🎣 A shallow seeker sinks horizontally, exhibiting a natural kicking action to attract a variety of fish.🐟 ME: Chaotic SPN/SPNwin meta writer who’s been sharing my thoughts since 2023. I'm a little contrary (in good fun), and I enjoy in-world meta shenanigans. STUFF:👬 pro-DeanCas (I have eyes) // 🤩 Mary stan //⭐ Jack stan // 🕮 Sam / Donatello / Metatron-coded
I'm Shal. I watched SPN off and on as a teen, but I didn’t join Tumblr or the fandom until late 2022, when I was bedridden due to a heart condition.
That’s when I started reading fics like american oracle by @handsliketruth & @whiskeyjuniper, The Black Dog Ache by @winchester-reload, and Redux by @valleydean... and I was hooked. Ficlets, meta, shitposts, the whole nine. (I'm still obsessed with all of these stories, if you care.)
⭐ Shal's fave re-readable Dean-Cas fics ⭐
(I need to update this so badly, but you folks keep poking me.)
Anyway, I also have my bookmarks but they are forever a mess, and I keep my macaroni trash comfort porn in there, so read at your own risk.
Anyway, I'm happy to say that my heart condition is much more stable now, and I’m no longer bedridden, but I’m still on Tumblr and still having an amazing time!
ao3 @ shallowseeker
blue.sky @ shallowseeker
pillowfort @ shallowseeker
pinterest @ shallowseeker
dreamwidth @ shallowseeker
discord @ shallowseeker
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TAGGING / WARNINGS
I’m not anti-anything, but I have a real soft spot for imperfect characters. If they come across as too polished or boring, I love digging into their flaws and exploring their Achilles' heels. (For example, I’ve paralleled Lisa Braden’s struggle with understanding grief against Jody Mills’s deeper, lived understanding of it.)
Anything I think could be challenging or a bit of a downer, I tag with #complex at the beginning—#complex john, #complex sam, #complex dean, and so on.
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META
The meta-organization will go here... eventually. (I'm working on a #shal spn rewatch.)
Over the past couple of years, I’ve written a lot of opinions, some of which people still request. My meta tends to focus on later SPN seasons, with deep dives into Jack Kline—aiming to add variety to the ecosystem by highlighting the real, complicated Jack over the "fanon (toddler) stereotype."
A few people have called me TFW-positive, and I genuinely love Team Free Will, even when I'm mentally wringing their necks. My core focus is on Sam, Dean, Castiel, Jack, Mary, and Rowena/the MacLeod family.
Side Goals: @spnwin-reader @wheretheloveisstored
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FICS
I post my fics on Ao3 under shallowseeker, and the new Tumblr page for them is here. (I post a lot of rapid-fire ficlets and ideas in my Tumblr posts, too.)
I write to improve my cognitive dysfunction, and I’m fascinated by religion and natural phenomena (avalanches, sinkholes, etc). My writing style has been described as chaotic, random, and weird—"like one long manic episode."
PSA: My meta thoughts = / = my fic. Sometimes fic is just me goofing off, or horny drivel, or melt-in-your-mouth cotton candy. Don't expect that My Thoughts (TM) will align with it. I reserve the right to be lame and incomprehensible. TY~
= O N G O I N G =
For your crimes against the most high (5 of 14) = "Cas isn't real."
= C O M P L E T E D =
Proper adornment (1/1) = Cas gets obsessed with Dean + jewelry
The facts of life (and death) (1/?) = Chuck VS Symbiote
Blackout on the eastern seaboard (2/2) = Victory sex tango
Truth & despair (15/15) = Dean misremembers the confession
Mirror, mirror (1/1) = The empty peeks into the bunker
I will not be diminished (1/1) = Chuck VS Jack
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OTHER STUFF
👬 pro-DeanCas (I have eyes) // 🤩 Mary stan //⭐ Jack stan // 📚 Sam / Donatello / Metatron-coded (and was told by a friend: Kevin Tran-coded)
My username @shallowseeker is a type of fishing lure, so I thought a Dean and Jack fishing theme would fit perfectly this time around!
don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid, don't post about Dean's chemistry with Sid
OKAY.
THE THING IS.
Cinematically, right after wakes up with girlfriend, montages neighborhood, then crawls into bed at night with his longtime girlfriend Lisa, we CUT TO...
