#so like. jack literally CHOSE cas to be his father. that's his DAD that's his fucking dad im gonna scream

[lakemichigans]

we all agree that lebanon john was a manifestation of dean’s greatest wish (a happy, complete family who loves each other unconditionally) right? because...

john immediately apologizing and welcoming sam with open arms and no questions asked despite the fact that the massive blowout fight they had was john’s last memory of him.

mary not ripping john a new asshole for raising her boys in the life and for abusing & neglecting them after her death. i understand that her gut reaction to seeing john again would be pure joy, but as soon as that wore off, mary would have MANY tough questions for him.

cas not being in the bunker at all that day, so dean doesn’t have to explain who he is to his dad. or jack, for that matter. he can just say “an angel and lucifer’s son” and leave it at that. the fact that john doesn’t even ask any questions about this is also strange. i could see why john would immediately trust an angel, because well, they’re supposed to be the good guys. but lucifer’s son?? he would be appalled to learn that they’re sheltering the literal devil’s son.

no mention of mary/bobby’s relationship. i’m willing to ignore this one because it’s not super crucial, but i do think it’s funny that mary shacked up with john’s best friend and then paid him no mind as soon as john came back. lori grimes type slay.

it’s odd how quickly and easily john jumps into telling sam and dean he’s proud of them without asking really any questions. in his time, he knew sam had demon blood in him and he knew about mary’s deal all those years ago and yet he doesn’t even ask HOW they saved the world and survived. weird.

john doesn’t ask about his own father even though we KNOW that john thought henry abandoned him as a child. now suddenly he’s finding out that henry spoke to sam and dean, but john doesn’t care to ask any questions? doesn’t even seem surprised about the men of letters thing?

mary even cooks for them!! and they eat dinner at the dinner table!

the fact that a third of the episode is a slice of life waste of time. it’s not like they didn’t have enough time to address the above mentioned things, it’s that they chose not to. because none of it was real. it was just dean’s wish :(

#my antibiotics are finally kicking in and my root canal is scheduled for monday so my reign of terror on your dashboards is nearing a close #but until then i have nothing to do but watch supernatural and talk about supernatural and think about supernatural fjksjdsj #supernatural #spnwatch

[sobsicles]

// in case you don't live forever - ben platt

#i just randomly got in my cas and jack feels while listening to this song #literally every time i hear it i think about jack's feelings for his dad cas #that's his fucking DAD and he LOVES him and he's just—it's just. #*bursts into tears* #like literally he looked up to cas so much and i just cant handle this rn #cas was such a good dad to him. SUCH a good dad. i can't #it's like. it's. okay so it's about wavelengths of celestial INTENT right #so like. jack literally CHOSE cas to be his father. that's his DAD that's his fucking dad im gonna scream #and like. think about jack losing him and hearing this song and he's just fucking HURT bc thats his dad #and his dad was supposed to live forever but then. but then #no one look at me no one touch me no one talk to me i am having Emotions #jack kline #jack jack #cas bby #cas and jack #dadstiel #im so tempted to make a dean version of this with either sam or jack #ugh im in my feelings right now #also that song is really good. go give it a listen and don't think about jack listening to it after cas is dead and just fucking SOBBING #or maybe...on a lighter note...he listens and then immediately runs and goes to play it for cas #all smiles like 'dean says music can explain how we feel and this song reminds me of you' #and cas is so soft and beaming about it because that's his SON #fuck. fuckkkkk #sobs says things #sobs makes things sometimes #sobs is currently sobbing #edit: also yes i did use a filter called 'dean' for all the photos. (it's green)

[autisticandroids]

📕 Post empty destiel - I always think the "gets out the empty and immediately they're very happy together, no communication issues" is not as satisfying as it might be - do you agree? Disagree? I'd love to see your take on what's become a kind of subgenre in the fandom

ok so. i Have Done This. however i have at least one other concept for post-empty cas. it doesn't really involve dean though. it's more a cas + jack and cas + angels processing fic. well, more like two small oneshots. if i wrote them i would probably end up adding more oneshots.

the first is, jack gets cas out of the empty and cas is like. O Woe Is Me. I Have Made A Terrible Mistake. You Should Have Left Me To- wait you what? sam and dean let you what? you defeated chuck how? okay will this will not do. stop being god immediately my beloved child. and jack is like. no. and cas looks at him very sternly and is like "well, when i was god, it was an awful thing and no one being should be forced to carry all that powers" and jack is like "eh i think it's fine actually." this is a fix-it fic To Me because it's just like. reassurance that jack is okay with being god, and that he's with his dad. like i've always been kind of horrified by godjack and this is a way of soothing that horror: by having the horror being presented as a possibility and then being debunked. and then maybe cas experiences basking in god's grace for the first time in his literal milennia of existence and he finds joy in it and wonders what it means to be basking in the grace of his son as he was built to bask in the grace of his father.

the second is, jack needs more angels to keep heaven running, and the empty is loud, and jack blows a hole in the empty to let a bunch of angels and demons out. the demons just go back to hell but jack keeps the angels powered down because he doesn't want a fullscale rebellion on his hands so he plans to wake them one at a time. cas ends up confronting specifically first uriel, then balthazar as they wake. i chose uriel and balthazar because i think they are the two angels who would have the most interesting reaction to where cas ends up. like, the other main options would be anna and hannah, but cas doesn't change much from when hannah knew him, and anna was fully fallen and ready to embrace what that meant. neither of them would really be shocked by him now. uriel would think the whole situation is funny funny. uriel killed angels, he went against god to serve lucifer. cas told him i still serve god and was ready to die a martyr's death. a few years later, cas had (probably) killed more angels than any other being in the universe, and served no god but dean winchester. uriel sees (and points out) the irony and the similarity, and he is particularly amused by cas' wet cat contrition. balthazar, in contrast, is nervous. the last time he saw cas, cas was about to become god, and cas killed him. balthazar isn't sure at first if he's been resurrected by godstiel to punish him some more for his treachery. but as he sees cas' mutilated trueform and starts to realize how long he's been gone, as cas fills him in on what happened. he asks cas if being god worked out for him, and cas says no. he realizes that he has no reason to be afraid of cas, but he still flinches when cas comes close. this hurts both of them; cas is overwhelmed by guilt, and balthazar still loves cas perhaps more than anyone else in the world, but balthazar remains viscerally afraid of him due to the trauma of being fucking murdered. there is a third encounter built into this fic, or rather a non-encounter. cas asks jack if he can go down to hell to see meg, because he has missed her and also it would be great to have some emotional support that isn't his own child. jack tells him that meg isn't in hell. only beings with unfinished business awoke in the empty. the ones who were at peace, the ones who had no desire to be alive again, stayed asleep. meg was one of these. cas sheds a few bitter tears for that.

#spn #asks #anonymous

[googledocsdyke]

Do you have any thoughts/recommended texts for Cas analysis? I genuinely love the dean gender studies and I just wanna know what people might apply to Cas.

yes absolutely!! while dean studies is my first love i also deeply love cas analysis (casnalysis?) and wanna strive to do more of it. here’s some stuff off the top of my head:

1. gender, sexuality, heavenly embodiment

this is much more theological and less psychological than dean’s whole Deal because there’s so much fascinating stuff around how the angels in general experience express and conceptualise gender (@autisticandroids has a good post about angel gender & lily sunder has some regrets) but for cas in particular there’s this fascinating kind of collective fandom agreement (which i DO also agree with) that cas’ own gender kind of is gay man, that he actively chose gay manhood, but also that he’s kind of..... lacking the Insane Genderishness that dean exhibits at all times, even though he actively chose to engage in male gendering and became so comfortable housed Within Jimmy that he, as some post i saw the other day that i can’t find anymore said, “became his own body” when jimmy died. 

like on the one hand there’s an almost-canonical transness to the whole process but it also never feels fully written-into because 1) the supernatural writers for all their insanity are sometimes very boring and *most* of the time only feel interested in narratively expressing angels As Their Vessels anyways and just like leaving convenient spaces around these questions (boldest thing they ever did was hot girl cas which i WISH i had the range to unpack) 2) there’s a vague inevitabilist shrug to the whole thing since they obviously weren’t gonna recast misha collins (though they HAVE tried to get rid of him) and 3) something amorphous about cas’ entire..... personhood? makes him Empty Of Gender as a contrast to dean’s Full Of Gender (i believe it was @deanwinchestergender who said this) and like is it just the juxtaposition to dean/jensen’s whole insane Deal? or something else? 

like he actively chooses the terms of his own embodiment and yet narratively it feels like a shrug. and we’re all like “well obviously even though he’s a celestial being he was always a gay man” and like WHY. i love it idk idk much to think about! and yeah just in general the theological questions of possession and cas genuinely Becoming a man as he iterates himself consciously towards humanity it almost feels like. by doing the most boring things possible with his gender they made it interesting? idk if that makes sense.

2. discipline, free will, metanarratives

cas is like a tool (“i am not a hammer, as you say”) held in constant discipline and surveillance by the system that enmeshes him and it’s really, really fascinating to watch the way the angels hold each other to conformity. especially pre-god they kind of produce each other as foucauldian disciplinary subjects (which i posted about here) in perpetual visibility through angel radio, generating their own and each other’s conformity rather than being directly ruled through like a single centralised source of power. only the spectre of a god. and obviously cas’ whole thing is that he has ALWAYS disobeyed and the narrative affords him this psychological interiority never given to the foucauldian subject, an internal will and desire for freedom in a way that fits more with the liberal subject (super roughly and not with the same pro-capitalist implications but he has this internal drive for self-liberation. 

and that’s also where the metanarrative comes in ofc! i think it was @dykecas who said that cas is a real person written by people who hate him, and there’s this crack in the narrative (mirroring the crack in his chassis) where cas gets in, over and over, despite all the order imposed by the show’s authorfathergod. like we’ve all seen the analysis about how it was Never supposed to be this way they DID try to fire misha collins in 2012 and yet this gay man literally cannot be stopped! i think actually his appearance in scoobynatural is a neat little distillation of this — he drops into this animated world originally with a singular purpose (Save Sam And Dean) the same way he dropped into lazarus rising with a single 3-episode arc (Save Dean). huge hammer behaviour. his “utility” diminishes within the narrative (he finds that he can’t fly in the scooby doo universe) and so he is no longer a tool/means to an end that salvation moves Through. and in the process (and huge creds to @lesbianyuugi for this) he does something ENTIRELY unrelated to his original cas-as-tool aim, and learns, like, the meaning of laughter from shaggy and scooby. WHICH brings me onto the third point

3. love, queer kinship, family-making

HE’S GAY AND HE’S A DAD! i feel like a lot of tumblr throws around the term “found family” in a very flat and tropey way (which is fine it’s cute and fun no matter what!) but like . GOD there’s so much specific stuff going on here. like the way that cas (unintentionally) obliterates the midwestern white christian nuclear family (made incarnate in the novaks) which like could be uniformly portrayed as an act of deep malice and villainy but instead grows to serve as a surrogate (if imperfect/complex, but DEEPLY loving) father figure for the gay daughter who has now escaped that nuclear family/seen it destroyed depending on how you read it? like he remasters the entire concept of fatherhood and it’s a very interesting (if DEEPLY) unintentional subversion of the homewrecking non-nuclear gay trope. cas is so good because his character arc doesn’t say “look, gay people can be normal and have perfect settled families just like you” it says “gay people DON’T have normal settled families actually and they are full of love anyways! or Because of the abnormalcy itself!) 

to cite ziz lesbianyuugi again he DOES queer fatherhood in his parenting of jack particularly because it really is one of the ONLY parent-child relationships in the show that breaks the incessant cycle of abuse and control and cold indifference perpetuated by the authorfathergod (a cycle reified in 15x20 lol). like god’s treatment of cas and his siblings mirrors john’s treatment of sam and dean (particularly dean) mirrors victor’s treatment of krissy and her crew mirrors dean’s later treatment of jack. there is a CONSTANT reiteration of the story of authorfathergod (often a father tightly entwined in biological kinship) treating a child as a mechanism or a tool or a means to an end. and cas looks at ALL that he has suffered and all that he is ever known and chooses constantly to reject it with every piece of love he expresses for his child. and not to sound like the kind of academic people make fun of on twitter but there is an INHERENT queerness to that. gay love will pierce through [the veil of death/the thick silence of abuse/the mechanism of godly control/hegemonic american masculinity] and save the day

anyways here are some very haphazard recs on everything above for further reading:

angels in america (tony kushner)

histrionics of the pulpit: trans tonalities of religious enthusiasm

the public universal friend: religious enthusiasm in revolutionary america

discipline and punish (michel foucault)

friendship as a way of life (michel foucault)

the genesis of blame (recommended by @pietacastiel who has GREAT theology content in general

all about love (bell hooks)

the chapter “when hated characters talk back” in anti-fandom: dislike and hate in the digital age (is actually explicitly about cas)

also cannot recommend enough following the ppl i tagged above!! most of the unlinked stuff is available through http://libgen.li/ and bookshop is a good alternative to amazon if ur american and want physical copies

#thank you so much for this ask it was a delight to answer #spn #casnalysis #making a tag officially #gendernatural #long post

[mittensmorgul]

current rewatch is mid s14, and this morning I watched Lebanon, 14.13. And I have some thoughts. Probably thoughts I’ve already had, but they hit different now...

