#2.) he's borderline meta if not just generally acceptable to have on the team

[xxplastic-cubexx]

fortnite bringing their x-men skins back like girl youre too late for that ........ rivals is out ......

[superman86to99]

Superman #83 (November 1993)

Funeral for a Friend: uh, that one Green Lantern supporting character who died when Coast City got blown up (Joe? Gary?). In this issue DC’s superheroes pay tribute to the tragedy of Coast City while also deciding what the hell to do with the giant engine that’s now in its place. Weird early ‘90s Hawkman! Dr. Fate with boobs! Already-slightly-psychotic Hal Jordan! EVERYONE IS HERE.

(Nice one, Guy.)

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor Jr. is also sneaking around Engine City, supposedly to prevent it from falling into the ocean and killing some of Aquaman’s friends, but in reality he just wants to look into the Cyborg Superman’s computer to see if he can find a recipe for making kryptonite. As the heroes argue about what to do with Engine City (Hal says drop it into the water, screw the fish), some leftover Warworld aliens start attacking them, like the holdout Japanese soldiers who never found out WWII was over.

The attack precipitates the city’s fall into the water and the heroes have to think fast to prevent a fish holocaust. Their solution is for all the Green Lantern-related characters (Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, Alan Scott, Alan’s daughter Jade) to “detoxify” the debris with their powers before it falls into the ocean. And it works! These guys should totally open a carpet cleaning business.

As for Lex Jr., he does find the recipe for kryptonite inside the crumbling city, but just as he’s about to write it down (he wasn’t carrying any floppy disks, apparently), Supergirl yanks him out of there to prevent him from burning alive. What an unsupportive girlfriend. Anyway, Superman then takes some of the debris and builds a giant memorial for Coast City’s 6,999,999 anonymous lost souls, and Gary. Sweet Gary. You will be missed.

Creator-Watch:

If the art looks different that’s because this is the first issue inked by Joe Rubinstein, ending Brett Breeding’s classic two and a half year run as Dan Jurgens’ main inker (so classic that it feels a lot longer than that). Breeding will be back for Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey and other stuff, though. As for Rubinstein, Don says: “At  the time, I had trouble with the transition, being soused to Brett Breeding’s finishes over Jurgens’ pencils, but looking at it now, the art looks great. It doesn’t look as smooth or blocky as Breeding’s finishes, but Rubinstein’s hatchier style serves Jurgens pretty well, even if it takes some getting used to.”

Plotline-Watch:

At the start of the issue, Superman goes to pick up Batman to take him to Coast City, only to find him wearing a different costume, acting differently, and sounding like a different guy. That’s because that’s not really Bruce Wayne in the suit anymore, but the replacement he got after Bane broke his back. That’s right: freakin’ Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught.

Superman gives a speech about how superheroes must work together to prevent another tragedy like Coast City from happening, but when Guy asks him if that means he’s going back to the Justice League, he’s like “uh, not yet.” Wisely, he’s gonna wait for Grant Morrison to get there first.

Hal Jordan’s characterization in this issue is interesting. In Green Lantern #47 (which came out the same month), he’s bummed about Coast City but still hopeful and serene, while here he’s already going Parallax on us. Wonder if Dan Jurgens knew more about what DC was planning for Hal than the other comic’s writer.

There’s a cute scene where Superman is flying by Kansas on his way to Coast City and quickly drops some flowers for Ma Kent. (That, or Flash picked this moment to hit on a random older woman.) 

Former TV exec/crime boss Morgan Edge has released an autobiography where he trashes the Daily Planet’s Cat Grant for using her sexiness (and, you know, sex) to get dirt on him and send him to jail. He also accuses Cat of being a crappy mother to her son Adam. He kind of has a point there, because what kind of mom would let her kid play with an Atari in the early ‘90s?! The SNES and the Genesis were already out!

Believe it or not, Morgan Edge’s pervy dad in that screenshot above isn’t the creepiest thing in that scene. Don: “Very spooky how the guy dangling outside of Cat’s apartment goes without mention. An ominous foreshadow of one of the very few missteps of Jurgens’ run.”

But the most ominous part of the issue is at the end, when Clark Kent accepts Jimmy Olsen’s offer to become roomies, since Clark lost his apartment on account of being dead and all. Don wants you to know that “Jimmy is still in that towel by the way” in the scene below. I hope.

