put it lightly. Really curious to see how the writers deal with this.

:)

I can’t wait to see your review of a certain chapter later on!

Oh, look at that, Dimitri being smart. He plans on cutting off Edelgard’s supply line. Since she only uses one, that’s brilliant.

We knew since Crimson Flower that Hubert is the brains in their duo, but Hopes is an AU where she decides to take things in her own hands instead of listening to his plans about siding with Uncle’n’pals...

And it shows lol

Lamo, Shez thinks one hundred Dimitris would wipe the floor with the Empire.

Why one hundred, even 1 Dimitri can wipe the floor with them ! especially if they have only 1 supply line

FUCKING FINALLY. All the points to Ashe. Glenn didn’t die because Faerghus is toxic. He died because he wanted to protect his best friend. He argues that there’s nothing wrong with that.

B-but do you mean the Faerghus promotes toxic masculinity essay was full of shit? :(

I joked a lot about Faerghan people exchanging “knightly vows” instead of straight up marrying, but it felt good to have someone acknowledge that people swear loyalty and die to protect the people they love.

Of course, you will have very different opinions about knighthood and loyalty in, hm, other routes.

More language learning lessons. She wants to learn the language to help Brigid diplomatically. It’s too bad she can’t get a teacher in-house.

Hahaha - remember how in Houses, Hubert said some nobles considered her to look like a “caged animal�� or something?

TFW the Faerghus Prince spends time to learn a different language and help his new “friend” to learn it, meanwhile the Adrestian Princess eats sweets while her hostages has to learn everything by herself.

The more you learn about Sylvain, the less sense he makes defecting to the Empire.

This game made me appreciate Sylvain, which I didn’t think possible after his depiction in FE16!

Wait, Edelgard FINALLY told him about Thales? Girl, you (maybe?) could’ve spared all of Fodlan a lot of pain if you just said that earlier.

Who cares about Fodlan when you can care about restoring Adrestia to its former glory??

Dimitri just whipping the magic away. He’s so cool in all of these cutscenes.

His plot armor magically increased his res stat?

AG really is going to go there! TWSITD is really the big bad, not Edelgard.

Sure Nergal was the guy controlling everything from the shadows, but does it mean Marquis Laus can get away scot free with all the shit he pulled?

Will Supreme Leader have to face the consequences of her war??

Oh, Ferdinand’s dad, Duke Aegir is now in control? What happened to Edelgard? (also, I sorta love how so many dads got whitewashed, but they went full evil with this guy still lamo)

Remember Ferdie’n’Lysithea’s paralogue in FE16?

Poor Ludwig was, imo, retconned in Hopes - even if a certain plot point will be revealed later on - which oddly coincides with Hopes nuking Ionius out of the cast ; in Houses Ludwig was more of a Numida than a Lekain, in Hopes, he is really presented as a stupider version of Lekain.

I think you’ll learn more about his motivations in SB... and how they don’t coincide with what we learn in FE16.

Is TWSITD controlling Edelgard? Lamo, that’s one creative way to write her out of the story without letting her team up with Dimitri or choosing TWSITD over giving up conquest.  

And the answer is... no!!! We’re in a Fodlan game, after all!

Let me present you... Supreme Puppet ! 

It really felt like the writers wanted a way to justify why Dimitri wouldn’t behead her on spot for starting the war and invading Faerghus and allying/cozying with the people who murdered his father and brought ruin to the Kingdom - so they took the “surprise brainwash!!” route - can you really hold any grudge against her when she is now manipulated and nothing more than a puppet?

I guess I’ll rant later at the end of the route, but this “surprise brainwash” really felt like the easy way out to... give Supreme Leader a pass for everything she pulls out in this game.

Azure Gleam Ch 9

More Azure Gleam to come. So far it's doing everything I wished AM did or had time for.

STORY

Oh, the title includes "Reunion." I'm guessing Dimitri and Edelgard talk again?

Curious how they'll handle this. Because if Dimitri does talk to her and it becomes clear he's after TWSITD, what does Edelgard do? Keep insisting on war or give up and team up with Dimitri against TWSITD? It's OOC for her to give up and let Rhea and the Kingdom live their lives, but prioritizing killing Dimitri and Rhea above even taking TWSITD down would be, eh, questionable on her end to put it lightly. Really curious to see how the writers deal with this.

The Empire is stalemating at Arianrhod. Shez is worried about supplies, but Dedue thinks they need to prepare more first.

Oh, look at that, Dimitri being smart. He plans on cutting off Edelgard's supply line. Since she only uses one, that's brilliant.

Shez thinks if Dimitri pulls this off, he wins the war.

So I'm betting the big enemy will switch from Edelgard to TWSITD. It would be cool for Edelgard to team up with Dimitri against TWSITD, but I doubt that'll happen. She'll probably die or go and join up with TWSITD or escape but the big focus will still be TWSITD and Edelgard a footnote on the way there, hence powering up the Empire after Dimitri would've otherwise taken them out.

Feels like this is going to end part 1, like how GW just ended.

Oh, Claude!? First time we've seen him in a while in AG. Oh, shit, is Claude going to bail out Edelgard for no real reason except writers said so? Because it would make no sense to help the Imperialists if he wants the Alliance to remain standing.

He's wondering what the Alliance will do, what's best for them and trying to predict who's going to win.

Oh, wow, I really expected AG to get the 1 battle deal this time, but nope. Good.

MAP/SIDE BATTLES

Lamo, Shez thinks one hundred Dimitris would wipe the floor with the Empire.

I got to compliment Dedue. Life complete.

Yuri sold Edelgard a tip about a secret passage. He saying some skeevy stuff about that count. I'm betting we'll recruit him this time. He doesn't seem to like Count Rowe's general dude lol.

Dimitri saying he's not good around children in the expedition dialogue is funny, since it's fairly cannon that they like him.

INGRID & RODRIGUE B SUPPORT

Aww, Ingrid got to return to Fraldarius territory and went down memory lane. Again, another support that reinforces how tied all the Faerghus team are together.

It struggles with having enough food too. I think it's the influx of refugees causing the shortages.

Cool details. There's new shops and good roads.

She finally faced it and wants to keep visiting it. Of course, Rodrigue says she should.

Haha, Ingrid ordered Glenn around. Not surprised.

And Rodrigue says it's ok to show weakness and not just worry about pushing forward. He's such a team dad. And very much in line with the themes in the Blue Lions.

ASHE & DEDUE B SUPPORT

Dedue made his own tea blend!!! Ok, Seteth officially has competition for #1 husbando in Fodlan now.

OFC he made it for Dimitri, lamo.

You would forever be second place to Dimitri with Dedue lol.

The tea reminds Ashe of some Lonato made.

And OFC it's a tea to calm nerves. He made it for Dimitri after all.

ASHE & DIMITRI B SUPPORT

Dimitri is checking on Ashe, esp with his role as a knight. Everyone's been nice to him, which is good, but Ashe is still unsure of himself.

Dimitri pretty much knighted everyone who's now his knights.

Ashe has a more romantic view of knighthood. Someone who's loyal to the king and protects their leader and their people.

Then Dimitri's like, naw, they're here to kill people. Loyalty is only there to control them.

Very in-character for both of them.

Dimitri's like go ahead and follow that code, but don't die for it. Now he's talking about Glenn. And how he wants Ashe to choose life over loyalty.

So THAT'S why Ashe defects. He's so miserable about it.

FUCKING FINALLY. All the points to Ashe. Glenn didn't die because Faerghus is toxic. He died because he wanted to protect his best friend. He argues that there's nothing wrong with that.

Ashe respects Dimitri so much. He's so wholesome.

DEDUE & PETRA B SUPPORT

More language learning lessons. She wants to learn the language to help Brigid diplomatically. It's too bad she can't get a teacher in-house.

Dedue is sorta doing the same for Duscur, though not royalty so not as much power.

Dimitri wants to make Duscur independent again. I'm so glad AG is paying more attention to Duscur.

Petra also realizes that Dedue is more than just Dimitri's bodyguard.

Giving these two a support was a brilliant idea.

DIMITRI & SYLVAIN B SUPPORT

Aww, Dimitri didn't want House Gautier's opinion, but Sylvain's. Their relationship is underrated.

Lamo, Dimitri is speaking with others about bringing commoners into the nobility. This game does a shit job justifying Edelgard's war if everyone is on their way to doing what she's killing them for not doing.

The main concern is lack of crests. And funny that it's Sylvain defending them and Dimitri saying it doesn't matter. The more you learn about Sylvain, the less sense he makes defecting to the Empire.

Lamo, the Kingdom is already discussing the possibility of getting rid of inheritance.

Sylvain only shows the political side of himself to Felix and Dimitri.

I love this support. Dimitri is just showing Sylvain with compliments and expressing how much he relies on Sylvain (which is very healthy for him to admit). Then Sylvain is admiring Dimitri back.

DIMITRI & FELIX B SUPPORT

My first Dimilix support in Hopes. It better be good.

Ah, starts with Felix calling Dimitri an idiot, these two are just so . . . I love them. One of the most complex relationships in all of Fire Emblem. And I live for it.

"Idiot, let me worry for you!!!" Is the most Dimilix(Felix) thing ever.

Felix has a mother, everyone. I think she got mentioned before, but power to her for actually existing!!!

Then Felix gets mad at Dimitri for worrying about him and not his own issues, It's the most Felix ever. And then Dimitri's like, oh, that's not possible.

Oh, no, now Dimitri is going off about revenge. And Felix isn't thrilled about it.

Oh, shit is getting real. Dimitri thinks Felix might hate him because he could do nothing when Glenn died and feels so guilty over it.

Felix "I don't hate you, ok." Haha, I love these two idiots.

Dimitri has such horrible survivor's guilt. He feels so guilty for surviving and that Glenn died protecting him. It makes me wonder what kind of hell his head went through when he thought Dedue died in Houses (or actually does die, including CF). That has to be like worst nightmare shit.

Felix is like, ugh, just eat!!

MAIN BATTLE

Shamir and Catherine! Together, as it should be.

Miklan is here too. Still not sure how to feel about this. Ohh, he's the one who cut ties?

He's starting to come around to liking working for the army though. Shamir called him out for having a bad attitude too lol.