Dean smashed that pearl, and I really do think that he got his stated wish-- Michael out of his head. After all, none of the last 14 years ever happened, post wish, and the door to the alternate universe was never opened, Michael never came through... none of it. It’s like their entire history was rewritten.

And we know Chuck was the writer all along. But we also know how Chuck used free will and choice to manipulate them their entire lives. It was always their choices, only none of their choices were GOOD, you know? He laid down the game, set them on the board, and controlled and limited their choices at every turn.

Just like the false choice Dean was presented with in every repeat of the loop in Rocky’s bar in 14.10-- every day when the realtor came in asking Dean to sell the bar, forcing him to choose to stay there, unwittingly trapped in that loop by Michael. “Living the dream.” What if he HAD chosen to sell? What if Michael’s little bubble of a world in his head broke down, and Dean stopped participating in the charade? Would the entire illusion have shattered? Would Michael have had to step in and reinforce the illusion in some way? Because as long as Dean kept “choosing” to refuse to sell the bar, he was choosing to stay in the illusion, in the false reality trapped in that loop in his own mind.

The pearl wish was effectively no different, just on a much larger scale.

He chose to make the wish, and the pearl delivered it. Michael was gone from his head, at least for a little while. The world fundamentally changed, and even Chuck’s story going back to the beginning of the series had to change with it. The narrative of the entire series was erased, including Chuck’s involvement in all of it. Which seems... impossible, to erase the will of God when he has literally been writing their story from the start.

Why would bringing John from the past have stopped the angels from manipulating events to bring about the apocalypse? It wasn’t JOHN they needed to break seals, it was DEAN. Why would the demons have simply left Sam at Stanford to complete his law degree? Why would they have allowed Dean to get out of sacrificing himself, just because John wasn’t there to sacrifice himself first?

We know the angels (and demons) had been playing a very long con to start the apocalypse, since long before Sam was born (remember Azazel at the convent in 1972, in 4.22? so do I). And all of that preparation-- everything that had happened before 2003-- still happened, before the pearl wish brought John to 2019. Cupids still worked their asses off to unite John and Mary so that Sam and Dean could be born, to fulfill eons of prophecy that they would be the true vessels to Michael and Lucifer to bring about the apocalypse as God willed it.

Do they mean to suggest that after all of that-- the entire history of the universe that had been leading to this, and everything in Chuck’s story-- that just moving John out of his timeline three years before the big showdown was scheduled to begin would leave all of Heaven and Hell shrugging like it hadn’t been their sole mission for years to set this up for the apocalypse?

That’s asinine, honestly.

I don’t think-- any more than Dean “choosing” not to sell Rocky’s bar was-- that the pearl wish was ever actually a “choice.” Because Chuck would’ve never tolerated any of it. He would not have allowed that choice to stand. He had too big of a story to tell.

Which is incredible to me now, because if that was the case, and even that pearl wish was a false choice-- one Sam and especially Dean could never allow to stand for their own reasons-- then the finale makes no possible sense unless viewed the exact same way. Everything that happened after Jack took Chuck’s power was still a function of Chuck’s hand in the narrative, just like the pearl, just like Rocky’s bar. Choosing to renew their commitment to playing the game, over and over again. And that’s just so depressing to me.

I still think this is the most important exchange in the entire episode:

Sam: Once we send Dad back... it's like none of this ever happened. He -- He just goes back to -- to... to being Dad. Dean: You saying you wish things would be different? Sam: Don't you? Can you imagine -- Dad in the past, knowing then what he knows now? I... I think it would be nice. Dean: Yeah. I used to think that, too. But, uh... I mean, look, we've been through some tough times. There's no denying that. And for the longest time, I blamed Dad. I mean, hell, I blamed Mom, too, you know? I was angry. But say we could send Dad back knowing everything. Why stop there? Why not send him even further back and let some other poor sons of bitches save the world? But here's the problem. Who does that make us? Would we be better off? Well, maybe. But I got to be honest -- I don't know who that Dean Winchester is. And I'm good with who I am. I'm good with who you are. 'Cause our lives -- they're ours. And maybe I'm just too damn old to want to change that.

Because yes, this is awesome! This is Dean finally accepting who he is, both because of the life he’s led AND despite it! He’s made his peace with himself, built a family of choice around him (in direct defiance of the “wife and kids” life John would’ve chosen for him and that he thought he wanted for years to please his father), and he’s happy with it, and with himself and the people he loves.

Only this is functionally no different than him refusing to sign the bill of sale on Rocky’s bar. This is Dean recommitting to his role in Chuck’s story. And at the same time he believes in this moment that this is him choosing his own life, really what he’s choosing is to return to the role in the story that Chuck had cast for him. And isn’t that horrifying? Does this not explain WHY he was so absolutely broken by everything that would come after, and especially by the revelation that he’d never really had a real choice in his life?

Chuck would go on to kill Mary, manipulate him into trying to kill Jack, leading to the breakdown of his relationship with Cas, and his own feelings of purposelessness that would drive the entire plot of s15. And then at the end, instead of being allowed to explore this new world of free will, for Cas to have been brought back one last time in defiance of the story Chuck had always intended for him, too, Dean succumbs completely to “destiny” and “fate” and had “no other choice” but to fulfill Chuck’s narrative at last. And I will never, ever be over that.

So my advice is to take 15.20 and crush it like Sam crushed the pearl. Because it’s just the culmination of Chuck’s false choices, and the antithesis of freedom from the narrative they should’ve had in the aftermath.

#spn 14.13 #spn 14.10 #spn 15.20 #that's what free will is #or isn't in this case... #chuck's process #spiders georg of the tnt loop

[acrackedchassis]

the mirrors surrounding you did as they were meant to, reflecting back a spitting image of misha collins  -  but it’s clear something is wrong from the moment that a vision of restructuring heaven with jack strikes you.  perhaps it was a passing daydream in the frenzy of the funhouse. you reassure yourself  -  you’re CASTIEL,  an unknown/forty-five year old doctor whose virtue lies in your compassion & good intentions, although you’ve been told that you tend to be quite naive & intense,  and you’re associated with falling stars burning brightly, praying to an absent father, and slowly learning how to love by those around you.  suddenly,  however,  you’ve found your angel blade on your person - was that always there? from the moment you leave the funhouse,  memories from your life in SUPERNATURAL have begun to return - leaving whoever you had been before in the mirror’s reflection behind you.  you can almost hear take me to church by hozier following in your wake.

tw homophobia, death mentions, mentions of religion and potential religious trauma, abuse

I would like to formally apologise for the complete and utter mess that is everything below. I got... very carried away with canon. If you make it through all my rambling, I tip my hat to you! 

BASICS

Name: Castiel, but Castiel Novak in his alternate life. Nicknames: Cas, but he’ll accept any nickname that isn’t disrespectful. (Please don’t use Cass. I understand that this is canon, but given that it’s a stupid-ass decision, I’ve elected to ignore it.) Age: 45 in his alternate life. In his canon life... we really don’t know how old he is. Old. Very, very old.  Gender/pronouns: He mainly uses he/him, but he'll accept any. He’s agender.  Sexuality: Asexual and homoromantic. Species: Angel. Specifically, he’s a Seraph.

CANON LIFE

I don’t know how to summarise twelve years, but I’m gonna give it a go. And if anyone would like to know more, here is his wiki... good luck!  

Anyway, so! Cas is an angel who we first saw introducing himself to Dean as the person who fought through Hell (literally) and pulled him out of it. At first, we see him as a soldier of Heaven who obeys all orders given to him, but that begins to change the more he gets to know the Winchesters (primarily Dean), as he learns the importance of free will and tries to help the brothers. 

Since then, he has helped the brothers stop the apocalypse, started a civil war in Heaven, absorbed all the souls and leviathans from purgatory to become God, become an angel again, lost all his memories and believed he was a human called Emmanuel. He regained his memories, took on Sam’s hell trauma and spent some time in a psychiatric hospital, then helped Sam and Dean defeat Dick Roman (leader of the leviathans) and got sent to purgatory with Dean. 

He did his best to keep the leviathans in purgatory on his trail to keep them away from Dean. Dean tried to make him leave purgatory with him, but Cas insisted on staying, believing it wouldn’t work because he’s an angel (also that he deserved it), and stayed in purgatory for longer. Once he was out, he found out an angel called Naomi was controlling him to find the angel tablet, and tried to make him kill Dean, which he didn’t do. Then he teamed up with Metatron, who manipulated him into making all of the angels fall from Heaven, and eventually stole his grace. 

Cas spent the next three months as a human working in a gas station, started stealing other angel’s grace so he’d have his powers back, got his army back, lost his army, locked Metatron up, and got his own grace back. He was put under an attack dog spell by Rowena, regained control of himself, agreed to allow Lucifer to possess him in order to defeat Amara/The Darkness, and was possessed by him for several months, but eventually gained control of himself again when Lucifer was exorcised.

He later tracked down Kelly Kline, who was pregnant with Lucifer’s son, Jack, believing the Nephilim to be dangerous, until Jack (still a fetus) showed Cas paradise, proving to him that he was good, and Cas chose to become his protector. (Basically, he adopted him.) Cas was killed and sent to the Empty, was woken up by Jack’s powers, annoyed the Empty Entity/The Shadow until it sent him back, and he reunited with the Winchesters and Jack. 

Later, he found out about an AU version of Michael (Apocalypse world) wanting to invade their universe, got captured by Asmodeus, escaped, tried to find Gabriel to restore Heaven, travelled to Apocalypse world with everyone else, and when they got back, apocalypse Michael came with them. When Dean was possessed by Michael, Cas went looking for him, got manipulated and captured by a demon, and defeated said demon with Sam. They later found Dean, Jack died, and they tried to recruit help to resurrect him. 

Cas went to Heaven in search of Jack’s soul, Heaven was attacked by The Shadow who wanted to take Jack, Cas made a deal with the Shadow to exchange himself for his son, the Shadow said that it would let him live for now but come to take him when he experienced a moment of true happiness. 

Later, Dean and Cas fought after a soulless Jack accidentally killed Mary. Chuck/God manipulated Sam and Dean into wanting to kill Jack, they locked him up in the Ma’lak box which Cas tried to prevent, and later, when Chuck tried to convince Dean to kill Jack, Cas tried to stop that too. Chuck killed Jack, rose spirits from hell, and Cas fought them with the Winchesters after Chuck vanished, met Belphegor who possessed Jack’s body, who he absolutely hated for this reason. Cas worked with the Winchesters, Belphegor, and Rowena to try to send all the souls back to hell, went to Hell with Belphegor to do so, killed Belphegor before they could complete their plan, which lead to Rowena having to die for them, which lead to tension rising even further between Dean and Cas. Cas left, then later returned. 

Cas and Dean went back to purgatory to get a Leviathan blossom to use for a spell to lock Chuck up, got separated, thought they’d lose each other, then were reunited and got back to earth. That plan failed.

They tried to help Jack become powerful enough to take down Chuck, but when that plan failed too, Billie chased after Cas and Dean, wanting to kill Dean. In order to save him, Cas sacrificed himself to the Shadow by telling Dean that he loved him and allowing himself a moment of true happiness. Some time after that, he was resurrected (we don’t really know how, but can assume it was Jack’s doing), and Cas worked with Jack to rebuild Heaven into something better. 

ALUCARD LIFE

Castiel’s childhood was an incredibly unhappy one. With extremely religious yet controlling parents, he was expected to do as he was told, and to fit into the mold his parents wanted of him. They were both physically and emotionally abusive.

He was a lonely child, didn’t get along with other kids very well, and found it hard to make friends. Was always considered ‘strange’. 

Isolated from his extended family as his parents didn’t get along with them.

Never came out to his parents, even after leaving them and cutting them out of his life, as they were very homophobic and made it very clear to Cas that they’d never accept him. 

