Does anyone else find it incredibly frustrating that Dean is clearly hurt by Emma’s death, and yet it’s never mentioned again? If they hadn’t put this scene in, where he explicitly states that Emma was his daughter, I might not be so bothered. But they did put it in and yet… nothing more is ever said of it. {7.13}
I feel like this is more about the grief that comes with losing a family he might have had- something Dean has always felt. It’s just more acute with Emma. I’d say his grief here is more like the grief of a parent whom loses their child at birth. He didn’t actually get to really know Emma, so the might-have-been is all he has left.
And when has Dean ever been open about what he feels, except when he’s at his lowest?
You mean Dean 100% putting on a performance for Wally – Mr I make fun of guys by insinuating they’re queer (soft hands comment to Mick) who tries desperately to emulate Dean by ordering the same dinner then getting all embarrassed and looking at Dean whilst everyone corrects him about cheese not being a carb.
Wally looking like John with the dark hair, beard etc, nodding along in all the shots of Dean postulating.
This scene just looks like a family dinner where Dean’s invited his crush best friend, Wally/John and Mary are sat next to each other, Wally/John is encouraging Dean to act like a dudebro, might as well be like yeah Dean tell us all about your last QB performance! Meanwhile little brother Sam is just looking on at Dean/Cas interactions huffing like “wow…” and making fun of Dean’s shit excuses and postulating.
Yeah. Wally is John.
He’s in Dean’s performance/postulating scenes, nodding in the background.
Total accident. Much coincidence.
Dean’s first look is totally off guard. THIS is how he really feels. Fucking pissed and jealous. Look at the dimples of discontent 😉
Then he gets his act together, pulls himself up and puts the facade on.
We then have Dean and Wally agreeing together about Mandy being into Cas and Dean posturing with all the yeah yeah, you hot waitress, you should find Cas sexy, he’s… yeah my Cas, he’s…he’s hot right, devastatingly handsome you might say! Ummm…. awkward weird smirk that it takes SO MUCH EFFORT for Jensen not NOT look good, I mean this was so on purpose to look awkward and terrible as FUCK.
Meanwhile Mary is watching on like Dean wtf are you doing to your husband? Sam is just like, god, not this again.
Wally is the John stand-in for Dean’s performance whilst Mary and Sam are the “it so doesn’t matter we don’t care who you think is hot or wanna bag or if you’re in freaking LOVE with Cas just focus on the job, Dean!”.
Watch it back too, when you flip between takes, Cas doesn’t even notice Mandy and his memory of Dean is kinda nice. Mary however… totally thinks Dean is being skeevy AF.
It’s all about Dean’s performance. It’s hugely linked to John. It’s fucking fantastic, just before Cas’ death bed confession, Dean’s eternal second half of the season months of worry and then grief that now could not be less framed as romantic.
Leading into a season that is ALL ABOUT FATHERS and specifically brings John up, literally out of fucking nowhere, to remind us that this season is SO much about Dean’s daddy issues and getting past them.
Letting go of precisely this kind of performance and accepting himself and who he is and who he loves.
So yes this scene stood out to me for a lot of reasons, but I don’t actually see it as a negative moment nor equate it with Bucklemmings standard moments of dubious consent (that honour went to Mary and the rapey hunter dude – thanks Bucklemming).
I was gonna write about this in my review. My review which remains in draft form as I write this because I cannot focus long enough to sort out everything I wanna say. *sobs at own inadequacy*
So yes this scene. So you may not have heard but SPN has a new stunt and fight co-ordinator for season 13. So the fight scenes so far have indeed seemed more brutal than previously. Personally I think they have all been awesome. But this one does indeed stand out, and you are right that it seems kinda rapey. Why is that?
Remember when we talked about 12×11 and Dean’s infamous ride on Larry? How the whole thing was framed to be sexual – look out for @margarittet meta on this scene compared to the movie Urban Cowboy for more info because it is eye opening.
Something SPN does extremely well is utilise standard filming techniques for the ‘male gaze’ but focused on Dean. Dean is quite regularly now framed in a way that would usually be used for a sexy female and it is so very interesting to me that they do this. It is extremely rare for mainstream film and TV to use these filming techniques on male actors. But Dean constantly gets the female treatment. There is an excellent slightly NSFW meta post going around about how Dean is always the character who gets holy water ‘facials’ and the sexual implications of filming said ‘facials’ in a certain way. Note how Dean is also always the character filmed shoving things into his mouth. These filming techniques are never used on Sam.
Back to this fight scene, and the same techniques are used here. This fight scene was difficult to watch because it was incredibly suggestive, and sexualised. This gigantic beast of a male demon throws Dean down, gets him on the table with his legs up in the air and spread out, then proceeds to pick him up so his face is basically in Dean’s groin, to throw him down on the bed.At which point Dean cowers whilst Sam stabs him through the back.
The moment on the table is bad enough. He is literally lying there with his legs spread while this guy goes at him.
and bends forward over him – effectively forcing Dean’s legs up and back like that common position you see in porn where you wonder how often those dudes have to stretch out their hamstrings cos jeez… at least we now know Jensen’s range of flexibility >_>
Then look at this:
I beg anyone to find me a scene in any action movie where this same choreography has been used for the male hero before. I would be very interested in watching it. You know where it HAS been used though?
Here.
In fact in the majority of black widow fights, she ends up with her legs wrapped around the enemy. Interesting right?
