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destiel-wings · 10 months

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whats your opinion on the show (imo) making sam seem like he screws up a lot and that dean is the one cleaning up after him?

For the ⭐ spn analysis ask game ⭐

Oh, that's interesting to think about, thank you so much for asking!

Here's how i see it.

The whole base of the show is that Sam is the younger brother, and Dean needs to take care of him. That means protecting him, and in this life, cleaning up his messes, at all costs. Which is probably why they highlighted Sam's screwups, even making them more morale-challenging for Dean (I'm thinking of the whole demon blood storyline) just to show how far Dean would go for Sam.

When the show starts, the Winchesters' worldview is black and white: demons bad, humans good (which makes particularly interesting and smart the fact that they included the episode "The Benders", that early on, that subverts this certainty). Anyway, the more the show progresses, the more Dean finds out about Sam's powers, putting him at supernatural-beings-level, and this is the first time in the show where, in the current events, Sam thinks he's letting Dean down. But nonetheless, Dean's first priority is to protect him and help him.

And that's the base of their dynamics, that they were still carrying from their childhood: Sam, being the youngest, needs Dean to clean up his messes, taking care of him practically (even if he's perfectly capable of cleaning up after them himself most of he time), while Dean needs Sam emotionally, because he desperately needs love and the family that was taken away from him the moment his mother died and everything fell into pieces. I think that's a great part of the tension that charges the codependency between the brothers.

That said, Sam didn't really need Dean to protect him at the beginning of the show, he was actually fine by himself, doing just fine away from home. The show starts when the supernatural comes into their lives (Sam's life, with Jess' death) again, and Dean steps in to do what he knows how to do, better than Sam.

And the show plays on that for a long while, having Sam become "a problem" (his powers, the demon blood), so that Dean can be needed and attend to his caretaker job, getting to keep Sam around.

But here's the thing: where it gets even more interesting, in my opinion, is seeing how as the show progresses these roles begin to shift and reverse.

At the beginning of the show Dean is supposedly the one who's most similar to John and who wants to fight for the "family business", and Sam doesn't need any of this, and he doesn't need Dean. But as the show develops it becomes clear that Sam is the one who's actually more similar to John (sorry Sammy), and as the brothers embrace the life and the seasons advance it becomes clearer that Sam enjoys this life way more than Dean.

After all the messes he's made in the first seasons of the show, Sam becomes more desperate to make amends towards Dean.

"It was how many times i let you down"

And it's not surprising that this shift in dynamics happens right in s8, after they have been apart for a whole year (while Dean was in Purgatory) and they spend the entire season trying to reconcile their relationship. Here we can finally see a Dean who needs Sam a little less, because he's lived without him for a year and he's found Benny, who plays the role of a possible replacement (narratively). For the first time we see a jealous Sam struggling to regain Dean's forgiveness and trust--more precisely, struggling to regain his first place as Dean's shotgun. Unsurprisingly, this shift happens as Cas becomes more important to Dean too.

Dean had always struggled to create real connections with people, but as the seasons go on, he learns to do that, they find a family, and so Sam isn't the only person to give and receive Dean's love and affection. But Sam is the younger sibling, so he always took Dean for granted (it's not his fault, it's what younger siblings generally do), which is why it was so refreshing to see him realize it wasn't that granted. And that's the moment where Sam actively begins to show how much he needs Dean's love as well. Because if you think about it, aside from the found family they share (like Bobby, Jody, Charlie, Garth etc) at some point Dean actually begins to have more people than Sam's (Cas, Benny, even Crowley, just to drop names).

And I love how this season is immediately followed by the mark of Cain storyline, where we finally have Sam trying to save Dean for a change.

I think that's a big step of growth for the character, where he gets to wear the older brother's shoes and get to be the caretaker for once, and really fight for Dean as he had been doing for him until that point.

I think Sam screwed up way less after that, and it checks out with the new dynamics of their relationship: Sam has grown up more, and he doesn't need Dean to save him all the time, he can save Dean too, he's more than capable of it, and more importantly, Dean sees it. As Dean gets to develop new important relationships of affection with other people (larger found family, and Cas), he needs Sam just a tiny little less. And so he starts to see him less as a job and accepts that he can take care of himself too, and basically that whole dynamic of Sam screwing up and Dean cleaning up after his messes becomes obsolete in the show, and is less evident. They both screw up. They both clean up after each other's messes.