Has always been very intelligent and was almost always top of his class. 

Went to medical school and became a doctor because he wanted to help people. 

MISC

Cas’ wings were destroyed back when he and the other angels fell from Heaven, BUT I’ve decided that when he was saved by the Empty, his wings were also restored. It’s what Cas deserves. Fight me. 

Also his wings are like oil slick!! Black but rainbow!! Again, fight me!!

Fucks up a lot when trying to do the right thing. Has never done anything wrong in his entire life.

A Grumpy Soft Boi. 

Has died many, many times. The last time, because he told Dean he loved him and let himself be happy.

Serious dad issues and for good reason!! In canon, Chuck lied to everyone and made them believe he was a prophet, while being absent as God for an incredibly long time. Awhile after he eventually revealed himself as God, it was revealed that he had actually been controlling and manipulating Sam and Dean the entire time, writing their story for them. Cas was (somehow) the only person Chuck couldn’t control. 

Loves bees and has an apiary as a hobby.

Doesn’t understand sarcasm and doesn’t get (most) references, even though Metatron once gave him knowledge of pretty much every story ever. 

And there may be errors in my intro or things I’ve forgotten, so I’ll probably come back and edit all this at some point!

#' i'm an angel of the lord ( about ) . #dhq.intro

[missjackil]

14x12 & 14x13

During my re-watch of S14 and sobbing once again through the Brofest Trifecta, I no longer think the decision to end the show next season was made spur of the moment. Im convinced the decision was made a while ago, possibly at the same time they decided to do shorter seasons. Maybe even as far back as before S13, and that's why there was so much push for a spin-off, that ended up being very poorly written. Im not entirely sure, but at least Im confident that there was no drastic recent event that made them want to close up shop. I think they wanted to get to the 300 milestone, and why not take it through the 15 season milestone too, then hang up the flannels. 

They had a lot to celebrate over the past couple seasons, the spin-off (yuck) Scoobynatural, the honor of being given The Supernatural Studios, the 300th Episode, JDM coming back and early sign on for S15, I'm sure no one wanted to bum anyone out with announcing an ending, and take the spotlight from the other things, but now as I rewatched this season, (and even some of last) I can see a set up, most specifically in the episodes Prophet and Loss, and Lebanon.

In s13, they decided to bring back Michael. That doesn't necessarily mean they’d already scheduled an end, but I think they pulled that arc off the shelf for when an end was in sight. Because seriously, as much as I may hear you all moan and groan about how the Michael Lucifer thing is so old and boring, its THE biggest storyline in the whole series, and never should have been shelved. I mean Sam and Dean being the literal vessels of the 2 biggest Archangels is HUGE. It doesnt have to be the main story all the time, but they should never let the viewers forget, and that arc should get a proper closure, which it hasnt yet. 

Now this season has been setting us up for where we are now. (as any season would) but early on, there were hints to an end in sight. Small ones though, just enough to send a little chill up my spine, that yes, the show will eventually end. like in Mint Condition, Dean suggesting next Halloween they dress like Thelma and Louise and get in the car and just go. We all flash back to how Thelma and Louise drove off a cliff. Meanwhile throughout the season, we see Sam slowly unravelling. Dean began unravelling last season, and now the brothers are coming undone. Which brings me to the two episodes that I believe were setting us up for the later anouncement. 

Prophet and Loss was not only the most emotional scene we’ve seen from Sam since S8, and probably even more emotional than that, and Jared has to deliver his most emotional scene to date. As most of us know, Jared had an emotional reaction to the scene that made him not be able to say the words and fit them with the actions. It affected him so strongly that Jensen thought he may be having a stroke, because as long as he’s known Jared, and everything he’s been through, he’s never seen him unable to do the job, and at that moment, he couldnt do it. Jared said its the only time in his whole career he ever went home and cried, feeling like he disappointed everyone. That made me so sad when I heard it, and wanted him to know he didnt disapooint anyone, he did an AMAZING job!

Now, after the annoucement of the end, that scene takes on a whole new meaning. I think (and I stress that its a thought, and Im not assuming I know how Jared thinks)  that if Jared knew the show was ending, saying those lines would be hard as hell. Saying them and knowing we didnt know yet, could be very upsetting. Perhaps he wondered in his own heart that they made the wrong decision (as anyone put in their position would wonder at least 1000 times) and yelling at Dean about quitting, felt too much like yelling at Jensen? “We’re the guys that save the world, we dont just check out of it!”  Go watch that scene again, and try to imagine Jared saying it with what we know now. 

Maybe he even thought of it from the POV of the fans? That maybe thats how many of us would feel once we heard? Could it be even that maybe when he got home, he cried worried he would disappoint us all with their pending news, and the lines in that scene were just too close to home?

Even after the, now iconic, punch/hug “Why dont you believe in us too” Dean’s response was ironic too, almost like they dont need to tell us at all, but respectfully they will, and when the time comes, we do then what we cant do now, put them in the box and let them go.  (watch where you step... my heart is laying around here somewhere)

This brings us to Lebanon. Such a tearfest in itself. My favorite episode yet! But if they all knew the end was in the cards, this episode also takes on new meaning. I dont think it was any accident that they chose to not show a live episode the weerk after the announcement, but to re-air Lebanon instead. It was as though they re-aired it so we could collectively see it in another way, and mourn together a little. 

It’s no secret that JDM loves J2 and vise versa, J2 have said a million times theyd love to have him back, and he has said he’d love that too and how proud he is of them, and will always consider them “his boy. Him coming back was alone a sign the end was coming. How badly we, as well as Jared wanted so bad for Sam to have closure with his father. and we were given a heart wrenching and tearful scene between Sam and John.  Both confronted each other with their issues, chose not to dwell on it, acknowledge they each hurt the other, and theyre sorry. 

Sam said the argument they had was a lifetime ago, it may have taken half that lifetime for Sam to believe and understand, even though he did some messed up things, that yes, Dad loved him. And now, theres closure. 

We soon go then to, what I now believe was a message to us, that the time to part is coming soon. Everyone sad and speechless at the table, and John says “Now as I see it, we have 2 choices, we can either dwell on whats coming, or be grateful for this time we have together. And me, I choose graqteful. So to whatever power brought us together....we owe you one” then each give an individual “amen” That killed me then, and now it kills me in a new way, and its always going to stick in my head now as a message to us fans. 

We move on now to John’s farewell. J2 have said they didnt need to fake any emotions, the emotions where all really there. I now see not just John, but JDM telling J2 “I am so proud of you boys” hugging them both “I love you both so much” Jared so emotional he cant talk, and Jensen mustering enough strength for the both of them to say “I love you too” (I think I heard my heart shattering in a corner somewhere) I will never get over that episode in this lifetime... ever.

After these episodes, we got a break (mercifully) then we got 3 episodes before we got the announcement. In those episodes, we have Cas explaining to Jack that even though Sam and Dean are wonderful, amazing, and special human beings, they are humans and humans shine for just a short time. Someday Sam and Dean will die, and it will hurt, but that pain will remind us of how much we love them. And Jack  thinks like me... “That sounds.... awful”... those words are not a comfort Cas.... nice try though 💔😭

We also have Sam still unravelling, he got a dose of phony happiness, (as did Dean in Nihlism ... as neither place of happiness included each other) yet, it was each other who pulled them out. Sam pulled Dean out of his dream world, the mention of Dean pulled Sam out. Sam knows he wont be happy without Dean, so he presses on.  We still have 4 episodes left of this season. Lucifer is on his way back. AU Michael might be dead, but cage Michael has been mentioned a lot the past few seasons so I think we’re gonna get some kind of real showdown to put that arc to rest.

So now I will always see Prophet and Loss and Lebanon in a new way... a painful way, but Ill throw in an honorary mention of some irony in  Damaged Goods.... regarding the from behind, sneak attack hug, “If it feels like something is up, it probably is” and regarding Sam’s anger when Dean told him his plan, it would have really been messed up and wrong if they didnt tell us, they knew this, so they did.... they didnt have to. 

#supernatural #14x12 #14x13 #their love note to us and for us #i miss them already #sam and dean forever

[incarnateirony]

S 2-3, 3.10 -> S14, 14.10

So I’ve been talking about the S2/3 parallels in S14 for a while, but I finally got back up to 3.10, and I am. Legit. Screaming.

(edit, trimming down this OP and adding a cut, now that I’ve managed to form legible thoughts)

I’m. Screaming?

LIKE.

I

can’t?

Go watch?? 

Like if you can’t binge all of S2-3 in the next few days at least go rewatch 3.10?

Fuckin’ it’s even in the same episode position?? like?? 

“What do you want?”

More behind the cut. After the snap cut to black, of course.

Okay, I’m going to try to form some coherent thoughts here, but I won’t deep dive each independently, just 3.10

Though I may get strung up for saying it, season 13 had a lot of Dean-John parallels, most explicitly, grieving!Dean and arguably grieving!John, as in the attitude imparted by the loss of Mary, a foreground laid out for us almost like a prequel in S12 (which I argue is essentially what S12 is to the 13-14 era.) Read it as Destiel, read it as family being equal to Dean, I really don’t care about it as much as we can understand that Dean reflected John, to the dismay of many Dean stans, while still coming to a healthier resolution -- because John isn’t Dean. But I believe it was even Davy that giggled in public about similarities, which we can, I dunno, pretend they were only there accidentally, or maybe planned. *shrug*

Either way, S1->S13 reasonably has a lot of reflections as a result, but I don’t think we’ve properly explored that and now that this may bring it into some retrospect I’d love to see other people talking about it.

But I’m going to shorthand S2&3->S14. Why both seasons together? I dunno. Maybe because 13 was truncated. Maybe they just blended well.

I’ve already hollered about 2.01->14.04, Ghost of the Comic Shop Owner Bearing The Keys To The Legacy upset, and lashing out at one of the legacies. People were quick to associated some things but oddly ignored things like the squirrel T-shirt while he was downed, I dunno. Reasons I guess. If you want to extrapolate your own thoughts, just... 2.01->14.04; there’s a lot to unpack there.

S2 & 3 are pretty rich in surrounding parallels. Blood experiments and special children, hives and extending “family” in unusual ways, the inability to let go, versus depressed letting go, versus just letting go; everybody’s been on about season 14′s fairy tale themes when 3.05 Bedtime Stories literally exists and, while it’s Snow White and the fandom’s been more locked on Sleeping Beauty, realistically the two aren’t so dissimilar. You know, the whole Deep Sleep thing, and I might poke people to relook at 3.05. 

Optimism also rings strongly with “what’s dead should stay dead,” which harkens to 2.04 Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things over unhealthy refusal to not Let Go. Also taps on John issues and thus cycles back to 2.01, I mean... oh and the Colt’s gone kinda like the magic spear they chased instead. I mean, I could go on.

But 3.09 greets us with “Nothing can save you because you don’t want to be saved,” (given we also hear this for Cas later in the show) but this was Sam to Dean regarding his deal.

And then 3.10 strikes. The freddy kreuger head hopper. We find Bobby in his dream original house, but haunted by his worst nightmare; he’s liberated, but the threat remains and they dive back in.

They get out of the car, looking around. As they walk in front of the car, music can suddenly be heard. DEAN looks behind him and then when he turns around, a corner of the clearing lights up, and there sits LISA BRAEDEN (from episode "The Kids Are Alright") on a little blanket and a picnic basket. DEAN just looks at her and she smiles up at him. (MUSIC starts playing: "Dream a Little Dream of Me" by the Mamas and Papas, with an echo reverb)

LISA Hey. You gonna sit down?

DEAN doesn't move, he just looks at her. She has a glass of red wine in her hand and she reaches for another glass in the basket.

LISA Come on. We only have an hour before we have to pick Ben up from baseball.

She holds the glass for him, giving him another smile.

Dean stammers in denial, having No Idea What That’s About He Swears (because she totally wasn’t his original endgame or anything, but we’ll get back to that), before... tripping into his nightmare.

I know some people have speculated FacedownGuy is Dean too, I know I sure have, but this... well. Let’s get a little further into this sequence.  LONG transcript blurbs inbound.

DREAM DEAN Talk about low self-esteem. (he chuckles) Then again, I guess it's not much of a life worth saving, now is it?

DEAN (to himself) Wake up, Dean. Come on, wake up.

DREAM DEAN I mean, after all, you've got nothing outside of Sam.

DREAM DEAN (continues) You are nothing. You're as mindless and obedient as an attack dog.

DEAN (smiling in denial, braving it out) That -That's not true.