However when women use this type of fight style, the character usually has the upper hand. This is because women tend to be stronger in their legs and thighs than their arms. Men however have all sorts of sensitive dangly bits that makes this position extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable for them, so its just not ever done. Its still always framed as sexual though. Women fight this way because it appeals to the male gaze. “Ooh I’d like her to wrap her legs around me like that *wink wink nudge nudge*”.
Ignoring the glaringly obvious sexual undertones of the scene for a moment though, I have to ask why the new stunt coordinator would choose to put Dean in this position at all? Especially when it is then followed by this shot:
Dean, thrown on the bed, pushing himself back and away from his attacker, until Sam turns up at the last minute and saves the day.
Dean is extremely vulnerable throughout the entire fight. He’s not on form at all. This entire fight is showing just how off his game Dean is right now. He’s at rock bottom with his grief weighing on him heavily. Hence the demon gets the upper hand practically straight away. The fight appears sexualised and rapey because it is supposed to be that way. We are supposed to feel uncomfortable watching this scene and it is supposed to signify just how wrong Dean is at the moment. His grief has really wrecked him.
This isn’t the first time we have had shots of Dean in precarious positions however:
So it isn’t a new thing at all. This shot was from 10×18, when Dean was slowly succumbing to the Mark of Cain and was also in a vulnerable position. Another gigantic beast of a man comes towards him and it took something like 8 shots to the chest to take him down. There was genuine fear on Dean’s face in this scene. Dean got the upper hand eventually but the entire scene was framed with an air of discomfort for the audience. Especially since Mr Jacob Stein was leering at him in an overtly sexual manner the entire time his beastly accomplice had Dean pinned.
Two scenes reeking of sexual undertones, both where Dean is put on his back with his legs spread. Its supposed to feel rapey, its supposed to make him vulnerable. Both the 10×18 scene and the 13×02 scene are during times when Dean is travelling down a very dark path towards his own destruction. Whether through the Mark, or through his own heavy hearted grief.
So there are two reasons why Dean was put in this position. The main reason being to express vulnerability.
The other reason is to sexualise him and to suggest to the audience just how easily Dean fits into a certain type of sexual role. Of course with the first reason being dominant here the audience is left uneasy and wondering what on earth just happened. But Dean being sexualised and objectified is a pretty constant theme throughout the show. Especially by men and for men. Its part of his bisexual coding. It’s something we never see with Sam – or Cas for that matter.
Or maybe they just thought spreading Dean’s legs for a huge beast of a man on camera for a second would go down well with fandom.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Can I add, Mittens has a post about 9×16 going around right now, about Cuthbert’s rapey vibes, and again that’s something which I don’t think falls exactly under the misused dub con that Buckleming is famous for – the acting and directing play a large part in selling the reading, and it’s thematically appropriate for what is going on… The problem is when the tropes are used thoughtlessly, or not even really examined at all by the story, while in these cases it adds to the mood of what the story is telling us anyway.
Although the 10×18 one I remember got a lot of laughter from some of us because of Dean shooting like that from between his legs. He was down but he wasn’t exactly impotent or helpless there, so he gets to do some phallic shooting from the crotch-ish area while in this position. He’s physically dominated by these guys but he’s still stronger (more “virile”) than them and can empty his gun into them and take them down. In 10×22 he goes on to slaughter the entire family, after again they capture him and briefly seem to have the upper hand while he’s helplessly tied to a table… He knows the entire time that if they kill him, he’s only going to come back MORE dangerous and pissed off, so he’s never once actually threatened by them, and even sort of goading them to kill him just so he can come back as demon and wreck their shit 😛
In 13×02 he has no such advantage and he’s not even got a weapon… It reminds me more of 10×15 where Cole physically overpowers him because Dean doesn’t want to hurt him, and if he had wanted to, he probably could have torn Cole to shreds, but it was in the part of the story where they were trying to sell hope that Dean could overcome the Mark etc, so he just kinda waits it out and beats the monster inside Cole with a cure… But the sell on their fight scene was that Dean was very much outmatched and the phallic worm in Cole wanted to go in his mouth and Cole had him pinned on a table or something in a similar way to the table moment in this scene…
Anyway, yeah. Basically just agreeing with your post, though. I remember there was a sort of analysis of the show waaaaay back (like, when I was nosing around missing joining fandom in season 6 by a hairs’ breadth) that Sam and Dean were both generally objectified and treated like objects for titilation, mostly focussing on how much they were captured and tied up/tied onto things for our amusement. I think that broadly does apply to the both of them, but Dean has an entire extra level of implications about male violence towards him that’s followed him for a very long time. Whatever I was reading was much more about the female fan gaze rather than analysing what it all means about the character, but I mean, season 6 had Dean reference rape/being raped/in a rape allegorical situation like 4 episodes in close proximity… I think it’s 6×05 and the vampire attack, 6×09 and Oberon & the “grabby incadescent douchebags” and Sam’s “safe space” handling of it (like “i don’t have a soul and i can see this is fucked up and dean needs careful treatment”) and then some comments he made in the weird dog episode and caged heat, never mind Meg assaulting him one more time for the road in that episode >.> I mean – ugh, I seem to be focusing on season 6 and it was tonally similar to season 10, and that had Dean’s story about getting roofied at the club in 10×09 as well. Basically confirming what everyone’s always wondered about Dean and him identifying roofies and such in a “how do you not know” way, and wondering how he ever grew up in their rough environment. I mean even Jensen has wondered aloud if Dean turned tricks, and given the environment they grew up in that’s all kinds of horrifying for what may have happened to him in his past >.>
Sorry this is just rambling into all sorts of terrible places now. I am a whole bundle of emotions about Dean. I really don’t think any of this suggestive fight is queer subtext, as much as it is specifically characterising this about Dean and I suppose reminding us of his issues with this sort of thing – the overall picture of acting defensively straight, of equating male interest with assault and weakness and powerlessness with femininity… These are issues he’s actively addressed at times (via the cucumber water sort of safe space type things), but they don’t live a good life for him to feel comfortably queer… Which is ironic because I have written at other times how I think in many cases the more nuanced bad seductions are portrayed in such a way they use it as a weakness… I will always go back to the siren episode as a way to just blind side Dean when he’s expecting a female siren. Or more subtly, Crowley’s season 9 seduction… But on the other hand! 12×14 and Ketch trying the same things on Dean meets a solid defence, even with the “inclinations” thing or whatever queercoded word he poked and prodded at Dean’s defences with. And Mary ended up being the one to fall for it instead, and that loops us right back to 13×02 and how Dean’s fight scene was paralleled with Mary being attacked by the douchey rapist.