And beware, I'm not saying that Dean loves Sam less, just that he needs him less. I'm talking about the toxic codependency, that was actually healing and transforming into a healthier relationship (until the finale did what it did).

In later seasons Sam is portrayed more like an adult, we see him leading a group of hunters, and we see Dean seeing him do that and letting him take the lead, we see him be a father to Jack (finally taking on a caretaker's role as Dean had done for him), we see him threaten and fight God himself, and we see him search for his own path, between the hunter's life that he actually loves (unlike Dean) and even Rowena's witchcraft, to some extent. And we finally see him having a meaningful love relationship again, with Eileen.

I am actually so proud of Sam and of how far he had come. Things could've been so great for him, if we hadn't had that horrible finale. We always say that Dean's ending was bad, and it is, but I honestly don't get people who say that Sam had it better, just because he survived. He's the one who got it worse actually. All of his development... gone. All of those promises of the happy life he could've gotten... gone.

He spent a whole life building a life that wasn't important (and i say that because that's how the episode framed it, and i could make a whole other post about this explaining why) just missing his brother after having lost everyone else he's ever loved. That's just horrible, especially when the show had made clear that the blurry wife life maybe wasn't what he really wanted after all.

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Again, thanks for the ask, feel free to send more!

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inbredbrotherhood · 5 months

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I’m glad we all agree that Sam Winchester is both predator and prey, but he’s also a secret third thing: a parasite.

He’s like a bad case of fading kitten syndrome, but it’s not his fault, he’s just hungry and eating until he’s full but sometimes ‘full’ for the host means ‘dead’, but he isn’t a killer on purpose and he wishes he could be better but this is just his nature. He latches onto the things he loves and drains the life from them and he can’t stop, won’t stop, even if it means he dies too. This is how he loves when he isn’t prey (the lamb on the altar, between the wolf’s teeth), this is how he submits when he isn’t the predator (the feral dog ripping apart everything in its path).

Being a parasite is hard for him in ways being a predator or prey is not — he is controlled by his hunger and he’s terrified of what it will make him do.

#I’m not a violent dog. I don’t know why I bite.#sam winchester #character study #supernatural meta #supernatural #spn sam winchester #spn analysis #Sam Winchester analysis #character analysis #eric kripke #sera gamble #jared padalecki #demon blood!sam

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fandomtrashhh · 10 months

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Sam & Powers

I can never articulate how disappointing it was for Supernatural to focus so much of their time and effort on Sam’s powers and everything that comes with it in the first 2 seasons only to bring it back in season 4 and even season 5 even more in depth than before to then just drop it after that and only mention it once every 2 seasons. I feel like it was such a core theme in the beginning of the show that was used so well to tie up what they thought was going to be the season finale in season 5 that once they realized they were going to continue the show they decided it would become too boring or repetitive or something to use more when they were SO wrong. Sure if that’s ALL they focused on then that would make sense but what they did didn’t make any sense at all because how can you take something that was such a big part of one of the main characters and erase it all? One of the things that drew me to Sam’s character in the first place and that helped cement me as a Sam girl was the fascination with his powers that he was slowly coming to terms with. What made his powers different than a lot of other pieces of media that I’ve consumed is the concept that they were forced upon him by a DEMON through his BLOOD! How is that not compelling?? He literally states in the show that he has a sickness that is pumping through his veins that he can never get rid of so why shouldn’t he do good with them? Like !! There was so much potential here!! I’ve always felt when they said that Azazel’s death just...made Sam’s powers “go away” it was a flimsy excuse to get rid of them and only use that plot when they felt like it (i.e drinking demon blood) but if they never had Sam’s powers function like that they could have created a whole plot where Sam comes to terms with his powers and realizes they aren’t going away but they aren’t inherently bad, that he can choose what he wants to do with them, re cementing his autonomy that is so often lacking in the series!! He chooses to help people with these powers (without needing to drink demon blood) and explores them and accepts them!! The route that the show ended up taking never sat well with me because it felt like he just internalized his powers because of what other characters said about it and how people literally tried to kill him because of it and that just feels wrong. Like the show tried so hard to just magically turn him into this Normal Guy TM when Sam is Not Normal and that was the whole point!! He deserved to be as freaky and as comfortable with it as he wanted!! And then in season 15 I almost felt like they were going to do something freakish with his character again because of Rowena’s comment about him being the “closest to a witch” among the characters in the room and then she left her spells and potions and everything TO SAM and it would’ve been so cool to have him dabble in witchcraft and would make so much sense with his character yet he uses them once and then it’s never mentioned again. By the end of the show he’s living this normal life when after everything he went through and everything he discovered about himself throughout 15 YEARS, I don’t think that’s what he would’ve wanted anymore. Supernatural had so many brilliant ideas & concepts which is why I think I’ve continued to be so obsessed and intrigued by this goddamn show, but so so many shortcomings.

