#destiel is truly the gift that keeps on giving (and taking but that is besides the point)

[velvethopewrites]

You know, having a busy morning and not signing into tumblr for awhile and then when you finally do you find out we’re in the middle of some sort of hair-pulling Level 3 Destiel Event and the whole dash has exploded….ah, that’s some good shit. Bless tumblr. Bless Spnblr. Insane show for insane times.

[deangirl-interrupted]

You Wake up a Stranger to Yourself (then you learn to live with her)

For @spnwomenweek Day 2: Family Claire POV Claire/Kaia Wayward Sisters Fluff Background Destiel & Saileen Rated: T (just some swearing) Note:  Niamh is pronounced “Neeve”

______________________________________________

You're not a Winchester.

Until, one day, you are.

Claire watched the ceremony with a certain smug satisfaction, from her place beside Castiel as his "best man."

She knows that Castiel's used the name Novak when he's needed Jimmy's old I.D. (and face) to do useful things like rent cabins in which to raise the child of Lucifer. But it's never truly been his. It's a name he stole.

But when he and Dean got married, with the legal papers and everything (thanks to Charlie) Castiel was given the gift of the name Winchester.

That gift was sealed with a kiss.

Claire watched as Sam clapped Cas on the back and said, "You've always been one of us."

***

When Sam finally popped the question to Eileen, it had been three years since they'd defeated Chuck and saved the world again. Dean kept hassling him, telling him to man up and just do it. Sam kindly reminded him that he'd spent an infuriating twelve years pining for his husband, so kindly shut the fuck up about it.

Eileen had no intention of dropping her ancestral last name, and Sam had absolutely no problem with that. They decided to hyphenate to Leahy-Winchester, with both of them taking that name.

Claire was 25 when she found herself on a hunt with Eileen. They'd known each other for years, of course, but had never hunted together. Claire had been practicing her ASL since before Sam and Eileen got hitched, and Eileen was impressed with the ease and fluidity that Claire had mastered.

It was a simple salt and burn, nothing too strenuous, so they had some down time.

Leaning up against the side of Claire's car, Eileen suddenly said, "This is my last case."

Claire blinked at her a few times before saying and signing, "What, why?"

Eileen gave her a shit-eating grin and slowly rubbed a hand over her abdomen. "I'm brewing a new Leahy-Winchester."

Claire cackled. After hugging Eileen and wiping happy tears from her eyes, she said, "The monsters won't know what hit them."

***

Claire let Kaia drive them to go meet baby Niamh Leahy-Winchester.

Claire had been jumpy and nervous for some reason. She hadn't actually been back to Jody's in an age, and she hadn't seen the Winchester clan in even longer.

It's not that she didn't want to, she'd just been busy traveling with Kaia, looking at the world as an explorer and not just a hunter. Actually stopping to see some sights and stuff. And it's not like she hadn't been texting everyone! They had a group chat! It was a perfectly legit way to stay in touch!

She felt a bit guilty about it, anyway.

Kaia looked over at her and smiled, as if she could tell what Claire was thinking. Hell, maybe she could.

"It'll be fine," Kaia said as they pulled to a stop in front of a one story rancher with yellow siding, a white dogwood tree in the front yard, and a devil's trap painted underneath the welcome mat.

They held hands as they approached the house, and didn't bother knocking since the door was cracked anyway.

Everyone was gathered in a fairly small living room, huddled around Eileen and a tiny bundle in a yellow blanket with bees embroidered on it.

(Claire knew, without a doubt, that Cas had picked that out. He may have even knitted it himself, the weird ass.)

Claire knew that Kaia was still a bit uncomfortable around large groups like this, even though she knew and loved them just the same, so she let go of her girlfriend's hand and sauntered over to the group, throwing an arm around Dean's shoulders from behind.

"What's new up in here?" Claire said, throwing a wink at Eileen.

Claire soon found herself caught up in a group hug consisting of her surrogate mother and her two (kinda) gay dads.

"Geez," Claire said, trying to wiggle free, "You guys act like you haven't seen me in a year. I can't breathe."

Jody pulled away and said, "It has been nearly a year, Claire! And before you say anything, texting doesn't count!"

(Damn.)

Cas pulled away but left his hands on her shoulders, keeping her at arm's length and giving her a good once-over.

Seemingly satisfied by whatever he saw, he finally let her go.

"We've missed you, Claire," he said, so softly that it broke her heart a little.

Dean smiled and said, "Yeah, you leave for months at a time and you don't call, you don't write..."

Claire knew that she was letting Dean get her riled up, but that was just part of the comfortable little game they played. "I texted all of you! Like, literally everyone in this room! Some of you I even texted this morning!"

Alex and Patience laughed at her from their spot by a large bay window with sheer white curtains, and when she looked over at them, they both gave her a little wave.

Claire knew they wouldn't be coming to her defense.

It made her smile.

Donna walked over and pulled Claire to her, giving her just as big of a hug as the others. "Okie doke, let's leave the poor girl alone, and let her meet Niamh."

Claire was then unceremoniously dragged over to Eileen, who was watching with amusement. But it also got her closer to Sam, who stood up to give her a hug, and then leaned down to take the infant from Eileen's arms.

