#13x23 meta

[vendettasfanfictioning]

Tell me how Dean fucking Winchester became a vampire, a demon, and an angel and somehow still managed to be a better dad figure than John.

#the bar was so low dean tripped on it at some point in hell lmao #but come ON #spn #watching spn #supernatural #dean winchester #john winchester #dean.txt #dean meta #i guess #jack kline #13x23

[restlesshush]

I think I’m going to further expand on these tags of mine re Jack and the concept of family, because it is just a fundamental concept to making sense of Jack, and I’ve finished the show now so I can.

Basically, “family” as conceived of in terms of a group of people who care about each other, support each other etc and crucially, feel obligations to do those things is just a useless concept to apply to jack. Where would he have got it from, y’know? Of people who initially take him in, one wants to kill him, and one is being kind to him, but is also focussed on getting him to use his powers, and is advocating being being useful as a way to stop the other one from wanting to kill him. Like, when he calls them his family in 13x23, he’s barely had any positive interactions with Dean at all, and in fact their most recent interaction was Dean shooting him and calling him “psycho”, after which he gets incredibly distressed. It should be pretty clear from all this that you can’t treat his use of the word “family” as saying anything particularly meaningful about his relationships with Sam and Dean. Like, the situation does get better in s14, but that’s just people treating him better, and they fundamentally are still the same people who treated him the way they treated him in s13 – that past stuff still doesn’t disqualify them from the designation “family” for him.

And then it’s not just that taking “family” at face value as used by Jack is misleading, it’s also incredibly informative to know that you can’t. Like, because he has no reason to think anyone has any obligations towards him / his well-being, it’s not something he thinks! This is part of why he just does not realise he’s been mistreated – because he doesn’t realise that it’s possible to mistreat him. Obviously his self worth issues and belief/fear that he’s inherently evil play into this too, but like, however cruel someone within his ~family~ is to him, they can’t be falling short of anything in his mind, because there’s nothing for them to fall short of. In early s13 Sam and Dean’s treatment of him does rankle him, but once he’s designated them family and rationalised all that as okay, he does just become a mistreatment sponge. Like the idea of better treatment as something he could be entitled to just flat out doesn’t occur to him, because there’s no reason for it to. His notion of “family” doesn’t feature the idea of him being someone who’s owed care and respect.

Season 15 is obviously where this is most apparent, given Sam and Dean tried to lock him in a box forever and then Dean nearly killed him but he’s still desperately seeking their forgiveness for accidentally killing Mary, and trying to die to this end. He never shows any indication of thinking that they could/should be being kinder to him, which is again, because there’s no way for it to occur to him to think he might be owed that. He has no points of reference for it! Any expectations he has of people’s behaviour towards him are only factual: he can be upset when they turn out not to be true, but not indignant, because there’s no unspoken contract that’s being broken.

Given family terminology is used a lot by/around Jack in the show, it is really important to have a solid grasp of what’s going on with it. There are points (mostly early to mid s14) where the show does want you to view tfw 2.0 as a family with a bunch of positive connotations, so it’s understandable to be deceived by this into thinking Jack’s conception of family aligns with a more generally held one about care and obligation, but the thing is it really really doesn’t! And that is absolutely central to understanding him and his relationships with the rest of tfw.

#spn meta #jack kline #spn s13 #spn s14 #spn s15 #spn 13x23 #usertabitha #spn #worded thoughts

[kjosi]

Some of dean’s biggest crimes / worst decisions, words and action-wise,  tend to spawn from when he’s been blindsided and has no clue what tf is going on. Often he doesn’t have all the facts, he’ll be pitted and cornered, and comes to hasty conclusions esp when time is of the essence, acting as the decision-maker he’s had to become over the years, growing up. But then the problem is that he doesn’t realize that he doesn’t need to do that all the time. And that continuing to act that way can be very damaging to himself and those he cares about.

Some examples include soulless sam, the gadreel-possession arc, agreeing to the moc (despite NOT knowing what these vague ‘consequences’ are), his treatment of Jack in early s13 (literal widower just. reacting. to everything and trying/failing to wrap his head around that what they were building up to all during s12 was untrue, and unlearning that, and that Jack is just a kid, who is also an adult somehow, and capable of good!), Dean saying yes to Michael in s13 finale, and of course the divorce arc in late s14/ early s15.

Things happen, Dean didn’t have any actual planned involvement in the things that occurred, like they either occurred behind his back ,or he was cornered into making the best decision he could (whether or not it was ‘right’ or ‘wrong’):

1) Dean asking Death to save Sam’s soul from the cage and have it be returned to his brother, despite being told this could be extremely damaging to him. This due in response to him not knowing that Cas had half-assedly resurrected Sam in s6 without his soul, while Sam’s soul was still getting tortured in hell!!) (a whole other post to be made on that) 2) Gadreel offering to save Sam in 09x01, and Dean taking him up on it, remembering how messed up Sam was and how he didn’t think he deserved to continue to live in a world where he kept fucking up /disappointing his brother, etc. Giving Sam a chance to heal and wanting to tell him at every opportunity he could about the angel possession, but then getting blackmailed by Gadreel into staying quiet, else RIP Sam once again. 3) Dean getting manipulated by Crowley and Cain into agreeing to take on the moc despite not knowing anything about it because he always deals with consequences which he can deal with later, of course!! 4) Cas straight up getting killed in front of Dean’s eyes and him having Zero time to actually mourn properly without getting his world turned upside down by having a kid thrown in his lap, which up until a few episodes ago the plan for everyone had been to kill Jack! 5) Not seeing any other way other than to agree to let AU Michael possess him in order to save both Jack and Sam from Lucifer, resulting in new-brand “michael monsters” who are impervious to regular attacks and then of course Dean not being able to fend off Michael from within aka Michael would be left to roam free and take control of a second earth. 6) Sam and Rowena were off doing one thing in 15x03, Cas and Belphegor were down in Hell (they should NOT have been paired together. Jack was their kid and shouldn’t have been solely paired with any one of them ESP!! not Cas, considering his outright vocalization of the absolute heinousness of Belphegor possessing Jack’s corpse, he is an abomination, Cas can’t even look at him. absolute Dean crimes 100%) - while Dean was waiting by the rupture. The plan with Belphegor fails bc he was evil and a demon, duh, he had his own agenda. This causes Rowena and Sam to take on alternate measures, aka Rowena dies. They all come back together and Dean is again, blindsided. Wtf. -- The plan changed and now Rowena is dead?! That could have been avoidable , he wants to think. But he doesn’t know. He just wasn’t there. - And this is absolutely terrifying for his need to control his surroundings, he feels like if he had been there, if he had been able to be know what was going on, that there could have been a different outcome. And that’s where he’s wrong, because how can we ever know that?