#sorry this got so long and i doubt anyones gonna read it but i needed to get it out there so yeah #i hope someone out there understands and agrees with what im trying to say #we deserved to keep bloodfreak sam!!#anyways i also thought it would be really compelling to not only have sam coming to terms with and accepting his powers #and how they ARENT a bad thing #parallel dean coming to terms and accepting his bisexuality!!#i thought that wouldve been genius #alas this belongs within the Good Supernatural that lives in my brain #and they seasons 6-15 rewrite of the series that im trying to stop procrastinating on #sam winchester #psychic sam winchester #demon blood #psychic sammy #supernatural #spn #long post #natalie rants #original post #sam winchester analysis #supernatural analysis #kinda #youre telling me that Sam Winchester #the same dude who killed the ORIGINAL DEMON with telekinesis while high asf #the same dude who shot THEE abrahamic god #the same dude who brought his gf back to life with magic left to him by one of the most powerful witches in existence #wanted to spend the rest of his life throwing around a ball and crying in a car??#cap

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superwholockednico · 2 years

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Season 7 is currently Samgirl-ifying me. (And why Sam believing he's inherently a 'freak' is so tragic.)

Idk what it is about this show that makes me keep switching which brother I like more/find more tolerable/think is morally superior. (Actually, I think the answer is that it switches between which character/character's storyline is the focus. At the start of the show, it felt like it was often Sam's pov plus he wasn't fully in the hunter life and hence acted nicer/kinder which made me agree with him more morally despite simultaneously simping for dean. Then again with the demon's blood arch, I was like sam is being mistreated why is dean acting like he's so inherently evil. Now with the lucifer in sam/fall out of that situation I'm once again like, Sam is in the right and I feel really bad that he keeps getting treated like he's inherently messed up to the point he's internalized it. Plus he gets shit for really normal healthy things like going for fricking run)

Long post so summary: I find Sam's recurring theme of being seen as inherently different or a freak (compared to Dean feeling like he won't fit in or can't live a normal life because of his lifestyle or choices) to be compelling. First, we see it in the demon blood arch where his own father tells his brother that he might have to kill him because he's born wrong and has an evil within him. Now it comes back with his Lucifer-induced mental breakdown/psychosis and how Dean constantly treats him like he's doomed because of it and isn't willing to believe he can change ('the other shoe always drops').

Because of this, he has a really interesting episode [The Girl Next Door] with the Kitsune girl from his childhood (Amy Pond. nice name choice) where it focuses on his feelings of being a "freak" and outsider and how that leads him to be compassionate towards her. Which uh... ends up not working since dean goddamn goes and kills her in front of her son afterward in a move that was totally fucked up and should have ended up with him at the very least admitting he was wrong for it.

I'm on s7e9 now, but from that moment on, Sam's stayed the more emotionally mature one (let's be real, he usually is tbh), from trying to initiate much-needed conversations between him and Dean (multiple times!) to making a pretty good lawyer for Dean and trying to convince him to not feel guilty.

(he also takes care of his health –eats healthier, goes on runs goes camping– which I find very likeable tbh)

I started feeling for him because of the Lucifer situation, which was probably the most horrifying/scary thing I've seen on the show yet from a psychological standpoint. The idea that you don't know if literally anything around you is real or if it's your torturer (or abuser if we/I project it on a real-world situation) tricking you into thinking it's real just to tear it apart is... really scary.

(also ignore sam sorta looking like hes smiling in the pic the screenshot ended up like that but could be bothered to retake cus most of it was blurry)

Side note: I also really felt for Dean in the scene where he came back to Bobby's house to find it burnt down. Like the feeling of hopelessness resonated with a past me. (Dean's feelings of being unfixable or unredeemable definitely contribute to me wanting to see him become a better person and become happy. but hey I know the show's ending so 🙃)

Back to the Kitsune episode. (wrote a lot up there so pics)

What's so sad about the scene with Dean and him there is:

He really isn't a freak. Anyone would be messed up if they were stuck in a cage in the worst part of hell with two extremely powerful angels, one of which is Lucifer. None of that is his fault, and if anything, he's handling it really well. He's still trying to save people despite everything, what else could you expect of someone.