As usual, it’s an ongoing saga and Dean’s a work in progress 😛
Lizzy you know I love you rambling all over my posts.
I do think you’ve touched on so many good points though and many that I’ve missed. I don’t think I really explained WHY I thought that this scene among others falls under the general bracket of dean’s ‘bisexual coding’ and I didn’t mean for it to be taken as a positive. I guess it’s just another way for the viewer to associate Dean sexually with men. Same as the siren and the various other times when his bisexuality has been used as a weakness leading him to fall for the seduction.
But yeah basically I totally agree with all of this. It’s an ongoing trend throughout the show. Though it is interesting that in season 12 he was clear headed enough to reject Ketch witch could be interpreted as him becoming more accepting of himself and therefore more on guard about people using a previously highly repressed side of him as a weakness.
I wonder if Dean encountered a male siren now he would recognise it straight away. Or another creature like an incubus for example that he doesn’t have the prior knowledge about. I don’t think he would be fooled now just cos it was in male form because he has grown enough to accept that part of himself. But perhaps that’s a meta for another time.
I still have urgent questions about that off-screen siren in 12×15, especially since we had the reminder in 12×11 they’re not all hot chicks 😛
It’s why we suffer because we just take it on the same face value instead of making ridiculous excuses for why it can’t be a thing just because it’s those two.
The “if Dean’s boobs were actually real” clause to interpreting Destiel 😛 Just.. frikkin make him Deanna from the get go and see what happens when Cas swoops in and saves her.
Now there is an interesting idea! I personally think that if Dean had
been female from the get-go, it would not have been her that John had so
persistently trained as the hunter-son (-daughter), but Sam instead,
even if they had kept on with Sam being the younger sibling. Deanna
would have been even more likely to be pressured into the role of
almost-sole-caretaker-for-little-Sammy; probably until Sam is old enough
(in John’s opinion) to start his training as a hunter.
I bet Deanna would have been crushed at some point, and maybe John, in all his self-righteousness, might even have gone as far as getting rid of her at some point. And with that I mean letting her stay with a family friend to finish school, or something. I don’t think that even the fact that Mary had been raised in the life herself would have changed John’s point of view that Deanna is “just a girl”. @elizabethrobertajones
TBH I’ve always seen the show as playing out the exact same way with John’s parenting, except some things would be more overt to audience eyes. The stereotype that women should be the caregivers would mean that Deanna’s role to look after her little brother would be a given that she would have a motherly role. But I am imagining this as a take on the show on a meta level, not an AU free range fan fic where we can make enormous changes to the story. If they pitch a monster hunting show with 2 siblings, and the plot is basically identical to the one we get, then Deanna is raised as a competent hunter from childhood to the exact same degree Dean was. I think it works in reverse – if you didn’t think John would teach a girl to fight, then do you really not expect him to have benefited from encouraging Dean’s position as the family nurturer in the canon we got?
(I also don’t think Deanna would dress wildly differently from Dean, except for obvious “need boobs to get through this social situation” moments but for the most part I doubt crop tops or shorts would really make up much of her wardrobe – I mean to the point where the 11×04 short shorts thing may as well happen because WHY NOT 😀 Dean is a massive bundle of anxiety and self-esteem issues after all… Anyway I rarely see art of her all bundled up in the Winchester Layers)
Anyway in the circumstances – with Sam much younger and more direly in need of protection because mytharc nonsense – I think John would have trained his eldest child to fight, regardless, and relied on her in the same way he relied on Dean to become a warrior. In some ways it makes Dean’s resentment clearer because in society it might seem even less like this should have been Deanna’s role, but I think that shouldn’t have happened to our Dean either and he DOES have that resentment.
All the same issues apply but different ones would be in focus in different measures based on the reversed expectations, but by and large they’d have the same upbringing and arrive at the start of the show in essentially the same place, and carry on to do the rest of the show 99.9% the same story 😛 I can see all of that happening and it’s not to say that we wouldn’t analyse Deanna’s issues with femininity from John’s upbringing in the same way we have so much to talk about with toxic masculinity for Dean, but I don’t think the Deanna version of the show would HAVE to be any different.