DREAM DEAN No? What are the things that you want? What are the things that you dream? I mean, your car? That's Dad's. Your favorite leather jacket? Dad's. Your music? Dad's. Do you even have an original thought? No. No, all there is is, "Watch out for Sammy. Look out for your little brother, boy!" You can still hear your Dad's voice in your head, can't you?

He motions with the weapon to his head.

DREAM DEAN Clear as a bell.

DEAN (smiling) Just shut up.

DREAM DEAN lowers the gun.

DREAM DEAN I mean, think about it ...  all he ever did is train you, boss you around. But Sam .... Sam he doted on. Sam, he loved.

DEAN I mean it. I'm getting angry.

DREAM DEAN Dad knew who you really were. A good soldier and nothing else. Daddy's blunt little instrument. (angry) Your own father didn't care whether you lived or died. Why should you?

DEAN (angry) Son of a bitch!

DEAN pushes DREAM DEAN hard, knocking him into the wall above the desk.

DEAN (screaming angrily) My father was an obsessed bastard!

DREAM DEAN tries to get up and DEAN kicks him down on the desk again. DEAN holds the weapon as a bat and hits DREAM DEAN once and then pins him to the wall with it.

DEAN All that crap he dumped on me, about protecting Sam! That was his crap. He's the one who couldn't protect his family. He-

DEAN steps back and swings the weapon again, hitting DREAM DEAN twice.

DEAN He's the one who let Mom die.

DEAN pins DREAM DEAN again.

DEAN – who wasn't there for Sam. I always was! He wasn't fair! I didn't deserve what he put on me.

He backs away from DREAM DEAN.

DEAN And I don't deserve to go to Hell!

DEAN shoots DREAM DEAN twice in the chest. As he lowers the weapon and looking at DREAM DEAN, we see the latter is dead. Blood is splattered on DREAM DEAN's face and his eyes are closed.

DEAN approaches DREAM DEAN on the desk, looking at him. Suddenly DREAM DEAN's eyes flickers open and they're completely black, as when a demon possesses a human. DEAN widens his eyes at that. DEMON DEAN sits up, looking into DEAN's eyes.DEMON DEAN (hard and angrily) You can't escape me, Dean. You're gonna die. And this? This is what you're gonna become! 

 We see DEAN, when he first snapped his fingers. His eyes are now black as night, he's a demon. He smiles and snaps his fingers and the screen goes black.

Huh. That’s kind of wild now, isn’t it?

So again, there’s a lot to unpack here and this I will, in shorthand. Dean’s daddy issues aren’t new, but we’ve been hollering about John coming back and, as if by magic, or almost like they’ve been coding and prepping it to come back, he’s coming back! But Jack has helped Dean already deal with many of his issues, the ghost of those keys to the shop/car. His family has extended.

Reel back to Lisa. 

5.22 - “It’s never too late.” - Dean almost had that ending, had it taken from him, and yet what was it that everybody was banging drums about in 13.5? Oh right, It’s Never Too Late. That was his Big Win. Can’t forget that. 

Again, read into that side of the relationship however you want. What I’m here to bang on gongs about is what did Dean want - “They chose family.” And Michael tried to get his hopes up, tried to crush them, and packed Dean away.

Tell me again bardude isn’t some part of Dean.

We see in the preview that the blue is a powerful blue, depressing and ominous. And when the family comes in, Yellow light instead takes the bar for the battle. This is something I already discussed earlier in the season with the use of Blue & Yellow in 14.06 as exploration of the psyche, and in a side meta dividing Red and passion from life choices, with Dean followed by family yellow rather than red drive.

So I mean,

And here it is again. I mean, try to get bolder with it, I dare you.

Either way about it, a question given to Dean, by Dean, more than ten years ago is about to be faced, and they are about to come in support of him, but in reality, Dean Winchester will need to save himself. He will need to recognize he has what he wants - he has family, it isn’t too late, it’s here, and they’re there for him, facing his shadows. 

Dean spends season 3 teaching Sam things, like how to take care of the Impala when he’s gone; but that’s because Sam, like his inner self literally taunts him over (as if, perhaps, in wanting of that Family Dream?) was all he had. But he’s no longer all. He’s important, but he’s grown. He doesn’t need to just Take Care of Sammy. Sammy’s taking care of himself, strong, building his own legacy. Dean instead spends S14 teaching Jack, letting go of the wheel. It’s Jack that learns about the Impala now. It’s family. And they’re here for him. Facing his shadows.

Season 3 was “I have to get you ready for this.” Season 12, Dean looked at Sam and said, “you’re ready for this.” And season 13, Sam was ready for this. And they’ve grown. It’s about family. And they’re here for him, facing his shadows.

“And in the end, isn’t that really the whole point?”

Where that leads us from now, I’m starting to highly suspect I’m going to have to watch a little bit further into S3 to figure out, but the question is if saving himself spins out another ending, or if he truly accomplishes it, or if it comes back for him - or if “see you soon, Dean” strikes and we do endure a trip to the Empty to overcome. After all, the Empty will come once Cas is truly happy and Take It All Away. Is that to be the end of our season? Dragged not by hellhounds to hell, but instead, by the shadow to the Empty? And does that leave us at the cusp of S4 again in how to recover Dean?

#supernatural #spn #meta #kinda #help #my meta

[thebrotherswholoved]

unconditionally

summary: A short lil’ drabble in which Sam and Dean have a teenaged kid who reveals a secret to them.

words: 1.7k

read on ao3 (please)

⇣ ⇣ ⇣

Sam and Dean’s daughter comes home from school one day with a black eye, bruises, and a limp, making it difficult to sneak past her overbearing dads unnoticed. Her arm is probably broken given the deformity in her wrist, but that’s not what really hurts—no, it’s now how those kids beat her up, it’s why. Her secret is killing her, now literally as well as figuratively.

When the fifteen year old tries to get through the door after walking from her bus stop, she doesn’t expect her fathers to be home. Her dad works as a forensic analyst down at the police department and her papa is a medical assistant, so they rarely get home before five o’clock even if they work the same hours. So when she stumbles into the foyer like a fawn learning to walk, wincing with every movement because god, those kids fucked her up, she’s surprised to hear a concerned gasp and footsteps running toward her weakened body.

“Jenna, what the hell happened?!” Dean asks as he takes his daughter into his arms, trying to be as gentle as possible with her while he carries her to the couch. A Maury Povich rerun is still playing onscreen from seconds earlier when he and Sam were snuggling together on their break, but he drowns out the results of Donna whatever-her-name-was’s paternity test to take care of his little girl.

Sam hustles in from the powder room with a hospital-worthy first aid kit in hand and joins his husband and daughter on the sofa to get a better look at her wounds. She’s got bruises running up and down her arms, a laceration on her forehead, a sprained ankle, a black eye, and a fractured wrist (that would have to be determined by a doctor, but he’s basically one, right?)—a whole mess of blood and hurt.

“Oh, baby…” he pushes her hair back and hisses at the dried blood staining her skin, “what happened? Who did this to you?”

Jenna, scared to death, attempts to stand up and ‘walk it off’ only to be ushered back to a sitting position between the two men.

“Uh…” she winces at her split lip, making it incredibly difficult to talk coherently, “these kids, four or five of ‘em I think, ganged up on me. I’m fine, though; you don’t have’ta baby me.”

Dean shakes his head and tries to remain calm, even though every fiber of his being is telling him to track those bastards down and make sure they’ll never come after his little girl again. “Jen, you got hurt pretty bad. If Sammy can’t fix you up, we’re takin’ you to the hospital.”

The teen shakes her head in an adamant plea, tears coming to her emerald eyes. “No! Please, no. That’ll just make it worse.”

“Hey, we’ll only go if we have to.” Sam assures the brunette in his arms, knowing full well that she hates hospitals. In the fourth grade she had to go in for an emergency appendectomy, and she passed out when the nurse put her IV in. “Can you lift up your shirt a little, bug? I’m not gonna look, I’ve just gotta check your stomach.”

Her face goes pale at this, but she reluctantly nods her head and pulls her flannel shirt up to expose her abdomen. To his relief, Sam finds no hardness or tenderness when he presses around her midsection, instead becoming perplexed at another finding. When he pulls her shirt back down, his finger brushes against something that feels like an ACE bandage.

Biting his lip, he looks down at her as she places an ice pack over her left eye. “Did you try bandaging yourself already, Jen? ‘Cause I thought I felt a wrap around your ribs.”

Jenna looks like she’s going to be sick with anxiety. Ignoring all the pain in her body, she begins hyperventilating when she tries to speak, and Sam holds her tight to calm her down. Dean works her through her breathing—4, 5, 7—and they wait until she had enough control over herself to finish her thought.

“N-no, I—that’s for s-something else.” She’s crying now, borderline hysterical: a sight that makes her fathers want to start weeping as well. They look at her and silently ask her to elaborate, but she bites her bloody lip and shakes her head. “I don’t…I can’t tell you. I just can’t. You’ll be pissed and hate me forever.”

Her papa takes her hand in his and looks her in the eye. “Bug, you can tell your dad and I anything. We’ll never judge you, ever.”

“We promise,” Dean chimes in. “I mean, your papa and I were literally in a sanitarium for, like, a week. Right, babe?”

“Yeah.” Sam nods with a chuckle. “So, whatever you need to tell us, we can guarantee that we’ve heard and dealt with worse.”

These words seem to help Jenna compose herself and conjure up the courage needed to reveal this part of her identity she’s kept secret for so long. It’s been so rough lying to her dads since she discovered that she is who she is two years ago and she’s exhausted. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll be alright with it.

“Okay,” she whispers, lowering the ice from her bruised eye. “You know how there are some kids who…I dunno, they don’t feel comfortable in their bodies, I guess?”

The younger brother thinks for a moment then nods like a lightbulb went off in his head. “Yeah! Those teens with gender identity disorder and stuff. I worked with a girl who had that, got her on estrogen.”

Dean smiles at his husband’s comment and ponders the correlation before turning back to Jenna, thoroughly confused. “What about them?”

The fifteen year old is fumbling with the hem of her shirt now. She’s barely been able to come out to her best friend, and now her parents? That’s a huge leap. But, she’s hidden for long enough—she won’t let this kill her. Not like how it’s killed so many others. “I…I’m one of those k-kids. I’m sorry, Dad…Papa…”

Sam sits in silence for a few seconds before he hears crying from beside him, the figure in his arms shaking violently. He locks eyes with his husband, who nods with a small, understanding smile, and clears his throat.

“Hey, don’t cry,” he cooes, running his fingers through the long hair rubbing against his arm—that will probably have to go. “This doesn’t change a damn thing, bug. Your dad and I love you more than anything else in this world, and something this isn’t going to change that. You don’t have to be our Jenna for us to love you.”

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t agree with your papa when he chose your name,” Dean leans in to mutter, earning him a bitch face from Sam and a small chuckle from the ball of emotion beside him. “Do you want us to call you somethin’ different? I can’t promise that I’ll get it immediately, but I’ll try my best.”

The teen looks up at him with reddened eyes and smiles a bit. “Jack. I like the name Jack…is that okay?”

“Sure thing, Jack,” Dean kisses his son’s head and feels his tears wet his Led Zeppelin lounge shirt. He’s not alarmed, though; he knows that these tears are happy ones. “Alright, now that you’ve got that off your chest…get it?”

His husband snorts a bit and Jack laughs from beside him, now confident in his choice to tell the two idiots he’s proud to call his dads.

The older man coughs and carries on talking. “Now that that’s aired out, how ‘bout we watch Maury Povich while Papa patches you up, yeah?”

No longer hesitant, the boy nods and doesn’t really feel his physical pain over his emotional exuberance. Sam moves to grab some antiseptic but stops himself, first turning back to Jack and nodding at his chest.

“Will you take that off? It’s bad for your lungs and ribs,” he asks in a gentle voice.

The teen frowns to himself but still nods his head, reaching to his side to undo the clips fastening the bandage wrap around his chest. Once it ceases impairing his ability to breathe, Jack exhales and stretches his back, still grimacing at the feeling of his breasts against his shirt. His papa notices and pats his leg.

“I’ll order you a real binder online tonight, I promise,” he murmurs while Dean is fully indulging in his talk show obsession.

Jack beams and mouths a ‘thank you,’ which is answered with a ‘no problem, son.’ At that moment, Jack can’t remember why he was ever hesitant about telling his dads at all. They’ve always said that they’d be there for him through thick and thin, bad and good, no matter what—and they’ve come through time and time again.

