You know what? Jaime dying and Brienne surviving him is fine. It’s not ideal (because I think Jaime needed and DESERVED to be alive to see his good deeds in the Book of Brothers himself), but it’s an okay ending. The issues are with Brienne not getting closure, the fact they made him die with Cersei and the « I never cared about the innocents ». Those three things are what killed his character arc in the show that I really hope won’t happen in the books

rip michael (warning: loud sound effect) 

#ozonecologne #just hope u know this is ur fault #I read those tags

fucking tHANK YOU

Okay, McFricking Screw It

Gabriel and Castiel, versus the repeating themes of failing and trying

13x21 Beat the Devil was a reflection and reversal of Meta Fiction 9x18 in relation to Gabriel and Castiel’s roles while also cementing that they do in fact have an understanding. 

Now, let’s just skip the hell over the ‘was that Gabriel, or wasn’t it?  In the Meta Fiction.  The point is that ‘they’ behaved like Gabriel and Castiel responded as such.

Now in 9x18 Castiel is still depressed, with little confidence and feels like a massive screw up for his role in what happened to heaven.

In 13x21  Gabriel is as Castiel, he feels like heaven wouldn’t want him back because he is a screw up. 

They are both in each circumstance seriously depleted of grace thanks to an outside wannabe.

Wannabe God = Metatron

Wannabe Devil = Asmodeus

Of course in both Metatron and Asmodeus’ cases they are jealousl and possessive of Castiel and Gabriel respectively.  Metatron claims to want to be a new god but prances around in Castiel’s trench coat because he wants to be Cas, because God saw Castiel as special, which is what Metatron wants to be.

Asmodeus is furious when a demon claims to know Lucifer, owing to his own personal relationship to Lucifer and how it is ‘stronger’.  But it is Gabriel who he keeps and refers to as brother, it is Gabriel’s power that Asmodeus covets.  He may well have eventually tried to drain Lucifer, but that does not occur.  He thinks of Gabriel as his own.

So, how do you repair a broken rebel angel?

You send in another rebel angel to rally them.  Which is what Metatron knew, Metatron was an expert in stories, he knew what tool to use.  So he sent ‘Gabriel’ to really his little brother Castiel in Metafiction to give Castiel his fight back.

9x18

GABRIEL The angels need a leader, and it’s got to be somebody like us… somebody different. CASTIEL No. GABRIEL I know you don’t want this burden, Castiel. Neither do I. CASTIEL What if I fail again? GABRIEL You won’t. You can’t. CASTIEL [suddenly pulls GABRIEL into a hug] Thank you. GABRIEL [hugging him back] Shut up.

And it works, to a certain extent it works, because after ‘Gabriel’ leaves Castiel in Metafiction, Castiel goes to work to repair his torn trench coat. 

*Announcer voice*  If you’re just joining us in meta land, Castiel’s trench coat is a metaphor for his ‘angel-ness’, his wings if you will’.  But not literally his wings.

So when the coat is torn is a strong reminder that his angel side is feeling worn out and no longer fit for purpose.  Castiel mending it himself is a sign of self care and him deciding to fight the good fight, and tend to his angel needs/desires…the fight.

Gabriel reassures Castiel throughout the episode…while mocking him. He scoffs at Castiel stating he is just a soldier.  He is willing to sacrifice himself for Castiel.  Of course it’s all an elaborate ruse, but it works because Castiel finally has someone to relate to, someone to bounce off of, and it’s as close to Gabriel as he is going to get. 

CASTIEL  I’m just a soldier.

GABRIEL Bitch, please. You’ve been God more often than Dad has.

CASTIEL (Chuckling) Yeah. Look how that worked out.

GABRIEL Well, go ahead. Be a soldier all you want. I’m gonna need as many as I can find.

CASTIEL Why are you doing this, Gabriel?

GABRIEL I always run…From Dad, from the family. I don’t want to run anymore. I want to do what I was meant to do… lead.

CASTIEL Well, we need a leader. And I’m happy it’s gonna be you.

So in Meta Ficition we have  a Gabriel that is done pretending and running, and wants to lead heaven.  And Cas is all for it.   Cas relates to Gabriel, who understands free will, he understands choice

And what of the events in S13?  A Gabriel who is now more serious, Castiel is suggesting in 13x21 that Gabriel lead heaven.  And the same logic applies ‘I’m useless, I’m a screw up heaven doesn’t want me, I’ll fail’.  All the mindset of Castiel and Gabriel retrospectively in each episode.  But Cas?  Following his rebirth and affirmed purpose in early S13 is far more bold and confident, so the roles reverse.  This time with Castiel assuring Gabriel who is done with tricks…more serious.  And considering leading heaven, with his soldier brother walking beside him.

