#character mirrors

Hi Nonny!

“Mirrors” mean “characters who are stand-ins for other characters”, meaning that their actions or feelings are meant to represent that of the one of the main characters. A common character used as a mirror is Molly, usually as a stand in for John. Like for instance, it was SUPER OBVIOUS that Molly was standing in for John in TEH when Sherlock brought her on a case: she dressed like John, and Sherlock kept calling her ‘John’, and he tried to subvert his feelings and it didn’t go well. An “unobvious” one is the TFP coffin and the I love you scene, which is suspected to be about John’s unspoken love for Sherlock and his fear of rejection. 

Another character often used as a character mirror is Irene, often for Sherlock (though she has been used for both), to represent the lust the characters have. Even characters we haven’t seen, like Harry, can be used as a mirror; I actually suspect Harry is a literal mirror for John (as in, his twin), who will only be seen on screen when John is ready to face himself.

So TL;DR, they are minor characters who are essentially tools for the narrative, to reflect (like a mirror) the true goings-on in the brains of the main characters or what the actual narrative is trying to tell us. You can check out my reblogged posts in the ‘sherlock mirrors’ tag so you can get a better idea of it! <3

Also, yes, there’s “mirrors in general” as well, which I have posts in the “mirrors in sherlock” tag, but mostly, when we’re talking about mirrors in relation to characters, it’s the “character vs character” aspect we mean. :)

Hiya and thank you :)

In 12.12, Cas says “I love you” but he doesn’t look at Dean. He looks at everyone else. He only looks at Dean and holds his gaze after he adds “I love all of you.” It felt like he was scared of the full weight of the words, especially with everyone there. I think he did want to tell Dean he loved him but was afraid of the weight behind those words. Early in the episode, we have Dean’s reaction to Mandy flirting with Cas. We don’t know how that interaction would have gone without other people around, but we can get an idea by the insert of Dean’s face after she calls Cas handsome. 

Dean decided to hide the situation by spreading the weight out and making it applicable to everyone. Still focusing on Cas, but in a manner that pulls the weight off of his feelings. He doesn’t think he can react any other way and is scared to. And of course, Dean knows how to judge a room anyway, it would probably be even more awkward for everyone if he actually got annoyed.

When Cas thinks he’s dying, there are several people around and we certainly know that Sam and Mary are important to him too. He made that clear in 12.09. They truly are all important to him but his focus here is Dean(it’s Dean’s segment after all) We can tell by the face he makes, just like with Dean. In this case as well, the situation feeds Cas’ anxieties. He doesn’t know definitively that Dean cares the same amount about him that he does, so he addresses the issue in a way that spreads the emotional weight around to everyone. If it was just he and Dean, it may have been different. But as it stood, I think he felt compromised as much as Dean did before and didn’t want to leave all the weight of his death, and how awkward that would be with Dean. But he had to tell him, tell them.

The boy found himself walking in the woods, holding on to his mother’s skirt for dear life, while she carried the newborn and the toddler on her arms. His siblings, held on to him while they stumbled over their own feet, roots and rocks. His mother never complained, but he knew, as the situation worsened, she had him warned, they might have to take off at one point and go into the forest to…