"Niamh," Sam said to the baby, with the most besotted look on his face, "This is your big sister, Claire."

And with that, Claire's brain made the sound of a record scratch. Claire.exe stopped working. Big sister? Is that really how Sam and Eileen saw her? As a daughter? Dean and Cas acted like that with her, and so did Jody and Donna, but those were more obvious. She and Sam had never been as close, though he was often the more reasonable Winchester brother. But this whole time, she was just everyone's adopted kid?

Claire was self-aware enough to know that she had softened a bit as she got older, but as Sam gently placed Niamh into her arms, and she looked around the room at everyone she loved, she felt her eyes go all misty.

This whole time, after losing both of her biological parents as an only child, it turned out that she had more parents and siblings than she knew what to do with.

Kaia appeared next to her, to look down at the baby in her arms.

"She's so small," Kaia said, whisper soft.

Claire looked at Kaia with a watery smile and then back down at the baby.

Gently rocking the infant, Claire quietly said, "Hi, Niamh. I'm Claire, and this is Kaia. You are so loved, and I know that someday you're gonna blow us all away."

Niamh gurgled happily.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Charlie asked Claire over the phone.

"Yeah, why, is it weird?"

"No, no!" Charlie said, quickly. "It's just that...I know I'm not from here, and I'll never be 'their Charlie,' but I've learned that this name comes with an awful lot of baggage."

"Nah," Claire said, easily. "To me, it's a name that sets me free."

Charlie laughed a bit and said, "As long as you're sure, I'll send the new documents to you tomorrow."

"Thanks, Charlie," Claire said with genuine relief in her voice. "This really means a lot to me."

After a "peace out, bitch!" Claire ended the call and let her phone drop to the sofa.

Kaia walked over and sat down next to her, taking one of Claire's hands in both of hers.

"When are you going to tell them?" she asked.

Claire grinned and squeezed Kaia's hands, "I'll probably wait for a while. I don't want to give them the satisfaction."

Kaia laughed.

***

When Claire and Kaia met with the landlord, to see what would hopefully become their first official apartment together, Claire shook the little old lady's hand and said with a dazzling smile, "Nice to meet you, I'm Claire Winchester."

[fangirlingtodeath513]

Mischief Night | a destiel fic for the Promptus Exchangarama on the @writersofdestiel server

written by myself and @gii-heylittleangel

Summary:  Dean and Cas are the last ones to leave the graveyard after they wrap filming for the day and they see a bit more than they bargained for.

read here on ao3 or continue reading below the cut

Julian ducks behind one of the large marble headstones, cradling the wound on his side. Wincing, he yanks off his henley, ripping two strips off and folding the rest into a thick square, pressing it over the wound and tying the strips around his torso to hold the fabric to his side. It’s a terrible bandage, but it’ll do until he manages to get out of this graveyard and back to his car. Carefully, Julian peeks around the side of the headstone and immediately regrets it.

He comes face to face with a pair of bowed legs that he’d know anywhere. “Bet you’re wishing you’d kept running, Agent Shurley,” the man sneers, a sliver of moonlight glinting off his blade. 

Julian grunts, grabbing onto the headstone as he forces himself to his feet, defiant in the face of the serial killer he’s been hunting for nearly a year. “I’m not running from you, Decker. Only one of us is making it out of this cemetery and it won’t be you.”

Smirking, Decker steps closer and grabs him by the throat. “I guess we’ll see about that.”

“Cut! Great take, let’s reset and we’ll go once more,” Gabriel yells, already turning to talk to his assistant. 

Dean quickly releases Cas’s throat, thumb stroking down the side. “That was a really good take.”

Castiel hums, leaning back against the fake headstone behind them. “You did well. Very scary.”

Dean and Cas are shuffled off the set under Gabriel’s orders so it can be reblocked before the next take. They end up in their chairs far behind the camera setup, shoulders brushing as they relax.

“I hate filming in graveyards,” Dean whines, gazing hopelessly around the spacious, dark graveyard their camera crew is currently set up in. 

Castiel, his boyfriend of nearly three years and co-star for this movie, smirks. “You’d think after six years doing horror movies, you’d be used to it by now.”

Scowling, Dean leans his head on Cas’s shoulder. “I am used to it, that’s the problem. They’re so creepy. I mean, there are dead people six feet under us.” He shudders.

Castiel smiles, patting Dean’s cheek gently. “Not right under us, but nearby. Only two more scenes and then we can go back to the hotel.”

Dean catches a movement in the corner of his eye, but by the time he turns to look, there’s nothing there. Writing it off as the semi-darkness playing tricks on him, Dean turns to press a kiss to Cas’s temple. “We don’t have to be on set until the afternoon tomorrow,” Dean grins, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Castiel shoots him a dry look of exasperation, but Dean knows it’s just for show.

They film two more takes before wrapping for the night. Dean and Cas both stick around to help the crew pack up until, eventually, they’re the only two left in the graveyard. Wrinkling his nose, Dean reaches over to grab Cas’s hand. “Let’s get out of here, this is creepy.”

Castiel grins. “What, you don’t want to spend the night strolling through this beautiful graveyard? It could be very romantic.”