Annette is so much shorter than the rest of the Blue Lions lol. She's standing next to Dedue. Who thought that was a good idea. They can barely fit into the same frame lamo.

So Persuade Shamir and Yuri are strategy options. I was confused until I saw Shamir was an allied general and Yuri an enemy one. Getting to both of them, obviously.

I'm guessing Miklain's death is unavoidable? Eh. Seems pointless to bring him back at all.

Isn't this were Ingrid died in SB? Worst moment in the game so far. 

Aha, cool! Cutscene time. And seems it's cannon here that Dimitri defeated Edelgard in combat. He just keeps racking up the badassery in this game. 

So glad Dimitri didn't just let her run. So annoying when heroes do that, except Thales is here to fuck things up. 

Wait, Edelgard FINALLY told him about Thales? Girl, you (maybe?) could've spared all of Fodlan a lot of pain if you just said that earlier. 

Dimitri just whipping the magic away. He's so cool in all of these cutscenes. 

Thales bullshit magic abilities ruining a potential team up. (Could they ever? She seems hellbent on taking over his country so . . .)

Oh, hey, hegemon. 

AG really is going to go there! TWSITD is really the big bad, not Edelgard. Don't misunderstand, Edelgard is the superior villain. But since Dimitri gets two stories, I'm glad one will focus on TWSITD and (hopefully) send Edelgard to the backseat. Bc him vs her again, what's the point? 

Aw, Shez saving Dimitri. These two have such a wholesome relationship. I really like it more than I expected too. 

Aww, this stuff with Shez and Dimitri just keeps piling up. Shez feels so worried about having the same powers, but Dimitri just doesn't care. Still trusts her. It's so sweet. 

I also love how Shez has some personal involvement in this route. It's kinda missing in the other two. 

Dimitri - "I alone-" Felix shuts that down, ofc. Good though. I'm glad seeing Ingrid and Annette speak up. It's obvious to remember how Felix and Dedue got their lives changed, but so glad they called back to what Ingrid and Annette dealt with too. 

Felix saying Dimitri's name so soft when he's hurt. My heart. 

Oh, Ferdinand's dad, Duke Aegir is now in control? What happened to Edelgard? (also, I sorta love how so many dads got whitewashed, but they went full evil with this guy still lamo). 

Is TWSITD controlling Edelgard? Lamo, that's one creative way to write her out of the story without letting her team up with Dimitri or choosing TWSITD over giving up conquest.  

(sorry for the weird formatting, some of this is copy and pasted)

xxxxx

[weirdbabs]

laszlo, arms wide with a baby colin strapped to his chest: nadja! darling! how did you and gizmo enjoy my homeland?

nadja, staring at the baby colin: ??????? laszlo what the SHIT??? AGAIN????

[silvermun]

“Knave the Hedgehog, eh? A fitting name I’d say.”

[kellykline]

11, 12, 18?

11)   If you HAD to get rid of one member of TFW, who would it be?

Dean no question I would do it even if I didn't have to

12)   Symbolism: Tell me about some cool symbolism in SPN! Your pick.

uhh the symbolism of angel wings only being seen in shadow as it compared to the motivations of heaven being veiled/shaded? is that something? i'm not good at symbolism

18)   What’s something people see as a strength you think is a weakness of the show?

The brothers' relationship lol

spn ask game

[vvivacious101]

Re-rewatching S06E20 - The Man Who Would Be King

I have no words. This episode manages to floor me every single time. In 2020, when we have season 15 with all it’s blatant focus on Cas and Dean and their relationship, I’m still astounded by the sheer depth of this episode. It is so good. It is so heart-wrenching. It’s like witnessing a break-up. Wait, scratch that, it’s exactly like a break-up.

Rachel: What does God want?

Cas: God wants you to have freedom.

Rachel: What does he want us to do with it?

Cas: [narrating] If I knew then what I know now, I might have said, "It's simple. Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it."

This is Cas’ side of the story and it’s humbling. I mean a lot of the choices Cas makes aren’t bad. He realises that angels aren’t really built for freedom but he forgets he’s an angel too and literally freedom isn’t such an easy thing to deal with because as Cas realises with freedom comes responsibility and even so late in season 6, Cas wants to give up the responsibility.

In 4x16, On the Head of a Pin, when Cas first considered rebellion he went to Anna because he wanted her to make the decision for him but she refused which prepared Cas for just how treacherous the path he was preparing to walk on was but in a way, he never really understood it and I feel like Cas only ever learnt responsibilty after this disastrous attempt to do the right thing.

Those first weeks back in Heaven were surprisingly difficult. Explaining freedom to angels is a bit like teaching poetry to fish.

Of course, Cas with his talk of freedom comes in direct conflict with the new boss in town, Raphael who just wants the Apocalypse TFW averted back on the road. Cas tries to resist but it is made amply clear that Cas has nothing on Raphael.

So he turns to someone for help. Is it any surprise that he turns to Dean? I still regret that Dean actually doesn’t know this but the first time Cas was in trouble and he wanted help, he went to Dean but it was only his love for Dean that prevented him from breaching what he saw as Dean’s sanctuary.

And, that’s when Crowley saw his opportunity to strike. He convinces Cas that with the untapped potential of Purgatory on their side, he can defeat Raphael. Crowley of course already has a plan in place to figure out just where Purgatory is and Cas reluctantly agress. He starts a civil war in Heaven and teams up with Crowley to figure out where Purgatory is.

Presently, Crowley wants to get rid of the Winchesters but Cas won’t allow that no matter how good of an argument Crowley presents.

Cas: Don't worry about the Winchesters.

Crowley: Don't worry about... what, like Lucifer didn't worry? Or Michael, or Lilith, or Alistair, or Azazel didn't worry? Am I the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those denim-wrapped nightmares?

Meanwhile, Sam, Dean and Bobby who, now that they know Crowley is alive, are looking for him behind Cas’ back. What they don’t know is that Cas is spying on them and he knows exactly what they are doing? Unfortuantely, Cas let’s slip something he couldn’t possibly have known and that’s when it shatters.

Dean’s trust in Cas. This entire episode is Dean defending Cas against Bobby and Sam but even more amazing is the fact that Dean doesn’t denounce Cas even when Cas admits to working with Crowley. Dean tells him that they can fix it and despite, everything Dean is ready to mend fences and move on and it isn’t till the very end when despite Dean begging Cas not to follow through on what he has set out to do, Cas refuses that these two truly break.

God, the dialogues in this episode are just so good but the ones between Dean and Cas... like, are so intense, like it’s unbelievable. We have Bobby, Sam and Dean confronting Cas and Bobby and Sam are just throwing accusations but you know what Dean’s says, Dean says this -

You got to look at me, man. You got to level with me and tell me what’s going on. Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not working with Crowley.

Like, I literally explode every time I hear this dialogue, like look me in the eye. All Dean wants is for Cas to meet his gaze and it literally doesn’t take him more than a few seconds to read Cas. Like the moment their eyes meet Dean can tell Cas is in fact working with Crowley. How has anyone not noticed just how blatant this moment is?

Cas: Raphael will kill us all. He'll turn the world into a graveyard. I had no choice.

Dean: No, you had a choice. You just made the wrong one.

Cas: You don’t understand. It’s complicated.

Dean: No, actually it’s not, and you know that. Why else would you keep this whole thing a secret, huh, unless you knew that it was wrong? When crap like this comes around we deal with it, like we always have. What we don’t do is we don’t go out and make another deal with the devil!

Cas: It sounds so simple when you say it like that. Where were you when I needed to hear it?

Dean: I was there. Where were you?

Like if this episode was trying to kill me it is doing an amazing job of it.

Dean: It's not too late. Dammit Cas we can fix this.

Cas: Dean, it's not broken.

The whole moment of hesitation that Dean has at the doorway... I don’t even have words for it.

And Cas wants to explain himself to Dean and specifically Dean because after the initial encounter goes to hell in a handbasket, Cas goes to explain himself to Dean, again.

The most important thing that Cas stresses on is that he is doing this for Dean, he doesn’t even try to bring up anyone else because after all Cas’ biggest motivation and truthfully his only motivation to avert the apocalypse and prevent it from ever going down is Dean.

The scene just before the last one in Bobby’s study/kitchen is oddly reminiscent of a similar scene from 4x02 - Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester. It’s like these two scenes are bookending their own little saga of Dean and Cas with that initial meeting and now with this breakup.

Before, I get into the meaning of it all, I would like to discuss another piece of dialogue. This one -

Sam: Look, Dean, he's our friend, too, okay? And I'd die for him, I would. But... I'm praying we're wrong here.

Bobby: But if we ain't, if there's a snowball of a snowball's chance here, that means we're dealing with a Superman who's gone dark side. Which means we gotta be cautious, we gotta be smart, and maybe stock up on some kryptonite.

Dean: [to Sam] This makes you Lois Lane.

This is a metaphor with Cas being Superman and no one needed to bring up Lois Lane but Dean does, which immediately puts a love interest into mind, specifically Cas’ love interest and the weird thing is Dean declares Sam as Cas’ Lois Lane when we all know that if anybody is Lois Lane in this metaphor it’s Dean. So, thank you, Dean for pointing that out.

Over time, I think I have often come back to this episode to point out that this was the episode that established that Cas loved Dean beyond any shadow of doubt what motivates Cas, what distresses him, the person he needs most on his side are all answers you can find in Dean Winchester. The person who teaches Cas free will and gives him his freedom, the person he turns to for help, the person he wants to protect at all costs and finally the person he desperately wants on his side. After all, he specifically goes to Dean to explain his reasons for doing what he’s doing. At this point, I don’t even think I need to point out that Dean and Cas are very, very different from Cas and Sam or Cas and Bobby. Though Cas betrayed all three of them, he only seems to really care about what Dean’s saying.

But, I think just because the narrative’s focus is on Cas, I forget how important this episode is for establishing Dean’s feelings for Cas. Like the whole “look me in the eye thing”, like that line spearates Dean and Cas and puts them in their own universe like Dean knows Cas can’t lie to him and Cas doesn’t even say a word but Dean knows. I mean for a relationship that consists of the most intense eye contacts in history, I seem to forget how much they seem to communicate with their eyes. And despite everything Cas does Dean wants to help him fix it, he doesn’t give up on Cas not even the second time Cas comes to talk to him, he wants to help, he wants Cas to abandon his plan of action and it’s only when Cas draws a line in the sand that Dean really consider a different course of actions.