He often says and does things that he feels deeply he knows isn’t right. But he doesn’t know what else is. And then Dean crimes ensue.

#is this a Dean crit post or is this a dean apologist post? #Yes. #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #spn meta #this is not an inclusive list of course #really messy post just stream of consciousness really #swirly.txt #spn 15x03 #spn 09x01 #spn 13x23 #spn 09x12 #spn #anyway he’s my babyygirl your honor #if you hate dean btw this post is not for you #w* and w*kline stay FAR away from this post

[antigonewinchester]

S13 Jack rewatch thoughts under the cut.

how did I not type this dude as a Enneagram 9; so much of Jack's personality clicks when you see it. think I've said before, but I read Sam as a 1, Dean as a 2, and Cas a 3.

in retrospect, Jack's becoming God ending seems obviously foreshadowed, although idk exactly when the writers decided on it. say: 13x01 establishes a God Who Doesn't Care in Chuck, which ultimate leads to the God Who Does Care in Jack in 15x19. in 13x02, Donatello literally mistakes Jack's power for God's. there's a Simba comparison! it's really right there.

I do still love the last scene in 13x02 -- it's unsettling in a way that really works. there's Jack's guilt and fear about his powers / who he is, if he's going to hurt someone w/ them, those feelings coming out in self-harm, how Jack stabbing himself directly mirrors Miriam attacking him in 13x01, and also Jack exploring the limits of his body and healing powers. in a very messed up way.

there's also this previous exchange from the ep (DEAN: Okay, see, sometimes, things hurt, so you just man up and deal with it. / JACK: Yes. I understand. Pain is a part of the complete human experience. Accepting it is a sign of maturity.) which is Dean having some not great ideas about pain/masculinity (altho tbh he's not entirely wrong either) but also Jack going way far with it too. I read Jack as not only responding to Dean but very much influenced by Kelly / her sacrifice / her knowledge passing down to him, and Kelly's explicit decision to endure something really painful and die to allow Jack to live. [yes, I am still fascinated w/ the implications of Jack in 13x01 saying he "was" Kelly and that's how he got his knowledge of the world.]

Dean telling Jack he'll kill him if it comes to it is obvs very messed up and understandable as to why Dean would say / think this and I like how Jackles plays Dean calmly, pragmatically in this scene; it's more interesting (and frankly more disturbing) than Dean's more simplified anger in the next ep. it's a heightened, horrible situation for both of them that's darkly compelling. I just love characters having a terrible time! what can I say!

kind of related: Jack's mirroring of Sam as the family black sheep / scapegoat was less frustrating the 2nd time around. or while I do still have issues w/ the framing, I can at least see what the story is doing with it. however, I do think the writing runs into the "super-powered character" problem where the story frames Jack as a good dude who's unfairly judged for his powers... but Jack can actually hurt or kill people with his powers, so isn't some caution & skepticism warranted? but metaphorically Jack's powers are connected to his self, so push-back against his powers becomes push-back against Jack as a person, even if those 2 things aren't technically the same thing. it's in the same vein as supernatural power as metaphor for difference (queerness, neurodivergence, etc.) which is a trope that can be problematic, or has limits, in its metaphorical usage.

where is the sicko version of the Lucifer - Sam - Jack scene in 13x23. the whole ep stands out to me as very indicative of Dabb's style and narrative interests -- dysfunction and violence within the family, the disturbing choice of "kill one of you or I'll kill you both," cycles of violence, hunters and monsters not being so different -- but without much... sexualized or eroticized subtext. (besides the one line of Lucifer to Sam, which contrasts to Lucifer being violent towards Jack but he's not creeping on him in that way.)

there's also a meta about S13 (and possibly later seasons / Jack's story overall) being modeled on the Hero's Journey, at least somewhat:

#1 = Ordinary World > Jack's birth and meeting Clark and his mom, doing normal things (eating candy!) #2 = Call to Adventure > Jack meeting and then hunting / learning how to use his powers w/ Sam, Dean, Cas #3 = Refusal of the Call > Jack running away from Sam, Dean, Cas / hunting #4 & #5 = Meeting w/ the Mentor & Crossing the First Threshold > Jack ending up in the Apocalypse World and finding Mary #6 = Tests, allies and enemies > Jack fighting in AW w/ the humans against the angels #7 = Approach to the innermost cave > Jack meeting Lucifer & engaging w/ him (and almost being swayed by Lucifer into leaving w/ him) #8 = The ordeal > Jack deciding to go back to save Sam, Dean, Cas, and Lucifer stealing his power / attacking him in the church #9 = The reward > Jack being saved by Dean (because Jack ‘chose’ right in picking family over power), Jack being accepted by both Dean & Sam as a part of the family

tbh I don't like the Hero's Journey as a narrative framework but it's obviously influential w/in contemporary screenwriting and explicitly w/in SPN, too.

#jack #also sort of general Dabb-era thoughts #queue

[verobatto]

Destiel Chronicles

Vol. CVIII

It was a love story from the very beginning

Another Destiel Separation

(12x23)

Hello my friends and welcome to the last meta from season 13!

I would love to see the script from this episode because I always said they robbed us the goodbye scene between Cas and Dean, but well...

Let's start...