After Sam compares himself to Amy, after he tells him he's managing so so is may... Dean goes and kills Amy. After Sam tells him, I'm just like her... Dean kills her. THAT'S LIKE DEAN TELLING HIM HE CAN'T CHANGE. THAT'S LIKE DEAN IS SAYING I DON'T BELIEVE A FREAK CAN EVER BE ANYTHING ELSE. Right after telling Sam he didn't believe he could have actually gotten better earlier that episode.

Sam always believes he's inherently messed up because his family's conditioned him to believe that because they've kept treating him like a ticking bomb instead of a human who is going through stuff and who needs support.

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spn2006 · 4 months

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the fact that eric kripke isn't even christian really adds something to the way christianity is depicted on supernatural. because its really not about being christian at all, but about living in america, a country dominated by christianity, and having to decide for yourself how to handle that. faith is huge in supernatural, and the mythology of the show is very bible-centric, but notably, christ is never there. even sam, who starts out revering the angels, who once said he prays every night, doesn't actually call himself a christian or imply that he believes in jesus--the show is steeped in christianity and biblical lore and yet neither sam nor dean are christians. in fact, over and over again the church itself is depicted as a haunted house that sam and dean will only ever enter as strangers, as outsiders. priests, preachers, faith healers, chapels, crypts, etc. are all just iconography that create an intense sense of unease that sam and dean respond to instantly. as a jew, its very relatable. an essential part of living in america when you're not christian is that exact sense of unease, of knowing that the culture of your country has ensured that you'll get knocked over by christianity no matter where you go, that you'll see hundreds of people truly believing they're good people while doing awful things in the name of their god, and you have no choice but to confront that. kripke gets it

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creatorofarcadia · 1 month

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It's been a while since I watched Supernatural, so don't take my opinions as gospel or anything. But I think Dean is self-hating to the point of narcissism in some ways. Don't get me wrong, I empathise with Dean and understand why fans largely do too. But his self-loathing warps his perception and becomes the centre of EVERYTHING and at times that really has ripple effects on those around him - particularly Sam.

Take their childhood, Sam has a right to mourn the fact that he didn't get a normal childhood. He's allowed to be angry that he didn't get a home, a present father, a stable community, and consistent education. But whenever Sam attempts to express his complicated feelings about his childhood, Dean immediately interprets it as ' oh I was supposed to look out for you. Are you saying I failed? Are you confirming I'm worthless?' which grinds the conversation to a complete halt. Because of Dean's intense self-criticism, Sam can never really be 100% honest with him or ask for support with his own issues, especially regarding their childhood. As anything outside of 100% gratitude just becomes another stick for Dean to beat himself with, and the conversation is immediately derailed.

Not only does Deans self-hatred mean that Sam's expression of his own experiences are pretty consistently shut down. In some ways, I think Dean strips Sam of his autonomy - he's so self-loathing, he sees every decision Sam makes as being about/a reaction to him. A good example of this is Stanford. Rather than understanding Stanford for what it was, an attempt by Sam to carve out a better life from himself and escape hunting. Dean views it as betrayal or abandonment, some re-affirmation of his own belief that he's not worth caring about. Rather than understanding it's a rejection of hunting, he sees it as Sam rejecting him. To Dean, Sam isn't attempting to find a better life, he's punishing the family.

Overall, it's interesting that people largely and rightfully sympathise with Dean due to his self-hatred. However, I don't see as much discussion about how his self-hatred doesn't just hurt him, it hurts those he's close to, as it colours his interpretation of their every action. Dean's self-loathing is always the biggest thing in the room and that has consequences.

#dean winchester #dean critical #spn meta #spn analysis #sam meta #spn #supernatural #sam winchester

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wrenwinchester · 18 days

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Don’t think about malnourished baby Sammy. Don’t think about little four year old Dean begging his Dad to buy formula instead of ammunition, of four year old Dean burning himself trying to warm up Sammy’s milk. Don’t think about Dean waking up every couple hours after crawling into Sammy’s crib to make sure he was still breathing. Don’t think of little four year old Dean who used to beg to feed his little brother his bottle, now not having another option. Don’t think about baby Sammy getting sick and Dean begging John to make him a doctors appointment to make sure he’s okay. Don’t think of baby Sammy learning to walk with his older brother holding his hands, of baby Sammy crying when he sees John because he doesn’t recognize his own dad. Don’t think of baby Sammy calling Dean dad, or the fact that Sam’s first steps were towards Dean. Don’t think about the fact that the doctors were worried about Sam’s weight at that doctors appointment, and ever since, Dean has made sure that Sammy always had enough to eat, even at the cost to his own health.