Dean shoots him a glare, tugging on his hand to get him moving. “No, I’d like to be out of here as quickly as possible, thanks.”

Castiel laughs, allowing Dean to tug him along. “You don’t want to wait and see if the ghosts decide to show themselves? It is Mischief Night, after all.”

Dean scoffs, turning back to look at his boyfriend. “You can’t really believe in that stuff, can you? Mischief Night is just a night for kids to pull pranks on their neighbors and get away with it, there’s nothing spooky or scary going on.” 

Castiel hums, falling into step beside Dean. “Some people say the veil is thinner tonight, with it being the night before Halloween and everything. Perhaps we’ll get the chance to see a real ghost.”

Rolling his eyes, Dean shoulders the bag he’d left near where the crew had been set up, slipping his hand back into Castiel’s almost immediately. “I hope for both our sakes that we don’t.”

Laughing, Castiel squeezes Dean’s hand and the two of them start their long trek through the cemetery. The state of Massachusetts had been kind enough to lend their movie the use of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. It’s a huge cemetery and the first garden cemetery in the entire United States. There are more than a few sections that are still unoccupied, so they’d set up shop in an unused part of the cemetery out of respect for people who had loved ones buried there. The set designers had dressed it up with a few fake headstones and some random flowers dotted around, just enough to make it look like a real cemetery. It still didn’t make Dean any less nervous. Cemeteries are objectively creepy, no matter what Castiel says. 

“I hope Baby hasn’t been egged,” Cas says idly, peeking at Dean out of the corner of his eye. 

Scoffing, Dean rolls his eyes. “Anyone in their right mind would know better than to egg a beauty like her, Cas. Besides, it’s usually houses that get egged, not cars.”

Cas freezes beside him, which tugs Dean to a stop since they’re still holding hands. Frowning, Dean turns to look at him. Cas’s got a mix of terror and awe on his face, which is more than a little disconcerting. “Cas? You okay?”

Hushing him, Castiel nods at a spot to their left. “Tell me you see it too.”

Dean narrows his eyes at his boyfriend before following his line of sight. His heart stops when he finally sees what Cas is looking at. There, off in the distance, is a person. The cemetery closed hours ago, they only had special clearance to be here because of filming. Dean nervously reaches for the pocketknife he keeps in his bag. “Hey, you okay? What’re you doing here so late?”

Castiel slaps a hand over Dean’s mouth, glaring at him. “Sh! You’ll scare it off.”

Dean scoffs. “It? What do you mean by it?”

Castiel just shakes his head, which doesn’t help at all. Frowning, Dean turns back to find the figure gone. “Where’d he go?”

Castiel rolls his eyes. “They disappeared. Back to wherever they came from, I presume.”

Dean raises an eyebrow at Castiel. “You don’t honestly believe that was a ghost, do you?”

Cas cocks an eyebrow at him. “Is it really that unbelievable? We’re in a cemetery on the night people claim the veil is thin.”

“You should believe him.” Dean jumps, head whipping around so he comes face-to-face with a cheery redhead who has her arms crossed over her chest.

“I should? Why’s that?” Dean asks cautiously, scanning the woman from head to toe. She certainly doesn’t look like a ghost.

“It’s not every day you get to talk to a real dead person,” she answers with a grin, eyes flickering between Dean and Castiel. “I’m Charlie, I was murdered by the straights a few years ago.”

Dean snorts, quickly slapping a hand over his mouth in abject horror. Castiel smirks. “The straights can be quite awful, truly.” 

Charlie grins. “I’m glad someone finally gets it, jeez. Straight white dudes, right?”

Dean squints at her. “You can’t really be dead. You don’t look like a ghost.”

“Oh, right, because you’ve seen a ghost before?” In the blink of an eye, she disappears entirely, reappearing behind them and prompting Dean to fall flat on his ass in shock.

“Holy fuck, you’re a ghost?”

Castiel’s stifling laughs as Charlie just grins at him. Castiel offers him a hand to help him up, which Dean grudgingly takes. 

“Believe me yet?”

Dean scowls at her. “Unfortunately. Shouldn't you be in Heaven or something?”

“Technically, yeah. As far as the angels are concerned, I am. I like to take a few nights to have some fun on Earth, though, and the veil is particularly thin for the next couple of nights, which means people can see me.” She grins, slipping her hands in her pockets. “It’s fun to scare you, mortals. Gives me a break from all the dumb Heaven stuff for a little while.”

Dean squints at her, glancing at Castiel. “You planned this, didn’t you? You hired her to prank me or something?”

Castiel rolls his eyes. “I apologize for my boyfriend, he’s very resistant to things like this, especially when they’re in front of his face like you are. It’s a gift.” 

Charlie smirks, raising her eyebrows. “Boyfriend, huh?”

Castiel turns to smile at Dean, lacing their fingers. “A very good one.”

Dean blushes, rubbing the back of his neck.

“She botherin’ you, boys?” A gruff, distinctly New Orleans-tinged voice asks. Dean and Cas turn to find a burly man standing behind them, wearing suspenders over a dark henley and a flat cap perched on his head. 

“Oh, Benny, relax. I’m just having some fun!”