Mary and Bobby, Destiel mirror and the calm before th storm

First, we had a random werewolves hunt. In which we had a little of comedy and a sneak peek to what Jack's training is. Dean says it's a werewolves hunt and let the kid to answer they will need silver bullets. Just like a resident to his doctor in charge.

Team Free Will 2.0 working together with great results, is showing us the calm before the storm.

Jumping now to the scene between Mary and Bobby, we have here another Destiel mirror. With Mary (Dean) and Bobby (Castiel).

They come from different worlds, and once Boby starts to walk in this new universe, with Mary, he begins to embrace it. Just like Castiel did with humanity, asking in season 8 to be a hunter and to stay in Earth with Dean.

BOBBY: (...) Anyways...without an archangel, it's not like we can go back home. And I'm not sure I'd want to. I...I like it here.

We've been robbed: 1

Remember that scene in which Dean shows Sam so much faith on Jack (the faith that he took from Castiel) and thought about retirement? A happy ending? Yeah, let's cry here and struggle with the idea that we've been robbed...

DEAN: Hey, you remember...remember when you asked if we could stop it? All the evil in the world?

SAM: Yeah.

DEAN: If we could...really change things? Well, maybe with Jack, we can.

SAM: Maybe you're right. But then what will we do?

DEAN: Mm. Yeah. This. (Dean holds a beer he has been carrying and Sam looks down at his) A whole lot of this.

But on a beach somewhere, you know?

Can you imagine?

You, me, Cass, toes in the sand, couple of them little umbrella drinks. Matching Hawaiian shirts, obviously. Some hula girls.

SAM (scoffing) You talking about retiring? You?

DEAN: If I knew the world was safe? Hell, yeah. And you know why? 'Cause we freaking earned it, man.

Gif set credit @inacatastrophicmind

Dean thinks in a happy retirement with his brother and Castiel. Because this was in his heart. This was Dean's wish. And this should be his ending. He is the one saying it. They deserved that ending because they freaking earned it. Dean didn't mention Jack, because this is played as a foreshadow in which Jack will have a very important role to keep the world safe as Dean wants: Jack will be the new God.

The scene in which Jack has a nightmare and Dean goes to calm him down, we hear him talk about his own nightmares about people he couldn't save, this shows THE GUILT HERITAGE inside of him, and how this will lead him to say yes to AUMichael.

Jack follows Dean's toxic behavior

Jack goes to avenge Maggie's dead by his own, just like Dean did to face Loki. (Following Dean's toxic bwhat and not his advices).

Then we have Dean shooting at Jack by the back, as a foreshadow of how he will deceive Jack to out him inside the Ma'lak box in season 14.

The manipulative speech Lucifer gives to Jack is a parallel to the one that will give fem!AUMichael to Jack in episode 14x09. The words are similar: talks about power, their difference with humans, their supremacy over humans, and how they should be together to conquer the world because they're family.

The comparison with Star War Anakin, is to place doubts about Jack's future, because everyone knows Anakin turns into the dark side.

But then Sam praying to Jack (just like Dean to Cas) is showing us the faith Sam has on him too.

Jack revails Lucifer's true intentions and true self in a very spectacular show of his powers.

A Sacrifice for family love

Lucifer kidnaps Jack and Sam because he knows about their bond: Sam occupied in this season Lucifer's place as a father. Lucifer knows it and that's why he decided to took them with him and play a sadic game.

How Sam and Jack were willing to give their lives for each other is the same scenario of Dean giving his life and body to AUMichael to save them. Both sacrifies are for Love, FAMILY LOVE. As Michael will tell Sister Jo in 14x02.

The scenes are mixed between the church in which Jack and Sam are deliberating who will do the sacrifice and Dean about to offer his own life like the sword to Michael.

And Jack saying...

JACK: I love you. I love all of you.

Third time we see it int he show (Castiel and Mary in season 12), is telling us that had always been a family love confession. Just like Dean saying yes to Michael.

Gif credit @bennylafitte

Gif credit @hallowedbecastiel

We've been robbed: 2

The scene in which Dean starts saying he is Michael's sword, is short but very meaningful. Castiel flicks his eyes to him surprised about the offer Dean is making to that monster. He tries to stop him but Dean feels he is trapped and he has to make that sacrifice for Jack and Sam.

The fandom were heartbroken by then about Castiel's feelings, and maybe writers should make it even more noticeable in the script: I'm talking about the fact that Castiel's fall was because he fought against Heaven's Orders, that implied DEAN SAYING YES TO MICHAEL. It means, he went against destiny and embraced free will, following Dean and looking at him as a role model.

He was really angry when Dean almost say yes in season 5, if you remember that scene, Castiel literally kicked Dean's ass.

But this Castiel is different from that one in season 5. He is against that decision but even so, he remains quiet, to a side, watching the man he loves and the one for who he left everything he was for millennials, being snatched by Michael from his side.

When Michael takes control of Dean's body, Castiel can sense it, because they're bonded.

But you know, I still feel there was a scene missing: the one in which Dean says goodbye to Cas. (And I really thought there would be a kiss scene erased there... I explained this here.)

This was another lovers separation, my friends... Sighs...

To Conclude

The last episode from this season was messy and sometimes confusing. It was written by Dabb, and he tends to do that.

In the middle of the messy plot, we can talk about Destiel parallel (Mary and Bobby)

Jack mirroring Dean's toxic behavior and another lovers separation.

Hope you liked this meta, see you in the next one!

Tagging @magnificent-winged-beast @emblue-sparks @weird-dorky-little-d @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @dea-stiel @poorreputation @bre95611 @thewolfathedoor @charlottemanchmal @neii3n @deathswaywardson @followyourenergy @dean-is-bi-till-i-die @hekatelilith-blog @avidbkwrm @anarchiana @dickpuncher365 @vampyrosa @authorsararayne @mybonsai1976 @love-neve-dies @dustythewind @wayward-winchester67 @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @deeutdutdutdoh @destiel-shipper-11 @larrem88 @charmedbycastiel @ran-savant @little-crazy-misha-minion @samoosetheshipper

@shadows-and-padlocked-hearts @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @nerditoutwithbooks @mikennacac73 @justmeand-myinsight @idontwantpeopletoknowmyname @teddybeardoctor @pepevons @helevetica @isthisdestiel @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @horsez2 @qanelyytha

@destielle @spnsmile @shippsblog @robot-feels @superlock-in-the-tardis @superduckbatrebel @2musiclover2 @madronasky @anon-non2 @cea1996 @lisafu02 @asphodelesauvage @deancasgirl777

If you want to be added or removed from this list just let me know.