It’s amazing how much drama Supernatural can generate simply by pitting Dean and Cas against each other, just a simple line of dialogue and the stakes sky rocket because we all know waht Dean and Cas mean to each other.

[amwritingmeta]

15x01: Belphegor, Spells and Symbology - Oh My!

So, my chickadees, we’re one TFW 2.0 member short. Yeah, such a bummer, right? The kid who’s so damnnn symbolic of change overall has bit the big one (courtesy of granddad) (like what?!) and is now in the big black Emptiness in the sky where all angels go when they bite it. (but what is the Empty symbolic of though?) (yessss indeed) (the unconscious where all self-liberation commences)

Okay, Jack be gone, but in his stead we now have this new kid on the block, yeah, and this new kid on the block is taking the place of the linchpin for Team Free Will’s push towards self-actualisation and it’s no wonder, then, that this new kid on the block is a speaker of truth! See what I’m getting at here?

Basically it’s just that Alexander Calvert - darling and dearling - is still playing a character pushing our boys towards Good Positive Change. Or so I believe. I mean, obviously we shall see, but the setup of Belphegor isn’t saying anything else. 

Oh, he can’t be trusted. Absolutely not. Night and day to Jack in that regard. Or, perhaps, I might go so far as to say that he’s Jack’s shadow manifested. *shrug* But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s Speaking Truths That No One Else Is Speaking. 

Man! Still not off the high from that episode, swear to God I would french Andrew Dabb in a heartbeat.

Okay, reeling it in.

So, three things -->

Thing the First: Truths

He calls Cas an abomination in that stupid, dumb trench coat. This goes to the very core of Cas’ internal struggle with his identity, so this calling out of it, threading back through Cas’ journey, feels weighty af. 

He speaks candidly of having worshipped a giant rock shaped like a penis as a human and is, unabashedly, checking out men and women alike (shouldn’t actually ascribe bisexual as his choice sexuality but he is clearly not straight), and then he subtly flirts with Dean, which skeeves Dean out since Jack was kinda his kid, so yeah, stop that immediately, Belphegor. (but hey if he jumps vessel then all bets are off) (just saying) 

*rubs hands together because oh my god I really want there to be textual flirtation that doesn’t go anywhere obviously because Belphegor is already picking up on the tension between two certain someones*

Belphegor also brings up Hell and Alastair and Dean breaking and torturing souls! Like what?!! The callbacks to end all callbacks. To the beginning of it ALL. Like, yeah, we’re in the final stretch here and Dabb is not kidding around.

And yes, Belphegor calls the moment Dean and Cas share at the end of the episode what it is, which is awkward, and then tries to prod Cas to talk about it. Albeit ironically (of course Cas won’t open up to him) he’s still doing it because he just doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him and this is precisely the sort of character these two need to poke and prod at their inability to fucking communicate openly.

Hot damn! 

But. We shall see what we get. :P

It’s interesting that he barely interacts with Sam. Sam is his own man this episode in very many ways and I very much like it. 

Thing the Second: Spells

Graveyard Dirt and Angel Blood

Naturally most of us, I’m sure, immediately thought of the “I’m always happy to bleed for the Winchesters” moment in S7. Here, Cas isn’t so happy. He’s suspicious, and rightly so, of this new player on the scene. Still, he complies.

Now, there are things to take from this scene that have to do with life vs death, mortality vs immortality or even Earth vs (or if you’d rather) combined with Heaven. 

Cas’ strong reaction to Belphegor defiling Jack and Belphegor predominantly having a personal interaction with Cas through calling out the trench coat (symbolic of duty/humanity and at this point that space Cas occupies between) puts the focus on them here. Add to that the need of angel blood and it’s even more heavily linked to Cas symbolically, right?

What exactly does the symbology mean? Honestly, beats me. It feels like a foreshadowing that won’t be clear to us until further down the line (hopefully), but it excites me to think that for a character who has battled for his entire progression with the question of where he belongs, we get a spell that literally combines dirt or earth with the blood of Heaven.

Does that mean that there’s a choice to be made - mortal man or immortal wavelength? - or does it mean that Cas is already a bit of both and just has to accept himself as he is and continue on wearing that stupid, dumb trench coat proudly, the same way he has for a good while now, eh? 

Well, that is the real question, isn’t it?

But then again, I’m a bit biased. :)

Mound of Salt and Human Heart

This one’s very interesting as it’s tied more directly to both Dean and Sam. Cas is a part of it too, as he’s with Sam when the spell is cast and they run for the safety of it together, but Sam is the one most affected by it, and I’m curious to see what effect it will have on Dean as well. 

Why?

Because what does salt mean on this show?

It means protection. The spell is, literally, a protection spell, right? A magic ring of salt a mile wide - no ghosts in and no ghosts out. For characters who have always been incredibly haunted by their past, though in subtext, the external hauntings are being salt-circled away from them, while the human heart of the spell could symbolise the brothers’ hearts actually entering a safe space as well.

Again, why?

Because of what Sam does the moment he passes the perimeters of the spell.

He turns around and he faces a fear that has been very pronounced on the show - his fear of clowns (or, as I’d argue, his fear of people wearing masks, not showing their true face) - and he tells that fear to shut up.

Mind. So. Blown.

What a moment for him! *goddamn fist-pumping the air for him*

The heart is at the centre here, and the heart symbology has always been extremely strong with Dean, but in 13x12 it was Sam’s heart on the line and now both of them are linked to the beating heart on that mound of salt linked to a sense of safety, of protection, of trust. The potential, peeps. The potential of a deeper exploration of what the want in their heart of hearts. Yeah? 

Not just in the coming few episodes within that mile wide magical ring of protective salt, because Lord knows how long that’ll last, but through the symbology of it. I mean, what a way to instil hope that this is what they’ll all be pushed to explore during the coming season. *fingers crossed*

Thing the Third: Motivation

Or possible motivation for Belphegor. 

Given his speech in the crypt about wanting Hell to stay as it always has, it’s intriguing that he’s an opposite mirror of Anael. She had a boring, repetitive job and she couldn’t wait to get out of Heaven. She chose to make a life for herself on Earth because she actually wanted to help people (if that statement sticks) (I’d love for her to come back this season and then all bets are off) while Belphegor wants to help the Winchesters restore Hell to its recent glories so that he can go back to punching that clock. And, you know, torturing souls.

Too simple?

Yeah, maybe. 

Of course he knows who the brothers are (love that there are newspapers in Hell) and this feels like a possible plant for him actually seeking them out specifically. Might not be, but it’s an interesting plant if so. Because of how Lucifer tried to make Nick resurrect him, for one, but also because of the Heaven/Hell dichotomy overall and who’s vying for what and who’s on the side of whom. *curious af*

Here we finally have a character who might have some personal stakes in driving a wedge between these men, and what better way to drive a wedge than to dredge out truths no one’s speaking, thinking it’ll break them apart when we know it’ll actually only serve to open their eyes to their own blindness and will end up making them stronger, individually and, through that, as a group.

*gah*

Could Belphegor not be Belphegor? 

Yeah, but I don’t see why he would be. 

I think he’s Belphegor the demon, but his stated motivations might just be a half-truth. Perhaps he’s even linked to Michael. darkest!Michael would be something tbh. After all, Michael was always, even if God held the ultimate reins, the shadow along the edges of the brothers’ fate. And after a few lifetimes in that cage, I do wonder exactly what might emerge. *goosebumps* 

That said, Michael is a pale representative for toxic masculinity when the Almighty himself has stepped into those shoes, so symbolically it might be more fitting that we get something entirely different. Time will tell!

[mittensmorgul]

Who is Belphegor?

I mean, who is he, really? There’s a possibility that he’s exactly what he claims to be, but everything in me is screaming THIS IS A ZEKE SITUATION, and we don’t yet understand his true motives or identity. Since 15.01 aired, I’ve been playing around with theories, and I’ve got it narrowed down to a few I would really enjoy. I think I’ve talked about (or around) each of these theories in my tag for Belphie, and you can go read those posts here for further edification and general waffling on my part.

1. Belphegor. He might actually be exactly what he says he is. I mean, why NOT believe him? Reasons FOR the theory:

because he said so

his general behavior fits what we know about the demon Belphegor in a general sort of way

Reasons AGAINST the theory:

because he said so, and we’re watching Supernatural

the two characters I’ve seen most people ping to in reaction to him are RUBY (who lied about her entire motivation for befriending them and being helpful) and EZEKIEL (who lied about his identity and motives from the moment he showed up, and was actually Gadreel... which went over swimmingly)

his appearance was entirely too ~convenient~ to believe it at face value (he was the ONLY demon to pop out of hell in that mess, conveniently knew the exact spells they needed to get out of that predicament, is REALLY good at manipulating TFW specifically, etc. etc.)

what kind of torturer is AFRAID of the things he tortures? why would a demon fear a human ghost?

What kind of demon would ASK FOR A SACK OF SALT and then handle said salt as if it was nothing?

2. The Shadow. This was one of my first thoughts, even before the episode aired, because of the situation we knew to be true of Jack, where he was at the end of 14.20, and what he was DOING there-- i.e. having a friendly chat with Billie and the Shadow, and what the PR said about Jack feeling conflicted about returning to his body because of guilt. This felt like one of those situations that Billie would need to have HANDLED SOONEST, and the Shadow was conveniently RIGHT THERE to fill in for Jack. We already know he has the power to appear to be other beings (Cas faced him as himself in the Empty, and couldn’t tell he wasn’t Dumah in Heaven, for example), and can theoretically convincingly take on the form of whatever he wants to T-1000 style. That said, Reasons FOR:

Incredibly powerful being who could pull off everything we saw Belphegor do

snarky personality that also lines up with what we saw

INTENSE PERSONAL DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of the contents of Cas’s knowledge bank, his emotions and personality, feelings “i tiptoed through all your little tulips” style

can appear to be other types of beings in a way that Cas can’t perceive his true nature and accepts what he does see as truth

we don’t know the scope of his powers or abilities outside of the Empty or Heaven, or how he would be limited or affected by possessing a human-ish body (explaining his discomfort around a human soul since they aren’t relegated to his domain upon death, and his particular vulnerability to injury and pain in a human-ish body)

The Empty is outside of God’s purview, and therefore he may be able to operate in complete stealth without alerting Chuck to his presence on Earth in a way literally no other being could, making him the ultimate secret agent here

literally ZERO other demons seem to have escaped Hell during this containment breach. Every other being who got out has been a human soul.