Patreon-Watch:

Shout out to our patrons Aaron, Murray Qualie, Chris “Ace” Hendrix, britneyspearsatemyshorts, Patrick D. Ryall, and a warm welcome to Samuel Doran! Last month our patrons got to read an article about Superman’s bizarre first Elseworlds appearance ever, the Kamandi: At Earth’s End miniseries, and got a veeeeeery early look at this post you’re reading right now (since Don finished his part way before I did mine). Right now I’m preparing this month’s Patreon-only article, which involves Superman wearing pointy ears and Luthor wearing make up. Find out more at https://www.patreon.com/superman86to99

Oh, and in case you missed it, we’ve been posting Don’s new commentary for older issues on the Patreon as free posts (click above and scroll down to see them). EVEN MORE from Don after the jump!

Art-Watch (by @donsparrow​):

Another classic issue, and such a nice wrap-up to the "Death and Return" storyline (as well as being a much-needed check-In on the DC Universe at  large).  We start with the cover, and it’s a very good one, letting the  reader know right away that it’s a big team-up issue.  (It also is a real showcase for 90s costume design, and how weird the JLA lineup was at this point).

The opening splash is a neat image of a rarely seen pairing, Superman and Commissioner Gordon.   Jurgens draws James Gordon a little heavier and more Pa-Kent like than I’m used to seeing him, but it’s still neat to see him interacting with Superman. A page  later, we get another rare pairing—the returned Superman with the imposter Batman, Jean-Paul Valley.  The tension in the interaction between “AzBats” and Superman comes across well in their exchange, as does Superman’s doubts about who he was really speaking to.

It’s a dreamy looking Superman crossing the country from Metropolis to Coast City, and I daresay that they’re trying to channel Dean Cain a little as he approaches Kansas.

The best panel of the issue though is the two page spread  of all the heroes gathering at the wreckage of Coast City, and there’s so much to love here.  The body language, and facial  expressions speak volumes about each of the characters:  Superman looking swashbuckling and upbeat, Green Lantern brooding like a man barely holding on, Green Arrow all attitude and shadow.  Just a great spread.

Another cool image is Aquaman showing up late, and emerging very royally in protection of his ocean (undercut masterfully by a legitimately funny couple of lines from Guy Gardner).  Page 14’s Hal Jordan is a great drawing, and this whole storyline seems like a table setter for the "Emerald Twilight" story coming up.

The sequence of a firelit Luthor  at the computer is a good look at his madness, but it does beg the  question of just how little Supergirl seems to take in.  He was JUST talking aloud  about Kryptonite, and she emerges seeming not to hear.  The image of  Supergirl flying Lex away as he struggles against her psychic grab is a  good one, even if her uniform is depicted as a little clingier than I imagine it to really be.

Superman floating above his obelisk with his arm in front of  his face like Dracula is a cool look, even if it is a little dramatic.

Lastly, the image of Clark turning up the stereo is a good one, even if his hair length is wildly  shorter here than in Coast City (and I usually dislike it when they  mention real world bands, as it comes off trying too hard to be hip).

STRAY OBSERVATIONS:

I  have to love how meta it is to have Superman outright saying that Batman is dressing more “threatening” these days,  on page 2.  I guess he couldn’t come right out and say “you have an  extreme new look, and it’s totally badass! Batman the next generation!”

Last  we saw of Supergirl she was storming out of the party on Lex’s Zeppelin after Lex II was getting all horned up at  the sight of Lois Lane, but it appears here they’ve mostly patched  things up as they fly to Coast City.

More meta-stuff: Jimmy clunkily complimenting Lois on her new hair by saying she “oughta be on TV or something!”.   This whole exchange is very expository, really, “Clark must be pretty mad… though he’s busy worrying about where he’s going to bunk…”  Anything else to get in there, Jimmy?

The harshness some of the heroes have for Lex Junior seems a little out of place, especially since he’s still known to  most of the heroes as an ally from "Panic in the Sky", and the "Doomsday"  storyline.  Superman’s comment was borderline, but where is all this  anger Flash is showing coming from?

