the silly hounds have been released

btw

I love the view that Dean figured out his deeper feelings for Cas in 6 & 7, and the majority of 8 was Dean arcing out of his hero-worship and people-should-never-let-me-down neuroses.

And then.

Post-perceived rejection… (Remember: Cas threw OFF Dean’s hand in Purgatory, and cut OFF cupid’s hand when it was aimed at him.)

So. Late Seasons 8 to mid-12 are Dean actively trying to get over Cas. In s9, he’s off-key paralleled with Josie Sands and Abaddon. (When it’s actually Hannah who’s “the Josie.”) Then he transitions into a reversal-power arc, towards being force-fit into the cartoonish, dare I say ham-fisted Cain role and its parallels. (They spell out the parallel in a distinctly odd way, esp for SPN. Too on the nose. Prescriptive. That’s because it’s actually mirroring Dean’s power fantasy according to Dean’s deepest, least charitable, nihilistic wishes.)

In s10, Dean still appears hung up on Cas, trusting him with the blade and begging him to help kill him if he becomes disinhibited/loses his free will again. Also, “I’m glad you’re here, man,” and Cas’s awkward reply, “Another time. There’s a female waiting in the car.” In a way, Dean’s feelings and fantasies serve to taunt him. The Cain parallel itself feels like a taunt.

Dean may realize Cas “admires” him but it’s definitely not the way Dean wants, that is: not like a secret admirer. Dean is mad for the unbalanced power dynamics re:Cas in the past. Now in Dean’s power reversal: Cas gets the wife treatment and Dean gets paralleled with the powerful Cain figure. He gets to beat Cas just as Cas beat him.

And it’s no accident the Dean’s power reversal arc culminates in a reverse-crypt. Because that’s what Dean’s bitter about. (“That’s not gonna be a problem = You can’t hurt me anymore, not like you did.”) It’s rooted in the bitterness of perceived rejection. That’s why Cas bears the brunt of Dean’s anger here.

Afterwards, Dean feels soooo guilty for being angry.

Later…

At various points, he tries to reassure Cas he’s okay with and appreciates how things are: a best friend, a comrade, a brother. Acceptance!

Dean spent season 10 dealing with his baggage and hoping hopelessly, then in season 11, I think he resolved to accept things. He may have toed the water with sexual tension and short shorts at times, but overall he was trying to live with Cas and let Cas off the hook.

He also encouraged Amara to deal with her own baggage the way he’d worked through his. Season 10 was his reversal arc: him in power for once, with Cas getting the wife treatment and Sam’s corruption being highlighted for once. And in season 11 he was spirited away, dealing with being powerless once more.

After that was done, he tried to swallow his feelings and let go of Cas, the way he encouraged Amara to let go of him.

He may perceive season 11 as his letting go of irrationally wanting Cas. The car scene may represent him giving Cas an out. Even releasing him from any perceived obligations.

So when Cas shows interest in season 12, I do think that threw him! Made him so nervous that he started hoping again, getting all tentative with his little mixtape.

Then Cas returns the damn mixtape. (Burned again!) But instead of getting bitter, Dean says to keep it, it’s a gift. Then he mumbles another “we’re all stronger together,” lil spill to cover his embarrassment.

Because now, he’s fully accepted that he loves Cas. Dean’s feelings haven’t faded so he has resolved to live with them as they are. No matter how many times he gets his hopes up and disappointed.

But now, Dean’s more scared. In season 8 he was ready to tell Cas “I love you.” He spent four years trying to navigate those unrequited feelings and convert them into familial camaraderie.

It’s much scarier in s12 with cosmic consequences on their heads, and Dean with everything he’s ever wanted just at his fingertips.

My fave thing about it all is that Dean and Cas are ready for each other at wildly different points and hardly ever sync up in between all the disasters.

Yes yes YES to all of this!!!