...another late Night at Jonesy's, where a handsome man's been buying Dean drinks for a year.
Where the room is flooded with women, but the optics, the optics…
Flashing dat wedding ring, Sid.
Funny thing for the camera to catch on, for a conversation that cheekily circles the theme of "unavailable guys."
And such a shot, you know? Flanked by guys, guys, guys.
DEAN: [Pest control] was then, and now is now.
SID: Wow. You're practically respectable. [eyebrows raise]
Where have I heard that? Oh, yeah, when Dean was flirting with the djinn/girl, Carmen. "A nurse. That's so respectable!"
Then, Sid pulls a classic, "Wow, the waitress likes you," and Dean cheekily holds up the number the waitress already gave him. Dean says, "It's like chick’s dig specifically unavailable guys."
Maybe that waitress knows Lisa, maybe she doesn't. But the thing about this line and this whole scene is, only one of them's signaling unavailability. Sid, with his wedding ring.
Dear tears apart the waitress's number ofc.
We cut to the goodbye. And please keep in mind: this scene follows Dean's goodnight routine with Lisa.
But the optics! Here is Dean, but he’s saying “goodnight, see you tomorrow” to… to the man buying him beers.
Dean is at the bar. Sid is buying his drinks (apparently AGAIN, a thing they've been doing all year).
And they duck out of the bar:
And Dean is paranoid to be outside, sure, that's NOT in doubt.
But the goodbye is... Well, it's awkward.
And yes, Dean's paranoia is what we’re transitioning to scene-wise, but the way this manifests as nervousness with Sid, Dean doubling up Sid’s words and speaking over him during an awkward goodbye.
the optics the optics the optics
SID: O-kay! (rising wierdly on the kay) I will see you tom—
DEAN (breaking in over him, nervously): I'll see you tomorrow.
DEAN: Thanks, man.
And we've said it before, Sid is a merging longing for everything from Dean's old life, each and every family member, because that's how grief and memories work.
BUT ALSO
ALSO.
Dean has a harmless-I'll-never-act-on-it-crush-because-it's-harmless-and-unavailable…
For the record, I think the hunters made shit hunter decisions, but I STILL think Cas is the best positioned to know about souls, by virtue of being a damn angel
I just think there are really cool reasons why maybe he can't look at that directly
Two scary things on a deeply psychological level are
The allure that, if Dad, Husband, or Protector were here, we wouldn't have been so vulnerable, hurt, or killed. The bad thing wouldn't have gotten to us.
Horror 1) He's here, and now he's the thing killing us
Horror 2) He's here, and he's being thoroughly dominated and killed and all the bad things will get to us anyway
BONUS wartime horror) Forcing the dad to watch you die, twisting the knife, reveling in his feelings of emasculation and powerlessness, or compelling him to hurt you against his will
MARY: His son? He said that?
DEAN: He says he wants to talk to Jack… alone.
MARY: No. Absolutely not.
SAM: I mean--
DEAN: "I mean"? What do you mean, you mean?
SAM: I-I mean… Look, finding Donatello is going slowly, Dean, and Nick is locked down in our bunker. How's he even a threat?
MARY: He's always a threat.
//
The episode as produced has Mary saying this line, but I like they're both pretty uneasy with the decision.
Dean's gut was RIGHT, here, too.
And it becomes one of the things he can't look at.
This is Dean. In addition to the AW Michael of it all, and being evasive with Mary about (Byzantium, Game Night etc., so as not to worry her), he's probably spending the remainder of season 14 and season 15 going OVER and OVER this moment again in his head.
ESPECIALLY once he gets the full scope of the situation.
💔
One of the things Dean does best is ask, "Why?" It's what tipped him off beautifully about Metatron in season 8.
"What's this guy's MO?"
Here, his gut is screaming, "Why does he want Jack ALONE? There's something I'm not seeing. Something doesn't smell right. He's GOT to have an angle."
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And you know
it a BIT reminds me of the same thing we saw play out in season 13, with Jack AND Sam both in rush-mode, and Mary and Dean, respectively, tugging the reins like WHOA HOLD UP HOLD UP
That's how Sam died there, too.
EDIT: scripts ever the amazing @spnscripthunt-inactive
EDIT 2nd: All this to say, I AGREE with Dean here. He blamed himself plenty, and there was plenty of blame to go around. Underestimated Nick at every junction was a high-key part of that, from the interrogation room right down to putting him rather loosely in the backseat of the car. Even Ketch got put in the trunk.
