for everyone who left and just came back, who has never seen the show, who is just now deciding to add their two cents in because yes, as it stands right now it is egregious and they buried their gays and how could anyone ever be happy with that - 

understand that we’ve been called crazy for going on 13 years. understand that this moment? this was a lesson about happiness some adults i know still haven’t learned. understand that they played a 12 year long game, and the entire gag of this season has been misdirection, especially through the use of old, tired narrative devices. 

just wait. castiel will make it out alive. 

if he doesn’t, i will raise my pitchfork with you. but right now? i’m celebrating. 

from season one to season seven

#There’s a reason he was okay with it all back then. Back then he didn’t really care. He only ever cared about Sammy and John. #And when John was gone well then it was just him and Sammy. #But then the most remarkable thing happened to him. An angel literally came down from heaven to save him. #And for the longest time he refused to believe he was worth saving. He refused to believe he could be worthy of such a thing. #But slowly Castiel made him believe in himself. And in doing so Dean started to believe in Castiel. Almost the way he had in John.#Remember how Dean thought John was invincible? #And then he was faced with his father’s mortality? #Well that made him afraid he’d lose everyone he cared for.#But then came this stupid angel who defied that. Who was resurrected time and again. And Dean #foolish as it was #started to believe and hope that maybe Cas was actually invincible. #So when he lost him #when Cas was gone for what seemed like forever #it haunted Dean more than anything ever had. #The one person he relied on more than himself the person who taught him to believe #he was gone. #And that was more frightening than any ghoul ghost demon wendigo or what have you. #Because losing Cas was something he had never believed in.

those fucking tags, fuck im crying

8x02 || 15x09 » Cas?

rb with Starmish’s tags because I hadn’t thought of this before:

  #the biggest difference is how dean was                                                                 #ready to leave this time                                                                                      #and it was GOOD that he was ready to leave                                                       #because it shows that he’s willing to let go                                                            #which shows that he wouldn’t think                                                                         #it was all on him and his entire responsibility                                                      #it would be heartbreaking                                                                                    #and he was so scared he’d never see cas again                                                    #but he was heading for that exit because                                                            #he still had work to do back on earth                                                                      #and it’s beautiful progression and so damn important                                            #and shows what a reward he reaps when cas                                                        #is right there waiting for him                                                                                 #and omg cas’ journey this ep is EPIC                                                                #and showcases such growth and maturity I cannot even                                       #just yes boys YES

#remember when dean used to pray #like he was prank calling somebody #and he waved his hands around #like he had no idea what to do with them #and made all these strange faces #and exaggerated the entire ordeal #so he looked really silly #and we all laughed #because it was funny #ha #hahaha #not so funny anymore is it #when a man prays with his head bowed and his hands clasped with tears in his eyes #remember when prayer was a joke (via leatherandlightning)

# The Most Romantic And Heartbreaking Character Development Ever

Tap Dancing with a Lamp

First, I’d like to point out that as soon as I read the TV Guide interview with DJ, I somehow knew that they’d be tap dancing. (Or juggling, I thought that was the other likely possibility)

I’m always SHOCKED when I’m right about anything like this, so it occurred to me to wonder, why had that possibility leapt to mind with such clarity?

What’s the cultural meaning of “tap dancing?” What’s the metaphor here?

A secondary meaning of “tap dance” is “a statement or action meant to evade or distract attention from a concern, question, etc.”

Hm. Yes, there’s something the show (and Dean) has been dancing around for years, that’s for sure.

And then, to underscore how odd this all is… Garth disappears and Dean dances with a LAMP. Not just any lamp, but one with a nice, obvious, large SHADE.

Lampshading is, according to TV Tropes, “the writers’ trick of dealing with any element of the story that threatens the audience’s Willing Suspension of Disbelief, whether a very implausible plot development, or a particularly blatant use of a trope, by calling attention to it and simply moving on.” It’s a deliberate WINK at the audience. “Hey, we know what we’re doing, it’s a little hokey and tired but at least we’re acknowledging it!”

They’re DRAWING ATTENTION, through a romantic trope, to something that Dean and the show itself have been tap dancing around for years, ie: something they’ve been evading and distracting attention from.

And then of course, Dean TAP DANCES ON THE TABLE…. the very table that has separated him and Cas for most of this season, visually.

HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Oh and then also…. at the end… Dean’s like…. I bet I’d be a good dancer, you know, if I wanted to.

* SCREAMING *

Reblogging again because we are all chatting, and were conveniently reminded that “Let’s Misbehave” is a song by Cole “Extravagant Bisexual” Porter. 

“The Heroes’ Journey” and What Sam Knows

Bro holy fuck.

This season is just????  So good????

Before we get into the Sam Knows meta I promised you all…it was just really nice to have a funny episode that wasn’t like weirdly offensive or sad or ended horribly, this was just a bumbling episode that, while still connected to the main plot, was sort of a one off.  Garth is such a gift, it was so great to be able to see him thriving, and it was absolutely hilarious to see the boys be normal.  And that tap number???????  Hello???????

Aight, let’s get into it.