Reasons AGAINST:

we just don’t know what he’s actually up to in canon. He could still be in the Empty babysitting Jack (not that we know that would be a limitation on where he could still be, if he could just scoop out a pile of goo-him and send a bit of himself off to animate Jack’s body for a while, but we don’t know if that’s possible, either)

3. Metatron. Based on what we know of how the Empty works, and how Metatron specifically died, there’s a good chance we’re seeing the return of Metatron for one of two separate reasons. He died without grace-- as a human-- so theoretically he would’ve gone to heaven, right? Like Jack did in 14.08? We know the Empty didn’t invade Heaven for HIS soul, though, so there’s a possibility that he may have gone directly to the Empty anyway. Though the way Amara killed him... there’s a chance he was “absorbed” into her (like she stated several other times happened when she “consumed” souls, you know? but we don’t know exactly what happened to Metatron other than he disappeared into a lil poof of darkness, so this is entirely theoretical conjecture). But I’ve long paralleled Amara to the Empty, and I don’t think there’s really a functional difference between being consumed by Amara and being sent to the empty, you know? They are both The Void. I literally JUST wrote this post, which inspired me to make a list in the first place, where you can read my thoughts in detail. Reasons FOR:

talk about someone ready to play foil to Chuck, the writer out of control in desperate need of an editor. Think 11.20, to the nth degree here.

golly he KNOWS Chuck’s whole “writing process,” and NOBODY is more familiar with the entire body of Chuck’s writing, going all the way back to creation

Even after he lost his mojo, he was still proficient in the sorts of spells we saw Belphegor pull out of thin air, you know?

he’s also the exact sort of snarky Belphegor has been

he was weirdly obsessed with Cas’s trenchcoat (lol, abomination) and had a MASSIVE jealous-on for Cas in general

the spell Belphegor used to erect the wall referencing river imagery (the river shall end at its source and all that)

metatron’s reluctance to engage in “direct combat” himself, and his comments to Cas from the get-go that he needed Cas because he’s not a warrior himself, which lines up with the “bad ghost! no!” behavior when faced with a direct confrontation

tangential to the above point, the fact he died HUMAN without supernatural powers would leave him vulnerable to injury from a ghost, as well as the “general pains of humanity” we saw demonstrated when Constance was able to cut his hand and cause him physical pain that way

Metatron, being the Scribe of God who basically possesses not only the knowledge of all of creation and a vast swath of human writings as well, would love the sort of game of pretending to be a specific demon this way, and would love the subterfuge of it all as well

He is REALLY good at this sort of manipulation

theoretically whether he went to heaven or the empty, billie was on hand to fetch him out and sign him up for service

Reasons AGAINST:

we don’t know where metatron went after he died, and if Amara did consume him it might not be possible to have brought him back (unless Amara is also part of this bigger cosmic plotting and helped his return the way she did with Mary, so this might not be a reason against after all)

would Metatron be able to cloak his true identity behind a false mask of a “true demon face” that Cas identified immediately? (unless he was, again, helped along with that by the Shadow or Amara... we don’t know if their powers would extend to that)

it’s a possibility that-- for whatever reason-- his soul did end up in Hell-- whether by nature of his “sins” or by design of some outside force (Bobby ended up wrongfully in Hell, too, so who knows), and he has actually become a demon, but this seems incredibly unlikely... would his soul have been demonized yet? it’s only been a few years... and again, this is pure conjecture for the sake of argument, and not based in anything in canon.

4. Balthazar. I mean, for all the reasons I stated above for Metatron being handy and ready to serve, and possibly getting an assist from Billie or the Empty to cloak his “true identity,” we know he would’ve been handily found in the Empty. Reasons FOR:

Belphegor kinda sounds like Balthazar... especially the way the being himself pronounced it (more like Belphagar)

readily to hand in the Empty and familiar with all the players on the board

broadly fits within the personality of Belphegor, known to have participated in a “menage a... what’s the french word for twelve?” aka an orgy

lol Belphegor is the Infernal Ambassador to France and that would be a hilarious coincidence... >.>

Balthazar is good at subterfuge, resourceful, good at spellwork (he was the one buying human souls in 6.03)

also pretty good at subterfuge and spy work, though Cas did see through him (sadly) and killed him for it once upon a time...

Reasons AGAINST:

would he be able to cloak his true identity? basically apply what I said about Metatron for this one

Belphegor’s speech patterns. He uses a lot of “filler words,” and Balthazar... didn’t. Then again, he uses SO MANY of them that it could be a deliberate affectation

the line about Cas’s trenchcoat (the one in the dirty trenchcoat, who’s in love with you), so he doesn’t have any particular reason to refer to it as an “abomination,” though it’s not entirely out of the question

5. A Random Reaper. Billie may have ordered one of her Reaper Babysitters to make sure Jack’s body remained safe and viable for when he was ready to return, as well as allow one of her reapers to... to quote Dean from 6.09... “interact more forcefully” with creation. Reasons FOR:

would report directly to Billie, and give Billie an on the spot window on the Winchesters

intimately familiar with the Winchesters from having kept tabs on them for the last several years

have the innate ability to control others’ perceptions of them and the world in general, so disguising their true form from Cas would’ve been easy

Reasons AGAINST:

do reapers have any other magical abilities beyond their known functions?

WHY would A REAPER be afraid of a human ghost? Literally their JOB is dealing with human ghosts

I don’t think a reaper would’ve been able to have been injured by a ghost, unless these ghosts have somehow been “supercharged” by the way Chuck forced their souls from hell... one screenshot of the ghost Cas smashed with the big stone slab showed a weird glowy-orange patch on its shoulder, almost as if it had been “marked by Chuck” and granted some sort of special dispensation of powers, like we know all those sorts of “marks” on people have in SPN canon, so this may not be an issue against.

Billie’s own “clean hands” policy for reapers... if that’s something that would still bind their actions if Billie gave them a direct order to play this specific role now.

Other theories I’ve considered are that it could be a specific reaper-- thinking possibly Tessa, since she was already in the Empty, too, and I just love her and hate what happened to her. Or possibly a random other demon, but again most of the reasons I objected to it being Belphegor apply to other demons even more strongly to Random Demon Minion #3, too. It might be a specific demon we’ve known in the past, or someone we’d known as a human who’s since become a demon, but again... that seems highly doubtful. It could also potentially be Goocifer, i.e. dead!Lucifer, but I don’t think the Shadow would’ve allowed him to just trip out of the Empty so easily. Though he did have a connection to Jack, and after death it’s possible his attitude toward everything has... shifted? the way Billie said hers did after ascending to the mantle of Death and she saw a bigger cosmic picture. If he’s had an enlightenment of sorts in death, this could be a possibility, but again... I think it’s less likely than the above notions but not something I can discount entirely, unfortunately. If he’d been “specifically depowered” like he’d been when his grace had been drained, that could explain his ability to have been injured by a ghost, for example, but would he even have the ability to hide his true form from Cas-- an angel he literally knows from the inside out, having possessed him for half a year... >.>

I’ll update this list as canon unfolds. :D

[naruhearts]

TFW, Jack Winchester & Peace of Mind...

[Dean, ext. in the Impala]

TAPE DECK: The key to quieting your mind, is minding your quiet.  [Dean pulls the tape out, throws it on the seat] —10x11 There’s No Place Like Home transcript ***

Seems like 14x15 Peace of Mind and its premise (the title, guys!) could link back to 14x09 (with all this narrative talk of quietness, tape decks, and using your words)—

x

—and 10x11 besides carrying over 14x14′s key themes of Life and Death, Family, Love and...Love, and Subtext in Storytelling.

In 10x11, Good Charlie faced Evil Charlie — the cunning and conniving (and Charlie herself was a mirror to MoC!Dean), yet she was so preoccupied with shame and guilt over her Dark mirror self that she overlooked something fundamental: the intrinsic dualism of the human condition. Say, being conniving as a hunter helps her save people. Yin and Yang. You cannot be good without evil, and you cannot be evil without good. Agency and free will matter, in that you choose which side to act on, and all the complex nuances in-between — doing something stupid (bad) for the right reasons — are the judges of your moral character. 

In Season Who Am I/Season Mirrors 14, Dean and Cas’ narrative arcs — both mirroring each other (since S12) — cycle back to this internal battle, where Dean saying Yes to Michael was a bad decision, yet it was a decision steeped in the good: his boundless love for his family and the larger safety of the world. Although he stated in 14x13 that he’s ‘good with who he is’ (and I don’t doubt the validity of it at all, because oh man it SHOWS, in almost every facet of his emotional states e.g. transparency with Cas re: his Michael-induced trauma and letting Sam separate himself from his shadow), Dean’s still experiencing a gradual uphill trek to achieving complete self-actualization after decades of John-bred negative self-process, low self-worth, and depression; it’s definitely logical to assume that Dean, at his core, will somehow blame himself for the slaughter of the AU Hunters by Michael!Rowena. 

But don’t worry — Dean’s character progression towards self-love is PALPABLY closer than it’s ever been in S14!! And we all know that, beyond his brother Sam, the key significant motivator for this is Cas: Dean’s subtextual spouse. The one he trusts wholeheartedly. The one who brought him back from the brink, many times. The one who fell for his humanity. The one who did it - all of it - for him. The one who believes Dean is ‘more than strong’/believes Sam and Dean (subtextually: DEAN) are extraordinary, brave, special, burn bright. The one who helps weed out the creeping vines of low self-worth, reminding Dean Humanity Winchester of his valuable lessons: that there is always a way, a better way, a hopeful way.

If death - if evil - still surfaces regardless of one’s perseverance and good intentions, “sometimes things just are; you have to live with that.” Most importantly--

x

Listen to your own advice, Dean.