Thoughts about rift trauma... and Dean's struggle(?) with the decision to leave Lucifer behind
In Exodus 13x22, Dean IS indeed shouting to his "generals"
DEAN: Lucifer! Let's go! Cas, Ketch... show 'em how it's done.
(Side note// Lucifer looks completely bowled over by that, actually.)
Dean ushers Ketch and Cas to go. But one of these things is not like the others. In Dean's mind, perhaps Ketch (maybe Lucifer?) have EARNED their way back, but...
Cas is rift trauma.
Strategically, it makes more sense for Cas to stay with them and fight: with Sam, Dean, Gabe, Lucifer. Just like strategically, it made sense for Cas to be Lucifer's overseer at the camp and on the bus. Cas was, after all, temporarily stronger than Gabe. (Aside// For that matter, it makes sense for Jack to stay, too.)
BUT ANYWAY. My point is! Up till now, Cas was the literal bodyguard/bouncer of the group.
SEE:
But here, Dean can't handle that.
Not this time.
It's why, in the script, it's a more obvious beat with Dean and Cas. Cas gives Dean a fond look because Cas realizes that it's not a strategically sound move.
Cas realizes this, but he's relenting.
(Speculation// I think this implies that, on some level, just like how in the Tombstone script Cas ask, "Are you okay?" to Dean, Cas is on some level aware that his previous death... hurt Dean terribly.)
ANYWAY. Sweet detail here: Despite relenting on being willing to go through, Cas hangs back a bit, arm outstretched, making sure Jack, Mary, Bobby, and Charlie go before him:
Jack. Mary. Bobby. Charlie.
Only then does Cas go through.
(Which sets up a pretty nice contrast against Ketch and Lucifer, who are both, despite "being on the team," chomping at the bit to come through the rift mostly for their own safety.)
When he gets through, Cas immediately goes to check on Rowena, too:
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ASIDE re Lucifer: I was talking the other day about how ultimately Dean's time as Demon Dean results in increased forgiveness towards those that manipulated/used him (i.e. Cain, Crowley, Amara specifically.) Which is why the Claire-Randy parallel… ...yadda yadda big, understanding hearts.
ANYWAY, I posited that it wouldn't surprise me if Dean is naturally/instinctively the type to forgive even the most horrific figures in life: maybe even figures like Azazel, Lucifer.
I feel like his treatment of Lucifer and Ketch above lends some weight to that idea. Specifically, the script and reaction shots make you wonder if Dean was indeed shaky on the whole "leave Lucifer behind" plan.
Was Dean cutting Lucifer some slack? I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility! He's forgiven others who killed and tortured loved ones, after all.
In the last bit of the script, there's a moment where Dean seems to be struggling with it pretty intensely, even:
Despite everything that happened, Dean wonders if maybe that was the wrong choice.
And Dean's morals... tend to have some unfortunate weight.
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Other notes:
RE: Getting everyone home. Sam too was busy stressfully doing a head count:
SAM: "Mom, Bobby. Charlie, you're with them."
But when Lucifer gets held up by Sam, we see Dean looking, again, a little unsure about this?
Lucifer looks Dean's way too, like he's APPEALING to him. It's an interesting moment to me, because this episode starts out with Dean being the one screaming for Gabriel to, "Kill (Lucifer) him!"
Lucifer at first steps in front of Gabe to protect him. (The fear and cowardice ofc will win out after he's injured and after Gabe dies.)
After Gabe dies, Dean is horrified, but he's also seeming a bit guilty to leave overall. I do wonder about the complexities of Dean's inner conflict there...
The series plays so often with this seesaw of Dean being totally rigid (for example in this episode: saying KILL Lucifer, and then shown torturing people for information a la Endverse-style with Cas), but he's also... surprisingly bendy with extending mercy after ppl have put in effort to help or better themselves...
even Lucifer?
It's so lovely (and so very human).
EDIT: All that to say that, despite appearing very comfortable levying judgment, and like everyone in the series, despite having overcorrective moments of trauma/fear where he backslides and divvies out judgment according to a FIRM (hunting) code...
I think Dean agonizes over the moment-to-moment changes in situations and people, especially at later points in the series.
She will lip service a good way, the better way, a bit like Sam, but she's Samuel Campbell's daughter through and through.