”Hey, you wanna know a secret?” Dean asks his son in a whisper. Jack nods with a skepticism head tilt—damnit, Uncle Cas—and the father smiles. “When your Papa and I found out we were expecting you, I made a promise. I swore I’d always love you no matter what happened, and that I would do everything in my power to protect you and make sure you’d never be afraid to tell us anything.”

Sam sheds a tear at his lover’s words, taking his hand and looking at their son, who they’re meeting for the first time; god, he already looks so much happier and full of life than their daughter. “He did. I was there, he thought I was asleep. I made the same promise, Jack. We’re always in your corner,- nd we’ll never stop loving you.”

Jack sobs and embraces his dads. He’s never been happier than at this moment, getting his injuries nursed by his overprotective Papa and having his Dad nudge him to point at the TV and laugh at something dumb. Little does he know, his Dad is gonna come after those kids that beat him up with a BB gun and chase them off, all while screaming: “this is for my son, Jack!”

Everything is going to be alright, and he knows it. Family don’t end in blood, and he’s proud to be Jack Winchester.

#wincest #sam x dean #sam/dean #samdean #otp: and they were soulmates #i know i know #i need to stop #but trans fics make me so happy #theyd be such good lgbt parents #like lets be honest #fanfic #my fanfiction #wincest fanfic #drabble

[ekdmarsrem4]

CHOOSE (JACK KLINE X READER)

Request: Hey, umm not sure if your takin. Requests. Or if you take them for Jack Kline. But I have one for him. Basically sam and dean are fighting about Jack. The reader (the boy’s half sister, but close enough to be full sister) try’s to stop it but ends up failing. So jack helps her out. If you could that 1 that’d be cool. If not I understand. Have a wonderful day!

Y/N wakes to the all too familiar sound of her big brothers arguing.  She climbs out of bed & sleepily stumbles out into the hall.  

“He’s literally the spawn of Satan!” she hears Dean yell.  

“He’s a kid, Dean!” Sam yells back. “He doesn’t have to be like Lucifer.  We can help him be different.  We need to help him-”

“You know what I need?” Dean seethes through gritted teeth. “I need Cas!  And Mom!  And Bobby & Charlie & everyone else we’ve lost because of monsters like him!!”

“Keep your damn voices down!” Y/N hisses. “Dean, how can you be so quick to call him a monster??  You know his father but you don’t know him.”

“And you do??  Christ, Y/N, don’t be so damn naive.” Dean chides. “You can’t save everyone- not everyone deserves to be saved-”

“You have no idea what Jack deserves!”

“AND YOU DO?!”

“...Everyone deserves the chance to choose who they want to be.  You chose to be different than Dad, better than him.  All I’m asking is that you let Jack choose.”

Dean’s expression softens, but his gaze remains stern, skeptical. “And if he chooses wrong?”

“I don’t think he will.  Not if he has the right people by his side.”

Dean scoffs. “How many people do we gotta lose before you grow the hell up?!”

Y/N can’t help but wince at Dean’s words.  She averts her teary gaze to the floor & retreats to her room, feeling defeated, conflicted, & alone.

She’s crawling into bed when she hears a soft knock at her door. “Sammy?”

“No.”

“Jack?  Uh, c-come in.”

Jack opens the door & peeks his head in. “H-Hello.”

“Hey...Do you, uh...wanna sit?” Y/N asks as she scoots over on the bed.  

Jack warily makes his way over & sits beside her. “Thank you.” he says shyly.

“Are you okay?” Y/N asks, genuine concern evident in her gentle voice.

“I...I wanted to ask you the same thing...Are you alright?”

Y/N can’t help but smile. “Yeah.  Yeah, I’m okay.  Thank you, Jack.”

“I, um...I heard you talking to your brothers...”

Y/N’s heart plummets. “Oh, Jack, I’m so sorry you had to hear that!”

“No, please...don’t be sorry.  I just...I wanted to thank you.  For wanting to help me, for wanting to give me a chance to be good.  I want to be good...for my mother...& for you.”

“For me?”

“Yes.  I want to...repay you for your faith in me.”

Y/N reaches over & takes Jack’s hand. “You can be good, Jack.” she says with a sweet smile. “Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

Thank you for reading!

Requests are open!

#Jack Kline X Reader #Jack Kline Imagine #Supernatural Imagine #SPN

[blueberrymamba-blog]

“You are who you choose to be”

“Exodus” in my eyes.

The whole episode was about choosing. It was about choosing to do the right thing (bring all these people to their world or leave them there, for Gabe to flee or fight), choose between being good or bad (Jack vs Lucifer, Cas vs AU!Cas). It fits the season’s overall theme that is “redemption arcs” and “doing the right thing instead of the easy thing” and Exodus hammers it all down before the finale episode. 

To recall, all characters who got redeemed this season: 

Arthur Ketch

Rowena

Gabriel 

Jack

Lucifer (who’s not redeemed, but they want us to believe it)

Castiel 

They’re obviously going to redeem Michael too via making AU!Michael the absolute worst being in all realms, worse even than Lucifer himself, and if Michael!Dean happens, then I guess Michael’s redemption will follow 

Naomi (kind of via bringing her back)

The writers are also redeeming themselves via bringing back loved characters like Charlie and Bobby 

It’s all about choosing who you want to be - bad or good? 

Jack and Cas vs their evil selves 

They’ve sat a huge visual exposition between Cas and Jack. It can be seen here, when Jack talks to Lucifer and Cas stands behind him: 

Jack’s jacket has the same color as Castiel’s tie, whereas Lucifer’s jacket reminds of Castiel’s coat, but has no blue-ish elements that could link him to Jack. It shows who really cares about Jack - Cas’s tie lays over his heart, whereas jacket “hugs” Jack and “protects” his body. 

Both Jack and Cas met their evil selves this episode. AU!Cas was basically Hitler!Cas - dark, twisted and evil (I was right btw, I knew some people thought “the Commander” was Cas and that he would be rebellious like our Cas, but ultimatively, I was right, yay!), and Jack met his “biological” father, who claims is just like Jack - and we know Lucifer is evil, therefore Jack fears he’s evil, too. 

The episode sets up both our Cas and AU!Cas in the same place - torturing people, which on the surface looks like the same thing, but serves different causes. AU!Cas tortures Charlie, because he hates her as a human, he wants to cause her as much pain as possible, whereas our Cas doesn’t really torture, but only wants to get the information about Charlie’s location. He does it as quickly as possible and leaves the traitor alone. It seems like the same thing on the surface, but is a very different thing - Cas struggled to understand these differences ever since he rebelled against Heaven. It all hammers down Cas’ redemtpion arc and him forgiving himself, it hammers down what’s been established in the first episodes after his comeback - Castiel finally understand what he did, which things were necessary and which were not. He does not confuse them anymore. The episode ends with Cas choosing humans again and killing Hitler!Cas while telling him that he vastly prefers humans over angels and stabs his dark self with an angel blade - an angel weapon given to him by angels themselves. The message is clear: Cas is not evil and never will be, even though some people tried and will continue to try and make him believe he is, because of the things he does/have done. And he knows it. No self-doubt. No self-loathing. He chose who he wants to be. 

Jack is now in the same situation. He has faced his “evil self” in form of Lucifer, who plays with his feelings and makes it difficult for him to make the choice. Just like Cas thought doing dangerous/stupid things will repay the world for his mistakes, Jack thinks killing Michael will redeem him and his poor choices. Just like Cas, Jack believes his evil and a major fuck-up, because he was trying to do the right thing, but people died anyway. Cas literally had to die and face one of his personifications to be able to see himself in different light, to forgive himself and now, to be able to literally defeat the darkness within him. 

If I’m reading this right, Jack will have to go though the same. He will die (literally or figuratively) and then he will have to defeat the darkness within him, which is... Lucifer. So yes, I think Jack will perma-kill Lucifer, even though he seems adamant to kill Michael. 

Good Michael, Bad Michael 

“You are who you choose to be” also applies to Michael in both realms. AU!Michael chose to be a vicious creature, who wants not only to destroy his own realm, but also every other one as well. During the original Apocalypse, the boys feared that this is what would happen if Dean said yes and Michael won, but now I’m not so sure it would be exactly like that. Yes, the angels wanted all people to die, but then they would go to Heaven - it does not seem like a possibility in the AU!World, because angels there really hate humans and did not let them in. This was never the case during the original Apocalypse. 

We don’t really know what our Michael would do. Maybe he would just kill Lucifer and all the people who died during Lucifer’s rising would be brought back, since Archangels can to it? It was “Paradise on Earth”, after all. Not just Paradise, as in Heaven. Sure, Ash and Pamela made it clear: “Heaven is not so bad” etcetera, and Zachariah said the battle would be so epic that many people would die, but would they really? Over seven billion of people on planet Earth would just randomly die because of a fight in Lawrance, Kansas? Or would Michael go after every single one of them and kill them personally so they could go to Heaven? Seems like a choice Micheal could make - he could go rogue like AU!Michael and kill everyone, but he could also just bring those who died and let them live in the world without evil. Wouldn’t it be.. paradise on Earth? 

Everyone seems to get redemption arcs. Michael was marked as “bad” during the original Apocalypse, but now we’re being exposed to Michael’s true, dark self that’s worse than ANYTHING Michael ever did or was supposed to do. Given the example of AU!Cas and Cas, it has to be the other one to defeat one’s evil self. 

It’s logical that dark, AU!Michael has to be killed by his counterpart from original world. Not Lucifer, not Jack, but Michael himself. 

The only question is: Who will Michael choose to be? 

On the side note: 

Rowena is an angel, I love her. 

A Single Devil Tear Is What We Don’t Fear

I’m still not buying Lucifer’s story about how he’s changed 

Sam hugging Charlie, God it was cute

WHY BRING GABE BACK ONLY TO KILL HIM AGAIN 

I deadass thought Ketch was going to kiss Dean when they rescued them????? 

Not so much Destiel, but they still acted married - Cas going through Dean’s things and Dean not batting an eyelid; they standing together against Sam, where it seems obvious they both silently agree that it’s a bad idea to bring all these people, but choosing not to say anything; TWO ANGRY OVERPROTECTIVE DADS

It’s kinda unfair that we didn’t get a Deancas hug this long and heartfelt but hey, what’s new

I hate AU!Michael, he’s not just twisted, he’s actually worse than Lucifer in both worlds

Hitler!Cas is now a thing 

Poor Misha, Jensen will never let it go 

#spn 13x22 exodus #13x22 exodus #spn meta #michael!dean #au!michael #au!cas #au!castiel #dean winchester #castiel #redemption arcs #you are who you choose to be #kelly kline #jack kline #lucifer #destiel #deancas as married couple

[orionsangel86]

13x01 - Episode Review - Part 2

"Nougat Winchester” and narrative mirrors in 13x01

It has taken me forever to finish this part of my review to the extent that we have already had another episode before I finished it! But rather than curse my inability to focus I’m gonna press on and complete this before I start my 13x02 review.

Ah Jack, Jack our little nougat Jack. The way the fandom has embraced you is very touching. The internet screams of “PROTECT HIM” certainly show that Alexander Calvert has done an exceptional job of “pulling a Misha” and making us fall in love with him by the end of his first scene. I was not expecting that one bit. 

I’ll be honest and say that over the hiatus I haven’t paid too much attention to him. I did read some of the meta and speculation that @tinkdw and others put out there, but it was never really something I focused my thoughts on. I figured he would be another character that would test the team free will dynamic and would be a good avenue for the writers to comment on the concepts of nature vs nurture. I remember reading some speculation once the episode titles first came out about “The Scorpion and the Frog” and anyone who knows that story knows very well that the title itself foreshadows Jack going darkside – to his own potential destruction. (The scorpion, in carrying out its own “nature” and stinging the frog that carried it – not only doomed the frog, but doomed itself as well.)

Jack has officially won me over though. He was a charming innocent and funny character, and I think his interactions with Clark brought a lot of light to an otherwise terribly angsty and painfully heart breaking episode. (#bringbackClark2k17)

But what really blew me away was how both Jack AND Clark were such OBVIOUS mirrors for Dean and Cas and to a lesser extent to Sam. It amused me to no end. Therefore this review will focus on those mirrors, and what they mean. 

Long post under the cut

Jack is a narrative mirror of Team Free Will

This is the important thing to remember. He is all of them, and will have aspects of all them characterised into his personality as we continue to get to know the character in the coming episodes. 

I am sure that there are already thousands of words of meta on this topic (since I’m over a week late to the game) but I’m gonna throw my hat in the ring anyway.

The most obvious mirror we get from Jack is for Castiel. I have said already that Castiel was all over every single scene of 13x01. That Dabb didn’t want the audience forgetting him for a second. (thank you Dabb you wonderful man). I have already seen the many gifsets floating around comparing all of Jack’s “Cas” moments to the original famous Cas moments in the show - and we know that this carries over into episode 2 as well. 