I feel like so much of the key to understanding the trajectory of their relationship is recognizing their shared and separate understandings of their dynamic— which are sometimes accurate and sometimes (probably more frequently lol) wildly skewed. While the core of their relationship always remains rooted in that mutual recognition that started right from the beginning of "Oh, he's like me," the specific interaction dynamics that they have over the years evolve with time because of the way their separate understandings of their relationship change and interact with each other.

Like, just as an example, if you look at season six— part of the reason things are so tense and so fraught in that season even before the reveal of Cas's secret-keeping and scheming comes from the way their separate perceptions of what their relationship is come into conflict. Cas, who is still not great at interpreting his own emotions or how they drive his actions at this point, is probably not aware he's in love with Dean and so (mis)interprets his strong pull towards him as an almost paternalistic protector-feeling.

Dean, meanwhile, is in the complicated position of being in a relationship with Lisa, whom I do think he sincerely loved, but also feeling a powerful attraction to Cas and probably in the process of realizing he was falling in love with him as well, and all this is further complicated by the way he and Lisa fall apart slow and messy over the course of the season. Given the complexity of that situation emotionally, it's no wonder if Dean was predisposed to be a bit standoffish with Cas to begin with. It makes sense as a tactic (albeit something of an immature one) to keep a bit of distance between them when he's sort of "caught between two love interests" and conflicted about that.

And then when Cas, who is in full "keep Dean at arms length and in the dark to keep him safe" mode because of his perception of their dynamic, comes in with the "we are not friends we are coworkers stop fucking bothering me if it's not important" routine straight out the gate... well, they end up in this weird situation where they're kind of bitching at each other and pressing each others' buttons all season on a superficial level while also gradually becoming closer step by step up until the climactic confrontation when Cas's dirty dealings are exposed.

And you can do this with every season, and even with the evolution of their relationship within seasons! Dean, generally speaking, seems to have been aware of the nature of his feelings for Cas sooner than Cas was aware of his own feelings (understandable, successfully interpreting his emotions is not a skillset Cas had much experience with). It sets up this situation where Dean has been (inadvertently) rejected so many times that by the time Cas figures out his own feelings (and, eventually, what he actually wants to be the outcome of those feelings), Dean feels so certain that their relationship is capital P Platonic and has spent so much time making himself be okay with that, that when Cas suddenly seems to be expressing interest all of a sudden, he doesn't know what to do with that.

It's absolutely fascinating to watch it evolve over time and I like poking it with a stick.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???

oh my sweet, summer child you are in for a treat

"Explain the gay crocodiles bit"

Enjoy:

Update: someone's marked the crime scene

2nd: Update, a plaque has now been erected

For our international followers Barnaby Joyce is Australia's two time Deputy Prime Minister, who cosplays as a down-to-earth farmer despite having been a banker and an accountant before entering politics, being lifelong best mates with a mining billionaire, and having attended one of Sydney's most prestigious and expensive private schools growing up (along with half of his parliamentary colleagues).

Barnaby is probably best known for being the reason a "bonk ban" was introduced to Australia's Parliament house, making it illegal for politicians to have sex in the Capital, after it was revealed he had gotten his Parliamentary PA pregnant while on the job. This was problematic on two fronts given:

a) He was already very married at that time and

b) He was campaigning against gay-marriage on the grounds of "protecting the institution of marriage"

Needless to say, he was clowned out of office for this (and also clowned some more when he went on TV with his mistress and tried to claim it could be anyone's baby - despite knowing it was his kid)

Barnaby proceeded to dump his wife and move in with his PA Vikki, only to walk into another PR disaster when it was revealed his new digs were being provided rent-free in what most would consider to be "a giant fucking bribe". Also his former wife responded by becoming a professional bodybuilder.

Despite losing his job as Deputy Prime Minister over this - Barnaby regained the role a few years later, by rolling the acting Prime Minister in the middle of a Covid outbreak crisis, while the actual Prime Minister was out of the country and powerless to stop Barnaby's dumbass colleagues from temporarily putting him in the top job.