If you wanna read the previous metas from this season here you have the links:

XCIII, XCIV, XCV, XCVI, XCVII, XCVIII, XCIX, C, CI, CII, CIII, CIV, CV, CVI.

#destiel #destiel chronicles #destiel meta #supernatural meta #season 13 meta #13x23 meta

[nealcassatiel]

You know why I really enjoyed that finale? And note how I say 'enjoyed' because to enjoy something doesn't necessarily mean that I think it was the best thing SPN has ever done. But I enjoyed it because structurally it was very good. The A and B plots always progressed, each scene added something new, and by the end the minor plots of the episode were tied back into A. Plot B started about a quarter of the way into the episode with the revelation that plot B linked to plot A being three quarters of the way through the episode. So from a screenwriting pov it was slick and worked very well. Now lots of themes throughout the series weren't properly resolved or tied up, but the death of Lucifer did a lot to alleviate this. There were also... interesting directing choices. Mainly an issue with this episode was that there were many things that need to be resolved and there just wasn't time to deal with them all in this episode. There were textual things that didn't have time to be resolved let alone subtextual things. And unfortunately each scene can only deal with one conflict point, an an episode can't deal with all. So this is why it seemed a bit lacking at points, which I expected running up to this episode as I couldn't work out how so many things could be resolved. But back to my point about why I enjoyed it: it was an easy watch, certain big things were resolved, and it wasn't too 'fraught' as some might say with emotion I wasn't prepared for. Unlike other season finales where my soul was filled with so much emotion, this time I finished watching it feeling pleased. And sure finales are meant to be intense, but this one was just enjoyable and pleasing and I'm really not mad that's where we left before this long hiatus. I know that may sound like I'm not being critical enough, but sometimes that's what I ask from my favourite shows. Some shows will be so emotional at the finale I won't watch them at all for months. Moreover, after the SPN UK con I was at my breaking point with emotion to do with that show. And so I'm glad I'm just pleased and I just enjoyed it, because sometimes that can be better than finishing a show with tears and sadness and heaps of emotion. This season was never going to end with happiness and hugs. And I'm just glad it didn't end with me screaming and crying. I've screamed over SPN enough these past two weeks. Sure it wasn't groundbreaking, or the best finale ever, or even a particularly spectacular episode. But it was paced well, had great structure, and most importantly it was enjoyable and pleasing and I'm not crying or hating the hiatus. And sometimes that's enough, and something being enough isn't a bad thing.

#holy chuck maybe I'm in a great mood #13x23 #13x23 meta #my supernatural discourse

[youchangedmedean]

Why Dean’s Heaven Outfit is so Cursed

You may have seen my previous post about why Dean’s outfit in heaven is so cursed, but since then I have spotted even more.

According to Jared at the Virtual Con after 15x20 aired when asked ‘Were any lines added or ad libbed by you two [Jared and Jensen]?’ (starts at 29:28 timestamp)

... So, when we’re on that bridge and uh, and Dean says, “Heya Sammy” and then it cuts to Sam, and I’m dressed like, as best I could, like uh like the pilot with Dean, y’know. ...

So from this, we know that Sam on the bridge in 15x20 was supposed to be dressed like the pilot. I infer that Dean was also supposed to be dressed like the pilot but based on the wording it’s possible that’s not what he meant. As soon as we got BTS pics from the last day on set however, we all pointed out that they were dressed like the pilot but there is a difference.

So what did Dean wear in the pilot? He had on 2 different outfits. First a dark jacket and a red shirt.

After Dean gets covered in mud, he changes into a denim shirt and John’s leather jacket.

Another thing to note is that both Sam and Dean wear sneakers in the pilot. No boots for Dean.

So it looks like for Dean in 15x20, the heaven outfit is based on outfit 1 with the dark jacket, plain red shirt and jeans.

Dean consistently has plain red shirts through the seasons and continues to wear the dark jacket until 9x03 so I would bet that the very jacket was sitting in storage until s15.

Something to note is that while Sam is in a virtually identical outfit in 15x20 and the pilot, Dean is not. They must have had to source Sam’s outfit specifically for this. Sam does wear a hoodie and a beige jacket in later seasons so they could have built it out of Sam’s wardrobe but they chose not to. He does not wear these exact clothes at any other point in the series apart from in Heaven. Dean’s Heaven outfit is just made out of his clothing from later in the series. They both wore sneakers in the pilot but in Heaven Dean still has his boots while Sam is wearing sneakers.

Compare:

If I was building Dean’s heaven outfit out of later seasons outfits, I would have chosen his plain red shirt (note: this is not the Demon!Dean/MoC!Dean shirt, it is a different one).

By the later seasons, Dean doesn’t actually wear dark dark jackets much. His only black jacket in s15 was this denim one which he has had since 10x04:

But the wardrobe department decided not to go for these and instead decided on cursed items instead.

So what was Dean wearing in Heaven?

The Shirt

Now this shirt is just plain cursed. This is only seen at 2 other points in the whole series, and it was a new one for s15. 

We first see it in 15x04 Atomic Monsters for the Chuck AU where Lucifer!Sam kills Dean. Directed by Mr Jensen Ackles himself.

Thanks to him, we also get a good look at the shirt

So this is the first time we ever see this shirt and its for a Chuck AU where Sam kills Dean.

The second time we see it, its in 15x13 and this is another cursed appearance. It is worn by Huntercorp!Dean while pretending to be our Dean in the bunker.

And why was Huntercorp!Dean there at all? Because Chuck was destroying worlds.

