Gah...I have a lot of trouble reading 5.04 codas, due to the unrelenting despair of that future. It's not just Sam saying 'yes', or Dean losing his humanity, or Castiel losing his grace - it is the crumbling of their relationships, the utter lack of hope implicit in their histories to have gotten them to that point, that bothers me deeply. But since you wrote it, I had to read it, and I'm glad I did.
If only for: "No, I didn't stay for 'the other you'," Castiel says irritably. "The 'other you' is what you became after you decided mercy and compassion were only holding you back. I stayed for you." He jabs a finger in Dean's chest. "You, as you are, right now." Which is the essence of Castiel's tragedy here. I think the part where you kept his wings, but not his grace, captures the tragedy of Castiel being neither here nor there, of being in some ways nothing at all. Because what he sacrificed for, his faith in Dean, was proven false and what is left for a creature of devotion after that?
Very beautiful and sad, and of course excellently written. *sniffles* Damn you.
no subject
If only for:
"No, I didn't stay for 'the other you'," Castiel says irritably. "The 'other you' is what you became after you decided mercy and compassion were only holding you back. I stayed for you." He jabs a finger in Dean's chest. "You, as you are, right now."
Which is the essence of Castiel's tragedy here. I think the part where you kept his wings, but not his grace, captures the tragedy of Castiel being neither here nor there, of being in some ways nothing at all. Because what he sacrificed for, his faith in Dean, was proven false and what is left for a creature of devotion after that?
Very beautiful and sad, and of course excellently written. *sniffles* Damn you.