Cas, on the other hand, struck up a deal with the Empty to protect Jack the TFW mirror. Shifting away from his sense of expendability and self-sacrifice (as the worthless means to a self-destructive end e.g. saying Yes to Lucifer, mirrored by Dean) in past seasons, Cas’ current choices (his choice to sacrifice himself for Jack) are, like Dean, steeped in Love and...Love — and Cas is very humanized this season, with an incredible scale of expressive emotions for an angel and vast internalization of overall human values and human morality — but his angelic self-awareness manifested in 14x14. This pivotal scene between Cas and his character exposition Jack showed audiences that Cas still perceives himself as a “thing” and, like Dean, Cas continues to feel the deep residue of expendability and duty as an ex-Angel of the Lord despite making recent positive characteristic leaps and bounds (his accrued trauma re: Naomi, for example, lurks in the back of Cas’ mind, reminding him of his sole purpose as Heaven’s blunt tool).

14x14’s narrative insight into Cas’ self-awareness of his position in the Winchester family as a supernatural entity (he’s put a lot of thought into knowing what may be in his future — losing Sam and Dean) hinders him from fully acknowledging and accepting the fact that he IS family. Not quite there, my friends, but he almost is.

Jack, yearning to be useful for his family, proclaimed himself a Winchester last episode in the manner most reflective and evocative of Cas, Dean and Sam’s own past choices (Michael, Lucifer, the Mark of Cain, Godstiel — you name it) (Jack’s helplessness was also visually symbolized when he turned into a “sick” dog, additionally closely mirroring Cas and particularly Dean’s duty-bound inclinations, then keeping in mind the connotations attached to Dog in the SPN narrative: expendability.)

Now it’s Jack’s turn to further find himself, sift through the respective TFW influences of faith, hope, and love (the three theological virtues represented by TFW) bestowed upon him, and “die” in order to live. Ouroboros. What path will Jack Winchester choose? What decision will he make? Is he the snake or the chicken? *Mind you, meta writers shivered in our boots once 14x14 aired*

In keeping Gorgon Noah’s snake, seemingly ‘killing’ Michael, and absorbing his grace to become a textually benevolent but subtextually ominous iteration of Godstiel while simultaneously saving his family, we can say Jack is both the chicken and the snake. Thus, in classic Winchester fashion, the effects — the benefits and consequences — of his actions shall reap important self-introspective lessons that Jack will eventually experience.

You can’t save everybody, but you can try to make choices that provide even the slightest chance of winning. If the last few key thematic episodes were any indication: faith, hope, love, and open honest communication (the latter exercised by Jack pretty liberally until Meta Extravaganza 14x14, when he dodged - again in classic Winchester fashion - his own family’s concerns via I’m FineTM) build up your resistance in a turbulent, uncertain world.

As TPTB has thematically reinforced through narrative cyclism and mirrored pathways over and over again during the past few seasons:

Self-love/positive self-process breeds life and rebirth. Self-hate/maladaptively negative self-process breeds death and destruction. To truly be human, we must live with both personal internal forces -- they are naturally interdependent. Self-hate pushes us to seek self-love. Personal imprisonment and control pushes us to break free and release ourselves from control in order to allow growth. Ultimately, life fluctuates and never stays static.

We are absolutely capable of choosing the good and acting on the good.

TFW, once they forgive ALL their faults and transform them into present/future strengths, will finally mind their quiet and have peace of mind. They’re going to realize that living a meaningful life involves the good and the bad. A dual balance of both is tantamount. Jack is the catalyst.

Everything means something.

[shallowseeker]

(Turns out I had a lot of thoughts, and not just about that broken glass. I hope this doesn't disappoint you. Here goes:)

Much ado about lamps, closets, and erect buildings.

The fight scene in 13x13 Devil's Bargain: how the symbols TFW are thrown into reveal their shadow-motivations.

Here's some overthinking to finish up your night, and happy trails!

ANAEL = DELIVERS A POWERFUL HIT TO SAM Duplicity, ambition Anael is lying to Team Free Will. Her gut punch to Sam is a sneaky surprise attack. Anael was "low-level functionary...who had ideas that no one would listen to," and now she wants Lucifer as a leashed beast to do her bidding.

Presented as a money-obsessed material girl, we later see just how much Anael cares about Heaven and Humanity. She meddles and only pretends to be money-obsessed in order to accomplish good in the world. 💔

Here, she thinks she can use Lucifer to help change the world. But she's making a very dangerous choice. Eventually, she'll get burned by Lucifer. (He'll grab her by the neck and lift her off her feet ,just a few episodes later, despite her sacrifices for him).

It seems that not even the savviest businesswoman of all time can safely siphon his power, especially using a veneer of vulnerability.

Anael looks upon Lucifer, the light, hoping to use him to run Heaven as she sees fit and better position herself to help humanity. Anael pretends to be bad, desperate to cover up how much she actually cares. We'll see that revisited in 14x01 Strangers in a Strange Land, when AU Michael compares her inherent Love to Dean.

///

SAM = HIT BY ANAEL, SAM GOES FLYING ACROSS THE ROOM Bedside table, on-lamp to off-lamp Wisdom, past mistakes; alternatively the Righteous thing versus the Selfish thing Sam gets slammed into a bedside table and a lamp, then crumples to the floor. This is a specter of Sam's past betrayals and temptations re:Lucifer's power. Sam was tempted by Lucifer's light. Sam thought he could overpower/outsmart Lucifer for the sake of Good, that Lucifer could be "a powerful lamp" that chases away the darkness and the monsters.

But just like how Sam hits the lamp, that illusion got shattered. Lucifer's light is a lie. Lucifer comes, "as everything you want," which is a callback to Lucifer's original illusory lure, in the bedroom, as Jessica Moore. But it was all a ruse.

Now, Sam knows better, but Anael, who thinks she knows, does not.

ALTERNATIVELY, this off-lamp is a reading on Sam's 2D heroic performance versus the 3D, nuanced complexity of his reality.

Sam goes flying into the bright n' shining lamp. It falls to the ground and goes out. This is because, although Sam performs heroism in the name of Pure Goodness, but he is human and as such, is just as selfishly motivated to save his family as anyone else.

Morality spirals down into Moral Relativism. When our Greater Good becomes protecting our families, that tragic weak spot leads inevitably to darkness. (This is the tragedy of humanity.)

Despite Sam's bright idealism, he is often drawn into saving his loved ones through selfish means, such as when he unleashed The Darkness.

Now, ironically, even though he knows how dangerous tangling with Lucifer can be, he will eventually participate in the same thing as Anael is doing. That is, he shackling Lucifer's power in order to rescue his family (Mary n' Jack) from AU Earth.

It's often spelled out and underlined that Dean and Cas will act as soldiers, doing "whatever it takes" to save the family, such as when Dean pulls a gun on Kaia, or when Cas brain-fries Donatello. But Sam is the same. (So are you, probably, the human who's reading this. "Everyone has a breaking point." Love is weakness, love is strength.)

///

CAS = HIT BY LUCIFER; CAS IS FLUNG UP HIGH OVER THE DOMESTIC READYING SPACE OF THE HOTEL Picture of erect skyscrapers, broken glass Duty, passion When Cas is attacked by Lucifer, he is swept UP into the wall, high, where he slams into a picture of erect buildings. For a brief moment, he's an angel plummeting from the high ground, from that place where he lives "above it all."

This is a three-part combo hit:

1) It's an emasculation, that Lucifer's got a "bigger stick," so to speak (after all, Lucifer has killed him before, and Cas is still fighting him in a fit of foolish, prolonged courageousness)

2) It's a personal nod to Cas's angelicity, "as tall as a Chrysler Building" & his subsequent "Fall from Grace"

3) It's a goading barb about Cas's duty versus his passion.

Cas may play at being solely motivated by duty and chivalrousness, but he's also "Erect, Passionate, Fallen, in Romantic Love," in ways he doesn't want others to know about.

As Cas falls, the glass shatters, breaking this illusion and revealing Castiel's lustful tendencies, the erect skyscrapers.

Cas is also in a domestic "go" space of the hotel, because of who he wants to live among. There's a sink and a stack of clean towels. He's got blood on his hands, sure. But to the angels, he's "dirty" because of how his love for Dean manifests, that he "hungers for strange flesh."

We've seen Cas torn between duty (case details on the left) and his, uh, tall erections (skyscrapers + metal on the right) before.

And Lucifer knows. He's been in Castiel's head. He sees. It's why, in Rock Never Dies, Lucifer tries to goad Castiel (as everyone does), trying to smash through his grayrock composure and get him to react. Cas is not duty-bound, and he's not pleasureless; he only pretends to be. That's why the goading takes the form it does.

When Cas hits the wall, the glass breaks and he falls. Because Lucifer wants to smash that illusion, to take Cas down a peg or two, just like Metatron wanted to--revealing Castiel's hunger, desires, affections, and motivations in full, 3D, technicolor.

///

DEAN= HIT BY LUCIFER; DEAN IS FLUNG INTO A CLOSET, WHERE IT BREAKS AND SPLINTERS, similar to the splintering wood in this episode where the demon accosts him Stereotypical hero, soft teddy bear

Lucifer backhands Dean, the universal hit of disobedience, and Dean goes flying into a literal closet, where the doors shatter and wood splinters all around him. He cowers.

This is a hit on Dean's performance as the stereotypical hero, as the constructed, mythical Malboro man. Inside the closet, Dean is soft, like the pillow on the upper shelf. He's a dork and a teddy bear, and he "wuvs hugs."

Dean's in a closet here, because he closets his true nature (yeah, I know...it's a bit on the nose)

Dean loses his (traveler’s) duffel bag, because what’s hidden inside the closet signifies his sense of home.

There's also a pillow present, because of how soft the real Dean really is, and also who he wants to share his bed with

There's a tan blanket because that bedfellow is Cas; he wants to be covered by Cas in more ways than just comradery

Dean tries to hide his affection and how his love for Cas manifests, but Lucifer knows. That's why his goading took the form it did in season 11, with the desperate, mocking "CAAAS!" This knowledge allows him to enter the bunker in season 15, using Dean's lost love as the illusory lure to get past the door.

///

Lucifer looks on Dean and Cas, thrown down as a unit, illusions shattered. He knows.

Lucifer functions a little bit as symbolic of Chuck's judging eyes here, too.