She plays fast and loose, and risky (SEE: Stuck in the Middle with You). She's a BIG, BIG gambler.
She doesn't REALLY know the extent of what's going on... and she wouldn't care if she did. She'd prioritize the mission, the save, the win. The hero way! Bonus: Her son is bleeding out.
14x17
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She knows this about herself, too, is the thing!
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It's kind of her whole deal is the thing!
She was just like Jack... and she's still just like Jack. Or Jack's like her.
Probably a very hot take and I may not be explaining my thoughts perfectly here but. Dean and Sam noticing that Jack was acting off and having concerns about how much soul he had left is NOT actually fully comparable to Cas having actually SEEN Jack DO something concerning, especially when that action was killing a living creature without remorse. Yes they’re all responsible for not being more active in looking into it, for seemingly not telling Mary about Jack, for not benching Jack even. There’s a lot that they all could’ve done better I think. But Cas still simply had more information. And I’m not saying that Cas deserved to be fully blamed or be the target of all of Dean’s anger because of this! Or that Dean didn’t need to apologize at all for how he subsequently handled it. But still imo the anger itself was reasonable and I just would’ve liked to have seen someone, possibly Cas, actually listen to Dean and validate his emotions.
But they DID bench Jack. Dean specifically pushed for that. They all knew Jack burned off a part of his soul, and they were all worried about how much was left and Jack potentially displaying erratic behavior. They discuss this concern as a team. Dean wasn't hiding that he was worried about Jack. Cas wasn't hiding that he was worried about Jack either (at first). But when Cas learns particularly revealing information about Jack's mental state, he chooses to hide it, while being worried enough about what he saw to try and "handle" it on his own without telling anybody.
14.15 Peace of Mind
Cas and Dean have a long conversation at the beginning of 14.15, where Cas quite specifically asks Dean to take care of Jack and try to figure out if he has some soul left and if he's okay.
Dean: How's the kid?
Castiel: Well, he says he's good, but... What about Sam? He says he's good.
Dean: I think they're both full of crap.
Perfectly honest. Dean doesn't think Jack is fine, and he tells Cas this. The question is, how not fine is Jack? Is he just feeling down, or is he dangerous? A few seconds after Sam comes in demanding to go on a case:
Castiel: Maybe I should go with [Sam]. And you can stay with Jack.
Dean: Why?
Castiel: You were right. Jack is struggling. And I've tried, but --
Dean: Why do you think he'll talk to me?
Castiel: Well, because he looks up to you. And his soul -- I mean, you've seen this before.
Dean: No, no. No. See, I was -- I was not great with Sam, you know, when he was, uh. But Jack's soul isn't completely gone. At least I don't think so.
Castiel: W-We just don't know how much is left.
Dean: Well, how am I supposed to figure that out?
Castiel: I don't know! Just talk to him. Get him to open up.
Dean doesn't think Jack's soul is completely gone. He thinks Jack is a little off. He's clearly very worried. But he can't puzzle it out (see: angel food cake, devil's food cake). Dean takes Jack to Donatello for an assessment, and based on his discussion with Jack, Donatello tells Dean he doesn't think Jack is soulless:
Dean: So, what's the verdict? Does he have a soul?
Donatello: I suppose the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a soul?
Dean: Donny.
Donatello: What? I'm sorry. Um, I'd keep an eye on him, but I think if he seems okay, he probably is.
Dean: So he's not like you?
Donatello: Oh, no. I'm a Prophet of the Lord, but he -- [ Sighs ] Jack's probably the most powerful being in the universe. I mean, really, who knows what's going on inside his head?
Dean: Thanks.
We know Dean and Cas have a discussion on the phone at some point, because when Sam and Cas come back, Dean reveals he knows about Sam's cardigan. Dean doesn't report Donatello's findings onscreen, but Cas was the one who asked Dean to check on Jack to begin with, so I think we can presume they talked. We know from the following episode that Dean also reported what Donatello said to Sam. And what did Donatello tell Dean? That he doesn't think Jack is like him (soulless). (I’ll come back to Donatello’s “but we can’t be totally sure” later). At the end of this episode, Cas walks in on Jack killing the snake. This is when Cas makes a conscious decision to abandon teamwork and communication and keep that information a secret. He leaves, claiming he needs to "stretch his legs".