Benny smirks, eyes sliding between Dean and Castiel before ultimately settling on Charlie. “Best to keep them away from Alastair. And probably Crowley too, just to be safe.”

Dean glances between them, eyebrows pinched in confusion. “Right, uh, Cas and I should be going anyway, so… nice to meet you.” He grabs Cas’s hand and heads in the direction of the cemetery entrance. Castiel doesn’t fight him on it, thankfully, and they make it a couple of roads up before they encounter another ghost, this one watching them with interest and a smirk that makes Dean’s skin crawl. 

“Out here all alone, hm?” he asks, barely glancing at Castiel as his eyes settle on Dean. “Probably not a good idea.” 

Dean grips Cas’s hand tighter, clearing his throat nervously. “We’re leaving.” 

Before either of them get a chance to move, the ghost is charging at them, eyes entirely white. Dean dives out of the way, dragging Castiel to the ground with him. Both of them are quick to scramble to their feet, only to find themselves face to face with the ghost. 

“You’ll be a perfect vessel,” he purrs, grabbing Dean by the throat. 

“Alastair! Hands off the humans.” 

Dean stumbles back a few steps when he’s released, looking around for whoever had just saved them. He finds a man in a dark black suit, so dark that he nearly blends in with the night. 

Alastair smirks. “I found them first, Crowley. I’ve got dibs on Green Eyes.”

Dean takes a few steps back warily, dragging Castiel with him. “Listen, we don’t want any trouble, we just want to get back to our hotel room.”

Crowley sneers, stepping closer. “Oh, you’ll get back to your hotel room alright. Just not in the driver’s seat.”

Crowley takes one step in their direction and Dean pulls Cas to him, taking a few steps back. They look behind them only to find Alastair staring at them with his unnervingly white eyes. Dean lets out a squeak of surprise as he stumbles back, his hand letting go of Cas’s. 

“Come on, Green Eyes. We’ll have some fun, maybe scare some humans, huh? I can’t exactly leave the cemetery in this form.” Alastair’s hand comes to Dean’s cheek but Dean ducks, stepping away from the ghost. Alastair sneers, turning to Dean with an annoyed face. “You can’t run, Pretty. Not from me.”

“Okay, you two, leave the humans alone,” Charlie’s voice comes from behind Cas, who jumps as he turns to face her. “You know you’re not supposed to possess any humans and me and Benny won’t let you anyway.”

Crowley snorts, crossing his arms over his chest. “As if you two could stop us.”

Benny raises an eyebrow. “Y’all both know we can, and without even breakin’ a sweat.”

Dean slowly walks to Cas, grabbing his hand when he’s close enough. Dean puts his other hand over Cas’s mouth before he can say anything that will bring the ghosts’ attention back to them and starts pulling him away from them, using their distraction as an advantage.

The four ghosts start to bicker at each other, discussing who’s stronger and how easily they could take the other out. Dean and Cas stare at them for a moment, not sure if they should be scared or consider it a comedy. Cas is the first one to take a few steps back, pulling Dean with him. Dean doesn’t even resist, letting Cas pull him backwards as they stare at the ghosts. 

They manage to walk a few feet like that, which makes them start to think they’ll be able to escape the cemetery without the ghosts noticing. They turn to run through the last roads but before they can take two steps, Crowley appears in front of them. “Hello, boys.” He shakes his head lightly, lips pursed in disappointment. “So, you two thought you could just sneak out of here? You do remember we are ghosts, right? Not that easy to trick us.”

Alastair materializes on Cowley’s right, his arms crossed over his chest. “Very naughty of you two. Leaving without us? Tsk, tsk, that’s not our agreement.”

Dean and Cas turn to run in the other direction, getting separated when their hands untangle. Dean runs towards the right, but Alastair appears in his view and makes him stop in his tracks. Alastair smiles at him. “I thought we covered this, Green Eyes. You can’t hide, not forever, and I’m the only one here that has eternity to play seek.”

Cas runs towards the left and he’s able to take a few more steps than Dean before Crowley appears in front of him with a snarky smile. “Come on now, angel. We can have some fun, don’t you think?”

Cas shakes his head, dodging Crowley as he keeps running, trying to get away from him. Crowley only smirks, disappearing again. He appears in front of Dean, who is trying to make his way to the cemetery’s gate. Dean stops so suddenly that he almost falls on his back. 

“Oh, c’mon. What, you two get your kicks chasing humans?”

Crowley shrugs. “Well, it is fun, especially when the humans are as dumb as you two are.”

Dean rolls his eyes but doesn’t stay still long enough to reply, starting to run to his right, toward Cas. They meet in the middle and run towards the gate, not even worrying about their stuff. Alastair materializes in front of them, making them stop in their tracks and start running in a different direction.

Crowley and Alastair play with them for a long time, each time making them run back into the cemetery and getting them as far away from the gate as they can. Dean and Cas start to get tired, their steps losing intensity and not long after, their breath comes out shallow, and they don’t have enough time to get it back to normal.

Charlie watches the two with a smile on her face, laughing every time Dean or Cas almost fall on the ground. Benny has an annoyed expression, his brows furrowed and arms crossed over his chest as he stares at Crowley and Alastair playing with the humans. 