In the splintered ruins of Dean's emotional walls, and in the shattered remains of Castiel's legendary, military composure, they're right next to one another, almost as if caught out by the Narrative Gaze.

And here we have the layout of the scene:

Dean, broken and vulnerable, with his closet split open, flanked by remnants it’s doors, and splintered pieces. It reveals a soft pillow, a tan blanket. He’s hunched over deep—his squishy insides revealed.

Cas, defeated but stubborn, still desperately crawling towards Dean amidst all that broken glass.

Cas's disarmed angel blade is exposed, in close proximity to Dean, angled at him and nestled alongside one of Dean's splintered pieces.

The truth: Dean is not his performance of Dean. Cas is not solely motivated by Heavenly duty.

As he moves to shield Dean (an extension of his absence in this scene), the rest of the scene reveals a lot about the truth of Cas's protection, the nature of his fall, and about who he shields and why.

It's not a holy cause. This is simpler. Forbidden. Down to earth. (Affection.)

And they cannot protect each other from everything.

///

Meanwhile, Sam is in a deep crouch of his own, hunched over near the blacked-out lamp, also taking a heavy kick to the guts.

After Ketch saves them, Sam stands and helps his brother to his feet (signifying acceptance).

And they stand as a united front against Ketch, Sam flanked by two familial defenders. It calls to mind Chuck's quote, "You still think that Dean and Cas will come charging in, just in the nick of time. You still think you can win."

Well, one thing's for sure. They'll sure as Hell try.

I really enjoyed you pointing out that both dean and mary were assaulted in the same ep. I'd never noticed that before. what do you think about the scene where lucifer attacks all three of them (devil's bargain)? There's broken glass on the floor and i wanna know if you think that's anything

I don't have any thoughts about it right away, but I'll be happy to make something up if inspiration strikes.

[elizabethrobertajones]

Remember how Dean used to hate Jack because he blamed him for Cas’s death? And Jack struggled with if it was all his fault. (I still think that the pain of “oh no! Cas’s death was my fault just like Kelly’s” realization when Jack overheard Dean shouting at Sam was part of what powered bringing Cas back from the Empty) Now, when Cas dies because of his deal with Shadow, Jack will likely blame himself. Jack knows but he promised Cas not to tell, but what keeping this secret must be doing to him1/?

2/3 It probably seems to Jack like the same thing is going to happen all over again. Like, when Cas will die and Dean will be destroyed by it and it would be all his fault, like before, aaaah (and what if he worries that Dean will think so too and hate him again when he finds out)

3/3 I hope that Jack is too well-adjusted for this type of angst, but with having to keep the secret he can’t really talk to anybody about all this and work through possible issues. And TFW are not the best role models in that regard even though they’re trying and getting better)

Listen, our blissfully sweet cherub boy has died and come back at the price of a weeeeee sliver of his soul. Just a pinch. A tiny weeny nip off the side. Hardly feel it. But yes, I wonder if his metaphorical death and return, which only added deep horrifying emotion to the plot of the season in the sense of it being the Michael arc, with this as an emotional subplot, and of course they could have come up with any way to get us to Michael but a Naomi tip off after all this is as good as anyway…. I wonder, just wonder, if Sweet Nougat Son might now have disappeared not in whole but in part. Just enough to get rid of the pure joyful childlike bliss he died with, all enthusiastic and don’t cry for me I’m going to have an adventure!! Just a sliver off the top to take him down a notch to still sweet, but, you know, just a little bitterness for flavour. 

Asking him to keep a huge secret of a deal made on his behalf which basically guarantees Cas’s emotional torture and a perhaps untimely death if Cas can’t keep being Sulk Of The Year every year for millennia under the stress of being surrounded by loving family and friends… That’s going to start to give lil nougat boy something heavy to carry on his shoulders which isn’t as simple as good and evil and revenge and justice, all these big weighty concepts he’s been dealing with. Now he has to suffer silence and secrets and he KNOWS lying is wrong and you don’t do it, and it makes him extremely forthright and quick to call out people sitting on feelings they don’t want to share… 

I don’t think they’ll drastically change him, because Lily remained emotional to the end on a last sliver of her soul and of course was plenty emotional in 12x10. But she knew she HAD changed, and Jack’s used a magic that necessarily involves harming a core part of himself - the part we always say is the nougat centre of such a sweet boy - and for her it was the motive of spite and keeping alive to revenge her daughter and so on. Jack wants to live just to live and have a happy life, but… Well, the angst is starting to sink its claws into him… D:

[casneedsmyrrh]

Hi :) ive been binging lots of shows lately and wanna talk about them. join me?

lots of paragraphs below the cut with spoilers, but if you watch any of these shows, speak to me, friend!!

-i finally watched the season finale of Supernatural. i kinda skimmed thru several ep’s to get there, im not sure if i even saw the full season. pleasantly surprised by the ending would be a massive understatement. that was easily the best finale since the angels falling at the end of s8. idk what the deal was with that thing staring down at jack, maybe i missed something earlier in the season that would explain it, idk, but i continue to really like jack’s character, he’s sorta been the only interesting part of the show for like 2 or 3 seasons now, whenever it was he was introduced. loved tfw all back to back to back as the monsters they spent all the previous seasons vanquishing surrounded them. absolute perfect music to accompany the scene. the eerie atmosphere in the graveyard and the obvious allusions to past moments of the show? *chef kiss*. i will actually watch the final season after that ending. i have my opinions about dean that i will keep to myself. cas i barely recognize anymore. sam i wish would stand up to dean more but i mean it’s season 14 or whatever so thats obvs not gonna change.

-riverdale. im not all the way caught up on it yet, but i decided to give the show a shot so i could see luke perry, a childhood crush of mine, and was not at all expecting to see skeet ulrich also, a 2nd crush lol. the show instantly hooks you with the mystery. i’m on i believe season 3 now and i can honestly say that ive really fallen in love with many of the characters. lots of stuff makes me roll my eyes, the show is super melodramatic, and there’s way too many teens having sex (god im old, who even says that? old ppl, thats who) but every ep i keep in mind this show is meant for a younger audience, it’s not for me. the singing is cringey every time tho, sorry yikes. and there’s references to 80′s and 90′s pop culture in just about every scene of the show that i can imagine is going right over the younger viewers heads.

-schitt’s creek. omg. if you havent watched it and are trying to think of a show to watch next, please i beg of you, watch this one. it is flawless. absolutely hysterical, i love every character and every ep. i loved it so much that im gonna watch it again. please watch it.

-im gonna combine Oz and The Wire bc the shows are both old af at this point but i finally got amazon prime and was able to watch these two shows that i remember seeing the commercials for when i was barely a teenager and wanting to watch them then. both were great. Oz is def a little dated, but The Wire could air today and prob hold up even better now with all the f’d up corruption going on in the world. The casts for both shows were an endless lineup of huge actors who were just getting started too.

-good omens. ummmm :-/ i did love the 2 mains ofc, but the show itself? maybe it just wasnt my type? not made for me? idk, it was very overhyped on here. not something id watch again.

-outlander. what.the.fuck. couldnt make it past halfway thru season 2, and it’s rare for me to just stop watching a show. the whole thing is just about torture. the whole show. sexual assault and torture. every ep. no thanks.

-breaking bad. i know right? like who hasnt seen this show. me, i hadnt, oops. it was good but another that i felt was overhyped. haaaated walt. hated him. there were no redeeming qualities or moments for him, everything had this shadow of betrayal and ulterior motives beneath the surface. the brother in law grew on me and so did jesse but overall, very unlikable main characters.

i cant think of any other shows, it feels like ive watched tons lately. i think my next undertaking will be lucifer but im not committed to the idea of it yet. any suggestions for shows? they have to be on netflix, prime or hulu though, or regular basic cable.

also i have several followers on this tumblr that i believe are following me for criminal minds content. just a heads up that all cm stuff is over on my other page allhallowsreid

my god, i played sick to get outta work today and im just like.. i would STILL be there right now, jfc. the american work day is fuckin barbaric.

[amwritingmeta]

14x11 and 14x12: Epic Bookends

Found this in drafts and I thought I’d post it. Interesting how the breaking of the codependency has been pulled on with ever increasing sincerity since 13x20. In 15x05 it was a stark thread running through the episode and no, I do not believe the answer to how best to break it is through one brother killing the other. I mean, seriously tut, Chuck, tut. :)

TFW are going through a bit of a tough time, aren’t they? Poor men. Isn’t it glorious? Okay, don’t get me wrong, I feel for them, but all the things that this tough time might be setting up for is making me want to shimmy-shake.

Firstly, I’d like to outline my view of Dean and how I see him relating himself to Sam this season, because these bookends are all about commenting on the breaking codependency.

The codependency, to my mind, was cracked down the middle in 13x20, in that final scene, where Dean realises what his view on life, and family, has meant for Sam’s view on life and family -->

This view is not what Dean wants for Sam. This attitude of them being so closely tied to one another that whatever happens to one of them, happens to both of them, is unhealthy, and Dean’s eyes finally opened to this fact as he, through Sam’s statement, realised exactly how toxic his influence has been on Sam, and it lent him an important tool to begin digging into the self-reflection that’s been going on this season.

Because why has his influence been toxic? Where does this toxicity stem from? Having his behaviour marked as an actual threat to Sam was the needed push for Dean to gain new self-perspective, and through it, grow actually aware of his shadow. 

(which is, of course, why he very soon after comes face to face with Michael, who represents Dean’s shadow, just as the Empty represents Cas’ shadow)

Now, Dean has absolutely struggled with Sam’s newfound independence as Chief of their tribe, but he’s also very much accepted Sam taking the lead, and supported it. This whole season, he’s been trying to let go. 

Let go of his old view of who he’s been told he has to be, let go of the past, let go of how he’s always leaned on Protect Sammy as his core motto. 

Now, Sam is a good leader and he’s proven that this season. He’s moved into that role very aware that Dean might object to it, but he’s stood his ground and hasn’t simply handed over the cape, as it were, to Dean. However, Sam has also struggled with his newfound role, battling with his own search for the answers to who he is and who he wants to be.

Questions he won’t be able to answer properly until the codependency is over and done with, because Dean’s need of him over the years has become such a defining part of how Sam understands his place in the world, and what his purpose is, that Sam doesn’t know who he is without it. 