Ok listen.  Y’all know I’ve talked a lot about what Sam knows (here and here), or how fucking obvious it is that he knows, whatever, but there was something in this episode that could be seen as throwaway, but I think Dabb is too smart for that.

So, like, he obviously draws attention to the fact that one twin’s name is Sam and the other one is named Cas (aka NOT named Dean), which is super funny, Dean’s face was great in that scene, but to me, it put everyone’s eyes on Garth’s twins, kinda made them the focal point when they were onscreen, and if there’s no reason to do that, why bother?

I’ve said time and time again that Andrew Dabb is one of the most detailed oriented writers in the room, and it shows with how many plotlines he’s able to seamlessly tie together throughout a season as a showrunner, but he does it as a standalone writer as well, which is why he’s always been so good at writing young Sam and Dean, he takes the time to put in little details with their characters as boys that makes sense with their characters as men.  He doesn’t do things on accident, or do things just to throw them away, especially not now, when we’re ten episodes away from the actual end of the show, and he is the showrunner.  Everything has a purpose.  Everything means something, as Rowena might say.

So, we get to the end of the episode, everyone lives, Sam and Dean are still very much “normal” and Garth is the one who went on the hero’s journey.  Sam and Dean end up holding the twins, Sam holding his namesake, being as cute as can be, and Dean just sorta stares at baby Cas, and then we get the line:

“This Cas keeps looking at me weird.”

“So, kinda like the real Cas.”

Okay yeah, ha ha, Cas looks at people weird.  But….no…let’s think about it…why would Sam say that?  Why would he say that Cas looks at Dean weird, when they make jokes about Cas (which, to be honest, they haven’t done in years) it was always along the lines of oh Cas is just a weird guy, that’s just how Cas is, whatever, but this was specifically, singularly, directed at Dean.  Cas looks at Dean, and Dean alone, weird.  Hm.  Much to think about.

Why put that line there?  Why?  This episode isn’t about Cas, but he’s still there, Garth named one of his kids after him, instead of Dean, and then Dean draws attention to the fact that, obviously, this baby is not Cas.  Once again, Cas occupies the negative space of the episode so it constantly feels like he’s missing.

Listen, we can argue semantics and what that line is supposed to mean all day long, but for real, even when he’s not there Cas is included, he’s thought about, discussed, a part of the family. 

Details are important in any show’s finale season, but I feel like they’re especially important for a showrunner like Andrew Dabb, almost all of his core writers thrive on details, on drawing attention to little things that end up being bigger plot points later, and this little, throwaway line from Sam?  Doesn’t feel so little to me, especially with Cas mentioned in the background, drawing attention, once again to the fact that he’s not there, that he should be there, that they’re separated.

In my opinion, Sam had known ~something~ for years, we’ve always had those little moments of too-long looks between Dean and Cas, Sam awkwardly clearing his throat, loudly entering the room, lest we ever forget the iconic “And you’re gonna storm in riiiiight now.”  Sam isn’t an idiot, and he’s not blind either, but I think this might be the first time that he’s actually addressed it, and in a way where there isn’t much room to interpret.  It’s just an accepted part of life for Sam, that Dean and Cas look at each other weird, that he sometimes needs to remind them that he’s in the room, that their looks are long and sometimes awkward for him.  I mean……how much more clear does it need to be?

And to have this right after the completely unresolved prayer thing?  We don’t even know what happened after that, but we’d be fools to assume that it’s all resolved.  I saw a post, and, apologies, I can’t credit bc I can’t seem to find the original post, where the poster was saying that there’s no way the DeanCas tension is resolved.  We’re halfway through the season, and even though Cas said “I heard your prayer,” there’s no way this almost full season conflict is over ten episodes before the end.

Once again, Dean and Cas are the focal point, even in details, and it’s not something that we should discount.

…..also, just as a reminder…..Sam knows. :)

Okay so anyway, to that whole dream sequence thing:

The song “Let’s Misbehave” was created by Cole Porter in 1927. Cole Porter was a bisexual man, and you can read more about him here, but also just Googling and seeing a bunch of historical articles written on him. 

The scene showed Dean tap dancing, and tap dancing in films was most popular around the 1930s. In 1935, the Hays Code was passed. Moral censorship basically in films. You can read more about it here.  There’s a lot of stuff in there on sexuality and marriage and “good lifestyles” and whatever the fuck. Basically: Censorship. 

He’s tap dancing – seen symbolically as avoiding addressing something directly. 

There’s a lamp with like, you know, a shade: Lampshading can be seen as an annoying storytelling thing, but in this case, I view Dabb as making fun of lampshading while also addressing it head on. Here’s what TV Tropes has to say: Lampshade Hanging (or, more informally, “Lampshading”) is the writers’ trick of dealing with any element of the story that threatens the audience’s Willing Suspension of Disbelief, whether a very implausible plot development or a particularly blatant use of a trope, by calling attention to it and simply moving on.

Basically: Talking with @obsessionisaperfume and @oceaxe-ifdawn on this, basically, it’s Dabb being super meta on Dean’s sexuality thing for us, to us, while making fun and making a serious case out of it. I’m choosing to see it as him writing to us this sentiment essentially: Dean would be dreaming about getting fucked on the map table right now by Cas but we can’t ever show you that, so here’s the meta on that. 