Firstly, we can see immediately in the way Jack is dressed that he is coded as a Cas mirror:

Look at the tan jacket, the pale blue shirt, visually he is already a mini Cas. Remember they could have dressed him in ANYTHING. They chose a tan Jacket and pale blues. They chose these colours because this show has a visual library and certain things always mean certain things. Put someone in a tan coat or jacket and they are a Cas mirror. This is how these things work. 

(the bulls horns hand symbol does however have Lucifer connotations which ties him to his biological father whether he likes it or not - but more on that when I go on about signs and symbols).

Probably the most “Cas” like moment in this episode was this one:

(x)

Poor baby is just as literal as his dad:

(x)

But there are many more. The constant confused expression for starts:

(I’m still waiting for the moment he actually does the head tilt as we all know it’s coming)

The scene with the candy was delightful - and gave him the fandom pet name of “Nougat Winchester” which I have stolen from Lizzy as my new tag for him because its so fitting.

(and we like you sweetheart)

(on that note - I did find it interesting that Jack isn’t able to answer the Sheriff when she asks him for a last name. Surely he knows his mother’s name was Kline? Why didn’t he give her that? We were all calling him “Jack Kline” over hiatus, but now it doesn’t seem like its the case - personally I think this is because he will indeed get “adopted” as a Winchester and will use the surname at some point in future - probably in front of Lucifer causing a hell of a lot of anger. God knows the show has pointed out enough times over the past season that Castiel is a Winchester - leading to mainstream media giving him the last name:

Why yes I did add my destiel adjacent quiz results to meta about Jack. I have no regrets. :P

Anyway, as I was saying Jack is a huge Cas mirror, and his adorably gluttonous love of candy was a call back to:

Perhaps we can once again talk about angels and addiction and how this may affect Jack? Because they really don’t have the self control that human’s do (even though Cas was affected by famine at this particular moment).

So why is Jack a mirror for Cas? Well this is probably the first clue:

I screamed the first time I watched this moment. I think we all expected it to remain subtextual. We all know that this season will explore the role of fatherhood and how it affects each character, but this was so much more than we were expecting. Jack is a Cas mirror because he has majorly imprinted on Cas from the womb. He is first and foremost a Cas mirror because Cas is on his mind from the moment of his birth, and this reveal confirms it. Every question of “Father?” that he says so ominously in the first part of the episode is directed at Castiel. It is Castiel he was looking for, not Lucifer. 

I did say that Castiel was in every second of this episode, forcing the audience to continuously remember him and his importance - and this moment made me jump for joy. 

The way the episode continuously plays with the audiences expectations is really interesting. They want us to assume the worst of Jack, but each time he surprises us by delighting us with some adorable Cas like thing. Jack says “I’m hungry” and we are supposed to feel uneasy about that because just 2 seasons ago we had another very hungry powerful child who fulfilled her hunger by eating human souls. We are supposed to worry about Clark in that moment, and to follow the Sheriff down the darkened halls and flickering lights terrified of what Jack has done - but he is sitting there cross legged on the floor with Clarke surrounded by candy wrappers and proclaiming how much he likes nougat. Its a lovely moment and it forces the audience to change their minds completely. 

When Jack reveals that he thinks Cas is his father, our reaction is much the same as Sam’s, but we fall for him just like Sam does, and it sets the season up nicely because for once the audience is NOT supposed to be on Dean’s side here. (I’ll talk about this more in my review of episode 2 where it is more relevant but basically, we are supposed to feel sorry for Dean because we know that he isn’t seeing things clearly. We are supposed to root for Jack and be on Sam’s side in all this, and to see Dean as a character shrouded in a deep grief and anger)

I love that they made it textual that Cas is the father. (major flashbacks to 11x06 right now though)

“Jenny, he is not ready to be a father!”

I’ll continue jumping for joy over this as the season goes forward, but for now I want to talk about how Jack is also a mirror for Dean. Because he is and it again, wasn’t subtle. 

(x)

A young boy on a quest to find his father, to have to accept the death of his mother right at the start, and who is forced to grow up far quicker than he should? Yeah that sounds about right. 

Whilst Dean and Jack seem at odds with each other from the start, they are both set up as mirrors in their joint grief for Castiel. That heart wrenching moment at the end of the episode where Dean is wrapping Castiel’s body for the pyre comes only moments after we get to see Jack’s own grief for his mother so touchingly portrayed as a grip to her covered foot. Both Dean and Jack are only shown touching the feet of those they lost, there is probably some deep symbolic meaning to that linked to Christ and washing the feet of his disciples or something but I’ll leave that meta to someone far more versed in bible lore than me. 

We know that in episode 2 the Dean parallels get much stronger, with Dean being the second Winchester (after Cas) that he imprints upon. I’ll talk about this in my episode 2 review, and instead leave this here. Jack is Dean for his grief, and his ties to humanity, and how he has been robbed of his childhood. I am interested to see how they go about keeping Jack innocent. He is in the body of a man, but his mind is still so childlike. I hope that he becomes a symbol for Dean’s own innocence in a theme started in 12x11. 

Finally, the one touched on the least in episode 1 but probably the most significant to Jack’s own arc going forward - Jack as a mirror for Sam.

What so far is probably the least obvious in terms of mirror’s is actually the most obvious in terms of story lines. There is a reason Sam so desperately wants to believe in Jack, believe that he is good and can do good things. Because Sam has been in this situation himself. 

Sam’s entire early series arc was about fighting the darkness inside himself, fighting against his own dark powers that came from a place of evil, and resisting Lucifer’s pull. Sam’s been there. So of course Sam is rooting for the kid. Sam and Jack have the biggest connection in terms of their connection to Lucifer. Sam immediately tries to see things through Jack’s point of view. Yes, he’s not as tied down with grief and anger as Dean is - Sam hasn’t just lost the love of his life (though the deancas parallels to SamJess are very strong throughout 12x23 and 13x01 as well).

Sam still has hope, because he see’s himself in Jack. He knows he managed to resist that dark power, and he has faith that Jack can to. I expect the Sam/Jack mirrors to come through far more strongly in episode 3 when we see them interacting together without Dean there to cause conflict, so it will be interesting if we get to delve more into Sam’s past and trauma this season, as it’s about time the show focused on his issues around Lucifer.

Clark as the exposition for Cas’s return... among other things

I could talk for hours about Jack and everything he stands for, but right now I just need to add this about Clark, because boy did he pull focus. In an episode so heavy with grief and full of reminders of Castiel as well as establishing Jack into the audiences mind, Clark comes out of no where and almost steals the show (almost). 

When we are introduced to Clark only 5 minutes into the episode, he is mucking around with the menu changing every item into something ‘butt’ related. I could meta on this but tbh its so very on the nose that I don’t think it’s needed. You all know exactly what Burgers and Butts are making us think of. Its juvenile but its hilarious (my personal favourite is the salty butt combo - a bit of salt is a good thing especially in destiel fandom!).

So skipping past those obvious jokes, what interests me most about Clark is this:

“He’s fired me like seven times... and I keep coming back.”

Look at this face! Dark hair, Blue eyes, extremely charming? Hello Cas mirror!

also:

4x22 - Killed by Raphael

5x22 - Killed by Lucifer

7x01 - Killed by returning the souls (Dean thought he was dead before he healed himself)

7x02 - Killed by Leviathan

8x02 - Left for dead in Purgatory

9x03 - Killed by April

12x23 - Killed by Lucifer

At this point in the show, Dean has watched Cas “die” seven times. I don’t think the above was an accident. 

The fact that Clark then says “Around here, I’m untouchable” is kind of hilarious. Since Clark later gets stabbed with an angel blade - AND SURVIVES.

However for the rest of the episode, Clark is so much more of a Dean mirror, to Jack’s Cas mirror. Clark shows Jack his humanity. He makes Jack happy enough for his powers to make the lights flicker (honestly if this doesn’t make the whole grace orgasm blowing out the lights head canon real I don’t know what does). He feeds him candy, jokes around with him, and is generally such a playful and charming character that we can’t quite help but associate him with Dean.

I love how Clark’s mum the Sheriff tells the police officer that “There’s no such thing as weird, everyone is normal in their own way” because isn’t that just a massive shout out to anyone who is slightly ‘different’? All of us who identify with this show about the ‘weird’ things because we are a little bit weird ourselves? Whose to say what is normal and whats not? 

What I love about this line is that it backs up my claim that the show is trying to prepare the audience in a way for things they may not expect... especially the part of the audience that watches for macho men, guns and death - the Republicans, the dudebros, the right wingers, the assholes who think that to fit in in this world you have to fit into some idealistic little box. Well, believe me this show has a few surprises in line for those people. I can’t wait for it to all come to a head.

Team Free Will 

Ultimately, what 13x01 has shown us is that Jack is a combination of ALL of team free will. He is his own person of course, but he shares elements and traits with all of them. I think it’s so fitting that so soon after Dean’s memorable speech to Cas in 12x19:

“You, Me, and Sam, We’re just better together. So now that you’re back, lets go Team Free Will”

In which Dean brought this term back for the first time in canon since it was used in 5x13, do we now have a character who is the embodiment of all three of them. For me, it seems that this was intentional and that Dean’s words really were the truth - that once Cas comes back, all three of them will be able to save Jack from himself, along with any other nastiness that comes their way. It is my absolute belief that the moral of season 13 will be that Dean, Sam and Cas need each other, and need to work together in order to defeat whatever evil comes their way. Jack is proof of that. How he mirrors all three of them, and is at this point in time, internally divided:

He has Cas’s innocence, naivety and endearing curious nature, as well as his angelic power.

He has Dean’s humanity, his desire to be good, and a need to reach out to people and bond with them.

He has Sam’s inner darkness, linked to his emotions and leading him to question his own monstrous nature. His struggle between his own inner good and evil. 

When these three sides of him conflict, it will cause problems. Just like how conflict between Dean, Sam and Cas is usually the primary cause of disaster in the supernatural universe. Jack’s fate, and his ability to control himself and his opposing sides, is intrinsically tied to Team Free Will themselves coming together and actually working as a team once again. 

And I bloody well can’t wait to watch this story play out. 

#supernatural #spn meta #jack the nephilim #nougat winchester #episode review #13x01 #season 13 #spn spoilers #dean winchester #castiel #sam winchester #destiel #mirrors and parallels

[thedogsled]

Post-ep notes: s13x09, mid-season finale.

I’m going to take some quick notes and then go the fuck to sleep like a good angel. Let’s see if I can remember everything I want to.

In this post: Shooting from above; Dean Winchester’s trauma; Jack the Nephilim; Angel theory; Kaia, Patience and Jody; The bad place spec; Hooded personage; ; Billie’s house of cards; and me being super duper tired and still having to do adult things tomorrow.

The filmed from above shots that run through this episode give a very strong sense of being watched over, and not in a good way. We get a lot of very overwhelming music to stress you out, those muted foghorn things they do in the trailers for disaster movies. I think this is actually intended long term as a Wayward aesthetic and not an SPN one tbh, since I imagine they will be in different styles, but it does also give the feeling of impending doom i.e. Billie’s house of cards falling down.

Speaking of: Dean Winchester doesn’t give a shit about houses of cards, because fuck that.

No but really. This is PTSD Dean shining through. We were reminded of his Hell trauma last week, and when he was shown Mary suffering “Somebody help me!” he went right back to it. You’ve got to imagine how often he must have screamed that with no answer. No answer no answer no answer until he BROKE, until he came down off the rack and picked up the poker for himself. And now he finds out that all this time he’s been lying around drinking beer and grieving or celebrating with his cowboy boyfriend or hunting Mary has been in her own Hell calling out for help? Damn right he’s going to do whatever it takes to save her, because nobody saved him. Dean’s actions are those of a traumatized, desperate man.

Moving on.

Jack my bundle of lovely boy has grown so much since he left the bunker. I know I for one could see the ‘he didn’t kill Derek’ coming because I trust him, so that was a little ‘You really thought your nougat boy had done it, didn’t you!’ at the audience, and then in the car Jack is like staring through the fourth wall at the audience shaking his head ‘so fucking what if I’m Satan’s son he’s not my father’. And outright says so, and Dean tells him he’s family. The only sting in the tail of this is it comes easily for Jack and it took for fucking ever for Dean to tell Cas when he needed to hear it. (I was right here. Where were you?) But Jack is family and Sam believes it too thank fuck for that. Sam ‘he’s not an it, he’s Cas!’ Winchester, who needs to make emotional connections for himself. But yeah Jack was just so full of sweet optimism despite everything and I loved him for that. I keep talking about found family, but that boy has found his. He chose TFW.