When AU!Dean leaves the bunker, there is an exchange that is a bit cursed.

Huntercorp!DEAN: Oh, uh, you think we could keep the flannel shirts?

DEAN: No.

So the shirt actually gets a mention by Huntercorp!Dean.

What we see here is that this shirt is NEVER worn by our Dean. It is worn by a Chuck AU Dean and Huntercorp!Dean fleeing a world Chuck had destroyed while pretending to be our Dean.

We never see our Dean wear this shit until Heaven which seems like an odd choice.

Dean also doesn’t normally wear red and black plaid shirt. In fact, the previous one he had has an interesting history as pointed out by @wigglebox​ when we were discussing it.

It is first seen in 12x21 and he continues to wear it into 12x23 when Dean has to go into Mary’s mind.

We then see it again and for the last time in 13x16 Scoobynatural.

Both of these episodes are sort of AU episodes where he’s venturing into another character’s mind or heading into Scooby-Doo world.

So both Dean’s black and red plaid shirts have a cursed history relating things not being real and for this specific shirt, AUs. They could have chosen a plain red shirt almost identical to the pilot but they chose not to.

The Jacket

Dean has this jacket for a long time. He has a blue one and a black one. This black jacket has been around since s9 and gets worn a fair bit. On the whole, it doesn’t have a very happy history, its first worn for Kevin’s funeral in 9x10 and is worn after Claire is bitten by a Werewolf in 12x16.

However, the most notable thing about this jacket is what should have been it’s demise.

Dean is wearing it in 13x23 when he fights Lucifer and AU!Michael takes over his body.

At the end of the episode, we see that Michael has changed dean’s clothes and presumably ditched them somewhere.

Dean comes back at the end of 14x02 wearing Michael’s clothes. He arrives back at the bunker in 14x03 and changes into Dean clothes but is missing his watch for the whole episode, presumably because Michael ditched it. The denim shirt Dean wears in 13x23 is never seen again (yes, I have watched s14 and s15 just to check and have spreadsheets for Dean’s outfits!). His boots are back in 14x03 but I suppose you could argue he had multiple pairs.

We are left to assume that the jacket is also gone (and it really should be gone) but it makes a miraculous reappearance in 14x13 Lebanon.

Now this episode is an odd episode. They get their Dad back by messing up time, Cas doesn’t know them until they reset it back again. The shirt in this episode is also notable and I will write a post on it soon. So again, we have part of Dean’s heaven outfit connecting to alternative timelines where it really shouldn’t be at all.

BUT IT GETS WORSE EVERYONE!

This jacket appears at just one other point in s15. Now if you had to pick the most cursed of cursed times to put it where would you put it on Dean?

The Vamp Chuck future in 15x09 where Sam and Dean die as vampires.

So this jacket should have disappeared in 13x23 but reappears for an episode where time is altered in 14x13 and when Chuck is showing Sam the future in 15x09 if they ‘win’ and they die as vampires. Dean is then killed on a vampire hunt in 15x20 and ends up wearing this jacket in Heaven. Cool, cool.

This jacket becomes connected to our Dean but in altered timelines and worlds while the shirt is connected to alternative Deans. Both the shirt and the jacket have direct connections to Chuck.

So we see Dean in Heaven wearing this cursed outfit drinking cursed El Sol beer with the same cursed monkey from 14x13 Lebanon (see above, it was in the roadhouse too).

This is not an outfit that screams happy. This is not an outfit that screams Sam and Dean won. This is an outfit that seems to scream Chuck won. 

I guess we’ll just have to wait until Jackles manages to get a continuation...

One final odd thing to note. We all remember Jensen’s video posted before the finale when he was dressing up as Dean for the last time “at least for now”. Well he wasn’t actually wearing the outfit Dean wore in Heaven although all the Heaven scenes were shot on the last day of filming, the 10th of September.

He was wearing the Heaven plaid shirt, but not the Heaven Jacket. It was Dean’s black denim jacket I pointed out earlier. If you look it has seams that the Heaven Jacket doesn’t and the pocket flaps are a different shape.

I have gone through all the Heaven scenes and he is wearing the Heaven jacket in all of them. But I can’t think of a reason why on a hot day in September when Jensen is getting changed into costume he would have a different one of Dean’s jackets on over the shirt he needs to wear for the scenes.

#long post #but ive been needing to explain that for months #there is no way this was an accident #every department was telling us this is wrong #i am in awe of the wardrobe department honestly #and have more meta coming soon #my meta #my wardrobe meta #deans outfits #dean #spn #spn finale #dean winchester #supernatural #15x20 #and red booths in beckys house in 15x04 #15x13 #14x13 #13x23 #15x20 was chuck confirmed #spn meta #deans heaven jacket #deans heaven plaid

[deanwasalwaysbi]

Somehow it was Only 'Ambiguous' if it was Between Dean & Castiel

There was never any doubt as to who the rest of these referred to.  Destiel was always canon.

11x21 | 11x22 | 12x09 | 12x12 (x) | 13x01(x) (x) | 13x23 (x) | 14x09 (x)

#deancas #jacting joices #spn gaslighting #spn gifs #dean was always bi #deancas meta #dragging dean Winchester out of the Closet #all of you #spn gifset #spn 11x21 #spn 11x22 #spn 12x09 #spn 12x12 #spn 13x01 #spn 13x23 #spn 14x09 #original content #fav #spn meta #deancas gifs #dean is bi #destiel was always canon #deancas gifset #chuck shurley #casifer #michael!dean #castiel #spn metacanon #bobo berens #andrew dabb

[notdeadyetnatural]

Literally every micheal Lucifer fight was such a let down. What they throw little balls of light at eachother? They fly around in the air and wrestle? They should have kept it unknown. Had their vessels fall to the floor and had them disappear. It should have been silence. With the occasional ominous rattle of a chandelier or shattered stained glass

#the unknown is more terrifying than any cgi they could have thought up #og #sierras spn rewatch #13x23 #let the good times roll #spn #supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #lucifer #spn meta

[trisscar368]

