he left a week to roam your protector’s coming home keep your secrets with you safe from the outside

Can we just…take a moment to appreciate Cas’s restraint in this scene? To just reflect on how lucky Sam was that Cas already very deeply cared for them both by this point?

Sam tricked him and then laughed at him for falling for it. And yet Cas stayed, trying to get a word in edgewise, while Sam loudly interrupted and disrespected him, and threatened to kill him if he didn’t drop everything and do what he wanted RIGHT NOW.

Cas was at full power, and in command of half the armies of Heaven, at this point. The level of firepower this guy had at his disposal was WELL beyond shock and awe. He was also harried and frustrated and urgently needed back on the battlefield. He had zero reason to take any shit AT ALL off of a 28-yr-old human, standing alone and essentially unarmed in a dark junkyard. He could easily have made that conversation end really, REALLY ugly for Sam. The fact that he didn’t is a true testament to just how much he loved him and Dean, and how desperately he was clinging to his friendship with them to keep his sanity.

Season six was freakin’ amazing.

Because I felt it needed to be said again. 

I dunno…I’m in a good mood. Sue me.

the gamblers ➤ hello

Team Free Will reuniting with their son

Team Free Stress

Team No Idea

“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. :)

#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)

The Ultra-Scientific Study of Winchester Wall Slams (& More) – Seasons 1 – 12

aka - A Comparison of (Randomly Chosen) Violence Against Dean and Sam

aka THE MOST IMPORTANT BAR CHARTS I HAVE EVER CREATED

Once upon a time, I just wanted to get a firm count of how many times Dean got slammed into a wall (or  the ground, or other things). @obsessionisaperfume suggested I also track Sam getting choked or getting hit on the head – which was a good suggestion, since those are things that Sam is known for. I eventually decided to track everything for both brothers, and that’s when things got… interesting.

The charts below are the culmination of months of work (which was me watching the show and making ticky marks in a notebook, which I then entered into a spreadsheet). I am attempting to keep my commentary to a minimum, instead allowing all of you draw your own conclusions from the results. (However, there are a few places where I can’t help making a comment because I’m chatty.)

There are several different ways I can present this data, so there is a slight chance that this may be part 1 of 2. 

I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy Dean getting slammed into walls.

We begin with the Wall Slam, which, as many of you know, is my favorite of all types of randomly chosen violence. 

Wall Slam Criteria: A brother must be thrown or pushed into a wall by an outside force (such as a physical shove, telekinesis, etc). For this purpose, a ‘wall’ is defined as a wall or something relatively flat that is resting directly against a wall (such as a mirror or a bookshelf). A bookshelf that is in the middle of the room is not considered a wall, though - those are classified separately, as ‘other.’ Closed doors also count as walls, regardless of whether or not a brother is thrown through the door. (Glass is certainly a popular material for doors. Rich people, man.)

For most of the series, Dean was the reigning Wall Slam champion, clocking 11 straight seasons of winning the non-existent Wall Slam competition. In season 12, however, Dark Horse Dabb certainly made a statement in his first season as show runner: Sam, for the first time in series history, was thrown into more walls than Dean. 

* The reason for the 0.5 slam for Dean is due to a half-wall/half-ground slam that occurred in episode 12x10.

When a wall is not available, the ground will suffice.

Ground Slam Criteria: A brother must be thrown or pushed into the ground by an outside force (such as a physical shove, telekinesis, etc). ‘Ground’ is defined as the ground or a floor.

Despite Sam taking the Wall Slam crown from Dean in season 12, Dean continued his winning record when it comes to the ground. Dean has been slammed into the ground more than Sam, winning 9 seasons to Sam’s 3. 

Other Slam Criteria: A brother must be thrown or pushed into anything other than a wall or the ground by an outside force (such as a physical shove, telekinesis, etc). This is including (but not limited to) fences, people, tables, and piles of trash.

Season 1 is the outlier, being the only season where Sam was thrown into things other than the wall or the ground more times than Dean; Dean has an 11-season streak going since season 2. If there’s a thing, Dean will likely be thrown into it. 

Choked Criteria - A brother must have something (usually hands, but may also be rope or cord) wrapped around their neck or they must have otherwise lost the ability to breathe. This includes when dick angels take away a brother’s lungs, or when a demon pretends they’re Darth Vader and force chokes a brother. 

I am now convinced that the reason Sam has such a reputation for being choked is largely due to the 1st season, where he was choked several times and Dean wasn’t choked at all. Dean has actually been choked more times than Sam throughout the series, winning 7 seasons to Sam’s 5. 

Hit on Head Criteria: A brother must have been hit on the head by an object other than a fist (because if I had tried to keep track of them getting punched in the head I would have run out of paper).

Hit on Head Criteria Exception: I counted a hit to the head by a fist when the fist hit resulted in unconsciousness.

This was especially interesting because there is an apparent pattern with the changes in show runners. Kripke was showrunner from seasons 1-5, where Sam was reigning champion of the head hit until they finally tied in season 5. Seasons 6-7 were run by Gamble, and Sam still reigned supreme. When Carver took over for seasons 8-11, and then Dabb in season 12, Dean was then consistently smacked on the head more than Sam. 

Now let’s add all Wall Slams, Ground Slams, (Other) Slams, Chokings, and Head Hits together. 

There is one firm conclusion I can draw from this: Sam was beaten up more in season 1, and then Dean became the favored punching bag for all show runners. 

I’d like to also present the exact same data with a different visualization:

What are your predictions for season 13?

Interrupting Cas