After what must be almost an hour or more, he pokes Charlie in her ribs, taking her attention away from the humans. “We should do somethin’, Charlie. Help those two before Crowley and Alastair get tired of just playin’ with them and actually possess them.”

Charlie sighs but nods. “Yeah, fine. The last thing we need is those two dicks out there in the world, again. But you have to admit, it’s pretty funny.” She waggles her eyebrows at him.

Benny tries to fight the smile on his lips but ends up giving up. “Alright, yeah, it is. But I think they’ve suffered enough.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.”

Charlie and Benny disappear only to appear in front of Dean and Cas, making the two stop on their tracks. Alastair and Crowley materialize themselves in front of Charlie and Benny, who have their arms crossed over their chests and brows arched. Crowley and Alastair stare at the two ghosts, squinting their eyes at them.

“You two are going to protect the weak humans, eh?” Alastair’s the first one to speak, giving a snarky smile. 

Charlie shrugs. “You can count it more as trying to keep you two idiots here. I don’t think the world needs to have you two out there again.”

Benny looks at Dean and Cas, nodding towards the cemetery gate. “Get your things and go. We’ll keep ‘em here.”

Dean grabs Cas’s hand and they start taking a few steps back to where Dean’s bag had been discarded earlier. The sunrise illuminates their path as they walk slowly, still keeping their gazes locked on the four ghosts.

Charlie sighs as she rolls her eyes. “C’mon, man, me and Benny can take care of these two, just go!” She waves her hand at them, an invisible force pushing them to walk faster or they would both fall on the ground.

Dean and Cas look at each other, then at the ghosts, before looking at each other again. They give a small nod to each other and start running towards Dean’s bag, Dean grabbing it as they keep running to the gate.

Charlie chuckles, rolling her eyes softly as she turns to the other ghosts. “These humans, always so scared.”

Crowley and Alastair scoff at her, Crowley walking closer to her. “Why would you let them get away? They were ours.”

Charlie shrugs as Benny answers, “They’re not yours and they deserve to get out of this cemetery as themselves, not as you two.”

Alastair growls and disappears. Benny also disappears, reappearing in front of Dean and Cas again, with Alastair in front of him. “Face it, Alastair, you’re not gettin’ ‘em,” Benny’s voice sounds flat as if he’s just bored with Alastair. He looks at Dean and Cas and waves his hand at them. “Go on, he won’t get to you.”

Dean and Cas walk past the two ghosts, walking backwards as they stare at them, worried to let them out of their sight. Benny sighs and waves at them again, making them turn and a force pushes them to run. They don’t even fight it, just start running to the Impala, which is now only ten feet from them.

When they get to the car, they turn to look at the ghosts as the sun finally gets full in the sky. The four ghosts vanish before their eyes, Dean and Cas’s eyes widening. They stare at each other, not knowing what to do.

Dean shakes himself and stares at Cas in annoyance. “Are you happy now? We saw four ghosts and two of them wanted to use as meat suits.”

Cas sighs as he opens the passenger’s door. “Can we please just go, Dean? I don’t want to see any other ghosts.”

Dean scoffs, sliding behind the wheel. “Oh, now you don’t wanna. You better not. I think we’ve had enough experience for a lifetime.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes, staring at the road in front of them, until Dean starts to laugh. Cas stares at him with his brows frowned and his head tilted. “Dean, why are you laughing?”

“Dude, we just spent a night in a fucking cemetery, running from ghosts who wanted to use us as meat suits. This would be a hell of a story for a movie.”

Cas chuckles lightly. “Yeah, just not a horror one. But I’m sure Gabriel would love to direct it anyway.”

Dean nods softly, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I’m sure he would.”

[orionsangel86]

13x12 - Episode Review - What is Fifth Base Anyway?

So the people at Google must have been confused when they discovered the number of searches for “fifth base” drastically went up overnight… Steve Yokey you cheeky bugger I love you! (Show of hands everyone who did this? Go on, admit it!)

This episode was really good. One of the stronger ones of an already very strong bunch as season 13 continues to exceed in quality. It had jokes, it had deep emotional revelations, it had Cas once again using his SuperPower of sassing the fuck out of things to get what he wants. Yeah it was pretty awesome! So let’s delve into the main points.

The Red Herring Love Spell

We were all expecting this to be an episode similar to 12x11 based on how it was marketed to us. Dean is under a love spell! It’s up to Sam and Rowena to save him! That seemed to be the gist of the PR team’s focus. As ever, PR is not Showrunning and this turned out to be one giant red herring.

The love spell lasted all of five minutes. So why bother? WHY was a love spell even PART of this plot?! Seriously? Someone tell me how this episode couldn’t have followed the EXACT same narrative with the sisters using some other spell to force people to do things for them? The fact is, that love spell was pointless for the plot but excellent for getting people thinking about LOVE. Specifically, Dean Winchester and LOVE, or at least, what love should be, and what it most definitely is not.