The discord decided that Beaker being Lucifer’s s12-15 vessel was a brilliant idea and I have access to photoshop, I regret nothing

#spn crack #muppetnatural #*wheezing noises* #listen - all of lucifer's monologues just being mememememMEMEMEMEME #with subtitles that no one else can understand #the physical comedy available when it's a MUPPET #the inherent meta comedy of a puppet under a puppetry spell and then turning it around on crowley #the entire 13x23 fight being puppet strings #watching beaker just fly through the air while dean tries to stab him #glowing eyes next to jack in the mal'ek box and it's a muppet speaking softly in a shrill voice

[norahastuff]

I do think people should stop going off alone to buy Dean beer. They make friends and then bad stuff goes down. Last time Cas tried it, he partnered up with Metatron, killed a nephilim and unwittingly contributed to making the angels fall. Jack went to get beer, made friends, let his powers run amok and accidentally stabbed somebody. And neither of them actually came home with the beer. So maybe next time, don’t go alone - or at the very least leave the angel blades at home!

Though in all seriousness, I’m very interested in Jack’s arc right now. It was a little jarring to see him lose control when he was trying to show off for his friends, but this isn’t a new thing for him. He has a very one track mind when it comes to his powers. Dean mentions the incident in Dodge City when he killed the security guard. Jack was happy to have Cas back and wanted to impress him and show him what he could do. Cas tried to stop him but Jack’s eagerness and overconfidence led to him charging straight into the situation without any caution and inflicting damage he never meant to cause.

Ever since then, Jack’s mostly been caught up in heightened high stakes situations. In the Apocalypse World and fighting Michael, his single minded attitude to using his powers worked, because he was facing off against a being who also possessed immense power, not as much as him of course, but still. In 13x23  he used his powers against both Lucifer and Michael and firmly ordered TFW to stand back. He was calling the shots. When it comes to using his powers, that’s how it’s always been with him and other people’s warnings and orders have usually gone unheeded. He’s always used his own judgement, but the problem now is that his judgement is being distorted by the diminished presence of his soul. After using much of it up, it’s no longer useful a lens as it once was for determining the right thing to do, to say nothing of how Michael’s grace may or may not be affecting him too.

Jack is very powerful and we are constantly reminded of this, even when he was de-powered, Michael sat him down to reiterate how he was infinitely more powerful than everyone around him. His capabilities and the belief that he knows what he’s doing when he uses his powers, have at times led to him disregarding what others around him want or think. However what always won out was that Jack always wanted to do the right thing. The good side of him, the human one linked to Kelly and Cas and the Winchesters, was ultimately what would win out. But that human side is heavily dependent on a soul. Without it...

Michael told Jack they were family, not literally, but more as a “matter of scale of power”. He assured Jack:

“Year by year, century by century, and as your power returns and grows, we'll only become more alike. Oh, I know. Your loyalty to Castiel, the Winchesters, the rest of humanity? It will fade”.

He claimed because of the fact that they were the two most powerful beings in the universe, they were the only kin the other had, and all that was keeping Jack from being just like him was his connection to his family and to all of humanity.

As we learned not too long ago, Cas isn’t ignorant of the “scale of power” either. He’s aware of his cosmic status and is all too aware of Jack’s as well. So he goes to the top of the scale to find help, to the only other being that’s on Jack’s level: he goes to find God.

#spn meta #jack kline #castiel #supernatural #spn #my spn thoughts #14x16 #13x06 #13x23 #14x09 #aww jack #god has a beard

[naruhearts]

Other people in 2018: Dean doesn’t care about Cas lol

Dean in 2018: Can you imagine? You, me, Cas—toes in the sand, couple of little umbrella drinks, matching Hawaiian shirts, obviously...

Me:

#What a time to be alive #it’s awesome possum when our meta/spec is validated #dean’s endgame #destiel adjacent #spn s13 #13x23 #Honestly—after JIBcon—this year in fact—put it to REST #Cas is FAMILY #Cas is important #and vehemently denying it will not ever change the narrative #tfw #team free will #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #supernatural #my stuff #spn s13 finale #HONCON #that nod to one of the GAYEST cons in history though #Dean sees Cas with him at the end of all things #endgame destiel #Dean loves Cas and he loves Sam boomy-boom! :D #DEAN IS IN LOVE WITH CAS

[restlesshush]

The thing about Jack interiority is that it’s a dots joining exercise the vast majority of the time. He’s not written with a coherent arc of his own in mind, rather he’s written to serve the characterisation of the rest of tfw in various ways, and then the way you get to his interiority is by piecing together what has to be true to make all these moments work taken as a whole. This is why Jack’s s13 arc is kind of really disturbing, but by accident – it seems like the writers just didn’t think about things from his pov enough to realise the result of all the pieces put together. The biggest thing here is that when you get to 13x23, the widower arc still makes up the vast majority of Jack’s interactions with Sam and Dean. Apocalypse world means that he doesn’t see them at all between 13x09 and 13x21, and so on top of everything else this means that by the finale, Jack hasn’t had remotely enough positive interactions with Sam and especially Dean for him calling them ‘family’ and being prepared to sacrifice himself for them to come off as particularly ~meaningful or ~moving rather than just painting a very concerning picture of how he views both the concept of family and himself. But this is because none of what happens is really about Jack – he’s just performing a storytelling function. And it does give you a very interesting (if distressing) character! Just not the character the writers presumably intended, and not really with any help from them to get there, because they weren’t thinking from Jack’s point of view at all, they were just writing typical supernatural fare and (as is the point of side characters) using Jack to help them do it.