13X21

GABRIEL  I skipped out on Heaven, Castiel.  They wouldn’t want me back.  As far as they’re concerned, I’m a screw-up.  Hell, as far as I’m concerned, I’m a screw-up.

CASTIEL Well, Heaven’s been run into the ground by upstanding angels, perhaps a screw-up is just the change we need.

Gabriel’s lines here could have been uttered by Castiel himself, about Castiel pre-season 13.  He is past his depression, he is in a position to encourage Gabriel.  Return the favour.  And though Gabriel is still ‘too weak’ throughout the episode.  He is getting there.  He moves with Castiel.  As a team.  They make a very successful pair, the one calming in the other in each case.  They are both growing up into leaders.

TL:DR: The subject of Gabriel leading which was alluded to in 9x18 has returned in 13x21, the angel brothers journeys mirror one another as they also reassure one another

Why I don’t think people should ask Destiel Qs at cons...

As most people in the fandom already know, someone asked Misha about Destiel at Seacon yesterday. 

Now, I’m very pro Destiel. And, as a general rule, I don’t think it is illegitimate to talk about same-sex ships with TPTB. But here’s the thing about Destiel. 

That question has already been asked many times before. And you aren’t going to get any new information from asking it again (given nothing has changed regarding its canonicity). Furthermore, because this is such a politically charged topic within the fandom, and among TPTB, there is a substantial limit to what people like Misha Collins have license to say about it. 

If they ARE planning to make Destiel canon, no one is going to spoil that by telling you in advance (and they’d probably get in big trouble if they did). If they AREN’T planning to make Destiel canon, also, no one is going to spoil that by telling you because they know a not insubstantial amount of people watch partially for that dynamic (and while TPTB can be a bit clueless from time to time, they know THAT well enough by now). And even if the actors (or certain writers) feel differently on the topic from the network, or other writers or whomever else about WHATEVER the plan is, THEY CAN’T SAY THAT TO YOU! It is unprofessional, and would probably get them in trouble. No matter what sentiment they express about this topic, they are going to probably face blow-back from some group of people whether it is certain segments of the fandom or the more powerful powers that be.  

There is NO WAY to answer that question that doesn’t put the person in a tough position. And especially for people like Misha Collins (who does not write the show, and has little to no influence on its creative direction) putting him in that position isn’t going to get you anything. 

I understand why people in the fandom want their feelings about Destiel validated by people on the production side like Jensen and Misha. But while the show is still going on, and while the question of Destiel is still up in the air, THERE IS A SEVERE LIMIT TO WHAT THEY CAN SAY ON THIS TOPIC, AND YOU AREN’T GOING TO GET ANY MORE SALIENT INFO (at this point) BY ASKING. You aren’t. 

Actors can’t just completely undermine writer and producer and network decisions and party-lines  in public, EVEN IF they disagree with them. It’s unprofessional. And even if Destiel is by some miracle destined to be canon, THEY CAN’T SAY THAT OR IMPLY IT! They can’t. They will get in trouble for spoiling a major plot point.

Asking that question at this moment in time is therefore pointless. They know how we feel about this. They know. And either they’re going to do it or they’re not. But you asking a) isn’t going to get us any new information and b) isn’t going to move the needle any further because I assure you, no one has forgotten about it, nor will they ever. Plus it gets the antis all in a huff, which is just fucking annoying. 

I don’t understand why putting Cas on a plane to Syria would be a plothole? Why are people freaking out about this?

We’ve always accepted S&D’s l33t hacking skills as fact, so I’m sure they could’ve cooked up a fake passport etc.for Cas. And maybe he can’t fly directly to Syria, but it’s not like it’s totally impossible to get there. Cas is resourceful and he does still have most of his powers, he can boop his way to Syria.

You know what would be less believable? The Winchesters finding all ingredients in the US. It makes sense to me at least one of the ingredients would be on another continent.

I think this still firmly falls in the “not very realistic things we accept because it’s a TV show and there need to be some shortcuts” category. It also works fine as an excuse to separate Cas from S&D and have him be absent from the ep. At least S&D and Cas were essentially doing the same thing and accomplishing the same goal in this episode.

Oh and just in case someone brings this up, I am like 99% sure he doesn’t have his wings back, or he would have used them before, in pretty much any of the previous episodes since his return from the Empty. And it would have been mentioned because it’s a big deal.