Being  as familiar as we are with these writers, there are certain phrases or ideas that a certain writer will go to way,  way too often.  Byrne had a number of stories where Superman would  “ionize” something with his heat vision, and it occurred to me that  maybe he just liked that word.  I would submit that Dan Jurgens likes the word “atomize”.  It was used by the Cyborg  Superman when talking about Doomsday, and is used a bunch just in this issue.

I find it hilarious that Hawkman appears so prominently in this issue, but doesn’t get any lines.  This issue is an  interesting time capsule—I had almost forgotten about the de-aged  Starheart powered Alan Scott era.

Speaking of lines, they don’t give Captain Marvel much to do in this issue, but I always like seeing him, even if his only contribution is the odd “Holy Moley!”

Colouring error on page 12, where Hal’s ring has a red centre (maybe the colourist had Alan Scott’s red and green look on the brain?)

A raging Hal standing by Green Arrow is a sad foreshadowing of their confrontation to come in Zero Hour.

[mysterylover123]

Todoroki’s Relationships Analysis: Part 2: Chapters 21-44 (Sports Festival

Onward to the Sports Fest

Chapter 22-23: Midoriya 

Todoroki first takes notice of Midoriya when he overhears Iida and Uraraka gossiping about Deku’s connection with All Might. This indicates that Todoroki sees Deku as a rival initially because of his connection with the #1. As Inasa later points out, Shoto at this point in his life seems to be always looking away to something he hates in the distance. He only sees the chance to hurt his Dad, and nothing else.

Right before the Sports Festival starts, in the prep room, Shoto walks up to Midoriya and tells him he’s better than him, but that since All Might has his eyes on Midoriya, Todoroki intends to beat him.  “I feel no need to pry into that” indicates that Shoto isn’t interested in Midoriya himself at this point, but only in the prestige of defeating All Might’s protege. 

He certainly isn’t.

Midoriya accepts his challenge and Shoto’s response is hard to describe...he’s basically just calmly accepting.

In the first event, Shoto instantly gets ahead of the  crowd. Momo and Bakugou both reprimand him for his arrogance in thinking he could beat them all so easily, as both of them are able to escape his trap right away. 

Cont below the cut

Todoroki probably expected them to escape - as established before, he has respect for Momo and Katsuki’s skills. 

His gaze is still focused on Endeavor. He also froze the robots on purpose to take people out, showing a disregard for other peoples’ safety. 

He takes the time to notice Bakugou catching up to him; Bakugou then proceeds to pass him and tell him he declared war on the wrong person. Shoto looks like he may be considering that possibility - remember, at this point he has expressed respect for Bakugou’s abilities, outside of any mentor figure or connection, but not for Midoriya’s on his own. 

Like in the Provisional License Exam Arc, Shoto gets distracted by a petty fight with a potential rival and leaves himself open to fail, focusing more on his angry and resentment than on trying to win. 

And then gets taken down from behind, by someone he stopped paying attention to.  When Midoriya surpasses him (and Bakugou stays ahead of him) he looks annoyed, even angry.

And as he continues to tie with the other two, he looks a little nervous. 

When he does in fact lose, his initial response isn’t shown, but his image in the results is almost in shock. While Shoto does have a tendency to come in second (the entrance exam, the Quirk Apprehension test), he directly challenged Midoriya, and then lost to him in the first event. He probably was not expecting to actually lose to Deku in the first round. Deku surprises him here.

CAVALRY BATTLE:

Kirishima mentions that Todoroki assembled his team pretty quickly.  We already know that Shoto respects Yaoyorozu’s capabilities.

 It’s possible, however, that he only picked these three, as he said later on, because they would ‘make the strongest possible combination’. He’s definitely buying into his own assertion about not being there to make friends. 

He admits to Iida that he has a vow not to use his heat side, the first time we see him admit this to someone. 

His target is Midoriya, like most of the other teams. Deku has 10 million points, so he basically has no choice. He also probably wants to surpass him after losing to him in the first round. 

He tells Midoriya firmly that he’ll “be taking that”, challenging him about halfway through with a carefully thought out plan. 

We see that Shoto generally works well with Yaoyorozu. However, as she puts it later, she mostly just follows his orders here. He’s the boss, she’s the secondary teammate (as are Kaminari and Iida), the subordinate to his state of being in charge. 

