#this means a lot snon

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

I can't believe I'm giggling over nrc npc x yuu stuff,,,, man you're a great writer. I love all of the personalities you put in then and the references!!!

[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.

[erythristicbones]

me, taking photos of my dumb snake son who i love lots: how many ppl can I send these to b4 they get tired of me