This ^

I mean the dude has had various pretty outrageous vehicles too, he’s resourceful when it comes to travel ;)

Yeah, I mean, I assumed he flew to Jerusalem or Amman, and then like… took a bus. :P He can’t flap himself around anymore, but he’s still perfectly capable of “we are not the droids you’re looking for.” A quick boop to the border control agent and he’d completely buy whatever fake papers Dean made up for him.

Yeah a friend of mine is Palestinian, studied in UK/Lebanon and lives in Jordan, these things are totally normal. I mean not that the writers went into these details per se, but people really shouldn’t get caught up on this in a US teenage horror drama.

“can’t dean and cas just be friends?” no, not for me. not after ten years of homoerotic subtext, love tropes and romantic build-up. sorry, but this is the hill I want to die on. 

There are plenty of friends in TV shows. They don’t have to be.

In other news the writers are purposefully pointing out that Dean is bisexual

WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  I AM SHOCKED, I TELL YOU, SHOCKED.  OBSERVE MY SHOCKED FACE:

“I’m fine”

A couple of years ago, after the season 11 finale, I remember I said something about Mary’s return and Dean:

There was a lot of personal growth Dean still needed in season 12 and Mary was an important catalyst for that. Not only was it necessary for him to express his feelings in regard to an “I love you”, but also in regard to how he’s feeling when things aren’t going so well.

He’s always had problems to admit when he’s not okay. The “I’m fine” when he’s not is a very common trait of Dean’s. Sam does the same very often too, but I’m sure he learned it from his older brother. And who do you think Dean learned it from?

(The scene above from 2x01 is minutes before John died in exchange of Dean’s life and Sam had just asked him if he was all right).

Some of Dean’s most memorable “I’m fine” moments off the top of my head are after John died (2x02):

After Cas “died” (7x02):

After Bobby died (7x11):

And of course after losing Cas and Mary (13x04):

He even received advice from Frank Devereaux back in season 7:

It’s not like Dean hadn’t been faking it for most of his life, but it’s simply sad that other people told him that was the best thing to do.

I would have to re-watch all 13 seasons of Supernatural and take notes of every single episode in which Dean or even Sam say “I’m fine” when they’re not. I don’t have the time for that, so please take the scenes above as some kind of sample for the point I’m trying to make. 

On the other hand, it’s important to point out that Dean also has a tendency to believe other people are fine when they’re not. He doesn’t want to deal with the emotional implications of why that could be.

Recent examples: Dean thought Cas was fine in season 11 (11x11) a few episodes before he realized Cas was possessed by Lucifer. (Forgive me for the “Cass”; I hate the official subtitles so much!)

And in season 12 (12x03), he thought Mary was fine, but she left them at the end of the ep, proving that Dean was wrong.

Dean’s façade runs so deep that other people who consider him a role model learn to do the same. Sam is the most obvious example but not the only one. Even an angel of the Lord has taken that unhealthy habit. These are some examples:

When he came back from Purgatory (8x08):

Or when he was dying because of the borrowed grace (10x01):

Hannah, of course, realized that Cas was not okay. So, they had this interesting conversation about it (10x03):

Considering that most human things Cas has learned come from Dean, I’m not even surprised he said that. 

Why talk about something you can do nothing about? That sounds like a Winchester thing. Except… maybe not?

Mary is also a Winchester and what was the first thing she did after coming back from the dead? This is her conversation with Dean (12x01):

She didn’t even try for a second to pretend that she was fine for Dean’s sake. She was honest. She opened up to a man that she had just met and was supposedly the adult version of the 4-year-old boy she remembered. 

And in episode 2 when Dean told Cas on the phone that he didn’t want to overwhelm Mary, she overheard him and was direct about it. 

She asked him, “So… are you really afraid of overwhelming me?” 

Some people can hate Mary all they want, but no one can deny that she was trying to say things how she felt them. Even when she left the boys in 12x03, she didn’t just take off. She explained what was going on, though it wasn’t what the boys wanted to hear (especially Dean).

Why is Mary’s influence important?

Because Dean’s grieving arc through the first 5 episodes of season 13 ended with him finally being able to say that he was not okay. After 13 years of Dean’s façade, that was a huge accomplishment. That’s what I call immense character development!

After Billie called him out on the fact that he told people it was not a big deal, he came back to life (again!) to say this to Sam: (please notice it’s a shout out to Dean’s convo with Mary in 12x01)

That conversation is both heartbreaking and magnificent. Dean felt defeated and he stopped faking it for Sam’s sake. He stopped saying “fine” even though he could do nothing about the things making him miserable. He admitted he needed a win and the universe rewarded him with Cas, the win he needed.

As Billie would say, “This universe can be so many things, and sometimes it is poetic.”