I think one of the most fascinating things about Dean is that you could switch his sex/gender and the characterization would stay exactly the same. Young Dean was placed in both a warrior ‘masculine’ role and a caretaker ‘feminine’ role at the same time (he was the provider of emotional labor in place of the mother/wife of the family, but he was raised as a soldier because taking care of his brother also meant being able to fight monsters, so). He has tropes referring to both stereotypical gender roles in his characterization. His struggle with fitting in an environment cut for macho males would be pretty much the same (he’s been mocked for being feminine in the show as it is!). The horror at the idea of having his bodily autonomy violated would be the same. That’s what most storylines are already about…
Dean’s story is the story of a man sandwiched between forces that want him to be a macho man and forces who want him to be submissive and available (physically or emotionally), all while he gets shitted on for being not one or not the other.
Two things – I think John wouldn’t have taught “Deanna” about cars as much. I think that would have come from Bobby because Bobby wouldn’t give two shits about gender roles and that girls shouldn’t know cars. I think as Deanna, Dean would have tried even harder to get John’s approval, which leads to my second point. I think Deanna would have dressed as the biggest tomboy ever. I think, as a girl, Dean would have tried to minimize her femininity as much as possible. Partly because she would have felt as lesser as a girl (because John would have treated her differently; still raised her to hunt, but as any female knows, you get treated differently no matter how capable you are when you’re doing something male coded. I also think John wouldn’t have been above using her as bait, which would require her dressing more feminine, so I think that by choice, she would have avoided that whenever possible. Not to mention the risks inherent in being left alone in shady hotels as an obvious girl. She would have rationalized it (for a while at least) as being practical, because if she dressed as a boy, Sammy would be able to wear her hand me downs.
But other than subtle differences, I don’t think Dean as Deanna would change the storyline at all. John would still be a shitty parent, she’d still have to be both mother and father to Sam, and would, eventually, have to come to terms with it all.
John uses Dean as bait in 1×20 so again I don’t even think that’s something unique to “Deanna”’s experience if it were to be overlayed to canon… Since the vampire was coded with the Depraved Bisexual trope they would literally not need to change a line or moment of the action >.>
I am so fascinated by the Deanna concept I have dreamed up countless scenarios in my head as to how they could explore this in the show, but I agree with Lizzy here that Dean has been female coded so much that nothing would actually change. Would Deanna be a tomboy? Hell yes – BUT she would probably indulge in the occasional feminine item – like stealing/splurging on luxury panties. There is every chance that John treated her like a boy anyway because he WANTED her to be tough. He WANTED her to be able to protect herself the way he ‘thought’ Mary couldn’t protect herself. So I DO think he would have taught her all about the car maintenance and the weapons and everything else.
I actually think the only thing different in Deanna vs Dean’s experience would have been Deanna’s treatment by other hunters when she was older, as we all know that John kept the boys well away from other hunters pre series. She probably would have been a bit more like Jo in that respect. But even then Dean got chastised for being “too pretty” soo…. yeah.
Cas however wouldn’t treat Deanna any different from Dean. Can you imagine if the show was indeed EXACTLY the same and we were still at THIS point with ALL THE TROPES in Destiel but Dean was Deanna? Can you IMAGINE the mainstream media reaction?! Imagine the cries for them to FINALLY get together and media calling it a “will they won’t they” trope for the ages even though its NEVER happened… no one would be calling us delusional THAT’S for sure. No one would be saying “Oh why can’t you respect platonic relationships’ then because EVERYONE would see how blatant the love story is. Plus pretty much the entire general audience of the show would ship it.
The sad thing is that if Dean really had been Deanna at the start we never would have got to this point. Deanna would have hooked up with Cas in season 4 instead of Anna. Then we probably would have got a literal supernatural version of Ross and Rachel in Friends for the next 9 years and by this point all be groaning about how repetitive and boring it was and how those bloody heterosexuals ruin everything.
We’d probably be shipping Deanna with Charlie instead and spend most of our time writing fanfiction about Sastiel.
For starters, there are way too many similarities between her and Sam for them to just be two random people who met by accident. They both lost someone recently and they’re both running away and they both just happen to be staying at the same motel?
Yeah ok, so she’s staying at the motel because she apparently works at the nearby animal clinic, but as someone who’s had questionable housing situations, not many places consider a motor inn a valid living address when you’re looking for employment. Sure, she probably could’ve gotten a job at a grocery store or a gas station, but as a veterinarian? Not likely. A vet gets paid on average $85k per year and a normal orientation in a new workplace is 2 weeks to a month. You think any sane employer is just gonna sign up a lady who rolled into town and is staying at a motor inn, and might decide to just drive out of town tomorrow? I mean come on.
Also, the dog he hit couldn’t have been a gray hound or a husky or idk, a german shepherd? It had to look like Bones? It’s like Sam pulled that dog out of memory and then just gave him different coloring. And he hit this dog with a 1967 fucking steel box traveling how fast? But this miracle vet lady saved the dog and it was hopping around like 24 hours later with a little cast on its leg?
Never mind the whole thing with the picnic and Amelia sitting on a blanket which is a mirror image of Dean’s fantasy of Lisa.
Like every single part of that story seems like something Sam could’ve dreamed, including Amelia’s disapproving army father who Sam has to spend hours sucking up to.
And then, her husband just miraculously appears just as Dean has found a way to crawl back out of purgatory?
How about the fact that Sam was not actually connected to the world the entire time he was with her. Sam, who freaked the fuck out because he hit a dog, decided to just completely ignore dozens of phone calls from Kevin? Never even check his messages? Never contact any of the other hunters? Never crack a book to at least try and figure out if Dean was dead or alive? Never attempt to summon any demons or angels for questioning? This Sam?