Don’t think about twelve year old Dean collapsing on the first night of a hunt because he hadn’t eaten in four or five days, because Sammy needed the food. Don’t think about John yelling at Dean asking what the hell is wrong with him etc. and Dean just shrugs it off. Because he’s fine. And he ignores it. He shoves the aching for food way down and ignores it. So, when they go back into town because they hit a dead end, and get food at a diner, Dean gorges on the food, and eats half of John’s too. Don’t think about John seeing this, having a flash of worry but ignoring it because “it’s Dean he’s always fine.” Don’t think about Dean worrying the first time Sammy called him Dad because “no, no, no, Sammy, I’m your big brother Dean.” Because he’s worried that his Dad is going to freak out if he hears Sammy calling Dean dad.

Don’t think about the fact that Sam probably didn’t learn the word Mom until he was at school because it wasn’t something his dad and Dean said. Don’t think about Sam driving alone for the first time and hitting a dear and calling Dean because he didn’t trust that his dad would answer. Don’t think about Dean, sitting in some motel at 23 years old after a fight with his dad who stormed off debating calling Sam because he’s the only one who would get it.

Don’t think about the Winchester brothers as little kids left alone in motel rooms for too long, underfed, and unsure of when their Dad was going to be back.

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn #the winchesters #weechesters #teenchesters #the winchester brothers #supernatural thoughts #supernatural brainrot #analysis of supernatural

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rosedark88 · 5 days

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No personal Space between Sam& Dean

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam and dean #sam winchester #deansam #samdean #the winchester brothers #spn meta #classic spn #spn analysis #DeanSamtouch

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deansbreastmilk · 28 days

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early seasons triad dynamics amongst the Winchester’s make me crazyyyyy

Dean has recruited Sam to help find John, because he thinks he’s in trouble, but in reality he’s avoiding him! and when they do reunite it wholly unpleasant and tumultuous.

like Dean is trying to mediate and diffuse between them almost CONSTANTLY. Sam and John are volleying their attention right over his head both metaphorically and physically. like he’s got his hands on their chests and is talking in their faces and it’s like he’s not there. they are seeing through him to their animosity towards each other.

and maybe that’s how it’s always been. John doesn’t pay Dean any mind because Dean’s never been smart enough to question him and Sam doesn’t have to worry about Dean because Dean’s always been so devoted to him.

don’t worry about him. he’ll follow us like a dog no matter what - it’s more pressing to fight with you.

and sometimes Dean’ll hear a threat or an insult come out of John and his mom-brain will kick in and he HAS to make himself heard. John sometimes hears but never acknowledges him. always invisible.

insignificant until their guilt comes into play.

like when Dean’s so hurt he dies. or when the Yellow Eyed Demon is heavily implying he’s going to rape Dean with John’s body to bait Sam.

only then do they fucking pay attention and it’s through a damn demons eyes!

and by that point Dean’s already carved open. sobbing for his father to please don’t let it kill me!

and every parting message is take care of Sammy and never take care of yourself.

and that’s been Dean’s life. perfect pawn, devoted guardian. spilling his guts out periodically just to be seen. his safety forgotten until he’s being used as fodder. just like his mom.

#oldest daughter Dean #dean winchester #sam winchester #john winchester #supernatural #supernatural analysis #Wincest

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theworstcwshow · 2 months

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I find it so funny that they named dean after deanna even though he was the first born son, they didn't even wait to see if they might have a girl next time, and to save the name for that.

#i do love the analysis it provides #dean was always the homemaker and more family oriented #so naming him after his grandmother makes the most sense #whereas sam was the hunter #so named after his grandfather #its based on streotypes and gender roles but still good charcter analysis #spn #supernatural #destiel #cas #dean #deancas #dean winchester

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destiel-wings · 7 months

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Dean Winchester & hug dynamic analysis

I was thinking about how whenever Dean hugs someone he's almost always the one hugging the other and how this links to his psychological trauma of always being the caretaker of people, making himself bigger to protect them.