14.16 Don't Go In The Woods
This episode seems to take place at least a week after 14.15, because it opens with dialogue about Sam having taken a break from hunting after 14.15 and ready to get back in te field, and Cas having left with the excuse that he felt cooped up and they've all been in the bunker "A few weeks". Meaning, Cas has had at least a week to tell anyone about the snake, and hasn't done it. Dean is open with Sam about not wanting to put Jack in the field. He wants to wait a little longer to be sure Jack is actually okay.
DEAN: Uh... I don't want Jack on this.
SAM: I thought you said Donatello gave him the all clear?
DEAN: Yeah, he did. And I'm -- I'm sure he's good. But... Jack's got his mojo back. His powers have gotten us in trouble in the past -- the security guard. So I just want to make sure that, you know, he's right before we put him back out there.
SAM: Yeah. Yeah.
While Sam and Dean are gone, Jack almost kills someone. He does not tell Sam and Dean this. At the end of the episode, Sam and Dean ask Jack together to not use his powers for now, saying they want to make sure he's "comfortable with them" again. While they don't directly mention his questionable mental state, I think it's obvious to everyone in the room.
14.17 Game Night
This episode seems to take place a few weeks after Peace of Mind. I think it's clear in 14.17 that Mary does know they're all a little worried about Jack still, because she asks how he's doing, and he complains about everyone checking on him lately.
MARY: How about you? Feeling better?
JACK: Everybody keeps asking me that.
MARY: We're family. It's our job.
JACK: Well, it's annoying.
MARY: Jack… if you ever want to talk or...vent...
JACK: You're here. I know.
Again in the car with Dean, it's made pretty clear Mary understands her boys are stressed and worried.
DEAN: What the hell? Sammy sounds stressed.
MARY: It's not just Sam. It's Jack… it's you. I just wish there was something that I c--
DEAN: Hey. You're here, okay? You're here.
What would Sam and Dean be stressed and worried about at this point in the season, if not Jack?
Meanwhile, Anael directly calls out Cas hiding the truth from the Winchesters.
CASTIEL: Jack killed Michael. But to do so, he-- he used magic that consumed his soul. Not all of it, I hope, but we just don't know how much Jack has left. And I've been looking through all the lore, and it all says the same thing.
ANAEL: Only God can restore a soul. And that's why you need him.
CASTIEL: Right.
So. Cas doesn't think Jack is soulless either. Right? Hm. Or maybe he's not being honest with Anael. Or himself. Anael clearly thinks Cas is hiding something, because she says:
ANAEL: The Winchesters-- they don't know you're here, do they?
CASTIEL: Why do you say that?
ANAEL: Oh, I don't know, just a general reek of ill-conceived lone-wolf desperation.
Then in a later scene, Anael confronts him directly for lying. Jack's soul isn't just maybe gone. Cas believes it is gone.
ANAEL: Skip it. Skip the whole judgmental crap designed to play at my insecurities, and I will skip my inevitable witty reply about the real reason you're doing all this.
CASTIEL: What do you mean the real reason? I'm doing this for Jack.
ANAEL: No, you're not. You're doing this because you're afraid. Because in your mind, it'd be easier to call God than to tell Sam and Dean Winchester the truth.
CASTIEL: The truth?
ANAEL: Jack's soul is gone, Castiel. And there's nothing you can do about it.
Cas acknowledges that she's right when he finally decides to come clean and tell Sam and Dean what he knows:
ANAEL: So, what are you gonna do now?
CASTIEL: Go home. Go home and tell Sam and Dean the truth.
Crucially, an emergency is what pushes Jack back into the field. It isn't carelessness. It's need. Sam is dying from a terrible headwound inflicted by Nick, and Nick is going to resurrect Lucifer imminently. Mary and Jack are at the bunker, and they need to get to Nick, Sam, and Dean immediately.
Mary also appears to know about the "no powers" rule, because Jack asks her permission to use his powers when he tells her he can sense Nick's location:
MARY: Where? Where is [Nick]?
JACK: I think I know-- I think I-I can get us to him. But I need to use my powers.
MARY: Do it.
As soon as Mary and Jack arrive at Nick's location, Jack kills Nick in such a violent way that Mary immediately knows something's wrong with him, and so does Jack. Just like Cas has been hiding the truth from his family for several episodes, Jack wants to do the same. Keeping secrets from your loved ones to avoid "worrying" them is what Cas has modeled to him due to Cas's own personal hangups, which are referenced in this very episode by Anael. Mary doesn't support Castiel's way. She tells Jack they need to tell Sam and Dean—so they can work through it as a family.