Pls.
Sam had a mental breakdown. There was no dog. There was no Amelia. It all happened in his head. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
This is a really satisfying theory! And we (the viewers) would never know because Sam himself doesn’t know. This would be an incredibly cool concept to explore next season, given the fact that we know there’s going to be a “can’t hide from your past” vibe.
Oooohhhh….I just really like this a lot…..
Also, Dean has never met or even SEEN Amelia, and Sam was just completely crazy and seeing Lucifer and things that weren’t there. Cas may have fixed Sam’s wall, but it’s still covered in scars from where it originally shattered, and there’s still lingering effects, Sam is still a bit crazy with tons of PTSD and trauma, made worse when he finds out his brother (and Cas) is suddenly just GONE and he’s all alone.
The size and design of angel wings has changed several times throughout Supernatural’s 13 seasons. Most of the time these are mainly changes to the wing shadows which can easily be explained by shadows always being slightly distorted. Many things can distort the look of the wing shadows, the distance the angel is from a wall, the source of the light making the shadow, and the fact that angel’s never stand in front of a flat surface when displaying their wings. Another way that I rationalize the differences in the sizes and shapes of angel wings is that the angels are all unique individuals so it would make sense that they would come in all sorts of sizes like people.
One thing i have had trouble understanding is the anatomy of angel wings. In particular Castiel’s wings as seen in 12×23 and 13×01. This is what the bone structure looks like to me but that doesn’t really match up to the shape of the angel wing skeletons we have seen before. 12.23 suggested a similar shape to the shape seen in 13.01 but it’s really hard to see.
Here are Castiel’s wings from 10.18. Besides some differences in size they seem to look exactly the same as Gadreel’s damaged wings in 9×02, and Benjamin’s and Ishim’s damaged wings in 12.10.
So why do Castiel’s wings look so different in 12×23 and 13×01? What is exactly is going on with the bone structure of angel wings on Supernatural? This has been bothering me since May and I have a theory but it is in no way perfect. One thing to note is usually angel wing prints are painted but in 12×23, and 13×01 Cas is laying on top of sand. I think that is why the wings were added to the footage later so someone wouldn’t have to try to paint something on top of the sand. I think whoever added the wings in just happened to make them a little different, but lets give them the benefit of the doubt and try to figure this out.
This is the anatomy of a bird’s wing it is very similar to our arm. The previously seen damaged wings where we can clearly see the bones (including Castiel’s wings in 10×18) seem to match this bone structure.
Castiel’s wings in 13×01 do not match.
This has lead me to wonder if the first joint we see closest to Castiel’s body is a second shoulder. This would actually explain a lot of the anatomical problems with angel’s wings such as how high they can raise them and their shape. Which shouldn’t be possible if angel wings were exactly like a birds wings. @trisscar368Came to a very similar conclusion except that I don’t think the bone, between Castiel’s body and his humerus, is a scapula. I think it’s a coracoid. The coracoid plays a very important role in bird flight because it attaches a bird’s wings to their sternum. Similarly I am wondering if this is the bone that connects an angel’s vessel to their wings.
So if angels have a second “shoulder” just to operate their wings this would explain why Castiel doesn’t have to move when he shows off his wing shadows, why angels can raise their wings so far up when extended which would be impossible for a bird to do, and some strange things about the shape of angel wings. But how does this theory fit with what we have seen of angel wing bone structure before? It actually fits very nicely with Gadreel’s wings because you can actually see this second shoulder just behind Sam’s shoulder.
This implies that most of the time it’s hidden behind the angel’s vessel and we only see it here because of the angle. Also there is a lot about Castiel’s wings in 10.18 that suggests we may not be seeing everything. Shadows are very easy to distort which makes them pretty unreliable when trying to get a picture of anything. I made a trace of Castiel’s bone structure as seen in 10×18 and superimposed it on a scaled picture of Castiel’s wing shadows from 8×07
It didn’t really match up.
But if you think about it according to what we see in 13×01 as far as bone structure. The shape of wing shadows actually matches up a lot better.
I think part of the differences can be explained by the angel’s with damaged wings not fully bringing their wings all the way up. Maybe the fact that there is exposed bone makes this movement impossible. Also if the coracoid attaches an angel’s wings to their vessel maybe it isn’t always visible when an angel dies. I am wondering if this is the bridge between a vessel and an angel’s trueform, that the reason we didn’t see it before is because those angels like Ishim and Benjamin were not alone in their vessels. The reason the coracoid shows up on Castiel’s wings in 13×01 is because Castiel is literally more attached to his vessel seeing that it only belongs to him.
I know this theory isn’t perfect and I would love to have more input on what everyone thinks about this. I also understand that there probably wasn’t quite this much thought put into Castiel’s wings in 13×01.
I had to break this post down into parts. I don’t know how many parts but right now I am thinking about three.
One of my favorite things in this episode was the use of lens flares. There is a reason that the scenes with lens flares were filmed outside on a sunny day that doesn’t really fit the mood of the episode. Lens flares are created by a bright light, especially sunlight, hitting the front of a camera lens and bouncing off different lens elements inside the lens.
You can prevent stray light from hitting the front of the lens by using a hood. Every camera filming outside is going to have a hood. Probably one that adjusts for the field of view and focal length. Here is an example of a camera on the set of Supernatural with a hood.
