Stars Shining in Castiel's Eyes @starrysuki - Tumblr Blog

Happiness

I noticed in both episode 8 and 9 that happiness seems to be a key term.

In Episode 8, we see the Empty telling Cas that it won’t take him until he gives himself permission to be happy. Now in last night’s episode, when Dean and Cas were talking at the recycling facility, Cas comments on how happy Dean is even with a broken tape deck and all. Then, when Dean talks about his experience with Michael, Dean says, “I won’t be truly happy until he is dead, and I kill him.”

Then, by the end of the episode, right when Dean finally has the chance to kill Michael, right when he has his chance to be happy, Michael takes over Dean’s body again, depriving Dean of one of his happiest moments. Michael said his strategy to wait for that moment is to keep Dean quiet while Michael was possessing his body.

See where I’m going with this?

Like Dean, once Cas allows himself to be happy, once he is at his happiest moment, the Empty will take away that happiness and make him miserable.

It will make him quiet.

The Empty hates Cas and much rather prefers taking him over Jack because Cas was the one who woke up the Empty in the first place. So, by taking Cas when he is truly at his happiness, like Dean now, he would be miserable and submissive to the higher being who will keep him prisoner and keep quiet in the Empty.

—

Other parallels:

Michael left Dean’s body because Dean wouldn’t stop resisting. He was annoying Michael. The Empty brought Cas back because Cas wouldn’t stop resisting. He was annoying the Empty.

I don’t think this was intentional, but let’s pretend it was. Dean and Cas’ outfits were matching with both of them sporting a beige-ish/tan jacket/coat. Maybe it was a way to put something physical to represent their two paralleling storylines and their relationship with more powerful and higher beings???

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

inacatastrophicmind

stardustcas

worried husband cas

jackiedaytona

Cas, returning from the Bunker after some wacky adventure to find Gabriel alive and Dean and Ketch in the other world:

postmodernmulticoloredcloak

Somebody with photoshop skills, photoshop pizza and some flames on this gif

meii-deactivated20220422

as you wish

charlie-minion

I laughed so hard that I started coughing 😂

inacatastrophicmind

Badass.

seraphmisha

he NEKKED https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/builder-baker-angel-maker

naruhearts

13x14: Use Your Words!!!

Cas looks so resigned :’(

This is what I meant when I said Dean has to keep that closet door OPEN. He may be willing to compromise, listen to, and understand (yeah, progress) Cas’ chest-shattering soldier stance on ending the war instead of ungraciously rebuffing what he did to Donatello (though Dean’s not aware that Cas did it “for you”), but Cas BELIEVES Dean doesn’t reciprocate his feelings. He’s still carrying around the residual sadness and paranoia instilled in him by Empty!Cas. Cas believes there truly is fucking nothing for him on Earth since DEAN WON’T DISCLOSE ANYTHING TO HIM–THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY HE GRIEVED, about why he was ready to leave his own brother behind, the suicidal ideation, the anger, the pessimism.

(god, that stupid bag).

I literally held my breath, because for a moment, a singular moment of crackling anticipation, I hoped Dean could finally terminate the NEED and confess, embrace the WANT.

Then–

I’ll never get over Cas’ face (in fact, this scene was verbally/visually reminiscent of–)

(I know, I said Dean was LEARNING to refer to himself and his respective emotions, learning to use I vs We, and he IS learning, but I also said Dean has niggling fears. What if he loses Cas again? This is his greatest fear, which explains why Dean the Scared Rabbit scurried back to his comfy safe burrow of pluralities instead of playing, spending time, talking to Cas the Pheonix outside. And in both above scenarios, they are interrupted. Dean is interrupted from leaving his burrow. Interrupted by what? Another apocalypse. Another end of the world. Another day, another Will They, another Won’t They. He’ll keep darting in and out of his burrow until Something gives—-the Big Endgame Something).

Like others have said already, Dean’s answer yanked any smidge of remaining hope out of Cas’ heart. Dean ripped off the bandaid for him. AGAIN. CAS THINKS HE’S EXPENDABLE–personally reduced to nothing else but a weapon, a tool, a gun that is discarded later. PAINFUL narrative symmetry carrying over from 13x13. Jfc Glynn!!! As I mentioned in this post:

Cas = ‘tool’ for the Winchesters: expendability –> when they don’t need Ketch anymore, what happens to him? Dean has indirectly told Cas previously that he’s not expendable ie 12x12 “Let’s go home” but it ain’t enough—-he must be 100% direct and tell Cas why he’s different…why Cas means way more to him.

If Dean wants Cas to STAY, to stop going away as a SOLDIER on a mission (when he is NOT a soldier but a beloved brother, son, father, lover), he must USE HIS WORDS and I just can’t deal with all this miscommunicative storytelling angst right now ;-;