But through Dean being possessed and taken away, Sam was given the necessary foundation to remember his own independence, and he was given a clean motivation to step into the leader shoes as it was wholly tied to getting Dean back. It removed the fear of what it would mean (and the thought that it’s easier to follow than to lead) and gave Sam purpose, which makes any situation easier to face. 

He’s the born leader. We’ve gotten to see that this season. Sam has gotten to feel and experience what it’s like to lead this season. It’s a position he should embrace without fear or hesitation, but the hesitation is there, stemming from the fear in not entirely trusting himself yet.

None of these men entirely trust themselves yet, I would venture to say.

But what we’ve been given in these last couple of episodes make me feel perhaps overly positive that they will learn how to, possibly soon, and once they dare trust in themselves, because they know who they are and who they want to be, then they can all answer the question What Do I Want?

Yeah? Everything that’s happening in the narrative right now is pushing for this, to my mind. So. Let’s look at the bookends and I’ll explain why this might all be setting up for questions being answered.

14x11

1. Dean’s Got a Plan

So we get Dean packing a duffel with tools he’ll need for something unknown. He’s clearly determined and focused. (and looks like there’ll be welding) (and oh boy will there be)

He then steps out of the room and gives us a look down the hall -->

If that expression he’s wearing isn’t resignation, then I don’t know what is. It’s like he’s considering, just for a moment, to go see Cas one last time, but thinks better of it, because there’s no telling where that might lead, and he can’t afford distractions. 

So, then. 

Off he goes to see his brother, and here’s where things begin to take a turn for the highly interesting to me, because my first impression of this scene and how it plays out is this: in Dean’s behaviour is a clear cry for help. 

I’ll dig into why I think that, bear with me, but it’s a cry that ripples into 14x12. (and it’s loud)

2. Take Care, Sammy

Oh, this scene. It’s about their relationship and how they now relate to their relationship differently. 

Sam tells Dean that of course he’s trying to help, to find another way. Always. And asks if Dean’ll hop in, help out. Old patterns.

Dean’s grateful, but hesitant, breaking the news gently of how he wants to go on the road, and, for me, very much giving Sam a gentle nudge away from their old patterns into their individual new patterns by telling Sam that he wants to go have alone time with Mary.

This is all good, except for how it’s covering up the hidden agenda of self-sacrifice.

Dean’s self-destructive behaviour this time around is based in self-blame. He let Michael in, he said yes, all of this is on him, he should be the one to pay for his mistakes. Billie tells him this is the only way and, because he’s already been thinking it, it makes sense. It confirms what he already believes is the right thing. That’s the coolly logical side of his brain, right?

But here’s what I think: Dean consciously believes in what his logical brain is telling him, and that there’s no other way, but even so, he sincerely does not want to do this alone. Subconsciously, I believe it goes even deeper, into where he absolutely doesn’t want to do this, but his self-blame makes it impossible for him to outright ask for help.

How can he put that on the people he loves?

Surface level, consciously, he’s still crying out for a support network, because he doesn’t want to go to his death by himself.

Deeper level, subconsciously, what he truly needs is for that support network to step in and tell him he’s wrong, to take some of the weight off, to be a part of the decision making process, so that it’s not all on him if it goes south.

Because risking it going south through making bad choices by himself means he’d rather choose the safety of the Mal’Akh box.

So, then. He cannot ask the people he cares about to simply stand by and watch him go through with Billie’s plan, but what he truly needs, on a conscious and subconscious level, is their support. 

Here’s where this Help Me, Save Me From Myself subtext comes into play, because when Sam says -->

Dean’s expression becomes pained hesitation as he looks like he’s considering actually letting the cat out of the bag -->

--> again because what he really needs is Sam’s support in this, not just sneaking out without even telling him the truth.

But he simply cannot tell Sam what he’s about to do due to those old patterns, feeling guilt and fear in equal measure: guilt that he would have to ask Sam to assist in his death, fear that Sam might turn around and refuse and fall back on those old patterns, and Dean sees all the dangers in having anyone change his mind and balks at the mere idea.

But that support, though. That need for support is still real. And that deeper-level Fuck Someone Needs To Step In And Stop Me Because I Can’t See Any Way to Stop Myself.

Because of his awareness of his old patterns with Sam, and because of how he’s not entirely convinced Sam has broken free of them, he’s worried about the impact Sam learning of his decision will have, so what Dean has to do is make it Sam’s choices leading Sam to understand what’s going down.

Tiny bit manipulative, absolutely, but necessarily so.

And, honestly, the way the episode is set up, it even feels like Dean doesn’t want Sam to find out before he’s built the box, so that he has it to show for himself, proving that this thing that’s supposedly impossible to build, is possible to build. Billie came through with the blueprints. And if she came through on that, then why shouldn’t she be right about everything else?

Yeah?

So, what does he do, then?

He gives the first real sign that something is truly wrong.

I say he does it in the hopes that Sam will pick up on it and act on it -->

I mean, the dialogue alone! If that’s not cause for concern, then Sam has not been through hell and more with his big brother. But he has. So there is real cause. And Sam immediately highlights it to anyone not noticing it by putting it in dialogue when he calls Mary, telling her all about how worried he is and what them hugging stands for.

Things are really bad, indeed.

We get Dean’s needed support network shown being just as concerned as they should be, picking up on his signals along the way. The most glaring one, of course, being Dean choosing to build the Mal’Akh box in the near proximity of his clever, inquisitive hunter mother.

This is not someone who wants his activities to go unnoticed. Seriously.

3. Mal’Akh 

The emotional threads that are set up in the opening are then tied up in the closing, which has a precursor in Mary telling Dean off for keeping his decision from Sam, and where she takes responsibility on herself for Sam learning the truth, because if Dean doesn’t tell him - she will. 

The relief!! ^^^

Where we open on images of Dean packing up the tools needed to literally put himself in a box (I mean I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: what I see here is a commentary on what societal pressure does to you and it makes my heart sing) (little boxes on the hillside), we now land in the image of that box being completed -->

Nice. Visual. Bookend. MH!

The packing up of the tools that led into the Take Care, Sammy exchange brings us into finishing the episode with this bookend exchange between the brothers, and it is lovely. 

And so is the dialogue, because Dean lays it all on the table, and the biggest callback to the opening scene is this:

Dean: I didn’t have a choice. Sam, you’re the last person I could tell, the last person I could be around, because you’re the only one who could talk me out of it. And I won’t be talked out of it. I won’t. I’m doing this. Now, you can either let me do it alone, or you could help me. But I’m doing this. 

Dean’s gentle nudging from the opening scene now becomes a statement.

His testing of Sam letting him go off on this road trip, to have some alone time with mom, becomes Dean, not in so many words, calling out their pattern of interference.

He’s not stating it, but the subtext here is: the codependent guilt-tripping is unhealthy and I can’t have you using it to emotionally manipulate me out of my duty.

He even further makes the case for himself by first giving Sam no way around the stakes here: according to the all-seeing Billie - aka Death - the only way to beat Michael and save the world is if Dean does exactly this.

So he will not be talked out of it. 

And he doesn’t need to be dropped to the bottom of the ocean with Sam’s refusal to understand and the guilt that would produce weighing on him.

He phrases it so delicately when he says Now, you can either let me do it alone, or you could help me.

See, he makes that request now, because he’s finally in a good position, where it’s not about their codependent behaviour, but rather about breaking it. He’s asking Sam for his help, for his support, plain and simple.

Now, as I said, I think that Dean believes, consciously, he has to do this, right? So he’s pushing through and is underlining how talking him out of it - or even trying to - is not gonna fly.

But, oh, man, remember subconsciously? Yeah. Deep down, somewhere that he’s not even consciously aware of, because this side to him - the side that wants to live - has been too deeply repressed, but this subconscious side to him does not want to do this, and I’d go so far as to say that this side to him is actually hoping for the intervention that is laid on him in 14x12.

So, let’s press on -->

14x12

--> with two pieces of dialogue.

We get the opening of this episode being all to do with Dean’s fear. He’s having a nightmare of being at the bottom of the ocean, the box is about to start taking in water, once it fills - his body will die, which means Michael will get free of the freezer and will revive him, right? And that’s what Sam is about to hit on, clarifying Dean’s fear in dialogue. But, of course, there’s so much more.

Let’s look closer at the First Exchange -->

Dean: It’s just—... Bad dream. It’s fine. Sam: You wanna talk about it? Dean: No, I’m okay. What’re you doing? You should get some sleep. Sam: You know, Dean, you don’t have to act like what you’re planning to do is just business as usual. I know you’re scared. Dean: Never said I wasn’t scared. But it doesn’t matter. Sam: Doesn’t matter? Dean, we know we could die - doing what we do it’s always a possibility - but what you’re talking about is far worse than death. Michael’s an archangel. He could, literally, keep you buried in a coffin, alive, forever. Dean: Okay. I get it. But what’s the other option, huh? Michael gets out of my head and ends the world? ‘Cause it’s all right there in Billie’s book. Sam: Yeah, but that’s only if we don’t find another way to take Michael off the board and there has to be another way.  Dean: And what is that other way? Exactly.

This first piece of dialogue is so important for setting up the emotional journey for both brothers this episode. 

Sam knows exactly what this plan means for Dean. More than that, he knows Dean’s scared. Sam’s scared for him. This whole thing is crazy. It’s not run-of-the-mill, it’s not their normal gig, it’s enormous and overwhelming and horrifying. It’s the possible end of the world, as Dean points out.

And Dean can’t talk about this stuff with Sam, because he doesn’t want to put that burden on his brother. He never has. Because Sam’s more than just a brother, he’s a son, he’s Dean’s charge, his responsibility, and he’s always protected him, so Dean’s not going to weaken in his resolve.

But this entire episode is about weakening his resolve, and even more it’s about showing us exactly what Dean needs for his resolve to weaken.

Which, very quickly, is stated to be Cas and Sam intervening. Cas being imperative, which is why it’s so important that he actually show’s up in person at the hospital.

 Aw, it’s so purdy!!