Aside from the fact that the clunky music whenever the love spell was invoked made me cringe, I thoroughly enjoyed how innocent it all seemed. Dean got to play Prince Charming to the princess and provide her with a gift of her choosing. I think it says something about Dean that the love spell encouraged this fairy tale vibe specifically for him, when for Dale at the start it was all about him playing protector and hero through violence and theft. I just thought it was an interesting statement about Dean’s wishes and desires compared to other men. Though I gotta admit, the gift giving, goofiness and oh I dunno, protecting his lover from a gun? It all seemed rather familiar to me… Hmmm…

I mean who else has Dean previously entrusted with powerful one off weapons?

Who else has Dean had to recently protect from a pointed gun much to his own horror rather than the recipient who is unlikely to be harmed by a regular gun anyway?

Who else makes Dean goofy and pull these silly delighted faces?

*looks into the camera like on the Office*

Yeah, but see these are not really examples of true love, even though they are all things done with Cas. What IS true love in season 13 is something that subtextually KEEPs getting referred to in EVERY EPISODE. That in 13x01 – 13x05 Dean was deeply lost in grief. Deeply mourning over the loss of Cas – someone who he is truly in love with. Love makes you do crazy things? Yeah, and as Billy said in 13x05 (Yokey’s last episode FYI) Dean wanted to die. Cas’s death had brought him to that level. The fact that now it is SAM who is feeling low, feeling powerless because of the loss of Mary and Jack, and Dean is able to remain focussed and have HOPE that they will save them, continues to be astonishingly hypocritical of Dean given where he was when Cas was dead. But it does keep drawing our attention to that fact, and for that I love it.

Bonus point for “I think you may be right, I think its time we go ahead and call Cas…” … “I’m in love” because Yokey could have written Sam saying ANYTHING at that point but he chose to remind the audience about Cas at that exact moment… as Dean announces he is in love, because the two are connected (and because it then wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to assume that Sam’s initial reaction is “Oh… so you finally admit it?”)

(FYI this crappy gif is my own. Don’t judge. It’s the first I’ve ever made.)

Sam’s mild amusement here just fits the “oh so you finally admit it? We can call Cas and start the wedding preparations?” interpretation and NO ONE can stop me seeing it that way! :D

Bonus Point two for the mentions of “Soulmates” (which relate to Angels in the show) and “Cosmic” (which again, tends to relate to angels and Cas).

Bonus point three that this is an episodes marketed as Dean being in love! LOOK AT ALL THIS HETEROSEXUALITY! It seems to scream at our general audiences, and yet, as always in SPN, if the GA are seeking heterosexuality, they are to be disappointed. They got a 5 minute mini love spell plot and Dean once again is without even a hint of an actual true female romantic partner. Nope, sorry heteros seeking a woman for Dean. You won’t find that here!

Basically, it’s not too much of a stretch to interpret this entire love spell mini plot as exposition for the TRUTH regarding Dean and “true love”. Because we all know it. It’s right there in the subtext. I just wish they’d make it text already.

Review continues under the cut as per usual...

Addressing Long unspoken Trauma – FINALLY

Officially my favourite part of the episode (unofficially my second fave part after “fifth base”), the conversations between Sam and Rowena about their trauma at the hands of Lucifer had me welling up. This is the first time in SPN history that Sam has actually opened up to ANYONE about his Lucifer trauma. Read that again. Be amazed that it has taken this long. Send Dabb and Yokey a fruit basket for this.

One thing season 13 has been excellent at doing, is making things textual that were previously only implied. This seems to be a continued trend following on from the reveal in 12x22 that Dean is effectively Sam’s parent (A fact meta writers have been talking about for YEARS.)

I don’t really have much to say about it actually, because it’s all just THERE in the text. It has left me kind of speechless.

SAM: Its not gonna change anything, you’re still gonna feel helpless. What Lucifer did to you…

ROWENA: I told you I don’t… before he crushed my skull, Lucifer showed me his face. His true face. I’m scared Sam. All the time.

SAM: I’ve seen it too. What he really looks like behind… behind whatever vessel… yeah it still keeps me up at night.

ROWENA: How do you deal with it?

SAM: I guess I don’t deal with it, not really. I mean I…Ive pushed it down, and the world kept almost ending and so I keep pushing it down and I dunno… I don’t really talk about it, not even with Dean, I mean I could… he would listen but, it’s not something I really know how to share.

…..

SAM: Even if you do get the book, and even if you get your power back. It won’t matter. You won’t ever be able to change what happened, you won’t be able to change how helpless you felt, or how helpless you feel. You’re still gonna get scared. That feeling, that feeling never goes away.

ROWENA: Never?

SAM: Never.

…

Honestly it’s perfect. Yokey has decided that enough is enough. We need to discuss this. We need to talk about the fact that our main characters have a shit load of trauma. It’s about GODDAMN TIME.

(x)

I just want to scream about the shots for a second though because god bless Amanda Tapping for being so excellent at capturing emotions. I am starting to think she is one of the best directors for it. The intimate long close ups on the actors faces as they open about this stuff, it just works. The soft music in the back ground pulls no focus away from the gravity of Sam’s words. It’s intense, and harrowing and kudos to Jared here because I think he must have been ITCHING for a moment like this for Sam for YEARS (and for god sake someone ask him about this scene at a con instead of more bloody prank questions PLEASE.)