Todoroki is kept at bay for almost the entire Cavalry Battle thanks to Midoriya exploiting his weakness. This really pisses Shoto off. He calls Deku a “bastard” for exploiting his weakness here - another sign of Shoto effectively 

His response to Deku coming at him with his fire power is one of real terror. He reflexively activates his fire side in this fit of terror. (OFA full power can bring down a building, he’s not wrong).

He’s horrified that he let his left side activate, and looks nearly traumatized afterwards. He blames Midoriya for cornering him, and corners him before lunch to explain why he won’t use his fire side.

BACKSTORY TIME

So Midoriya is the only person Todoroki has so far given the details of his backstory to. I’ve always found the question of confidence to be an important one in determining who to pair up, becuase it indicates who the character feels they can talk to about their personal problems. So far, though, Shoto hasn’t shown much warmth or fondness for Midoriya, so confiding in him here feels differently from Ochaco confiding her backstory in Iida and Deku, or Deku telling Kacchan about OFA, or even Bakugou crying in front of Midoriya on several occasions. As shown above, he begins this confidence glaring at Izuku with a “cold” sort of intimidation.

He explains his own reasoning for why he used his flame side and makes a reasonable guess, but not a correct one, about Izuku’s origin story. 

He tends to be looking away from Deku in this scene as he tells him about his origin. Looking off, as always, into the distance, at something not immediately before him. 

Here, he finally gets a little emotional and admits something tragic and uncomfortable, ending with his complete pledge. Izuku declares war right back at him, and Todoroki says basically nothing. He has no response. 

Honestly, I’m not really sure why Todoroki chooses to tell Deku his backstory. My best guess is that it’s his way of justifying holding back against him. He has an inkling that maybe that’s the wrong thing to do, but he needs to reaffirm that his tactic is correct. 

DEKU VS TODOROKI

Todoroki in general here seems genuinely scared of Deku’s power.

He’s rightfully horrified at how far Deku is willing to go (this translation is so weird). Todoroki genuinely doesn’t seem to understand at this point why anyone would go this far to win. It’s hard for him to empathize with this mindset, because he’s used to being the best and winning pretty easily.

He is not without empathy for how much pain Deku is in, of course. He apologizes for hurting him, which Deku probably interprets as condescending to him. He feels bad that his own power is hurting someone - his usual ‘apologies’ catchphrase indicating that he’s apologizing for his op-ness.

Deku calls Todoroki out for refusing to actually look at his opponent and fixating on some offscreen foe.

He still can’t seem to understand why Midoriya would do this.  To someone like Todoroki, who’s used to being able to win without having to take any real damage himself, the idea of breaking your own body to win an exhibition match is probably completely incomprehensible.

The only way he can explain it to himself is by assuming Endeavor rigged the match, once again fixating on his old man at the expense of everything else. 

As Deku gets crazier and crazier Shoto flashes back to his recital of his ‘trivial’ motivation. Deku then starts bawling Shoto out for refusing to give it his all. 

Shoto’s response to this is to tell him to Shut up and start flashing back to his own traumatic backstory. He’s overwhelmed by his ice side and starts falling apart, afraid to use his fire and aware that that might be the only way he can win. As I mentioned in my meta on his ‘Shipping Problem’, this is an issue between Deku and Shoto: Deku is very argumentative and confrontational, Shoto is not.

It isn’t until Deku says something constructive that everything changes. This reminds Shoto of something All Might said, and something his mother said. This prompts him to use his fire for the first time. 

This smile (the first time we see Shoto smile) can be read in a number of ways. Mainly, of course, a feeling of freedom, of being able to let loose. Fighting Sero earlier saw Shoto essentially just cut loose with his ice powers and nearly hurt someone. Shoto’s core fear seems to be becoming like his father and harming those around him with his power. But there is an argument that quirks demand to be used, that people need to be able to utilize their abilities. Freeing Shoto up to do so means that Izuku saves him from feeling torn about this. Even the most dangerous and terrifying powers demand their use (ie, Toga’s backstory) and repressing them mentally hurts people in BNHA. 

He  starts crying about unleashing his powers this way, as Endeavor screams his name at him and yells at him that he’s “living up to the reason he created him”. So, now that Izuku has given Shoto the words he needed to make better use of his quirk, what does he think of Deku now?

a

Well he’s not wrong. But it does seem that Shoto thinks Midoriya is crazy. Something about him just unsettles him and he can’t seem to understand what motivates Izuku to act like he does. 