Because that's how Dean sees himself, as a shield for others, and then I thought about how Cas actually is the shield, and he's HIS SHIELD, specifically, the only one who's really there to protect HIM, which is why it hits so much when we see this:

The way Cas wraps his arms around him, trying to protect him with his whole body--that he'd use as a shield and give up in a second if he could spare him from any pain and save him.

(for context: Dean was about to go use the soul bomb on Amara there, it was a suicide mission)

Bobby is another one that hits, he hugs him as the big hugger because he's his father, he loves him and he's actually here to protect him (and Dean LETS him -barely, but he lets him *and Cas* - in a way that he doesn't let Sam)

I watched a compilation of Sam & Dean hugs to check if i was right about it, but it's almost always Dean the big hugger with Sam, except when he's about to die or Sam sees him alive again after losing him.

Even then, Dean mostly tries to hug Sam as the big hugger anyway, with at least one arm, like a way to comfort him, making him feel protected, like his body language is saying "I'm here, I'm okay, I'm still strong, i can still protect you" (because their real father failed and Dean thinks it's his job).

He rarely lets himself be the little one hugged with Sam, unless he's barely conscious. Which is why it kills me so much more now that in this moment (s14, when Dean was going to lock himself in the Ma'lak box cause he was possessed by Michael) and Sam has a desperate breakdown and punches him (to stop him) he forcefully hugs him as the little hugger, the way Dean always kept him, like a way of saying "I still need you to protect me, please don't do this to yourself".

In the scene below he gives Sam his blessing to do a dangerous (possibly suicidal) mission, and one of his arms is down, but the other one tries to stay up--he's forcing himself to do it and he struggles because he still wants to protect him, but (as the seasons progress) he slowly becomes more prone to let go.

So in this view the hug dynamic becomes an indicator of how Dean sees Sam (and himself) and his protector role, how adult and self sufficient he considers Sam, and how much he lets people around him take care of him, lowering his walls and letting himself be hugged.

This is also why i think hugs from characters like Garth or Charlie are so special, because they're just like us: they see Dean and they just know that he needs to be hugged a lot, and that he's not used to it, so they just go for it-- and it's so normal and kind and spontaneous that Dean's just not used to it-- he doesn't know how to respond (especially with Garth, at the beginning, but as the seasons progress, he learns to, and he even initiates the hug eventually).

youtube

I love the hugs where they're 50/50 (one arm up, one arm down both), feels like they're equals, both taking care of each other. I feel like with Sam and Dean, this indicates a healthier dynamic, because Dean lets go a little of the role that was imposed to him and manages to see Sam as the strong individual that he is. But the same applies to 50/50 hugs with other characters, like with Cas, where I feel like it testifies how equals they feel in terms of being fighters, there's a show of respect of each other's strength that transpires by the gesture (which is even more astounding considering that Cas is literally a powerful angel).

And just to end on a destiel note, I'd like to note the possessiveness and protectiveness of Dean (rightfully so) whenever he finds Cas after he thought he had lost him, and how that translates into his body/hug language:

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samwinchesterdefender · 4 months

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sam winchester and dogs - analysis

nobody really seems to talk about this. the other day, i saw that clip of sam and dean going through the memory of the time sam ran away for the first time in a while, and it made me think. we only see sam with dogs a handful of times in the series, at least owning them, and there’s a reason for that— dogs are a symbol of imperfect happiness for sam winchester.

⚠️there will be MAJOR spoilers in this post⚠️

example 1 - bones

we see bones in the episode when dean and sam are going through some of their best memories. one of sam’s is the time he ran away for two weeks and hid somewhere with a dog he found—bones—and lived off “funions and mr pibb”. people often criticize him for this in favor of dean, because dean tells him that john beat him for losing sam. however, people don’t really seem to mention the backstory for this (probably? not all the details line up, but this is seemingly the first time sam ran away) that we got for this later in the episode with sully.

in the episode, we get flashbacks of one part of sam’s childhood: dean and john were on another hunt and wouldn’t let him come with. he had asked sully, “ever think… about running away?” which sparked a conversation about sam’s future which ended in sam deciding to actually run away and ended with a cut back to present day.

sam had decided to run away because he was tired of feeling unvalued and hated the way he was currently living. he didn’t really hate his family— he was just a kid sick of being alone with no promise of change soon. when he ran away, though, he was still alone. he was just alone without promise of dean and john being home in a few days. he thought it would fix his problems, but it didn’t. he didn’t have the greatest relationship with john, but he did love dean. he didn’t really show it as a kid but dean was the only one who showed him real love, and he needed that. he didn’t have that anymore.