But this is about the codependency, so I’m putting Cas somewhere on the sideline for this post. *sorry Cas* *you’re very important* *never doubt*

Here’s the Second Exchange -->

Dean: Where’s the party? Sam: It’s right here. I mean, we’re celebrating, right? Dean: Okay. Sam: But not too much! Tomorrow morning we’re back on track. No rest for the self-destructive. Dean: Well, I will call this a win. Kinda nice - going out on a high. Sam: Going out being the operative phrase. Dean: I’m sorry. Sam: “Sorry.” How sorry are you? Sorry that you plan to keep Donatello alive, but when it comes to you you just throw in the towel? Or are you sorry that after all these years, our entire lives, after I’ve looked up to you, after I’ve learned form you, I’ve copied you, I followed you to Hell and back, are you sorry that all of that, it means nothing now. Dean: Who’s saying that? Sam: You are. I mean, you’re telling me I have to kill you. I mean, you’re telling me that I have to just throw away everything we stand for. Throw away faith. Throw away family. We’re the guys who save the world, we don’t just check out of it.  Dean: Sam, I have tried everything. Everything. I got one card left to play, and I have to play it. Sam: You have one card today, but we’ll find another tomorrow, but if you quit on us today, there will be no tomorrow. You tell me you don’t know what else to do, I don’t either, Dean, not yet, but what you’re doing now, it’s wrong. It’s quitting! I mean, look what just happened. Donatello never quit fighting so we could help him because he never gave up. I believe in us, Dean. I believe in us! Why don’t you believe in us too? Dean: Okay, Sam. Let’s go home. Sam: What? Dean: Let’s go home. Maybe Billie’s wrong. Maybe. But I do believe in us. (Cas exits, joins them) I believe in all of us. And I’ll keep believing until I can’t. Until there’s absolutely no other way. But when that day comes— if that day comes, Sam, you have to take it for what it is: the end. And you have to promise me that you’ll do then what you can’t do now, and that’s let me go. And put me in that box. (to Cas) You too. Alright, you heard me, let’s go home. Don’t hit me again, okay?

There’s so much here. This is the culmination of these past two episodes, with Sam’s need to have this confrontation, to feel like Dean believes in them, in him, being reflected in so many moments that’s come before throughout the series, where Sam’s let Dean dictate the conditions of their communication, or draw a line for when and how he feels ready to open up to Sam prodding him.

Sam very nearly manages what he sets out to do here, too - wake Dean from his fatalistic attitude - but he doesn’t quite get through (unless it’s pushed further faster than how it’s setup here, of course) because Dean is very, very far gone at this point, and he relents to Sam because what else can he do.

Only lookit, because beauty:

everything set up in 14x11 with regards to Dean’s internal need is also brought to a culmination here

he has convinced himself that all he truly wants from his brother is his superficial support

but what he really needs is exactly this intervention - from both Sam and Cas - telling him that there will be another way, that he can’t give up

consciously Dean has convinced himself he has to go in that box, because he fears what confronting Michael will actually mean

subconsciously Dean doesn’t want to go in that box, because deep down he longs for a long and happy life and he understands the only way to get it is by confronting Michael

It’s the end of the world as we know it. (possibly)

As for the codependency, the moving away from it that we get from Dean, where there’s an undercurrent of awareness and him trying to break their well-worn pattern, is underlined by the final scene of 14x11.

But here, we get Sam doing exactly what Dean has tried so hard to avoid. We get Sam falling back in that same pattern, unable to let go. Jared’s delivery of that “Why don’t you believe in us too?” after grabbing Dean and holding onto him, for real, makes me cry every time I watch it. It’s so poignant. And it’s such a stark highlighter of what it is Sam truly needs in order to grow up and be his own person: to let go of Dean. (his father figure)

And Dean, he looks so defeated. He can’t possibly say no to Sam, and he feared this was where they’d end up, and he realises that Sam isn’t ready. But Dean knows that Sam will, most likely, need to ready himself.

And here’s the zinger - even if Dean doesn’t end up in that box, this is still possibly and hopefully an important direction marker for Sam for the rest of the season. 

Where do we want Sam to end up? We want him to be able to let Dean go, we want him to stand on his own two feet, strong in his own identity, one that’s completely separated from Dean.

This doesn't mean they won’t be brothers who love each other very much and work together, it just means that Sam’s fear of what it means for Dean to be gone will be removed, because Sam will know who he is without Dean, and, more importantly, who he wants to be.

[sidecarghost]

I think that is logical and really beautiful ending. Sam and Eilleen in bunker yes! I hope they get that ending. I just don’t want Castiel and Dean dead after camera stops rolling. So I tried to rack brain to keep them alive. But still make a coherent ending.

Angel!Dean raises Castiel from the Empty

I had idea for Jack (not sure if bonkers): Jack can turn humans to angels right? So Castiel dies goes to Empty, heartbroken Dean convinces Jack to turn him into angel, because only angels and demons go to the Empty. Jack also offers choice to all dead hunters in Heaven to become angels. Everyone wonderful that has helped TFW and then ended up fridged now has choice to continue resting in peace in Heaven or be transformed into angel to continue to do good works.

Dean leads the hunter angels in an assault on the Empty and grips Castiel tight and rescues him from Shadow. The original meet cute of angel rescue between Dean and Castiel is repeated but roles reversed. After the epic rescue, Angel!Cas and Angel!Dean split their time between Heaven garrison with badass hunter angels and their beekeeping farm on Earth. Non Destiel shippers can pretend that the beekeeping farm has separate bedrooms.

This ending is “very final” because Castiel can “finally” see Heaven restored which has bugged him for years and years. And ending is adorable so I’m sure once Misha read it he was like yes this is exactly what I want for Castiel, beekeeping and counting flowers with Dean.

Also Chuck gives up writing and goes back to gardening with Joshua. Death prob had some scheme going too but I don’t have firm enough understanding of her motives to speculate.

Jack has fulfilled his destiny of making things balanced and wonderful by restoring Heaven not with bureaucrat angels but with badass hunter angels. He gets raised by his three dads by taking turns visiting Sam and Eileen in bunker and Dean and Castiel in Heaven or beekeeping. He prob also drops in on Rowena reigning over Hell now and then.

How I think Supernatural will end

Okay so I said that I was gonna do a full post about how I think the spn ending will be so:

My original ending

Originally I thought Supernatural would end with Dean and Sam parting ways because you can’t have Sam and Dean together and not continue the series itself. So instead Sam would stay in the Men of Letters bunker, end up with Eileen, and together they’d lead a hunter school in the bunker.

Dean, on the other hand, I always envisioned driving off with Cas doing monster-hunting across the country, therefore, separated from Sam but still “close enough” to have contact. However, there are two problems with that theory:

1. Throughout the show out of the two brothers, Dean has always been the one who craved a home. The one who wanted to put down roots. So him driving across the country wouldn’t really put down any roots.

2. It would make no sense to have the brothers separate like that all of a sudden because they’d still be too close to one another proximity-wise, which wouldn’t be believable because if Sam and Dean are so close to one another Supernatural can’t end.

My new ending

But now I’m envisioning it a bit differently:

Let’s start with Sam:

I still think he’ll start up a hunter school possibly with Eileen because I do think she’ll come back in the end. In the last couple of seasons, Sam’s been a leader when needed and we’ve seen he is capable and actually really good at being one with the AU!hunters. So he’d continue the legacy by starting a hunter school in the Men of Letters Bunker together with Eileen.

Jack:

I don’t really know to be honest. For a long time I thought he’d replace God in Heaven but it never fully sat right with me because that would mean a 3 or 4-year-old would be leading Heaven without Jack ever having been able to be a kid. He was born into a war and he’s had to be a soldier the entire time.

So I’ve been revising it a lot and I think him living in the bunker together with Sam, meeting new people and making friends would be his ending? I don’t know Jack’s a hard one. I don’t necessarily see my new theory happen and think the first one is a bit more likely for the writers but also think they wouldn’t fully like it? I don’t know.

Now onto Cas and Dean:

Cas is gonna die. I love him with all my heart and he. is. going. to. die. A lot of people have been guessing he’ll die in ep 18 or 19 and will be sent to the Empty. I definitely think that’s gonna happen.

The Empty is gonna take him when he’s the happiest. So for Cas to be his happiest self, everything with God should be resolved. Now Jensen said in an interview that episode 19 is the season finale and that episode 20 is the series finale, so I’m guessing that God will be resolved in episode 19 and Cas will be taken by the Empty maybe in the last couple of minutes of episode 19.

Now here’s where Dean comes in. The guys (J2) have said it’s different then what they expected, which for them was probably Dean and Sam go out with a blast (they’ve basically said this multiple times). So I’m guessing that’s not happening.

But something really worth noting is that, especially this season, there has been a lot of emphasis on how Dean copes when Cas is gone or dead. In that he doesn’t cope, he literally muddles through but one way or another it eventually consumes him and he dies. So for Dean to have a happy ending Cas needs to have one too.

Not just that but for Team Free Will to have a (somewhat) happy ending Cas needs to be next to Dean, alive (in a sense). Because Dean can’t be happy without Cas. The writers have shown this time and time again. If Dean isn’t happy then Sam isn’t happy because he’s worried and then Jack isn’t happy because he’s worried. So Cas needs to be with Dean.

So while I think we’ll see Cas again after he dies, I don’t think it’ll be the way we want it. Misha has basically confirmed today that Cas will have a final ending and it’s the ending he wants (which we all know he’s been saying left and right he wants Cas to die so yeah). So be ready for tonnes of tears because he’s gonna die but, one way or another, Dean will be offered the chance to join him in the afterlife. They’ll build their home in the afterlife together, waiting on Sam, Jack, and Eileen once they pass to join them.

Destiel:

That’s also as far as the destiel confirmation will go. It’s pretty clear the writers can’t go all out from the suits but it’s also pretty clear that the writers room has been pushing for destiel this season in whatever way they can. So we won’t have it explicitly but they will be together.

The ending I think it will be:

Summary: Sam will start up a hunter school with Eileen in the Men of Letters bunker possibly raising and training Jack. While Cas and Dean will be “living” in the afterlife where they’ll welcome Sam, Eileen, and Jack once it’s their time too. While it’s half bonkers it’s also the most logical ending. We’ll have a very sad and painful ending with Sam and Dean separating for a while to be reunited once Sam passes but it makes the most sense because otherwise if the brothers stay together Supernatural can’t end.