There is an exception to this though, and that’s Yockey. You don’t have to join the dots with Yockey – he joins them for you, but working with the same dots, and so while the result is still upsetting, it’s purposefully, satisfyingly upsetting. Nihilism and Ouroboros are THEE Jack episodes – between them Yockey very clearly gives you a story of an individual who sees remaining alive and remaining them as less important than being useful, even when this is clearly to the great distress of their loving parent. The conversation between Cas and Jack over the kitchen table at the end of Nihilism makes this sentiment very explicit and this carries neatly through Ouroboros as well, where Jack burns off what remains of his soul to save the rest of tfw directly after having asked what good the powers that are keeping him alive are if he can’t use them to save the people he loves, that it would be “selfish” not to. With this very well executed little arc, Yockey draws on the low self worth and the weight placed on his own usefulness, which – rather than necessarily being the intended takeaway – was just the only way to account for s13 Jack, and uses it purposefully and to great impact in s14.

All of which is sort of to say that I suppose I understand not all that much thought being given to Jack’s actual character by people a lot of the time, given the show only does so incredibly sporadically (and had so little faith in their ability to do it well during the soulless Jack arc, that they felt the need to conjure up Hallucifer 2.0 instead). But the character you get if you actually dig into what makes him tick is a much more interesting one to explore, and also directly laid out for you by Yockey very deftly. You can join the dots for Jack, and it’s worth it.

#jack kline #spn meta #spn s13 #spn s14 #spn 14x10 #spn 14x14 #spn 13x23 #usertabitha #steve yockey #spn #worded thoughts

[holisticfansstuff]

#AU Cas knows he's minutes away from death and still finds time to note and appreciate this strange turn of events. Guess some things don't change #Curious Cas

# AU Cas seems to say this more as an observation than a condemnation

# Which is confirmed by his next words. This broken, twisted version of Cas still knows which side is the right side and he knows, he knows, he's on the wrong side. How he must have hated himself.

#au cas #castiel meta #mt #spn 13x23 #exodus #this is my interpretation #you don't have to agree #obviously #about au cas #cas is so curious and observant #even this version #guess some things can't be beaten out of you

[verobatto]

You know the Michaels Dean had experienced...

Gif credit @rainbow-motors

After this talk, Dean lost any faith, he deliberately, decided to say yes, so he began a journey of disbelief and despair, and that will bring him to be one step to the rift. But he will come back to his senses, thanks to Sam.

The second Michael... Well...

It was a nasty, super, historical, heartless diva.

That's why when he saw the relationship between Adam and Michael... He just got snapped...

Gif credit @positivexcellence

He's in awe, because the Michael that possessed him... Well... He wasn't that kind...

Gif credit @winchesterangstclub

Dean had made a deal with this diva....

Gif credit @demondetoxmanual 👇

Gif credit @justjensenandjared

... and Michael, being the bad guy from a destroyed Universe, took the chance to have his vessel to rule out world...

So, for Dean... Is kind of... Weird, new, and unbelievable...

Gif from my friend @agusvedder

Reveling for Dean... Michaels isn't the one he knew, not even the same like AUMichael was. And it was reveling to us too.

We have won a great Ally...

Tagging @metafest @gneisscastiel @emblue-sparks @magnificent-winged-beast @agusvedder @weirddorkylittlediana @michyribeiro @whyjm @legendary-destiel @a-bit-of-influence @thatwitchydestielfan @misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @lykanyouko @evvvissticante @savannadarkbaby @trickster-archangel @dea-stiel @mybonsai1976 @anarchiana @angelwithashotgunandtrenchcoat @trashblackrainbow @destielshipper221b @mishtho @dancingtuesdaymorning @feathered-castiel @bre95611 @zoerayne2426 @justmeand-myinsight @that-one-fandom-chick @proccastinate @studio-hatter @pepevons @liwos-rabithole @poorreputation @mrsaquaman187 @dizzypinwheel @jawnlockwinchester @breathing-oxymoron @a-bit-of-influence

Buenos Aires December 22nd 2019 8:15 PM

#aumichael #michael!adam #differences #supernatural mini meta #just some thoughts i had #Dean Winchester #13x23 #15x08 #5x13 #not the same michael

[postmodernmulticoloredcloak]

Wonky preliminary thoughts

I watched the episode once this morning then I’ve been various degrees of busy and sickly so the episode is sort of nebulous in my mind but I want to throw down the thoughts I remember thinking this morning... on a second watch I could change my mind. Honestly I don’t even know yet what this post is going to be like. I’m gonna make it up as I go. Let’s find out together.

- It’s a finale baby

Okay I haven’t touched my dash but I know my chickens and I know there’s gonna be wank, because people forget that every year when the finale comes out no one likes it. That’s it, that’s the finale, expectations are high because finales are supposed to be epic so people end up disappointed, some things were predicted 8 weeks prior and people complain that they were too obvious, some things were unexpected and people complain they came out of the blue, some people say Cas wasn’t in it enough some people write down explanations why his part was actually meaningful, you know the drill. This has been a typical finale: Dean makes The Sacrificial Decision (having Death kill him, become the soul bomb...) and things don’t just work the way he expected them to (sometimes positively like with Amara, sometimes negatively like with Michael).

I personally expected Dean to let Michael (although until recently I supposed it could be the original version of him) in since 13x15 (the showrunner’s own meta manifesto relatively to the ‘reverse season 5/reverse Swan Song’ nature of the final part of the season) and that it would be about shouldering himself the task of getting Lucifer killed since 13x20 (where he goes after Loki himself and is not enthusiastic about Sam’s revenge intents against Lucifer), and heck the ‘I let you in but you provide the power but I’m behind the wheel’ kind of speech was something I pictured in a thousand scenarios, so I didn’t get any shocks from that part of the episode’s plot, but I still enjoyed how we got there. And then, Lucifer is dead! *celebration noise coming from the fandom*

- Um okay let’s say you did your best

Okay, the impression I got from my first watch: the script worked, but the episode got wonky in its execution. Not even the special effects (insert a wonky gold star for the trying) but I remember being unimpressed by the sound/music? Is it just me? Like, sometimes the sound choices were too over the top? There were also overdramatic zooms but that’s Supernatural, and Supernatural without overdramatic zooms is like Supernatural without the Winchesters.