this is the first instance sam is shown owning a dog, and it comes after sam ran away for something he thought would fix his life but ended up not really measuring up in the end. he was ripped back from his little adventure right back into his old life. he couldn’t escape. he was free,

but he didn’t have dean.

example 2 - riot

one of the WORST plot lines on this show. i’ll say that. weird choice for sam. regardless, it stands with the analysis.

we all know how sam hit the dog and went to live with amelia instead of looking for dean. it came from the idea that dean used that one time they had evidently agreed on where if one of them died, the other would live a normal life. personally i don’t think sam would have actually done this at this point in the show, but whatever. dean had lisa and ben, and this was sam’s version. sam’s chance at normalcy. we see bits of his life with amelia develop over multiple episodes, and he was even living with her. amelia made him happy. and they really showed that dog a lot.

the dog lived with them, obviously. the second instance of sam owning a dog. sam was trying to start this new life for himself of being a guy who settles down with someone and lives his life in peace. of course, that didn’t really end up working for him, as he left amelia to go back to hunting.

yet again, we have a dog present during a time sam was trying to escape his problems and start over. sam was starting to get this life for himself that he never really thought he would have, but that he always had as an unattainable dream. he was free,

but he didn’t have dean.

example 3 - miracle

the final instance shown of sam owning a dog. dean had found this one, which, as we’ve seen from the takeaway of the two previous examples, was actually foreshadowing of dean’s death in the final episode.

unfortunately, we all remember how 15x20 starts with sam and dean in a semi-normal life. they’ve beat chuck. they’ve saved the world multiple times, and lost so many people in the process. they finally get some normalcy, while still keeping up the little hunting jobs. and then dean somehow dies on that damn rusty rebar.

immediately proceeding is what i can remember through heavy tears as an extremely sad montage of sam living his life without dean, permanently, with parallels to earlier scenes in the episode. then we get that shot of sam and miracle watching dean’s body burn.

dean had unknowingly found sam a companion before he died. this was what sam had left of his big brother. a dog. he took that dog with him when he left the bunker, and took care of him until the day he died. they had both loved that dog. sam had gotten a taste of a free life— a free life with his brother, unshackled by world-threatening evils. that was then forcibly taken away from him in an instant. he was once again alone. alone with miracle. he was free,

but he didn’t have dean.

#sam ily #sam winchester #sammy winchester #dean winchester #sam and dean #supernatural #spn #supernatural analysis #sam meta #THIS IS NOT WINCEST WINCESTIES DO NOT INTERACT

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soullessjack · 8 months

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another tally on the “things about jack that have been almost erased by the baby au” is how genuinely fucked up and weird and scary and violent and horrifying he is. the body horror of his existence is so. Palpable.

he looks human, but he still fundamentally is not human, and the thing that separates him from being human or belonging or being normal and loved and accepted without strings attached is his own bloodline. his own family, his own father. the blood that runs through his veins is the blood of the devil and he wasn’t fed it like Sam. the anger and rage and capacity for violence inside him isn’t an ancient curse like it was for Dean. It’s just who he is. It’s his neurology. Jack enters a guilt/grief-induced psychosis so bad he starts hallucinating his own dead evil father who proceeds to say “I’m in your head, your DNA,” and goes on about how Jack’s place with the only chosen family he ever cared for is that of their little pet monster who’s only kept around to kill things for them. And this is his subconscious, remember, these are all Jack’s own thoughts being given a hallucinatory voice.

When jack is first born he doesn’t even register that he’s not a full human. It’s not until he catches dean telling the sheriff that he’s a Nephil and gets stabbed all the way through his entire heart to the hilt of the angel blade and survives, that he realizes he’s Not Normal. Jack stabs himself 18 times with “grim determination,” dedicated to making a wound stay open in his body, but nothing happens. He doesn’t know what any of this is, but he knows it’s dangerous and he’s seen firsthand what he can do, because he sent the sheriff careening backwards into glass when he didn’t mean to do anything more than push her away. He tells Dean he will hurt someone again [whether he means to or not]. And he tells Sam, using his powers is like breathing; it’s a subconscious, physical, neurological part of his system that he cannot (currently) consciously control or stop.