It would be very difficult to get lens flares on accident with a hood. It can and does happen but if you don’t want them you can make adjustments and reshoot the scene. Higher end
lenses also make lens flares more difficult so when a director whats this effect sometimes a filter is used or a cheep lens.
This particular flare is called a “veiling flare” and it takes place when the source of light is out of frame but the light is still hitting the front of the lens. Some people have suspected that this was added in later. I think there is a natural lens flare here that was edited later to show different colors. But this was originally produced using sunlight. When Sam asks about Cas. Cas shows up as a ray of sun over Deans face. The colors are definitely edited in no one can excuse this as a coincidence like they might excuse Dean’s bi shirt or other props with bi colors. Naturally this flare was probably white-light yellow. Like this.
Someone had to go in later to change the colors to bi flag color. If they wanted just a lens flare they wouldn’t have colored it.
This is another important lens flare that happens during Dean’s prayer. This one looks like it could be completely natural. This could be another sign from tptb that Dean is not straight but I don’t think it is. Dean is talking to God. Talking about how he lost his everything. His whole world you could say. Everyone knows the story of Noah’s ark where God destroys the earth with a flood and makes a rainbow afterwards.
11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. – Genesis 9: 11-13
I think this could be a promise from God that Dean will not have to go through this again. Dean won’t have to see his everything destroyed ever again. I know that Dean thinks Chuck didn’t answer him but I am wondering if he actually did.
How does the fandom pick up on such cool shit like this? Fucking awesome.
Well I don’t know how everyone picks up on stuff like this, but I am kinda a self taught photographer and lens flares were something I looked up how to do in high school. The first time I took a photo with a lens flare it was an accident but then I wanted to know how I could replicate this effect. I don’t really have any pictures with a lens flare on this computer to use as an example because now I enjoy taking pictures with a small subject like this. There are some small lens flares off to the left from the reflection of the sun off the water.
Oh my lord how does this not have anymore notes!?! You are so awesome! Because if people like you, I see things even if they’re so small and seem insignificant, in a new light. You help us see how purposeful everything is and I applaud and thank you for that
Thank you so much for this really kind comment. This has a ton of notes for one of my posts so I am actually quite happy with it. The only reason it doesn’t have more is probably just because I don’t have that many followers yet.
Here is another light effect they used that you might find interesting.
There is a halo around Dean’s lighter just before he lights the pyre. This isn’t a true lens flare because you can see the source of light in frame. Sometimes this is caused “ghosting” which is interesting to think about when it was included in a scene that was a funeral for a dead angel. This is actually caused by a technique that I use a lot called “bokeh” this is when you use a shallow depth of field so that parts of the picture are in focus and the parts that aren’t are blured. Lights that aren’t completely in focus take on the shape of the camera’s aperture turning them into disks. This is much easier to do at night since the camera needs a wider depth of field to let in more light. Dean’s lighter is in the mid-ground so even though the light isn’t focus it is also not completely out of focus so you get this halo instead of just a blurred circle.
This is awesome – I do SO enjoy it when people in the know can explain clearly that these things are NOT ACCIDENTS and are intentionally done.
Oh, Baby is definitely a metaphor for the state of Dean’s soul/emotions/conscience. Especially when it comes to fixing her up. One of the biggest examples of this is in 2.02, after John dies and Dean is focused on fixing the Impala. Focusing on that rather than what’s really wrong:
And then the episode goes on and some of the cracks are exposed until finally, we have this beautiful scene:
Dean beating the impala to holy hell. Not only is it a metaphor for the beginning of Dean’s understanding of his anger toward John, it’s also a metaphor for his own self-loathing.
We see the fixing thing again in 7.01 after losing Cas, and after Sam’s head is filled with Lucifer, and that too is another great example of Dean at the start of some major grief and self-loathing and self-doubt.
The car is useless; exactly the way Dean feels.
And what about when the car is not broken? How about this time in 10.04, when Dean is doing his damnedest to scrub Baby clean:
Oh man, the symbolism. Dean just spent the previous episode getting beat to hell by Cas, who was under a curse, and he wouldn’t let Cas heal him because he decided he deserved it because of beating Cas while also under a curse. And in fact at the start of 11.04, he still won’t let Cas heal him, but by Chuck, he will try to scrub that stain right off his soul.
How about when it’s time to symbolically let your little brother grow up, after a lifetime of giving up everything for him (5.05)?
Yep, that’s right. Hand over those keys, Dean Winchester, it’s time for a metaphor.
Need to muddy the waters when it comes to free will and fate? Is Dean Winchester the master of his own fate, or has it just been a ruse all along? Convince your dad from the past to buy the car that started it all, so you’ll have it in the future to end it all, and let us ponder together. (4.03)
Or how about a metaphor about the state of Dean’s depression? After Sam went to the cage at the end of s5, Dean kept Baby under a cover for an entire year. And when he finally gets back to hunting (in 6.02):
Just look at that smile.
And if you want one that’s especially fun, how about that time in 9.16 when some demons marked up Dean’s car?
Pretty interesting that Dean was only recently marked up by a Knight of Hell, no?
And in only a few more episodes, we’ll see Dean on his knees again, desperate to have never been marked in the first place:
Or how about that time in 12.19 when Dean gave the keys to someone he loves and then he stood there and watched as Baby was stolen away and he was left behind, high and dry?
And poof Baby is gone. So the only option is to do something you don’t want to be doing or be left behind forever.
You couldn’t possibly find a better metaphor for s12 Dean Winchester if you tried.