I also love that it’s Rowena who Sam opens up to about this stuff, because she has that in common with him. I know that it can be argued that Cas has also experienced trauma at the hands of Lucifer, but since Cas is an angel it’s not the same. I doubt Lucifer’s true face would affect Cas, since Cas is already an angel with the ability to see and cope with seeing things that human minds struggle to comprehend.

I think Rowena and Sam is our new Dean and Crowley. They are enemies, but they have a mutual respect for one another and I see this as a really good thing both for Sam and Rowena. Because Crowley was changed thanks to his bond with Dean (love for Dean), he was able to find redemption in that. Rowena could also now find redemption, especially considering her newly powered up status. For Sam I think it was a smart choice to give Rowena the pages at the end. It wasn’t just about the bond they formed over shared trauma, it was Sam knowing that Rowena is right, that Lucifer will always find a way back, and Sam knows that eventually he will have to face him again, and he needs all the help and power he can get, so a powered up Rowena is a powerful ally to have against the creature that tortured and broke both their spirits.

Am I shipping them? No, not really. I still think Rowena is a villain. I never shipped Drowley, though I acknowledge it’s existence in the show as basically a hairsbreadth away from canon. (it’s technically just as close to canon if not more so than Destiel and strongly implied that they hooked up in various episodes). But if the show did go there with Sam and Rowena I wouldn’t mind it as such. I just don’t think it would be endgame. But sure, it could work for a while. I see them more like frenemies with mutual interests. Besides, I’m a Saileen girl all the way and will continue to hope for Eileen’s resurrection this season.

Narrative Mirrors – Witches and Winchesters

Ah narrative mirrors, don’t we love them? I especially love them when they highlight the Winchester family dynamics and just how screwed up they all are. Our witchy sisters fall extremely easily into this category. Jamie and Jenny or “J2” as I now plan to call them (I see what you did there Yokey). So J2 are motivated to do whatever it takes to bring back mum. Whatever it takes even though they are hardly competent witches and only seem to have one spell mastered – the love spell. The older sister uses her charm to encourage the victims to do whatever they wish for, whilst the younger sister is the smarter of the two, more skilled in magic (I wonder who they are supposed to represent?)

They have one purpose, and will stop at nothing until that purpose is fulfilled:

JAMIE: I’m sorry, I know I’m the big sister and I’m supposed to be the strong one or whatever.

JENNY: Yeah?

JAMIE: I just really miss her.

JENNY: I do too.

JAMIE: I know, and I like, really believe in us

JENNY: Jamie, I just want her back so bad

JAMIE: And we’re going to get her back, even if we have to cast every spell in this book and curse the souls of like a million people to make it happen.

Doesn’t this sound rather familiar? Like from 13x09:

DEAN: You were right, about mom you were right, this whole time we should have been looking for her

SAM: I was just hoping, I didn’t know. And anyway it doesn’t matter, now that we do know.

DEAN: We find her, no matter what it takes.

Which always made me kinda uncomfortable. There is a reason that Billy didn’t want Dean knowing their mum was still alive. Because Billy knows that the Winchesters would break the Universe to bring her back. “House of Cards” she called it. What’s the betting that thanks to Sam and Dean this “house of cards” is going to come tumbling down just as Billy predicted? Because I would put money on it.

At the end of the episode, we realise that Sam and Dean are in exactly the same place as J2. Jamie – the older sister, trying to support and reassure her younger sister, the one who “wants mom back so badly”. Jamie, unlike her sister, is totally focused on completing their task, whereas Jenny has her doubts. Just like Sam and Dean. We know that Dean is back to “We’ll figure it out” and “you and me” even though Sam is NOT on board with this, but like Jenny, Sam will follow Dean into a hornets nest if it means doing what they set out to do and save mum.

The girls mum came back wrong though, a zombie. When Mary was first resurrected she certainly wasn’t what the boys expected either, and now she is lost again, whose to say just what state she will be in when she is finally freed? Perhaps the message for the boys here is to actually let her go? As in, let go of the memory of Mary that they had sat on a pedestal (Dean in particular) and start to accept the woman their mother actually is, and let her do her thing, because otherwise it may kill them all.

And isn’t this moment just a perfect visual representation of the toxic co-dependency that is the Winchester brothers? Stab stab stab. One of them even has a hammer… LOL.

(Yup its another one of my crappy gifs.)

The Sassiest Angel in the Garrison

Oh Cas, I have missed your beautiful face…

(x)

(Dipper agrees with me)

Now I think everyone knows by now that I hate Lucifer. As in, I find the character extremely irritating and just want him off our screens dead and buried, and that Mark P can go annoy some other shows audience. The ONLY thing that makes watching Lucifer remotely bearable for me, is Castiel - wonderful, perfect, funny, grumpy, brilliant Castiel, sassing the fuck out of him. Bearing in mind all their scenes but one took place behind bars, I was as always captivated by Cas and the brilliant genius he is.

So far in season 13, Castiel hasn’t actually spent much time using his powers, his grace, to actually get anything done. What he has done, is be incredibly smart and used that tactician brain of his to talk himself out of any situation. Everything Castiel does has a purpose. He is generally a creature of few words (except when it comes to Dean) and therefore, whenever he does speak, it is usually with a great deal of thought. (There was a brilliant meta on the word “assbutt” and how it is the worst insult he could possibly throw at Lucifer and yet everyone still ridicules him for it. Don’t knock the word assbutt. Cas knew exactly what he was doing!)