I trust when the boys rescue Mary, she’ll continue to show Dean there are other ways to live and he doesn’t need to put up a face anymore. I hope Dean keeps using his words to express his feelings towards his mother, his brother and his… angel.

And regarding Cas, he learned from Dean that humans say they’re fine when they’re not. I really hope he’ll soon receive the new lessons as well. 

I started leaning towards the TV during the zoom in on Castiel, just waiting for “Hello, Dean,” and when it didn’t happen, I felt like I’d just missed the last step on the staircase going up.

Well played, SPN. That was a worthy episode ending.

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how hung up the guy is on this? He took issue with the woman thinking it at the hotel desk, and he still takes issue with it now. It’s like, 10 minutes later, they’ve been shown to their rooms and they’ve been talking before this; he brings it up out of the blue. Sam doesn’t give a shit, he just either corrects people who mistake them or leaves it, then forgets about it. It plays on Dean’s mind. He is really defensive about it - ‘what do you mean, we look like the type?’ is what he said to the hotel owner. Like, chill the fuck out, why do you care? Because he is overcompensating. Look at his reaction when Sam says it - you can’t see it in the last gif because it cuts off too fast, but his face falls, and he’s looking at the floor and he is not smiling. Sam is comfortable enough in his sexuality to be mistaken for gay and not care, but Dean is not, and he doesn’t like it when people think he’s not straight, and what he likes even less is people noticing this.

(x)

Has this picture been posted before? If yes, I’m sorry, but I’m still going to flail over it: the Gas’n’Sip with a fucking sun as its symbol; Jensen’s tan coat; the fact that Kim apparently gets to sit shotgun??? And Jared was nowhere to be seen on this particular set? Please, please, give me a talk between Jody and Dean. Pleaaaase. 

JODYYYYYY!!!!!

My dreams for 13x03 are so tantalisingly close… let’s see I guess! :)

also all the “cut for spoilers” photos coming out ? There’s something to spoil :)

*screams* JODY! And yes yes yes yes yes yes, a talk between Jody & Dean is 100% what we’ve been yelling about for what feels like years now. 

@tinkdw Where are those photos at? Do you mean the ones that are being cropped? (I saw a post with about 4 pictures of Jensen on set that said something along the lines of that, so just making sure that’s what you mean??)

https://twitter.com/silvercomet21/status/897699978331779072

Yep… spoilers? Hmm. Given we already have been told so much about 01-06 what are such important spoilers that 01 was a closed set / pics from 03 are cut. Might be nothing huge, could be about wayward sisters but my mind ofc immediately goes to TFW and their emotional drama due to the importance of this in 01-06 especially and the fact that the whole season is smaller, about the relationships, according to Singer and everyone at SDCC…

@tinkdw Yep, those are the same ones that I saw in a post on here. I did a little digging on Twitter and came across a video of Jensen (Dean) walking out of a building that had a ‘Palm Reading’ sign in the window - which I can only assume is where either Missouri or Patience (or both) will be, along with the Tarot cards. 

And you’re right…like, at this point in time, what can be spoiled that we haven’t already heard or speculated about? :D

Interesting! yeah, I believe the tarot cards are most likely about Dean given they talk about romantic love lost, letting your inner self out, accepting your feminine side, an apprentice who helps the team etc.

and now apparently there’s a Jody / Dean hug pic out? Eeeek :)

*KICKS IN THE DOOR*

It’s my time to shine.

I kinda read the spread! Usually the modified celtic cross spread is used to answer a specific question, a question we don’t know of course, but part of me thinks the practitioner took one look at Dean and knew they could help answer a question he wasn’t asking.

Anyway, the gist of the read is this:  The asker is troubled by instability within their family, and the crux of their problem comes from their inability to balance their emotions or perhaps to show their emotions properly. Their limitations manifest as having too much restraint over how they feel and how they show what they feel, maybe because they believe they can’t feel or act a certain way. Things are going to change, however, and the asker will need to rely on their intuition to see them through though first they need to look within themselves for guidance. In the end, they will prevail: their emotional and familiar bonds will grow stronger as they open themselves up and they will be all the better for it.

You know now that I’m almost 100% positive that Cas in in the Empty I can’t help but be thinking of the scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 where they’re all trying to get to Davy Jone’s Locker to rescue Jack Sparrow to bring him back to life and just… 

Imagine Dean and Sam finally figure out how to get into the Empty and It goes down all like

While Winchesters keep looking and we’re sitting there knowing what going to happen and on the edge of our seats before:

and we’re watching from our screens just 

All according to plan 

…so you’re saying, in order to save Cas, the ship needs to be turned totally upside down? 😁

sink the ship to save the ship