Jack Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’ and a general
introduction to The Beats
Jack Kerouac travelled across the USA with
his friend Neal Cassady in the 1950s, and wrote about his travels in the book ‘On
The Road’. Along with his friends William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and
others, this group of friends (all of which were writers) declared themselves
as The Beats – a play on words of both to be ‘beat down’ and also the more
positive ‘beatific’. Along with Allen Ginsberg’s most known poem ‘Howl’, this
work and ‘On the Road’ cemented this small group of writers in the American
literary canon.
The Beats were inspired by Modernist poets
such as William Carlos Williams, as well as the booming jazz musicians of the
1940s and 1950s, and Transcendentalist writers such as Thoreau, Whitman, and
Emerson. ‘On the Road’ combines the sounds of scat singing in jazz, with
transcendentalist philosophies, and tropes of American road literature. ‘On the
Road’ is cool, in tune with nature, and details the philosophical and literal
freedom of speeding down the highway across American.
Both Sal Paradise (Jack Kerouac) and Dean
Moriarty (Neal Cassady) in On The Road travel across the states in search of
something, whether that is something physical like human connection, or more
importantly something spiritual.
Neal Cassady
In the winter of 1946 Neal Cassady drove
into New York and met Jack Kerouac and his friends.
Cassady was born in Salt Lake City in 1926
and spent his childhood travelling around the western states with his father
who was a chronic alcoholic which resulted in him being unemployed for long
periods and thus hoboing around the States. This resulted in Cassady being both
independent and irresponsible. Although he was very intelligent, he never
stayed in one place long enough to attend school regularly and spent much of
his time in Denver pool halls, stealing cars for fun, and going to reform
school. He was good looking and a highly sexual person with a huge sexual
appetite which he tried to satiate at every opportunity. When he arrived in New
York he was married to LuAnne Henderson (with whom he cheated on continuously).
In the late 1940s he started sleeping with Allen Ginsberg, who wrote Howl in
which Neal is written in as the hero of the poem. In 1966 he died by the side
of a railroad track after walking home drunk after a wedding. (The Beat
Generation, Christopher Gair)
Cassady was energetic, drove fast (some
friends of his were scared to be in the same car as him), stole cars, hustled
people at pool, drank to excess, got into trouble with the police, and had a
lot of sex with both genders. Whilst Kerouac was more bookish and quiet, Neal
was an energetic and outgoing character who was ‘sharp, witty, gregarious, and
lived for excitement and sexual conquests.’ (I Celebrate Myself, 81).
(Neal Cassady)
Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg
In 1947, Allen reveled in a wild sexual
weekend with Neal. Allen hoped that he could teach Neal about literature, and
Neal could teach him about sex. Whilst other people simply saw Neal as a con
man, Allen knew there was more to him. Allen fell in love with him instantly
but Neal quickly got bored and always needed to be on the move as he could
never stay in one place for too long. They continuously wrote to each other,
however whilst Allen poured his heart out to Neal and in the early years hoped
to be his partner, Neal tried to impress upon Allen that he was not interested
in a long term homosexual affair. They both slept together in 1947, and
certainly until 1955 (possibly later) they continued to sleep together sporadically.
Supernatural and On The Road
Eric Kripke has stated that Sam and Dean are
based off the characters from On The Road (Sal and Dean). In the episode in S4
where Chuck is introduced and they go into a comic book store where the owner
asks if they are larping, at one point asking if their names are ‘Sal and Dane’.
So, it is quite clear that their names are based off On The Road.
Also, On the Road is a
semi-fictional/semi-autobiographical work. The characters in the book are based
off real life people, much like how the Supernatural books are based off the lives
of Sam and Dean.
On The Road is a foremost example of
American Road fiction – two guys driving across the states in a car searching
for something – sounds pretty much the same as the premise for Supernatural.
Take away the ghosts and hunting and Supernatural is about two guys driving
across the states, with no place they’re really heading, meeting people,
listening to music, hustling pool, and getting into trouble with the police.
That could also be a great summary of On The Road.
Specifically in the early seasons,
Supernatural sets itself up as a Road movie, but on TV. It is cool, the guys
are cool, the music used is cool, they drink, steal cars, and live a free life on
the road.
On the Road has two main protagonists; Sal
and Dean. Sal is more bookish and quiet, slightly in awe of Dean’s wild ways.
Whilst in Supernatural Sam is more bookish and quiet, both in awe and
disgruntled about Dean’s wilder ways.
I mean….. come ON
Neal Cassady and Dean Winchester
Lets go over again what Neal Cassady (who Dean
Moriarty was based on) was like;
– He spent his childhood
travelling around the western states with his father.
– His father was a chronic
alcoholic which resulted in him being unemployed for long periods and thus
hoboing around the States.
– Cassady (due to his upbringing)
was both independent and irresponsible.
– Although he was very intelligent,
he never stayed in one place long enough to attend school regularly.
– Although he never had a formal
education, in his 20s he started reading a great deal.
– He could never stay in one
place for too long, both as a child, teen, and adult.
– He spent much of his time in
Denver pool halls
– He stole cars, loved cars, was good at fixing cars.
– He went to reform school.
– He was good looking in a jock kind of way.
– He was a highly sexual person
with a huge sexual appetite which he tried to satiate at every opportunity.
– He drank a lot and took drugs,
but mainly drank.
– He slept with both men and
women, notably Allen Ginsberg who was friends with both Cassady and Kerouac.