He’s literally a living weapon. These powers of his that hurt people are akin to breathing. His violence and his evil is deep seated and runs through his heart and bleeds out of him. But he can’t bleed the evil out. He can’t escape what he was born into or what keeps him alive. He can’t even live without this nuclear power that ostensibly others him from everyone forever. He’s foaming at the mouth and seizing and fainting and bleeding and going into total systemic failure and subsequently dying as a human because he just isn’t human and he can’t live as one even if he wants to, even if that is a part of him it still isn’t the only part of him. The other half that makes him untrustworthy and violent and angry and dangerous and nuclear and evil and feared and hated is the one part he is left dying without.

His body dies a first time because it couldn’t live without its own hereditary disease, he died as a human and goes to human heaven and sees and rekindles with his human mother, the part of him that he wants to be and loves but can’t exist as. He’s brought back but now he’s a time bomb, a nuclear reactor internally melting down. he’s a weapon, but he’s alive because he was born as a weapon, and neither of these things were his choice.

and then a second time his body dies because he was only registered as a threat with no humanity. his eyes are burned out of his skull and instead of heaven with his mother, instead of humanity, he wakes up in the pitch black abyss where other nonhumans go when they die, then he’s brought back and he’s a weapon for the third time. He’s a living bomb, a collapsing black hole, and he has to eat human hearts ripped straight from the chest to keep his bomb body alive and ready for detonation, ready for collapse. He’s so far from human, further than he ever wanted to be, further enough to make his deep rooted fear a reality that he’s too suicidal to bother rebuking. Why rebuke the truth? The absolute truth that the devil, the evil of all things is in his blood and he is evil and he was a born weapon whose body exists to destroy and kill and not even his own love or will can stop it.

He is a gun that doesn’t want to be a gun and hates that his body is made to shoot and kill, but he has no choice in being anything else but a gun. He cannot ever be good, he was never good to begin with, he was just malfunctioning, glitching, experiencing an error and virus and flaw that he wishes was his entire programming. His eyes glow yellow like the corrupted Star Wars Sith and Rosemary’s Baby and a whole slew of evil things that are evil and meant to be rejected. When he gets angry, people stare at him as if he’s a cornered animal, because that’s what he is to them. To both sides of the equation, he is an animal. A foreign creature, a thing, he’s not human enough to be human and he’s not angelic enough to be an Angel. He’s some weird mixture that nobody can understand or accept. He’s unpredictable and violent and wild and born that way and only in his subsequent domestication, only in the extension of personhood and humanity can he be deemed worth loving. He’s like a dog, detrimentally loyal, old yeller going rabid while saving his family and having to be shot in an act of mercy. Barking and biting at people who might hurt his loved ones and killing them as an act of love. Sam wanted Nick to burn so Jack burns Nick and that’s why Jack says they would be grateful. He did what Sam wanted. Same for the other biblical killings. He’s the cat sinking its fangs into rodents and birds. Leaving the punctured corpses on the doormat as a gift, I did this for you because I love you, don’t you love me too?

I haven’t eaten well in the past two days does this click click anyone’s boom. Saliva

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stupidirl · 16 days

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Hello supernatural fandom ! I just started supernatural and I am currently on season 3. I've been struggling with finding a topic for my bachelor in media science (Medienwissenschaft). I had an idea to analyse the depiction of masculinity (in Sam and Dean), which has been done a lot, but I thought I could compare Season 1 and the last, most recent one, to see if the depiction has changed. Now I haven't seen the last season yet and don't want to spoil it, if it's not worth it, so my question: is there even any change ? (Things like: do they show more emotions, are they less closed off and is Dean less of a womaniser?) I'm curious and appreciate any input! Thanks :)

#supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #mind you i have to write 30 pages #so the analysis should cover like 10-15 pages #spn

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lost-and-cursed · 2 months

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youtube

Some amazing analysis of themes in supernatural, how finale has broken them and how it could have been fixed

#supernatural #spn #meta analysis #spn meta #video essay #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #destiel #jack kline #and everyone else who come by #also precious destiny and free will discussions #team free will #Youtube #Kath Clarke #spn finale

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creatorofarcadia · 27 days

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Literally replace hunting with any other risky profession and the idea Sam is selfish for not wanting to hunt kind of collapses. No one would ever suggest someone who doesn't want follow the family tradition of joining the military is selfish because hypothetically, them joining could result in someone not dying. It's absurd.

Season 1 John and Dean are really like, you don't want to die painfully in your 20s/30s after a life of constant fighting with no outside connections? Is this? The height of selfishness?

#sam winchester #supernatural #spn #spn meta #spn analysis #dean winchester #john winchester

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