However, he’s still grateful to him for his support.

He’s borderline stunned when he wins and left deeply conflicted about what to do next. He can only say that Deku distracted him from Endeavor enough that he “forgot about him”. Deku made him use his left side in order to win. He doesn’t use his fire against Iida and seems back, almost, to his old ways - winning fast with only ice and a quietly mumbled “apologies”. 

Now we come back to Bakugou. Now, Todoroki, as established before, does have some respect for Bakugou’s abilities. He isn’t completely dismissive of him. He’s not afraid of him (his face when challenging him is never as scared as he looks fighting OFA Deku), and he generally just kind of stays calm around him.

While preparing for his match, Todoroki is thinking about Midoriya’s words. He has probably been considering tactics and that he might need to use his fire to beat Bakugou, which would have led him back to considering what Deku said and his conflict with his mom.

When Bakugou bursts in, Shoto looks a little surprised but immediately goes back to contemplating his hands. Bakugou doesn’t like this and, like Deku, demands “Where are you looking?” A moment of continuity between the two rivals.

Shoto asks Bakugou all about Deku, showing some interest in learning more about the guy and maybe even some guilt for how Deku went out.

Bakugou kicks the table over and demands that Todoroki pay attention to HIM, not his family problems or Deku or anything. This is a Shoto analysis post, not a Bakugou one, so I won’t go into Bakugou’s motives here. Shoto looks annoyed with him after he says this and even a little angry. 

He starts his match with a very all out ice attack. To quote from my friend ido100, about Todoroki’s fights here “Against Sero, I think the "apology" was meant to say something like "I need to flip the bastard off, and I'm sorry I have to release the rage on you".Against Bakugo, I think when what went through his mind when Midoriya encouraged him was "Why am I holding back? Endeavor doesn't matter. I'll show him. The only thing that matters is the battle!" Retaliation- "But... It's... not right. Is it?"And during the battle against Bakugo, the comment of the ice being more focused indicates his mind was cleared more into the battle. “

Shoto conitnues to try fighting with only ice, enraging Bakugou when he refuses to fight him with fire. 

Aizawa points out that he’s basically lost his energy after fighting Deku. He’s not sure of anything anymore, not sure whether he should use only ice or use both. Before he was unstoppable because he had a clear goal. Now he’s had to compromise his plans and he just can’t go all out either way. 

This line is really interesting - Todoroki didn’t feel guilty about not giving Midoriya an all out fight at first, even though both demanded as much from him. His mindset has changed. He doesn’t suspect Bakugou of being paid off by Endeavor. Instead, he feels bad about hurting him.

Midoriya cheers him on from the stands and for a moment Todoroki decides to  go all out and use his fire. However, the flashbacks to his past return and in the end he puts the fire out and loses, devastating Bakugou.  A part of it may indeed be just as Bakugou fears, that Todoroki doesn’t think he’s a big enough threat to merit an all out fight - after all, he’s a LOT more intimidated by MIdoriya, despite Bakugou throwing freaking Howitzer impact at him. 

Afterwards, he’s still thinking about Deku and why All Might took notice of him. Based on Deku’s...advice?...he decides to go make peace with his mom so he can be a better hero in the future.

Sports Fest Shoto starts off madly resolved on winning with just his ice side. He notices Midoriya as All Might’s protege and challenges him, he acknowledges Momo and Bakugou’s strength to some degree, but he’s mostly preoccupied with screwing over Endeavor. He’s forced out of that sort of fog when Deku starts going crazy and berating him. He feels free to let loose for a little while, but remains conflicted and ends up hurting Bakugou’s feelings. The arc leaves him in a state of confusion and ambivalence.

[lovethediseasedkillerpuppy]

Is Dean's Behavior is Comparable to Sam's?

This is in regard to your post about whether Dean’s actions have been just as bad as Sam’s, and why one might excuse Dean for let’s say, something like the MOC, but be angry at Sam for his S4 demon blood drinking/teaming up with Ruby arc.

First, let me preface this by saying, I’m sorry for the small book I am sending you!