Here's a pic of Barnaby pushing over a small child at his swearing-in ceremony (the real Prime Minister had to Zoom in):

To give an idea of how much the public still hadn't forgiven him, a few days later Barnaby was fined by police after a member of the public dobbed him in for going into a petrol station without wearing a facemask, as was required at the time.

Other than that you might also know Barnaby from the time he tried to murder Johnny Depp's pet dogs 'Pistol and Boo', after he said Depp would only be allowed to leave the country with his pups intact if the Hollywood actor uploaded this bizzare hostage video about Australia's quarantine rules to an official Government youtube channel:

This is not the first time Joyce's drunken antics have gotten him into trouble, with the man having previously also fallen asleep in parliament in what many suspected to be a drunken stupor:

Anyway we'll leave you with this last pic, reminding you that this man has on many occasions been in charge of an entire continent:

Follow for more Batshit Moments in Australian Politics

Such is the volume of this man's batshittery that we completely forgot the other time he was kicked out of parliament, after it was revealed he was a citizen of another country!

New Zealand even nominated him for New Zealander of the Year just to take the piss out of him during this incident:

One week later, Australians have been very normal about this:

Chuck us a follow on our new Insta for more Batshit Moments!

Incredible

Australian Federal Election 2001: Pranksters follow around Prime Ministerial contender Kim Beazley in an attempt to sneak fake microphones into news footage

Follow for more Batshit Moments in Australian Politics

i think any vietnam vet with the audacity to go back to vietnam on vacation should be overwhelmingly grateful their tour guide doesn’t just murder them

It is more important than ever to keep sharing, showing up for protests, and sending emails to your representatives.

Keep talking about Palestine until the siege on Gaza ends, until the occupation ends, and until Palestinians are free.

look, y'all. I'm speaking directly to that 2.3% of you.

Boycotting is for when your refusal to participate hurts the system/entity you are absent from. You boycott a company, a transit authority, etc.

That's not how voting works. There WILL be an election whether you participate or not. The results WILL be counted in the usual way & considered valid whether you participate or not.

so participate.

Go to a protest immediately before and after you cast your vote. If you don't have an election day protest near you, organize one. Call your elected representatives / the national party HQs every day of every week between now and the election to formally register your opinion on the candidates presented to you. THOSE are effective ways to protest the system. Better yet, get involved in your local municipality, where you can make change as a much bigger fish in a much smaller pond.

Not voting just means the people who believe differently from you will decide who governs, because they showed up.

One-third to half of the population won't vote. Your "protest absence" will be completely indistinguishable from their apathy.

"But the electoral college-"

Yes. So organize around its revamping or elimination. Vote anyway. It's meaningful that the popular vote has been so misaligned with the electoral college for so long. It's gonna be hard to reform the system no matter what, but it will be fucking impossible if we don't continue to show up and demonstrate the ways in which it's broken.

Voting as harm reduction is much more effective and meaningful than not voting at all.

contact your elected officials here

find your fucking polling place here

i hate when ppl act like the only reason to not like a "sad" ending is because you can't take it or whatever. personally as a tragedy enjoyer, i hate a poorly written ending. i hate an ending that is just kind of a bummer. i hate an ending that feels mean-spirited to the audience. i hate an ending that's redundant. i love a sad ending that is thematically consistent, poignant, and bespoke to the rest of its narrative.

Florence Pugh as YELENA BELOVA in BLACK WIDOW

God I just fucking. I am so blown away when I watch any older movie. When they filmed on real sets and built elaborate props because cgi wasn’t an option. “Ohhh but you can tell it’s an animatronic it doesn’t even look reeaaallll” shut the hell your mouth. That is an actual physical thing that the actors could actually see and interact with. It is a billion times more “real” than the endless greenscreen bullshit you love so much.

I’m done now, I’m done

I guess I wasn’t done, blame @mishacolinsackles

great times to bring this back

STOP