And so Cas isn’t just being a sassy little bitch in this episode. He’s being a sassy little bitch with purpose. Lucifer may be powered down, but he still has power. Cas knows this. Cas knows that the best way to get Lucifer activating what little power he has is to make him angry. So what does Cas do? He sass’s him, over and over. Pissing him off until eventually, it works.

“Turns out rage is a good motivator”

Such a badass. Bye bye little Dipper.

This is why you should never underestimate Castiel. He will always get the better of you. He will always come out on top in the end.

“This is me, learning from my mistakes” he says whilst stabbing Lucifer at the end of the episode. I thoroughly enjoyed that moment of course, even if we know already it doesn’t stick. Since Lucifer is alive next episode. *sigh*.

Lucifer has been continuously hinting all episode that he want’s Cas’s grace. It seems possible due to pics from next week, that he may actually get what he seeks.

Cas has blood on his collar, which he doesn’t have at the end of 13x12. So is Cas about to become human again? Or at least graceless? It’s possible. @tinkdw​ wrote this post about it (yes I stole her screencap). We were discussing this in our group chat yesterday and thanks to the themes that would come from another human!Cas story I can certainly get behind it, even if I hate the idea that it isn’t his choice yet again. This time, having Lucifer steal his grace seems worse than the first time. But as I mentioned above, Castiel has already shown several times this season that his grace is in no way where his strengths lie. I just hope that it is still his choice in the end to give it up, or not regain it, however that story may pan out.

But yeah maybe prepare ourselves for a human Cas whose grace was stolen by Lucifer plot? I mean if it doesn’t happen great, but if it does... don’t say we didn’t warn ya okay? I know how sensitive we all get about Cas stuff - this is literally the first any of us had thought of this. Besides, he’ll still be amazing even if Lucifer does take his grace, He’ll get in a few more stabs before the end. No doubt.

Other Awesome Stuff

The “fifth base” scene. Yeah this was certainly risqué of Yokey. I was screaming about this to Tink in the chatty bubbles, trust a gay writer to throw in a gay joke aimed at our currently in the closet bisexual lead character and have him act all awkward like he doesn’t know what it is… *glances at Sam* What? Nope, I’ve never… There’s NO SUCH THING AS FIFTH BASE. Sure Jan. Just as I scoff at the idea of Dean not knowing basic French, the idea that Dean DOESN’T know what fifth base is, is absurd. These are purposely input into this episode to raise our eyebrows and DOUBT them.

Baring in mind the way Rowena asks that question “Did THEY get to fifth base?” not “Did YOU get to fifth base” strongly implies actually that Rowena was asking if Dean was pegged. Let’s get that clear. Once again, we have a bottom!dean joke in the subtext of the show. (At some point we need to round up EVERY reference to Dean’s ass and compare it to the other characters just to make this point.)

Oh gosh I haven’t even got to “What’s by is by” yet. The top result in google for this supposed saying is a destiel fanfic written as coda for this episode. There is NOTHING else. It doesn’t exist. What is Yokey playing at exactly? Bygones be bygones maybe? But she had to say it like that? After a reference to anal? To DEAN? Yeah I know everyone is probably already yelling about this on tumblr but still. This is a very huge WTF from me to Yokey that he would ever think we WOULDN’T pick up on this. He did it on purpose. It has a reason, just like everything else. The reason being “Dean is Bi”.

......

(x)

The final scene with Rowena is spectacular. It’s also oddly erotic but maybe that’s just me. Rowena is finally unbound, powerful, free, and probably quite deadly. Here’s hoping she raises a hell of a storm. I have always loved Rowena’s character so for me this idea of her being “unbound” and basically immortal is really interesting. I just hope this paves the way to her helping the Winchesters defeat the big bads to come. Because I see her becoming more of an ally as time goes by. I hope she continues to have a big part to play in the story, and after this final scene I am practically sure she will. 

....

Castiel speaking about Jack like he’s a proud parent gives me life. He truly loves the kid. It’s beautiful.

....

Why does Lucifer attract so many dick jokes nowadays? I’m actually almost getting tired of them. For shits and giggles I’m gonna accept it at face value that Lucifer, unlike Crowley, is not well endowed. It makes sense. The tantrums, the violence. Little man syndrome. Pfft.

I’m also going to take it at face value that Cas is most likely huge. Yeah, that smirk is telling.

We all know he’s a big boy. ;-)

.... 

Hats off to Brenda. The biggest star of the episode. Never failed to make me laugh every time I watched.

You go Brenda. You were awesome.

Overall

Solid episode with lots of great moments. Now all I need is Cas to find the boys and get really pissy with them when he realises they didn’t ONCE figure out that Colonel Sanders was impersonating him. I mean sure, Dean has super low self esteem and was clearly grumpy with Cas at the start of the episode for only really checking in with Sam, not coming home after taking off, clearly CHOOSING the road over being at home with HIM... But that doesn’t excuse him being blind to Asmodeus’s impersonation. Bring on next week. I hope Dean grovels.