Secondly, I guess I have a different story than most Dean fans. I came to the show WANTING to be bibro. In fact, I came to the show WANTING to like Sam specifically (because the friend who introduced me to the show liked him). I came for the epic bromance. I came with excitement and anticipation. I was sorely disappointed because Sam’s actions and his attitude were not conducive to what I’d consider good or even acceptable behaviors/attitudes [To add, spn is not my first rodeo. I analyze most everything I read/watch in this manner, and I watch A LOT]. So, I do tend to trust my instincts here. I don’t dislike Sam because I’m biased toward Dean and can’t cut Sam some slack. I dislike Sam because of how he behaves in the story. The one bias I do have, comes not from Dean, but from the narrative’s attempt to excuse or erase the behavior I find upsetting or distasteful. It only makes me MORE angry and incensed over it (and that sometimes makes Sam’s behavior seem worse to me). Worse still, is that the story often tries to do with through Sam, himself, which again only worsens the character in my eyes. It’s one thing to do something bad. It’s another thing to then excuse yourself for having done it and demand everyone else excuse you as well (including the people you harmed in the process).

I’m going to be as civil as I can, but I’m going to say that in no way is Sam’s behavior comparable to Dean’s in 90% of these instances.

I guess if you removed all of the context for these situations completely and decided that it didn’t matter, then perhaps they could be semi-equivalencies? But even that feels like a stretch to me, and I’m not understanding why context wouldn’t matter. On the contrary, I feel like context matters a great deal. A man shoots someone and kills him. It matters whether he shot because the man was threatening to kill his wife and he felt he had no other choice, or if he shot because he really, REALLY wanted the guy’s car to get away with the crime he’d just committed. On the surface, yes both men shot and killed another person. But while I would find understanding for the first scenario, I wouldn’t for the second (This is not necessarily meant to be a comparison of Dean and Sam, it’s just to highlight why context matters and why it’s something I heavily consider when judging an action).

That said, I’m all for examining why I think certain actions in certain contexts are understandable or even good, while I find others to be cruel or wrong. My reasons for being angry at Sam’s actions is often heavily based on the context of those actions, what Sam knew or should have known when he chose to act, his attitude and expressed reasons behind the action, and lastly his response to being confronted with his bad behavior.

So with that in mind, I’m going to dive in.

Sam’s stint with demon blood vs Dean and the MOC? These don’t seem very comparable at all. In this case, the actions themselves aren’t even comparable. One was done with a ton of prior knowledge, two years worth of lies and deception, a semi-cannibalistic addiction, violent physical assault, and lots of emotional abuse toward an already, notably broken brother. The other was done without any of that, with in fact coming to Sam, listening to his ideas on what to do about it, and working with Sam to correct it. One was a series of decisions that were made with multiple, on-going warnings, from multiple sources. Sam had plenty of chances to turn around, and a brother begging him to stop, even selling himself to give Sam another option, but Sam defended his choices each and every time and refused to behave differently. The MOC was a one-time decision of a hopeless and suicidal man that could not be taken back, even as he tried desperately to do so. One was done with plenty of notice that who was being risked (other innocents), while the other was done without any impression Dean would only be risking anyone but himself.

Here is a meta that explores it more in depth than I can here, taking a hard look at some of the context that is removed from S4 in a lot discussions. But just to add, here are a bit more context to show why Sam’s behavior S4 was so loathed and not really comparable to Dean and the MOC:

Sam’s knew that his powers were given to him by a powerful, evil demon with the specific purpose of having him lead a demon army in subjugating the world. He knew that the safety of others depended on him NOT succumbing to the influence of those dark powers. He knew that engaging those powers generally led to insanity/ murder/ going “darkside” and that with the single exception of Andy, ALL the other special kids who exercised those powers succumbed to the temptation. He knew that him going darkside would have serious repercussions for other people, not just himself. That it would at least lead him to murder innocent people and at worst lead to the destruction of humanity at the hands of a demon army. And yet he risked it anyway, not even so that he could stop a worse evil, but for revenge.