MARY: It's not. You're not. You… It's not your fault, but the Jack I know would never have done that. You -- You're… Something's wrong.
JACK: No, I'm not. You're wrong.
MARY: Sweetheart. You know I'm not.
JACK: You know, Sam and Dean, they were grateful.
MARY: If Sam and Dean saw what you did, they would be as worried as I am.
JACK: Are you gonna tell them?
MARY: You need help, we'll help you. We're your family.
JACK: You can't.
MARY: We care about you, Jack.
Jack kills her.
14.18 Absence
The episode opens with Dean and Sam coming back to the bunker, surprised that Jack and Mary aren't back yet as they should have flown back a long time ago. They start making calls. Then Cas's phone call coming clean after weeks (after finally being confronted by Anael) comes in. And the first thing he wants to know is whether Jack was left alone with Mary.
Dean: I don't, uh -- Kid said he took care of him. So, right now, we're just trying to find Jack and Mom.
Castiel: Are they together?
Dean: Yeah.
Castiel: A-Alone?
Dean: Y-Yeah. W-Why do you -- Yes, Cas, they were together, alone.
Sam: What's he saying?
Dean: I don't... Cas?
Dean was worried about Jack. It's why he pushed for the no powers rule. But I think this pretty well indicated here that Dean's concerns did not include "leaving anyone alone with Jack is a bad idea". Only Cas's concerns reached that level. And he didn't tell anyone that or the information that lead him to that conclusion. Because he wasn't willing to admit it to himself.
Dean:If you have something to tell us, now's the time.
Castiel: I saw Jack. He -- He -- He did something when I got home with Sam. I went to check on him, and Felix was sick.
Dean: Felix? You mean the snake?
Castiel: Yes. Jack used his powers. He killed the snake. I think Jack considered it a mercy. I-I was gonna tell you.
"I was gonna tell you"... except he wasn't going to tell Dean. It's been weeks. He only decided to tell Dean after his lead on God fizzled out, and Anael directly confronted him for misleading his friends.
Dean is so mad at Cas for lying (yet again) that he hangs up on him. Again—this anger doesn't just happen after Mary dies. It's already there. We see it here. We've seen it before. They have been having discussions like this for years.
Dean: ...but you just wanted to wait until we were already freaked out.
Castiel: I'm sorry. I don't think Jack is well, Dean. Dean? (Dean suddenly hangs up on Castiel)
Sam: What?
Dean: He said that Jack went all Kevorkian on his snake.
Sam:Why?
Dean: Don't know. Who cares. It's a snake. Right now, we've got to find them.
Dean tries to ignore the information and hope Mary and Jack are okay and they'll find them safe. If they knew this information weeks ago when Cas knew, and all communicated together, they may have made different choices. Cas also would have been there when Nick showed up, instead of out in the field on his own, and they may not have ever needed to push Jack into the field for help during an emergency. Cas's intentional and chosen absence and miscommunication permeate the events that take place in Game Night.
We can easily argue that Sam and Dean and Mary also didn't want Jack to be soulless, so they pushed their worry and hoped. But they did take precautions (trying to keep Jack out of the field, until there was an emergency) based on what all of them knew and communicated with each other. They kept up a solid line of communication with one another about what they actually saw. They allowed each other to have the same relevant information. Cas withheld information that only he knew because he did not want to work as a team. He wanted to do it all on his own. So he wasn't honest with anyone else for weeks.
When Sam claims in 14.18 that he and Dean also knew, he is literally saying Jack was bad from the beginning and they should have known all along that he would one day kill one of them, which is the completely wrong lesson to take away from any of this?
Sam: Dean, it wasn't just Cas. It wasn't. We knew Jack was dangerous. We always knew. Long before he killed Michael. You more than anyone. I mean, from the very beginning, you knew. But, you know, we fell for him 'cause he had a good heart and a good soul. Then he didn't. And that's on me, too, by the way. I mean, I'm the one who made the call to bring him back. He didn't ask for that. I decided for him. And you warned me.
Dean: No, you didn't know, okay? We didn't know.
Sam: Exactly. We didn't know. But -- He had become our family. You know, after Maggie and the other Hunters died I just left. Just dumped Jack on Cas and left. I knew. I mean, I knew something was gonna I just didn't know it'd be this.
