#spn nihilism

[emeraldsummers]

Thinking about Dean's happy mind place in 14x10 Nihilism.

Specifically talking about this conversation he has with his own subconscious:

Dean's flirting with women is purely habit at this point, something he likes to do for fun. His whole ladies man persona had been a schtict for years at this point and I love that it's being called out.

His subconscious knows he wants someone else, but he's pushing it down. Thinks he can't have it anyways. But that's okay, he's content with flirting and having a friend. And that's the word they use: contentment. It's not bliss, but it's enough.

I find it especially interesting that he sees Pamela in his mind. She's "neutral" in that she was not someone he considered family (i.e. Charlie) but she was also never a love interest, and she also isn't really someone Dean holds regrets about.

His contentment is a platonic female friend, a business of his own, and knowing that Sam and Cas will be home soon.

#spn meta #i mean not really just a random stream of thoughts lol i just love when dream sequences are done WELL #like PLEASE use those to give me character study #dean winchester #supernatural #spn #spn 14x10 #spn nihilism #destiel #destiel meta #14x10 nihilism #pamela barnes

[wxywardsun]

Michael!Dean missed an opportunity to go to some giant power plant,spill his charged up grace into the main control panel,and infect computers and tvs and radios (hell probably even a whole radio tower!) everywhere with some sort of Michael virus. The snap at the end of “The Spear” not only activates his monster army,but the tvs and computers and radios activate at once,hypnotizing more monsters for a shorter period of time than the monsters that drank the grace blood. Idk end credits are static with an added Michael chuckle cause he’s like that!

#god if I could draw… #like imagine Michael all glowy eyes and freakish smile. fingers clasped ready to snap #behind a bunch of tvs or radios but the tvs are staticky are sparks are flying everywhere #Michael ramblings are real #eeeeep he would be SO powerful #spn #supernatural #dean winchester #michael!dean #spn season 14 #computer virus Michael!! real. #spn nihilism #spn the spear #michael supernatural #dean supernatural

[shallowstories]

Dean/Cas + Love is blind

Pamela in 14x10 Nihilism represents guilt

(Cas is in Dean's life at the expense of others)

But she also represents not being able to really see Cas

(And now that there's an angel hurling Dean into the depths of his own mine, he's FORCED to look at what that means)

(Cas did this to someone)

(Dean's been playing house all this time and--)

(--and he's staying willfully blind to what Cas is on account of being in love with him)

(He's not human he's not human he did this to someone too oh god oh no)

#spn nihilism #spn 14x10 #dean + blindness #character notes #character ideas #theme ideas #cas + domination of humans #dean & michael #dean/cas + mutual undeserving #spn + living at the expense of others #dean/cas + guilt #spn + guilt #freeform

[winchestress]

#supernatural #dean winchester #spn rewatch #14x10 #deanedit #nihilism #spnedit

[sucksesful-user]

can we talk about spn 14x10 for a second where Cas and Sam figure out that Dean has had so much trauma that he has fought through, and successfully fought through it against Michael, that Michael would put him in "something he's never had before- contentment"?? how fucking traumatizing is that?? that Dean has had so little happiness Michael uses it to keep him trapped in his own mind?? oh my god??

#supernatural #jensen ackles #dean winchester #misha collins #castiel #jared padalecki #sam winchester #team free will #i am not normal about this show #spn 14x10 #nihilism

[iightbringer]

#supernatural #spn #supernatural text post #spn text post #dean winchester #episode: nihilism #text posts found on pinterest

[vendettasfanfictioning]

You ever think about how gargantuan Supernatural is that there are AUs and widespread inside jokes about episodes? That there are enough people here to find something special in some episodes to build mini communities?

Even from a non-heller perspective; if I said oh 1x13 was batshit insane but it added so much depth to the sweet old romantic side of Dean that he desperately denies existing—more than a handful of people would know that I'm talking about Route 666. The batshit insanity of the racist truck ghost murderer, not outweighing the fact that Dean loved Cassie so much, he told her the big family secret, the no. 1 rule John Winchester has drilled since they were children, and ended up splitting with her anyways.

4x17 and 5x04 in particular took up the fandom by a storm for a while, because Supernatural created AUs within the actual text all for the sake of filling in the most important arc (at the time): the Michael vs Lucifer, Heaven vs Hell Apocalypse. I still sometimes remember It's a Terrible Life's reference to Dean and Sam being Smith and Wesson and feel absolutely sick to my stomach. And The End? That's one of my comfort watches right there. The fact that these two episodes alone gave us such a different characterization of the cast and brought a new setting to mind is absolutely mind boggling, and since there's just so many fans here means those tropes and side quests still live.