– Although he slept with both men
and women, he presented himself to most people as heterosexual. It is worth
noting that he was alive during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, and being bisexual or
gay was incredibly difficult during those years. Neal was somewhat of a
celebrity and it is understandable that Neal denied his attraction to men.
– He was energetic.
– He loved cars and drove
incredibly fast
– He hustled pool.
– He got in trouble with the
police.
– He was sharp, witty, and funny.
– He was likened to a James Dean kind of person.
I don’t think there is any need for me to
go through each of these points and give evidence as to how Dean Winchester
fits every single one of these character traits as well. I would expect any
viewer of the show to look at that list and assume that one is describing Dean
Winchester. From the alcoholic father who drove with him round the States, to
his own excessive drinking, need for sex, intelligence yet lack of education, hustling
of pool, stealing cars….. you get the idea. They are highly highly highly
similar.
The bisexuality question
It is common knowledge that Neal Cassady
slept with both men and women, and the similarities between Neal and Dean
Winchester are so strong that it would be easy to argue that because Neal
Cassady sleeps with men and women, so does Dean Winchester. Every single
description of Cassady could apply to Dean Winchester, so it doesn’t make sense
to say ‘every single one applies apart from the bisexuality.’ Of course, there
are aspects of both Cassady and Dean Winchester which don’t match up, however
the core information about Cassady which readers and scholars know about does
match up.
I hope this has been a good introduction to Neal Cassady and Dean Winchester. This is my basic summary of this discussion, however if you have more questions then don’t hesitate to send in an ask! My undergraduate and postgraduate research focuses were the Beats and American Road Narratives so if you want to know more about any of this let me know 🙂
I’m also thinking of writing a bit about Allen Ginsberg and Cas, as well as some stuff on SPN and spirituality in particular transcendentalism and Buddhism, so I’ll try and get that done at some point. Any general questions about the Beats, especially Ginsberg I am more than happy to answer 🙂
so many things in my life makes sense now, wish I could tell my old English teacher thanx for paying special attention to me💕
‘yes please! I want to read the Allen/Cas! in high school my English teacher noticed I was bored&restless, she would recommend these ‘black listed from school’ books, On the Road is my fav! there is also a based on movie of it, but I can’t remember the name, oh&gotta mention its also why I became obsessed with Jim Morrison, it makes sense now why I’m so obsessed w/spn! thank you for these facts!💕’
Same! I started watching Supernatural when it first aired in my early teens and never engaged with the online fandom back then. So instead I just became obsessed with American road narratives and then read On the Road which lead to more new obsessions including the Beats and Ginsberg. After 5 years of university studying American Literature, multiple essays on The Beats and road narratives, two dissertations on Ginsberg and only a few months ago did I trace all of this back to watching that first episode of SPN!
And I am about to start researching into the Cas/Ginsberg stuff!
@helianthus21 excellent point that Dean has referenced the parent trap before!
5×04: 2014!Dean: Yes. I got a camp full of twitchy trauma survivors out there with an apocalypse hanging over their head. The last thing they need to see is a version of The Parent Trap. So, yeah, you stay locked down.
6×14: Dean: We’ve been Parent Trapped.
(Then also references Mannequin).
Nice 😀
Okay, so everyone is focusing on “The Parent Trap” part of this scene, but I focus more on “The Nun’s Story”.
“The Nun’s Story” is a movie about a nun who (even though she possesses real, strong faith) struggles with the rules of her convent, is several times punished for disobedience, is send on a mission, travels to Congo, and meets a male surgeon (”a genius and a devil, a bachelor and an unbeliever” who makes her question her calling – and has some very strong sexual chemistry with her). In the end she leaves her convent, and lives the rest of her life as a fullfilled civilian.
“On this faithful, autumn day, the nun called Sister Luke, under special and extraordinary circumstances, was released from her vows. She took leave from her convent forever because, in her own words, she was no longer a nun.”
Well, if it doesn’t remind us of somebody!
Ohh @helianthus21 yiss and @margarittet I just can’t wait I just can’t wait I just can’t wait for S13!!! Of course it’s common for nuns to have a man’s name in their more pious denomination, but isn’t it kind of lovely that it’s female/male in the main character’s name? I think it is. It’s quite lovely.
*whispers*
Sacred Oaths…..
Thank y’all for mentioning it! I was yelling in Tink’s chattybubbles earlier about this, like NONONONO! THE REAL PERFORMING DEAN THING IS HIM MENTIONING THE NUN’S STORY! THE ///COVER/// FOR THAT WAS THE FREAKING PARENT TRAP!!! And then I told her I’d write about it later (between my internet going out because of thunderstorms and me being generally grumpy because Amazon failed to deliver my copy of s12 today *SEETHES AGAIN* I hadn’t felt much like typing stuff. 😀
SO YES. THIS.
(I mean just go read the wikipedia page for The Nun’s Story and THIS was what Dean was interested in seeing… It’s depressing AF, she basically gets jerked around her entire life, has to fight for the mission she WANTED in life, was accosted by a mental patient convinced she was the Archangel Gabriel, constantly reprimanded for disobedience, forced to purposely fail a test to prove her humility, and in the end she asks to be released from her vows and leaves quietly through the back door in civilian clothing. THAT’S the movie Dean thought would be good… In an episode where Cas is MIA– and we know he’s in Heaven who expect him to ‘redeem’ himself through service and humility and whatever else they’ve been putting him through to prove his loyalty and obedience… I mean…)
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