I liked the recap montage a lot (what do you think came first, Rowena’s line about the music or the idea of having that line inside the season to use it for the finale recap?). I got a bit sad because there was a lot of Wayward Sisters in it, and it would have been better if the finale came in a moment of celebration for it happening rather than anger and bitterness for the CW’s choices. Something I felt missing from the last portion of the season was Jody, but I was obviously okay with it because she was missing in preparation of her role in the spin-off. If we can’t change the network’s decision, I hope next season is packed with those characters.

Anyway, back to the episode - it was weird at times, you all know what times, let’s just run with it and make jokes.

- But in season 5 they said--

No, the act itself of Michael killing Lucifer wasn’t what was going to kill half the planet’s population. It was that act inside the large picture of that spell-like orchestration that was the apocalypse (seals, horsemen, omens, stuff like that). I would argue the large-scale damage that was expected wasn’t an accidental consequence, but kind of the whole point of the apocalypse. I hate myself for bringing it up, but you know Thanos killing half the people to ~save the universe~ or whatever dangerously ambiguous nazi crap that dumbasses have actually fallen for because Marvel is just that bad and dangerously ambiguously conservative? I think that the archangels kind of were similar to that mindset, making a huge sacrifice of humans to bring ~paradise~ because they were tired or whatever. You know, I know some people don’t think Supernatural is particularly progressive, but in the current media climate not framing the mass-murderous, abusive characters with nazi-coded intents as the actual heroes is apparently too progressive for some, so kudos to Supernatural for not making Lucifer or Michael the hero of the story but to stick to common sense and decency. (I know, this part is not about Supernatural but just me being salty at Marvel, but let me, please.)

- So while we’re talking about this...

I can say that what Supernatural did with Lucifer in season 13, in my opinion, has been really good. I’ve never been afraid they were going to ‘redeem’ him, so I wasn’t worried or bothered by the story throwing the tools of redemption at him. Because not only he didn’t pick them up, he couldn’t see them even if they hit him in the face. He didn’t understand what redemption even means. He kept seeing himself as the misunderstood victim, so instead of bettering himself he just felt sorry for himself, and completely missed the point of a ‘second chance’ or whatever he claimed he was after. So, eventually, it was all a lie. I think Lucifer’s “I’ve changed” attitude was partly a schemed lie (because he’s not that clueless), partly something he was convinced of himself, because he has his head up his ass enough to actually believe he was a poor victim. I think this narrative hits the nail on the head - white male fragility works like that, the men wrapped in toxic masculinity and male entitlement think they’re the victims of a big bad oppression from women and queer people and non-white people. But they’re just pathetic, and when the bubble bursts, all they can do is scream in rage and their ‘nice guy’ persona disappears. Lucifer’s 180° change of attitude towards Jack reminded me of the nice guys who start throwing all sorts of disgusting invectives against women after being rejected. So yeah, I think that Lucifer’s arc this season was sort of relevant, if you want to interpret it like this.

Either way, Supernatural, unlike some other pieces of media, doesn’t actually try to make you sympathize with abusive, violent, misogynistic men (unless they actually show to be self-aware and to seek change, and again you aren’t meant to sympathize with their bad side! Toxic masculinity is supposed to be bad, and slaughtering billions of innocents not justified for any reason, and especially does not make you the hero and the ones fighting to save the people the actual villains! *gasp*). There was even a clear dig at Trump, and I am pretty sure that’s Dabb’s answer to accusations of not being clear enough on the subject...

So yeah, I think this season’s big bad was an allegory for white male entitlement and the ‘nice guy’ victim complex, and Dean stabbed him (I’d say with the help of a Black man, sure it’s actually Michael another villain but momentary symbolism, I guess? Or maybe that just isn’t supposed to be relevant.) I felt someone cheer that was still bitter that Sam killed Alastair. You just know someone out there was still bitter about it. I mean it was teamwork, of course, but Dean provided the power and the stab. Oh, Dean letting Michael in to acquire the power to kill Lucifer (who killed Cas and Sam) as a parallel for Sam’s demon blood usage to acquire the power to kill Lilith (who killed Dean) *insert lengthy reflection here*

- Speaking of parallels--

Someone was irked at the apparent belief across fandom that Dean leaving Sam to the vampires in the cave was ~the codepencency being broken~? (I am not a fan of analyzing the show in these terms that have become so simplified, in case you’re wondering.) And of course now we see that that wasn’t so simple, because Dean makes the same face when Sam disappears with Lucifer and Jack, and Cas tries to stop him, but Dean decides to do the sacrificial decision (did he really expect Michael to keep the deal, really really?). But! (I wasn’t saying that things are still stuck in the 10x23 mud puddle, don’t misunderstand me!) This time it’s not just about Sam, it’s about Lucifer being set on really breaking dad’s toys on a large scale this time. Dean Winchester gives up his humanity to save humanity, because that’s his middle name, and not just to save his brother at the cost of harming the universe. Of course Michael is still on the loose and with a stronger vessel now, but hey, one threat at a time... But I also think there’s something significant with the fact that the last sequence of the episode shows Michael on earth, looking in his element and satisfied about it - to stop Lucifer, Sam, with Lucifer inside, went to hell; to stop Lucifer, Dean, with Michael inside... is on earth. Of course, next season he’ll probably be involved with heaven and whatnot, but I think there’s something significant there, but I’d wait to make much meta about Michael-in-Dean when we actually are shown more about it.

- So, overall?

Overall it was a good finale! Satisfying to have Jack discover Lucifer’s true nature and the nice guy lie shatter, emotional the Jack stuff, powerful that we didn’t see Dean actually getting possessed and Cas seeing it but only Cas being fraught about it, just there, kind of like the narrative was telling us, what do you even expect Cas’ face while losing Dean to Michael to look like? Now, this post is long enough and I’ll need a rewatch and some health points more to analyze the details, but I am sure that I’m going to enjoy analyzing them.

- And what now?

Oh, I expect a lot of fanworks of Charlie and Rowena during the hiatus. It’s probably already started...

Alright, more coherent and hopefully meaningful thoughts coming shortly (...maybe) to your screens ^-^

#my spn thoughts #spn spoilers #spn 13x23 #spn meta #spn