Does all this make sense? idk like I get that the show doesn't have the best reputation (as it should, honestly, I wouldn't wish this curse upon my worst enemy) but there's something so beautiful about being alive and within a community that really lives and breathes, y'know? I find it all such a touching aspect to humanity.

#kicking nihilism in the crotch bec I'm happy to be alive and in this time and the world is dying but theres still things to look forward to! #supernatural #spn #spn thoughts #spn meta #spnblr #spn fandom #spn fanworks #spn fic #spn fanart #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #destiel

[soullessjack]

we don’t appreciate jacks sense of humor like at all

#cal.txt #spn #spn 14x10 #supernatural #nihilism #jack kline #spn scripts #spn season 14 #i love him so so much but we already knew this #sorry I’m thinking about this episode because of his Christmas jacket … #he’s just so. #he is so so special okay

[arcanespillo]

in the end it’s always about you and your father huh

#nihilism #14x10 #dean winchester #castiel #misha collins #jensen ackles #spn #spn screencaps #screenshots #supernatural

[shallowseeker]

Pamela is not just a complex stand-in for Dean's desires in 14x10, she sometimes speaks for him. AS HIM.

When Sam & Cas get into the Michael illusions, Dean immediately handles the, uh. IPA beer.

Ahem.

He looks strangely shy here, busying his hands, having something to do, eyes downcast. He flicks his eyes up lightning-quick towards Cas, but only for a second.

///

He's acting a little...weird. Fidgety. Looking away-ey. Keeping busy-ey.

Enter Pamela, animated, coming right up to them.

At the beginning of the episode perhaps she represented the stand-in for Dean's not!partner, but now she's a stand-in for Dean's words and his emotions:

PAMELA: "Cas! Sam!"

TO SAM: I'm glad you're back safe. S'startin' to worry. (snap) Don't tell Dean.

TURNING, more flirtatiously towards Cas and with the SAME Dean-air of weird bashfulness:

PAMELA (becoming more breathless, more bashful and strange): He'll...(odd pause, steps closer)...(shakes her head weird) use it against me (giggling, touching Cas's left shoulder).

Dean is oddly unanimated in the BG, 'cause Pamela is moving in his stead.

What's she saying though? What's the coded message?

"Don't TELL (HIM). HE'LL USE IT AGAINST ME."

This is Dean, trying desperately to keep a wall of what he loves away from Michael. Dean's mind is steely, locked down, but he's fighting hard to keep his true feelings as locked down and he can make them.

(Perhaps he's even been successful hiding some of his feelings from Michael?)

NOTE: Pamela and Dean both have dishrags. Pamela: animated, Dean: unanimated. They're one-to-one here.

Next:

DEAN: Hey, what're you guys waitin' for?

Now that Pamela's "gone more neutral," Dean's the one who's animated. (And they'll trade back and forth for the rest of the scene.)

SAM: (frustrated) None of this is real. This bar, Pamela-- PAMELA: Scuse me? You've never met someone more real than me, Sam Winchester.

Dean going silent, pointing at her like it's her cue to talk.

CAS: You're just a complex manifestation of Dan's memories designed to distract him.

Pamela turns to DEAN, not reacting to Cas, but ...almost like she's...waiting on words. And Dean almost like he's...thinking of words to say for both of them.

The whole thing is easily interpreted as Dean simply considering Cas's words. But a more fun interpretation? Pamela talking FOR Dean.

His eyebrows do the jumpy thing they do when he thinks of something flirty and "wowza" to say, he opens his mouth and--

PAMELA (looking Cas up and down): You really know how to talk to a lady, dontcha? Cas seems a little taken aback.

///

Why Pamela? There's been so much made of Pamela.

Dean picks Pamela for his illusion because she's a psychic; that's comfortable to him

She's tied up with his first meeting of Cas and angels

Also: He's literally being possessed and suffering the effects of angelic possession. He's probably feeling guilty about Castiel's part in the whole system of possession and angel kills, making his brain reassess everything he know about Castiel.

//

Communicating with Pamela:

He doesn't have to tell her things.

She can read his mind and talk for him. She's a lampshade; she's even visualized near lampshades.