Throughout S4, both Dean and Sam were actively engaged in a war against demons and demon kind. Actually, one could say they’ve been in this battle since S2, and it’s just escalated to apocalyptic proportions by S4. Consulting with the enemy (even if you believe that enemy has defected to your side) while keeping it a secret from your comrades is…well wrong. It’s making the choice to share information FOR THEM, without their consent or approval. This would be different if Sam were off on his own, but he was not. He was working with Dean, the angels, and Bobby. Yet he gave a demon information about their plans and their activities without alerting them. This is a HUGE betrayal of trust (and would be considered treason in a RL situation). Ruby knew all their moves because Sam told her where they were and what they were doing. I understand that SAM decided to trusted her. But everyone else didn’t get to be part of that decision because he decided for them and lied to them about it.

Sam also knew that Dean was not comfortable with teaming up with or sharing information with Ruby. Dean had made it clear the he didn’t trust Ruby back in S3. It’s hard to imagine he didn’t know how much worse it would be after Dean returned from hell, the land of demons, where he was subjected to the worst suffering imaginable at their hands. Dean, who’d just spent decades of being abused and tortured by demons, did not get a say in telling one where he sleeps at night, was not consulted in the decision to tell a demon his whereabouts. Think about the level of violation that entails.

Sam started lying to Dean at the end of S2 and continued lying to him despite multiple opportunities to tell the truth. At no point did Sam tell Dean the whole truth. Even after Dean sold his soul for him. Even after Dean returned from the dead and begged for honesty. Nor after Dean apologized for over reacting to Sam’s deceptions, ceased commenting on Sam using his powers, thanked and worked with Ruby, and promised not to try to stop Sam from whatever Sam wanted to do. Sam’s lies were multitude (at least 12 that we see happening on screen), told with a straight face, and without remorse.

Sam used copious amounts of emotional blackmail to combat any questioning of his behavior and worse, to deflect any natural consequences from it after the fact. Dean, specifically, who was already in a vulnerable place, got to be the recipient of the deceptions, the gas-lighting, and manipulations. At one point, Sam graduates from emotionally abusive tactics and literally nearly strangles Dean to death.

NONE of this applied to Dean’s decision to take the MOC. Dean’s single moment of borderline suicidal decision making, which he had no reason to suspect would influence anyone else is…just not comparable. At. All.

I will also give you these links (part 1 and part 2) and this link, because they compare some other seemingly similar situations between the brothers, and highlight why I actually find them to be incredibly different, why I end up angry at Sam’s behaviors.

The next compare/contrast I was working on was going to be Amy/Benny anyway, so perhaps I’ll put something more together there. Until then, however, here is a brief bit of context surrounding the Amy situation that does not apply to the situation with Benny nor the situation with Emma (both of which Sam specifically compared to Amy).

When it comes to Amy, I do think Dean was wrong, not because he killed Amy, but because he lied about it. He said he wouldn’t and then he did it anyway. This is why I don’t really fault Sam for being angry (though the abandonment was a bit much, imo). However, Amy and Benny were nothing alike. Amy was monster who’d murdered four people in cold blood (despite her reasons), who Dean suspected may kill again. Sam was only barely acquainted with her. They weren’t friends and weren’t planning to be friends. Sam wasn’t going to stay in contact with her and had no plans to spend more time with her. Aside from the one, incredibly brief memory, they had nothing to do with each other. The one afternoon Sam had spent with her was not enough to really know her or vouch for her character, especially as that was years and years ago. I do not think Sam’s lie back then, though he kept it from John and Dean for years, was particularly wrong. Yes he let a monster go, but she had saved his life and wasn’t killing anyone. He had reason to believe she wouldn’t kill anyone, and reason to believe his father and brother would kill her none-the-less. That was all fine.

But Amy’s track record didn’t hold. That changed when she killed four people. And Dean, talking to a Sam that’s been hallucinating so bad he nearly blew Dean’s head off a few eps before, has NO reason to trust that she won’t do it again (or even that she’s really done this time and hadn’t just used her history with Sam to get away with it). Even if she was sincere, she’d murdered multiple human beings in cold blood and fed them to her offspring.Worse, she only stopped after she was irrevocably caught the second time. She deserved to be hunted. Dean should’ve told Sam the truth of that, and trusted that he could handle it, mentally unstable or not. But this to me wasn’t a heinous wrong, even if it was wrong. And what happened when he was caught? Dean apologized. Sam abandoned Dean without a word and gave him the silent treatment for several weeks. Dean was more than aptly punished for his digression.

