COORDINATES

SUPERNATURAL S3

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Pushed Past Extremes

Episode: Time Is On My Side
Text: XTC
Made: September '08
ThoughtsThis wallpaper deals with Sam and Dean's argument over turning Dean immortal by using Doc Benton's secret to immortality. Despair drives Sam to consider this extreme measure to save Dean's life, deliberately pushing the consequences away from his mind. Dean could never live with becoming a monster though and fights his brother on this suggestion.

In my wallpaper Sam and Dean turn away from each other, showing their separation and their pull into different directions. Their fight over Doc Benton causes a division between the brothers, so it stands literally between them in my piece and cracks run through it to symbolise the strain on their relationship. Cold blue, purple and green colour tones emphasise the estrangement further. The lyrics refer to Sam's point of view; he is pushed to extremes and feels haunted by the burden of Dean's deal.
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Unexpected Allies

Episode: Jus In Bello
Text: Green Day
Made: June '08
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Legacy

Episode: No Rest For The Wicked
Text: Sam&Dean in NRFTW
Made: June '08
Awards!
ThoughtsThroughout S3 we see Sam steadily become darker and more ruthless, driven by the fear to lose Dean. This progression culminates in 'Mystery Spot', where Sam becomes self-destructive after Dean's death; in the finale though, Sam accepts that Dean makes the ultimate sacrifice to preserve his brother's goodness. In my wallpaper Sam honours that sacrifice by preserving Dean's legacy.

I tried to visualise Dean's last words to his brother: I positioned Dean in the middle of the wall, because in life and in death, Dean is the central point in Sam's life. To the right we see (future) Sam carrying on Dean's legacy, saving people, hunting things, taking care of Dean's car, just like his brother showed him to. I blended softly faded Dean caps just behind Sam, where Dean mirrors Sam's actions, to symbolise that a) Dean is always with him, if only in spirit and not in flesh and b) Sam continues the family business, like his brother taught him to. Dean is present in everything he does.

Since Dean's death leaves Sam's life without warmth and joy, I chose a 'cool' blue as the dominant colour, but there's warm yellow light streaming in from the right, showing that there's hope beyond the abyss of black desperation, that dominates the left side.
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Rock On!

Episode: No Rest For The Wicked
Text: Bon Jovi
Made: May '08
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Silently Broken

Episode: The Magnificent Seven
Text: Evanescence
Made: April '08
Award!
ThoughtsI loved this scene, where Sam confronts Dean about his 'devil may care' behaviour, hurt by Dean's carelessness about his own life and indifference towards his attempts to save him from his deal, with Dean more or less stonewalling his brother, leaving him alone with his fears and pain. Dean knows he is hurting his brother, but thinks it is the best for them if he puts on his 'game face'.

The Evanescence lyrics worked perfectly for this scene, showing that although Dean is unable to admit it to Sam, he's sorry that he puts his brother through this situation. I chose a combination of warm and cold colours and a mix of blending and boxes, emphasizing their being together but apart, loving but also hurting each other. Sam looking out from a rain-stained window serves as a symbol for his sadness and separation from Dean.
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A Little While Longer

Episode: A Supernatural Christmas
Text: Dean in 'AHBL II'
Made: March '08
ThoughtsIn 'A Very Supernatural Christmas' we see how Sam finally learns the truth about the world at the age of 8. He is devastated and afraid and his relatively protected childhood pretty much ends there and then. It's the moment Dean wanted to postpone for Sam as long as possible and he hurts for his little brother. At the bottom we see a picture of John and young Sam, torn into pieces, Sam's trust in his father broken, because he lied to him his whole life.
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Never Alone

Episode: Mystery Spot
Text: Barlow Girl
Made: February '08
Thoughts'Never Alone' and 'Sickened by Solitude' are complementary pieces that show Sam's world with and without Dean in it. Where the one piece is warm, bright and softly blended, the other is cold, muted and fragmented. I tried to achieve additional complementary symmetry by the cap choice, so the shot of Sam's unmade bed in 'Never Alone' serves as a contrast to Sam meticulously making his bed in 'Solitude' or Sam hugging Dean in 'Never Alone' is the complementary cap to Sam embracing the dead Dean in the other piece.

In 'Never Alone' Sam feels happy and safe, his brother completes his life and makes the hard life they lead bearable. I chose very warm colours and made sure the piece is bright and well lit. The clock in the middle is a reminder of the Wednesday when the Trickster returned Dean to Sam and made his world whole again.
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Sickened By Solitude

Episode: Mystery Spot
Text: Guilty Method
Made: February '08
ThoughtsCompanion piece to 'Never Alone': After Dean's 'final' death Sam is falling apart, his life fragmented, his emotions compartmentalised, his mind drowning in violence. I tried to capture that by dividing the canvas into different fragments, violent red bleeding into the images from everywhere. I aimed for a strict symmetry to visualise Sam's obsession with order, but also brought in various slanted edges and lines, to show how skewed his perspective on life is without his brother. Sam doesn't allow the grief for Dean into his mind and heart, instead he focusses on revenge, caught up in artificial patterns, creating a cage for his mind in order to not being overwhelmed by his loss.
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My Big Brother

Episode: Fresh Blood
Text: Sam in 'Fresh Blood'
Made: December '07
Award!
ThoughtsThis scene from 'Fresh Blood', where Sam desperately tries to make Dean understand how much he loves him, looks up to him, knows him, is one of my favourites of that episode. As so often with these dialogue scenes they are hard to art in a creatively interesting manner, but Sam's referral to their time as children gave me something to work with in this scene, by creating a 'flashback' manipulation.

Dean is looking down on (remembering) their childhood, while he listens to Sam's words. We see the boys in the past, travelling together on an endless road towards the horizon, it's hazy since their future is obscured. Underneath, wee!Sam is turned towards wee!Dean, talking to his brother, who is listening to him, just like their adult versions in the wall. It's the reason why I chose open-mouth caps on both Sam versions, to emphasize that parallel of Sam talking and Dean listening. Dean turning down his eyes in both caps was a lucky coincidence though! In mirroring those caps I wanted show how their connection stretches from then to now.
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Together We'll Go On

Episode: Fresh Blood
Text: Bad Company
Made: November '07
ThoughtsMy starting point for this were the lyrics of the Bad Company song that played during this scene and that I found incredibly fitting. I used the two images of Sam and Dean to connect them both on eyelevel, showing their newly found connection with each other. Following the lyrics, I made sure there isn't a trace of shadows or darkness in this piece, everything is extremely bright and various light sources stream throughout the piece. Additionally I very softly blended that stock of a sundial with the words 'Carpe Diem' on it in the middle, because I found its meaning just perfectly in sync with the lyrics and tone of that scene!
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(Un)lucky

Episode: Bad Day At Black Rock
Text: From the episode
Made: November '07
Award!
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The Memory Remains

Episode: Bad Day At Black Rock
Text: Linkin Park
Made: October '07
ThoughtsI loved this scene where Sam finds out that John kept his old soccer trophy, despite the many fights they had over Sam's wish for normalcy. I wanted to show how their relationship was pretty much lithified, both of them unmoving in their position and with John withdrawn, unable to communicate with his son. The stonewall between them is separating and connecting them at the same time. I went for a very grungy look, since their relationship was rough and patchy, but finding that trophy is a bright reminder of John's love for Sam nonetheless.
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Touched By Silence

Episode: The Magnificent Seven
Text: Penitence
Made: October '07