Nowhere here does Sam say he sensed Jack was soulless. He says here that Jack was always bad and they never should have trusted him because he was always going to burn them from the moment he was born.
That said, I think there's an argument to be made that Dean may or may not have withheld Donatello's further statements from the group.
Dean: I did it, too. When I talked to Donatello about Jack, he said he was good as far as he could tell. But then he talked about how powerful Jack was and that he could never really be sure. And it was a warning. I just couldn't see it.
Dean says that he couldn't see the significance in Donatello saying maybe they couldn't be sure, because he didn't want it to be true. He wanted their kid to be okay. But he also didn't turn around and get so worried that he ran off on his own to try and solve it himself because he actually knew it was a big deal deep down, and then freaked out when he learned someone was left alone with Jack. He communicated. He reacted by pushing for the "no powers" rule and clearly communicating with their family that he did not feel comfortable with Jack being in the field even if Donatello believed he was good.
At the end of the day isn't about blame. It's about a very clearly and painstakingly presented thread running through Cas's life: Choosing on purpose not to communicate and to instead go lone wolf as Anael put it. Choosing to hide from his family so he can do it alone. It isn't just denial and fear. It is an explicitly anti-teamwork mentality that Cas thinks protects his family, but actually puts them at more risk because he does not share, and he his lone wolfing takes him away from them, leaving them ultimately more vulnerable even as he thinks he's protecting them. And Jack learned the behavior Cas modeled. Jack believed in Cas's Lone Wolf Mentality On Handling Problems. So when Mary suggested working through this as a team instead of letting Jack handle it on his own, Jack freaked out and then he killed her because he didn’t want Sam and Dean to learn scary information. I am not saying that makes all of this Cas's fault, but I am saying the weight of Cas's lone wolf mentality and secret keeping has very clearly laid out consequences in the narrative from 14.15-14.18. Why would I not expect that to be addressed further when 14.17 explicitly presents Jack and Cas's secrets as mirrors and Dean is explicitly shown being angry about Cas hiding something from them (again)? Why would I not expect that to be a part of Dean's anger and the divorce arc, and it's "conclusion" with The Trap?
i just think a whole season arc should have been dean and cas reckoning with the fact they never hug aside from life n death situations. also cas learning about human emotions and trauma from baby books
people will see dean driving his own car that was given to him specifically as a gift AND which he himself ended up picking out when he time traveled, effectively making the car even more his, which is also portrayed as a metaphor for his own body and soul, and be like: hmm is this dean being an abusive control freak? 🤔
dean taking on the burden and responsibility of driving as a form of care and protection. he can't control others on the road but he trusts himself to be sharp and alert and keep everyone safe. if something goes wrong it's on him and he will carry that guilt. also dean had to learn how to drive young, way before the normal age. and that is likely in part due to the fact that there may have been times when john might not have been fit to drive, whether because he was drunk or injured. this is another area in which dean was expected to be responsible and dependable.
#god yes#and let's remember dean's literal DREAM#his recurring dream#that he gets to learn to drive at a normal age#that john treats him like a normal teen boy#and is kind and careful and encouraging#and gives him a secure and loving start to his driving career#which has to exist as tacit contrast to what it was actually like#too rushed too young too stressful#john not giving him any grace#just pushing him to get it down so he can add this to the list of dean's responsibilities#so the fact that dean continues to carry this labor burden through his entire adult life#because he comes to view it as this labor of love#and getting that scene where he teaches jack to drive later on!#how unbelievably proud he is to give that soft entry to driving to his own kid#aghhhh#i will never be over it (via @notevenalittle)
Different spin on drunk Cas: Jack and Cas go on a case, and they come back with a SPELL SIDE EFFECT of drunk!Cas.
Jack's in an all-out panic, like, "SOMEONE CALL ROWENA." Jack goes on to tell them. "I had to drive us the rest of the way home, even though I don't have a license. Bc he kept honking at everyone. We got pulled over by three cops, and two of them are concussed. I don't have my powers, so I couldn't heal them! We just LEFT them there!"
(Jack is mortified by everything, the road rage, the stupidity, Cas telling him a thousand jokes about animal sex etc.)
Then Jack gets treated to Cas angrily telling Sam to be quiet, because Sam has the" worst, most annoying human voice in the whole of creation."