Kaia is a broken human soul and I love her all the more for it. I love that Jack gave her something hopeful, and I love that it was clearly not brainwashing, and she decides herself to cooperate. Then we get to see it, we get this vision from Jack’s POV of all the universes in their swimming circles of stars and it is beautiful. It’s like looking into the heart of the TARDIS too - i.e. it can turn Daleks into sparkly dust - but w/e. I loved the dreamwalker stuff, though, that was awesome, and I can’t believe we saw that painting so long ago and just thought it was storyboarding. lololol anyway.

Speaking of the angels! I loved that we got to see them working as a warrior unit like they were in Michael’s world? I feel like that’s important so that we can see how far away from that model Cas is now. And I love them tearing down the warding because it looked fucking cool. The wings burned onto the walls were awesome, and since the tear in realities is there I imagine we’ll see it again when bad things start coming through (some of the promo shots for 13x10 are daylight in the room that Sam and Dean disappeared in). ALSO angels driving cars? I mean obviously, cause they don’t fly any more, but I really loved that bit.

I’ve mentioned this before (and everyone will have their version and that’s the fun of a big cliffhanger like this), but my guess for the bad place is a world where monsters are real (as Kaia says). Sam and Dean tied to trees like sacrifices to a gorgon/dragon, and giant skulls like something you’d find Perseus fighting. Super cool, and I love Sam getting to tag along on this Dean vs. Trees adventure. (I won’t deny there’s a dino feel though but I don’t expect dinos because this is SPN, its spec fx budget can’t possible stretch to that, can it?)

Hooded guy/girl? Charlie? Balthazar? Another Cas? Badass au version of Asmodeus who’s not corny and awful? Come on, it could be anyone at this point but I’m super excited for the possibilities.

Speculative plot for 13x13: Lucifer and Cas escape prison and Sister Jo informs them that they’re literally the last two angels left, and we just watched the last six angels in Heaven get dusted. Could happen.

There’s like a billion more things (What is happening to Jody in Patience’s vision? Also I totally saw Patience’s dad pulling the ‘don’t ever come back’ thing but I wish he’d just run downstairs for a fucking hug) 

Aaaand yeah. Mostly I just really loved it, can’t wait to watch it again.

#s13x09 #spoilers #s13 spoilers #spn spoilers #kaia #angel theory #patience #wayward sisters #wayward spoilers #alternate universe #the bad place #jack kline #jack the nephilim #speculation #dean's hell trauma #dean i need a winchester #mary winchester #team free will #family #family don't end in blood #choice #good vs evil #go the fuck to sleep

[margarittet]

SPN Season13 in the Galaxy not so Far Away, aka Supernatural vs Star Wars

We all know how important “Star Wars” are in the SPN universe, but I just had a revelation yesterday: we are now in the point of the story that literally just arrived at the doorstep of “a new hope”, and everything just fell into place. 

(To the fellow SW fans: I am drawing parallels here only to the first six movies, excluding everything else, because I realised this is a topic that you can write about for hours and hours - with this thought in mind, I have limited myself to the very basic character overview. If anyone wants to add plot analysis, philosophy, more future speculation or whatever else, please feel encouraged to do so!)

The classic “Star Wars” is a franchise that is an archetypical, medieval adventure/fairy tale/coming-of-age story set in space, with magic, romance, religion, philosophy, knights, dark lords, orphaned heroes, a princess, wizards and scoundrels, a quest, epic battles, a war between good and evil, love, choices and redemption. It also talks a lot about free will, nature vs nurture, found family vs blood family, the power of love, faith, hope, self-understanding, and self-acceptance.

It’s a perfect parallel to Supernatural. So, let’s have a look:

1) Lucifer is Anakin/Darth Vader. The one with amazing powers, the one who stood out among the Jedi/angels, who was supposed to be “the bringer of light”, but who was brought to the Dark Side due to hubris and hate, and to rules he didn’t agree with, the rules given from above. The moment love was gone from his life, Anakin/Lucifer went bye-bye, gave in to the power of evil, and became the Dark Lord. 

Once Luke/Jack came into the picture, Anakin/Lucifer started looking for him to lure him to the Dark Side, because Vader, just like Lucifer, doesn’t understand the concept of love above blood, and of free will that can steer our innate nature. Luke does not give in to the dark side, and in the end he manages to draw his father back to the side of light because of love and light he chose for himself - and Anakin dies redeemed. I’m not sure if this is Lucifer’s path, but since he “was not a villain” in his story either, we’ll see.

Anakin/Lucifer used to be the Chosen One, the one destined to change Jedis/angels, but he went astray. Luke/Jack is now the one set to repair the damage he has done.

2) So, Jack is our Luke Skywalker now. At the beginning of our story it was Sam who was Luke’s parallel, but Sam has grown and can now be the older, smarter “Jedi” who has seen it all before, and can use it to educate his young padawan. That just underlines the similarities between Jack and Sam that will play a big part in the future. 

Jack/Luke. A young kid, who has humongous amounts of power/magic/Force inside of him, who is “a new hope” for the universe, but who needs outside influences that would keep him away from the Dark Side. He will need his teachers and friends to stay on the path of light, to fight for the right cause, and to help restore the Republic (balance). They will also help him understand the new world he was thrown into with all the politics and family drama behind it - his dad is the Prince of Darkness after all (Lucifer/Darth Vader), his mom was a sweet, innocent soul who loved purely, but is now dead (Kelly/Padme Amidala), he himself posseses the potential to build or destroy, and now the question is how he will choose to use his abilities.

(Ok, since we don’t yet have gifs of Jack, here you have a preview from another show:)

He will figure out where he will put his power, faith and heart, with a little help of his friends:

3) Dean/Han Solo - an actual human, with no superpowers of his own, but by no means unimportant or without special traits. Just as Han, Dean is the epitome of charm, courage, skill, quick wit, friendship, love and humanity. He doesn’t need the Force/magic/angelic powers to be one of the most important people in the Galaxy. He would happily die for his friends/family, and he is also the lover in the story, a BAMF fighter and a great pilot/driver with a cool vehicle.

4) Cas is part Yoda, part Leia. Yoda is Cas’ supernatural - “angelic/alien” - side. Leia is Cas’ human side.

He is paralleled to Leia in the fact that he is the newly found family to Luke (Sam/Jack), and a lover to Han (Dean). He also resembles Leia in the way that, even though she has a very strong Force heritage (that would be angel powers in this analogy), she is not really interested in her skills, and prefers more down-to-earth activities, like fighting for the cause, and enjoying love/family life. 

Oh, and the sass.

As for Yoda - he just now is becoming a Yoda parallel. He is being separated from Sam and Dean, going through his spiritual awakening into self-awareness, and gaining knowledge (his own Buddha-like path), so that he can emerge again, more prepared to take a role of a teacher. I almost can see some kind of Dagobah-like scenario where Jack and Cas go away for some time, so that Cas can show Jack something connected to his angelic side - the light side of the angelic “Force”.

Life lesson to be taken from this: never take the dorky little guy at face value.

5) Sam, who used to be Luke, swinging between the light and dark inside of him, can now become Obi-Wan, being half a teacher-philosopher, half a warrior - not unlike Cas, but I think Cas is definitely more Yoda. Castiel is”alien”. Sam is fully human, only with special powers, so he’s Obi-Wan. Additionally, in another parallel, Sam has a past with Lucifer, something that can be used now when he will try helping Jack.

Sam, as a mirror to Jack, has always been the HOPE in the show.

(Just a side comment: the sass is strong with this one.)

Angel!Cas/Yoda and Sam/Obi-Wan are very similar to each other in a way that they are both a bit hermit, they have no problems being alone, studying new things, or just spending hours doing things that people like Dean/Han Solo or Jack/Luke would find deadly boring. They have few earthly possesions. They don’t nest. They prefer knowledge/faith/spiritual growth to material things and strong emotions (of course Cas is slowly breaking out of this, becoming Leia). It’s a very Buddhist approach to life that Jedis preached as well.  

(I guess Sam is a bit of Chewie, too.)

Human!Cas will be different. He will be earth bound, love bound, and mission bound - and once the mission is done, and balance is restored, he will find his place, his home with his lover, and he will be very happy with it. Love will be a huge part of his character story, but not the defining part - just like Leia, he will be a fighter, a strategist, a soldier, and in the end, a lover.

Sam and Cas, paralleling Yoda/Obi-Wan, once they teach Luke/Jack about everything he needs to know, will die (figuratively) which means that they will finally be able to ”rest in peace” - settle down in their final endgames - Sam a scholar and a hunter, and Cas a lover, a hunter and a human. Jack will be settling down, too, after his job is done and Lucifer is dead - like Luke.

It’s going to be a good ending. There will be music, dancing, kissing and ILYs. 

And, hopefully, some Ewoks.

#supernatural #parallels #star wars #character analysis #dean winchester #castiel #Sam Winchester #jack the nephilim #destiel endgame #jack kline #luke skywalker #princess leia #han solo #obi wan kenobi #yoda #spn meta #long post

[tinkdw]

12x22: Dean Winchester is going to die

Well, when I was new, I wrote a whole post about this, about how early episodes but especially 12x11 foreshadowed that Performing!Dean was going to be deconstructed by the end of the season... Fans self.

The death of Performing!Dean in this episode was BEAUTIFUL. It was EXQUISITE. I couldn't have asked for MORE! 

I literally grabbed and punched @amwritingmeta in the leg I don't know how many times as I paused it to point and shout.

1. The Grenade Launcher

So, the grenade launcher = performing!Dean metaphor. We had hoped and boy did they deliver! Did anyone else notice, while Dean was *ahem* knocking down the seemingly unpenetrable physical walls, that, maybe it was my weird link, but it seemed to me that the flashing ‘red’ lights in the MoL bunker were decidedly pinky-purpley in colour rather than standard alarm bells red and the flashlights glowed on the blue side of white... (the MoL HQ lights are also brightly pinky-purple to keep the theme going, I mean honestly what self respecting 1950s MoL guy chose this for the bunker instead of the usual red? Please!) Just saying. 

“It wasn't long ago I thought we had it made. We had Cas back, we had mom back. I mean it wasn't perfect but still...”.  This is it. Dean’s facade has been coming down all season, but at this point now, he just doesn’t see the point in holding it up anymore.

And what does Sam do? HE OPENS UP TO DEAN. He tells Dean how he feels, the reasons why he followed the MoL - that it was “easier than leading”, that he made a mistake. This enables Dean to be truthful himself, in the end, now. Again, they have had many times to reflect on their own deaths but this is another time similar to 11x23 where he can really reflect on what he has lost, and now what is that? Cas and Mary.

Dean uses the grenade launcher, that he’s been dying to do since forever, blows down the impenetrable seeming wall, saves the day. How meta do we need to go? It’s BLATANT. The choice in the colour of the lights, the dialogue, his feelings... the walls are Dean’s facade and the grenade launcher is his way of breaking it down. YES. This has been building all season and much prior to this other meta writers have said that he grenade launcher is associated with Dean’s hidden side, his bisexuality, Destiel etc... this is meta gold, THIS is a meta aspect Dabb was talking about. Toni even then parallels the tearing down of Mary’s mental wall with Dean’s physical use of the grenade launcher, just moments after. It is so well put together :D

Also, I have long believed that the bunker had to go. It represents too much the MoL side of things and the whole ‘living below ground’ thing is way too underground / metaphorically bad. For me they need a real, healthy home which is in between Bobby’s hunter house and the MoL bunker. Hopefully they will find a nice modern MoL home with kit but that isn't so hidden above ground somewhere next season to take over and make their own :D

2. Sam the MoL leader

“Real hunting isn’t just about killing, it’s about doing whats right... I want you to follow me”. We have wanted this for Sam all season, the MoL story fits his personal arc so well (so did Eileen, still bitter), this is Sam’s endgame. Sam said just moments earlier that he didn’t want to lead, but now he is, because it is necessary and because he is good at it. I believe he will now see that this is what he wants and will work towards this for his endgame.

This then leads to...

3. Dean and Sam - ending the brodependency and Dean as Sam’s parent

Dean lets Sam go, the dialogue is amazing. “You’re ready for this... you got this” paralleled with an actual mom/daughter conversation between Jody and Alex. 

Dean literally talks to Sam like a parent letting their child go off to college and I had to pause this for a long long moment to process and scream “they’re actually going there!” not even knowing what was coming next... man...