But, I think it was him discussing censorship issues over the years, and I, and others, think it was Dabb making Dean take a look outside of the closet. Just given the writing this season, the fact they already know the ending and therefore are writing for the ending, and how much of a focus they put on their relationship this season–yeah it’s… it’s optimistic in my eyes. 

Any other thoughts or ideas? This isn’t usually my area of discussion (like how deep and meta-y it gets) but I found the whole thing super fascinating. 

things that broke me while watching this episode:

1. dean dancing with a lamp as his partner

2. dean gazing softly at garth dancing with his wife who is not a lamp

3. the episode clearly telling us that dean needs a dance partner who is not a lamp

to summarize, dean needs cas as his dance partner because cas is not a lamp

#THIS #THIS IS ONE OF THE STEPS #TO INTRODUCE DESTIEL TO THE GENERAL AUDIENCE #Y’ALL MY CLOWN MAKEUP RN #sam is a bridge to connect to the general audience #this is a major step... sam highlighting that #‘dean and cas’ is a very separate entity #it is distinctly different from ‘sam and dean’ and ‘sam and cas’ #and these types of quotes are like grabbing someone’s chin #and forcing them to stare at dean and cas #while repeating over and over ‘ONE OF THESE IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS’ #spn 15x10 #y’all i cant even #also sam knows (via @satintwinks)

but like.....we never even saw cas taking the blossom? they talked about it like 2 times and in the end it didn’t really matter????? the whole point of coming back to purgatory was dean and cas bonding again. that was literally everything the ep was about and i dont think i can handle this

So that prayer was truly amazing.

They were filling in a fanfiction gap themselves, giving us a glimpse of just how raw those prayers of Dean's could have been, would have been, all those months he'd spent searching for Cas in Purgatory. Jensen didn't have to go that hard but he did, giving us a Dean thrust headfirst back into one of his worst nightmares, desperate not to lose Cas, terrified he'd be forced to leave him behind again. We don't ever see Dean open himself up like THAT but he DID and he did while repeating, almost a prayer itself, "I hope you can hear me, I hope you can hear me..." He wanted to be heard. He wanted Cas to know.

And then Cas says "I heard your prayer" and it's like thank GOD but at the same time what were you going to say, Dean? And my thoughts keep returning to that Dabb interview that came out today where he said that the emotional issues between them would not be entirely resolved in this episode... for all intents and purposes, from a GA perspective, they WERE. The ongoing fight from the end of season 14, the complications added to it earlier this season, they were addressed, apologized for, resolved, finally. In every scene following their return from Purgatory they were very much in sync, from crafting the spell together to their body language when they spoke to Sam in the final scene. They finished each other's sentences! They're back. They're a unit. They are on the same team, and they're so good together. And yet... they were sitting in silence. They still weren't talking to each other.

There is still more to say.

15x09//The Trap

See the thing is though… Dean knows Cas could hear the apology. He knows Cas can hear prayers. The reason he thought Cas couldn’t hear him was because he was scared Cas was dead.

I don’t think he was going to repeat himself.

So… what was he going to say?

oh my god the set-up of dean and cas going into purgatory together

because purgatory was truly the moment for a lot of us fans where dean and cas’ friendship moved to something clearly romantic

and now going through this rough patch, dean and cas sent to the place where they’ll be reminded of that time where their only living breathing thought was each other?? was about saving each other??

what. a. set-up.

oof

Then vs. Now

For the longest time, my biggest issue with SPN as a series was the fact that TPTB were SO pissed off at their own fanbase.  As other people have pointed out - Becky is a result of Kripke’s disdain for the fanbase the show wound up attracting (but was NOT the fanbase Kripke was aiming for).  TPTB have been taking their salt out on us for a lonnnng time, but things have been progressively getting better. Here Kripke was, telling this story about two ‘erotically co-dependent’ brothers driving all around the country and solving mysteries.  He wanted the show to be for men, essentially, and be filled with Man Stuff.  Burgers, classic rock, classic cars, ugly monsters getting cacked as messily as possible, the whole nine yards.  “No chick flick moments” is Kripke through and through - toxic masculinity waving its red-ass flags like it’s going to the Superbowl or some shit.  The whole show screams straight white hetero hero fantasy (with a twist).  The show is just jam-packed with Americana - I mean, ffs, Dean and Sam were from Kansas - you can’t get more wholesome and middle-America than that.

But then that angel came along…

Keep reading

Could you imagine the spn writers conversation with the animators about this?

Spn writer: so there needs to be more contact between Cas and Dean than Cas and Sam.

Animator : why?

Spn writer: (nervously) because subtext

Animator: you’re talking about destiel?

Spn writer: what?!

Animator: I’ve seen the fanart and read some fanfics

Spn writer: … please don’t turn it into a romantic comedy

Animator: don’t worry, it will be so subtle that nobody can make a straight accusation

cas is like i gotta move on but also TALKS ABOUT DEAN TO EVERYONE????

honestly if my husband was dean winchester i probably wouldn’t shut up about him either 

no matter what