One thing I'm not quite sure about in retrospect... it's been shown that angels can bring people back to life, and in fact both sides have threatened to just resurrect people if they kill themselves before the overall plan comes to fruition. So why aren't Michael and Lucifer telling each of the brothers that they'll restore the other to life once the big showdown is concluded if they'll just say yes?

They're going to trash the world in their altercation, though. The brothers wouldn't want to be responsible for that, even if they had each other.

Though, really, ensuring the other's survival ought to be promise #1.

I think, though, the angels really don't get either of them and what's important. They think they dig the family dynamic, but have it all wrong. Even Michael's "I raised him and I love him, but I must do this" missed the mark.

Yeah, I sort of assumed what was left of the earth isn't something they want to come back to.

Now I'm left with a visual of the two of them huddling in a shower of ash and fire.

The crap that distracts me during a work day...

BOYS!

There's an excellent post-apocalyptic fic (not *this* apocalypse, another sort of surprise one) that I would rec, but it goes places in the end I know you'd rather not. It makes sense in context, as they're the only two people left in the world, but.

Aside from that, it's just fascinating, the author's detail of what's left, what breaks down first, how they survive, etc.

I appreciate your restraint. I'm delicate and just can't handle that that arena. Just can't. My dysfunction only goes so far.

Which one, Amy? You can email me if you'd rather not post a link here.

ita, the short answer is they saw what they had in their actors, and in the chemistry between the actors, and at the time JA was the better actor, so they wrote to his strengths.

JA initially auditioned for Sam, right? I can't wrap my head around that. I'm trying to imagine the Sam Show with JA as lead. Too weird. I really like what we got, with JA in front and JP growing into his role. I can see that as a SamGirl one might be discomfited. But I think they're a great team the way they're configured.

I did wonder from the git go how JP managed to get his name listed first.

Ignore me being a delicate little flower. I am totally capable of not clicking on Wincest links (although I cannot stop myself from reading the synopses--they're like crack and boggle my mind). Don't not link here on my account.

Now I'm left with a visual of the two of them huddling in a shower of ash and fire.

Well now you're just trying to kill me.

I still kinda like Plei's stunt casting of if JA is Sam, then CK is Dean. Older, of course.

JP got first billing because he had been in the featured cast of a long running show for several seasons. Although JA had been around in tv for longer, he had series-skipped, and the only season he had been listed as a featured, rather than a recurring, character was for Smallville. Name recognition was higher for JP when the pilot was shot; he was considered the bigger draw.

Kripke envisioned Sam as the central character of his five-season arc, and looking back, he actually has been the primary focus of the myth arc. It's just that JA has carried the weight, acting.