Her dialogue is contrived and odd because they're often Dean's words and emotions and worries, cloaked in the manner and style he remembers of Pamela.

Not only is Pamela safe/psychic/all-knowing, her manner of speaking is outlandish and "free," allowing Dean to direct that energy at...Cas.

///

And there are some other oddities in the scene I really like, too.

When they kill the vampires, Pamela is shooting the "drunk one" in the heart, where Dean had just been standing.

Then Dean beheads "raincoat vampire (name per script)," splattering both Sam's and Cas's necks with blood, as if they've been beheaded, too.

There's some hidden aggression here, I think, especially when paired with Michael's taunts, because although negative feelings don't paint a full picture, they're fleeting...and often a little bit true.

Sam is a burden, as children are, and they leave you. Cas is obligation and he does make mistakes, as spouses are and do.

Dean's understandably a little bitter about it all. He takes the bad with the good, sure. We all do. But AU Michael paints in black-and-white without nuance or 3D shape.

Pamela shooting the drunk vampire in the heart is a nod to that sometimes Dean's feelings go unverbalized as he sacrifices on behalf of others.

That's partially, I think, why his happy place isn't the kitchen or a library or whatever. It's not family or home-grown labor. (He loves laboring for his family, it’s a love language of his fire sure, but this isn't about that. It's about escape.)

This is a small business that he owns and runs; he's sitting at a desk with paperwork!

He's a caretaker finally getting their own thing, even if it's floundering.

///

Pamela turns flirty again, behind the counter with Dean. "You guys got real messy on that ghoul hunt, huh?" And Cas tries to set the records straight. It's not from a hunt. It's from the illustory loop.

Pamela and Dean get silly and ignore Cas and Sam.

SAM: Man, we were there together when she was blinded!

(angel noises)

#meta weirdness #cause i can't sleeeep #spn 14x10 #spn nihilism #nihilism #pamela

[fandom-hoarder]

The way Michael's dapper little outfit when he's trapped in Dean's head just makes him look like a newsboy having a tantrum. 😂🥰

#spn rewatch #spn s14 #michael!dean #spn: nihilism

[softsophos]

Peer Review Time! Let's rate episodes my friend gave 5 Stars when they watched for the first time

#technically the heroes journey was also 5 stars #but there wasn't room in the poll and it dealt me so much psychic damage it got cut #spn #ultimate spn marathon #poll #polls #episode review #supernatural polls #spn polls #supernatural season 13 #supernatural season 14 #supernatural season 15 #scoobynatural #lost and found #the scorpion and the frog #various and sundry villains #mint condition #optimism #nihilism #peace of mind #last call #the trap

[winchestress]

#offensive!! #supernatural #dean winchester #spn rewatch #14x10 #spnedit #nihilism

[shallowrambles]

Sam’s blood addiction was so reviled but then he saved the world in part because of it

Sam’s “vices” are so reviled by the narrative Dean, even though Sam’s sacrifice and self-corruption save the world

It’s an eloquent parallel to the concept of the sacred executioner role, really (Dean will do self-corruption with MoC later to stop “a great evil”)

Doing the ugly thing, the reviled thing, the untouchable thing so everyone else can go on about their lives none the wiser and completely unaware of the corrupt underbelly and awful work that keeps it running

Or if they are aware, they can righteously judge it, and then mope about how unfair and ugly it is

#Sam’s vices are so held against him #jack too #America is like this #so much of our riches are built on sin #modern continuing slavery etc #nihilism #sacred executioner #my mom did not accept drug use in her don #or husband #but she volunteered at church for recovering addicts #and talked the talk #because she liked feeling superior and needed #but husband and son and family? were not allowed this #because our job as family is to support her #spn sometimes accidentally stumbles on exactly how is it down here #dean crit #just to be safe #it’s also just dynamics of addiction #family and loved ones are judged differently #because you actually rely on them not just the idea of them #expecting too much of your kids #demanding better of your spouse #the trailer trash way #sighs all around

[deansamnatural]

#sam winchester #supernatural #spn #s14e10 #nihilism #mine

[mybrainproblems]

i think i may be (temporarily) free of finale fever! deep urge to restart my rewatch and not just compulsively do 15x20 plus another 1-2 other episodes with thematic significance

#dsotm > nihilism bar scene > carry on ...still an absolute banger watch #moriah to carry on is fucking insane #the man wrote two of the best finales spn ever had and also the worst #tho like *in general* dabbnatural absolutely whips #spn