Then comes the Mary / Dean scene.

4. Dean and Mary

This was always going to be what Mary led to for Dean’s arc. After Amara had started this addressing of Dean’s facade in season 11 and Mary is basically an extension of Amara this season re: Dean (in the same way that she still has to influence Sam’s arc re: Lucifer, that is for next season). I LOVED how BLATANT and textual they made this, the actual lack of subtext because it was all in the ACTUAL TEXT! 

Firstly, Dean considers letting Toni go, which I had expected, to show the difference between our boys (morality) and the MoL as monsters.

Then... “Dad was just a shell...I had to be a father and a mother to keep him safe, and that wasnt fair, and I couldnt do it, and you wanna know what that was like? They killed the girl that he loved, he got possessed by Lucifer, they tortured him in hell and he lost his soul...But I forgive you, for everything.” MY HEART!

Ok, yeah, they did the thing, they brought Jess up 30 mins before killing the guy that Dean loves after not mentioning her for.... A DECADE? And paralleling one of the few scenes we ever saw her in with Dean/Cas too? After we already had the parallel with Dean seeing Cas when driving along, same as Sam did? So, only the scene of Sam and Jess in the bar and the scene where Dean actually meets her haven't been paralleled now with Dean/Cas? I’M LIVING!

But seriously. The rest is exactly what we, the audience needed to understand Dean and to show casual viewers Dean’s inner angst in order to understand the facade coming down, this is exactly what Dean needed. He has come full circle, this is the start of the culmination of the end of Performing!Dean (which Jensen has no said at Jibcon will be furthered in season 13!).

Dean actually TELLS Mary in his mind that he hates her, but that he loves her. That he had to be Sam’s mother and father, and that it wasn't FAIR. This is so important, that he didnt just say that it happend and that it sucked, but that it wasn't FAIR and that he did not DESERVE IT.

This is Dean addressing not just his mother but how HE feels about it, how he feels about HIMSELF, that he is saying that he DESERVES MORE and has SELF WORTH. 

These are all the words I have been using since 12x01 re: Dean . I’m so happy!

5. Ketch kills Toni, Mary kills Ketch after Dean beats him to a pulp, PERFECT, Jody kills Hess, again perfect.

This had to happen to keep our boys on the ‘don't kill humans unless they HAVE to’ side, especially after Dean considered letting Toni go. Thank you.

6. Winchester family reunion 

Sam’s forgiveness of Mary, Dean’s reaction to the happy family hug (it’s great but someone is missing...). “Who we are... we kick ass. We save the world” 

SAM AND DEAN ARE ACCEPTING THEMSELVES THIS SEASON. In 12x09 Sam said it, now Dean says it. After all the angst this episode and for Dean all season...

This whole episode was for me the culmination of the deconstruction of Performing!Dean this season, which has been the main theme carried through on the character - driven side of things, it was beautiful.

In many ways I view this as the character - led season finale and 12x23 as the plot - led season finale (which I will post my thoughts on right up next).

I cannot WAIT to see the result of this episode come across next season. 

We have not only now Performing!Dean pretty much dead or on his way out, the Dean Winchester is going to die metaphor was fully used and was fantastic, but coupled with Cas being brutally taken away from Dean, the parallels with 2 key canon romantic couples (Sam/Jess and Cain/Colette) in this within SECONDS of each other, plus the Jibcon revelations that we will see more of Dean’s reaction to this in season 13, apparently crying (and Jared not even hiding Destiel jokes now) make me pretty much 100% convinced Destiel is really endgame now.

Aside from this we now have Dean accepting himself, his internal self acceptance arc coming to a close, Sam’s MoL arc coming up and I will touch on the other aspects of the story for Sam in the next post as they are relevant to Lucifer / Jack, and Cas’s arc too...

Season 13 is already set up for exactly the endgame I am wishing for!

Tink’s Endgame Wishlist :

- Mol! Sam (and Eileen, Chuck I’m still bitter about that though, I really hoped her death would turn out to be a misdirection). Pretty much CHECK.

- Hunter / Mol collaboration with Sam and Dean as leaders. Pretty much CHECK.

- End of the brodependency, Dean acknowledging he was Sam’s parent and letting him go. CHECK.

- End of Performing!Dean. Pretty much CHECK.

- Human!Cas and self worth and belonging for his arc. TBA probably next season, what happened this season makes no sense if not to lead to this.

- Destiel. Pretty much CHECK. (And now after seeing Jibcon and the boys just joking about it all the time? Yeah, I don't think they have an issue with this!).

- ALL THE RAINBOWS

#spn 12x22 #performing!dean #mary winchester #destiel #dean is bi #bi!dean #bunker #tinks meta #spn 12x22 meta

[mittensmorgul]

I’m officially out into the early days of Dabb Era (masquerading as the end of Carver Era, but it’s clear that Dabb has already taken over at this point) on the tnt loop. And this scene from the end of 11.16 was just so reminiscent of 14.13:

[BOBBY leaves the house and heads to his car. He waves at the nosy neighbor, and gets in the driver's seat. He notices a bottle, with a note attached to it that says, "Fine, you Ass, you win, for now. Enjoy. R." BOBBY laughs. He gets out his journal to write about the case, when his cell phone rings.] BOBBY: Dean. You boys okay? DEAN: Yeah we're fine, Bobby, where the hell have you been? I've left three messages. BOBBY: Well, I was - DEAN: Look I got a possible lead on Lilith in Maine. But we're on a case in Reno, I texted you the address, so if you're done sitting on your ass…

To John waking up in his car, returned to the past and thinking his trip to the future was a dream:

[The Impala is parked near a lake. JOHN sleeps in the front seat. He’s back in 2003. His cell phone rings on the dashboard. He wakes up and answers the call.] JOHN: Dean. No, I’m okay. I just… I just had one hell of a dream. Yeah. No, it was a good one. I’m on my way back. I’ll see you soon.

And at first I thought, oh hey look at these two incredibly similar scenes between Dean on the phone in the past and his two father figures who’ve just unwittingly actually seen a far-future version of Dean.

11.16 was about the “Soul Eater,” whose nest where he brings victims to feast on their souls exists “outside of space and time.” A place where Dean and Bobby could see one another before being returned to their respective places in time. And 14.13 also exists as a weird not-quite-real pocket in space and time.

But then I realized... In 11.16, Dean was calling Bobby to check out a lead on Lilith because he and Sam were much farther away... in RENO of all places.

Which will become significant again in 12.01, the first “official” Dabb era episode, as the place where John and Mary were married. And also the place where Chuck apparently ditched Amara in 14.20.

The mention of Reno one episode before 11.17 just struck me as significant now, and should for anyone who still believes that Red Meat is somehow glorifying the toxic codependency between Sam and Dean. Y’all need to watch that again and actually pay attention to what the episode does as a whole... Bobo has long been Dabb’s partner in crime when it comes to the big thematic stuff, and they literally co-wrote 11.17, kind of unofficially-officially establishing their start point for the eventual endgame. Billie, Sam’s mysterious resurrection, Dean’s self-sacrifice to barter his life for Sam’s and Billie refuses basically telling him this is not a story that can work like this anymore. And this was BEFORE she became Death. She reminded him that his next destination was The Empty, but then... Dean didn’t die. This episode literally established the defining elements of the eventual subversion of the entire narrative, which we’re seeing finally come to fruition after s14.

Can you see why so many of us were THRILLED by 11.17, and the implications of it, even back then? Because it was NEVER about glorifying the “old story” of Sam and Dean trading their lives for each other. It was about the pointlessness of it on a cosmic scale. And Dabb establishing his own in-story Avatar as showrunner in Billie, the symbolic death of the old spiral narrative. He just needed to bide his time until all the planets aligned and could make the direct run at the ultimate subversion of the original author (i.e. Chuck as Kripke’s avatar).

It made me interested to know the history of Reno getting mentioned in the narrative...

2.19: Folsom Prison Blues. Reno isn’t mentioned in the episode, but the title is from the Johnny Cash song:

When I was just a baby, My Mama told me, "Son, Always be a good boy, Don't ever play with guns, " But I shot a man in Reno, Just to watch him die, When I hear that whistle blowin', I hang my head and cry.

Which is kind of interesting in the context of the episode taken with the context of all the later references. This was an episode where they deliberately committed a crime, deliberately got themselves “locked up,” not only to solve a case, but to help a friend who’d once saved their father’s life in wartime. At the end of the episode, yes, they stage their escape from prison, but their entire compulsion to help people they feel they owe even at the risk of their own lives or liberty, is sort of encapsulated in this episode. I can imagine Chuck’s fascination with these two, “my guys,” stars of his favorite show, choosing the selfless act this way when Chuck tried to keep forcing them to relive his opposite narrative-- one sibling over the other, one being locked up for all eternity while the other goes on happily creating the universe. The eternal conflict-sacrifice narrative... was always Chuck’s imposition on the Winchesters. Even Cain was confused by Dean’s choice in 9.11, not understanding why Dean chose to SAVE his brother rather than kill him, because Cain was living out just another version of Chuck’s story. This is why Sam and Dean are the exceptions, the version that Chuck just can’t understand, the ones who refuse over and over to accept that Chuck’s story must be *their* story. No matter how hard he’s tried, Chuck just can’t break their will. He can’t stop them from continuing to fight. Even now that Dean has broken and said yes to Michael. Even that couldn’t break his will in the end.

3.01: The Magnificent Seven. When Sam learns about Dean’s demon deal for his life, he begins trying to find ways to get Dean out of the deal and save his life. Tamara suggested to him that there’s a hoodoo priestess in Louisiana who may be able to help:

DEAN: Sam, no hoodoo spell's gonna break this deal, all right? It's a goose chase. SAM: Yeah, but we don't know that, Dean— DEAN (cutting him off): Yes, we do. Forget it. She can't help. SAM (trying to cut in): Look, it's worth— DEAN (speaking over SAM): We're not going, and that's that. What about Reno, huh?

And Dean tells him no, because if they try to get out of the deal, Sam dies. So said the demon he made his deal with, and Dean refuses to let that happen. He even refuses to tell Sam that fact yet, and diverts the conversation with the suggestion they go to Reno instead.

And this is the opposite of Chuck’s original choice, to sacrifice and lock up his sister so his creation could expand unfettered. Dean chose instead to sacrifice himself so Sam could go live that normal life he’d always dreamed of. This was just the beginning of the very long game Chuck would play with them...

Vaguely near the end of s4, and also 11.16:

Between April 17th - ~May 3rd, 2009: Bobby and Rufus investigate what they think is a ghost haunting a house in Grand Rapids, MI. Sam and Dean are in Reno

We never do learn more about the case they were working there, but it did give them a lead on Lilith. Remember that 4.20, the Rapture, takes place on May 3 that year, immediately after this point in the timeline. Castiel was about to try to reveal Heaven’s deception, and their role in breaking the seals to free Lucifer and was dragged back to be reprogrammed into an obedient soldier again. And he would break free of that two episodes later in 4.22, siding with the Winchesters over Heaven and sealing his own fate in a powerful display of free will.

8.21: The Great Escapist: One of the Biggersons locations where we see Cas pass through in his manipulation of quantum superposition to evade the angels is Reno, Nevada.

11.16: the other side of the “outside of time and space” meeting between s4 Bobby and s11 Dean.

12.01: Dean, in trying to convince a freshly resurrected Mary of his identity, and the fact that 33 years have elapsed since she died:

Dean: Dad told me. March 23, 1972 you walked out of a movie theater, Slaughterhouse-Five, you loved it. And you bumped into a big marine and knocked him on his ass. You were embarrassed and he laughed it off, said you could make it up to him with a cup of coffee. So you went to, uh, Maroni's, and you talked and he was cute, and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number you gave it to him even though you knew your dad would be pissed. That was the night that you met- Mary: John Winchester. Dean: August 19, 1975 you were married, in Reno, your idea. Few years later I came along, then Sammy.

14.20: Amara is, according to the Lying Liar Chuck, in Reno... while meanwhile Billie, Jack, and the Shadow are having a double-secret conference in the Empty while Chuck unleashes Hell on Earth.

I’m wondering if we’ll ever hear mention of Reno again...

#spn s14 spoilers #spn 14.20 #spn 11.16 #spn 11.17 #spn 14.13 #spiders georg of the tnt loop #s14 hellatus rewatch #spn 12.01 #spn 8.21 #spn 4.20 #spn 3.01 #spn 2.19 #reno is a quantum superposition #dabb vs cars #it's spirals all the way down #if you say 'mysterious ways' so help me i will kick your ass #that's what free will is