Now, what about Benny? Dean fought beside Benny for a year, during a time when it seemed he was being abandoned to die in a land of horrors, by both his brother and his best friend. Benny became a true, invaluable friend, to Dean. Someone he knew intimately, someone he trusted, and the only real person he could talk to about blood washed reality of purgatory. First, he was forced to abandon this friend at Sam’s insistence, because Sam was jealous (despite Sam usually being the one advocating for “good” monsters). That alone was unfair and mean, and horrible considering Sam KNEW Dean had PTSD from it and he himself was doing nothing to help (he basically told Dean “your fine” right after Dean got done telling him how not fine he was. Plus, Sam kept trying to dictate that Dean had no right to be angry or upset over the abandonment, but that’s another issue). He basically forbid Dean from having contact with the one person he could turn to for support and then also offered no support himself.

During Southern Comfort, Sam prefaced his intention to kill Benny, again because Dean claimed Benny had treated him better than Sam had. Sam put an unstable man back in the field (Martin would’ve been a danger to innocents no matter what Sam had put him on) and sicced him on Benny specifically (because apparently he wasn’t satisfied with just keeping Dean and Benny apart). Benny was not killing anyone, wasn’t doing anything other than trying to reconnect with his relative. When Benny was suspected, Dean did not ask Sam to let Benny go if it were ever proven he’d killed someone, he only asked to have time to check to make sure he had. Sam promised Dean that, then rescinded, stood by while the mentally unstable hunter that he secretly hired to follow Benny knocked Dean unconscious. Then they both chained Dean to a radiator and went to kill his friend without any further checking. The only reason Sam didn’t succeed in his intended murder is because Dean interfered, something he was chewed out for from multiple people and later apologized for.

Do you see how these situations are not the same?

And what about Emma? I’ve written here, a little about my anger at the way Emma was treated, by Sam and also by the narrative. But I’ll also write a little more. Unlike Amy, Emma ALSO hadn’t killed anyone yet. Why did Sam suddenly change his policy on giving monsters a chance, especially considering the fact that 1) Emma was a child that had, through no fault of her own, been brainwashed and 2) she was literally Dean’s biological daughter? That alone, (for Dean’s sake) should have afforded her some mercy in Sam’s eyes, even if he’d completely stopped caring about giving monsters a chance (which we see later, that he hasn’t). 3) Sam paused and clearly heard Dean talking her down. She was not moving to attack. So why did he kill her?? The narrative, through Sam no less, suggests the reason is because of his soreness over Amy. It specifically has Sam justify his killing of Emma by bringing up Amy. And how does he do it? Sam shoots her in front of Dean—when she was not attacking, when he could have easily disabled her instead—and then proceeded to berate Dean for hesitating because if Amy died, so should she. This was Dean’s literal child, and yet he’s condemned for even WANTING to give her a chance. Do you see how that’s upsetting and NOT the same at all as killing a verified, serial killer who’d people’s brains to her kid and was not even a decent acquaintance Sam’s (b/c most acquaintances we’ve met more than one time)?

And I won’t even go into the Amelia/Lisa situation accept to say this: Dean did not abandon Sam to a terrible fate when he settled with Lisa, even though he KNEW Sam was technically dead. He looked for a way to get him out (that wouldn’t release lucifer again) and eventually found one. Sam did not have any sort of remains to suggest that Dean was dead (in a world with teleportation none-the-less) and he did nothing to check to see if Dean was in fact dead or not. He assumed, and he did it in a way he’s tried to do before (see S1 Devil’s Trap. Sam suggest they do the same to John, so he can justify abandoning their dad in pursuit of his own vendetta), and then quickly got rid of any way for others to contact him,. He did it so fast Kevin couldn’t even get through (and he even KNEW where Kevin was. He could’ve at least called someone else to rescue the boy). I won’t even talk about the aftermath of their returns here, and how Sam behaves when Dean returns because I’ve already gone on for far too long.

My ultimate point is this: context matters. It’s not just what Sam does, but how and why, his attitude and the way he treats those around him both during and after he’s done it (it’s also how he demonstrates a disregard for others in general). There are things I don’t really like from both boys, but can excuse because in context it’s rather understandable (Sam cutting off ties when going to college for example, or Dean being rough and unstable right after purgatory). But when it comes to things like Sam’s treatment of Dean throughout S4 and 5, Sam’s abandonment of Dean in S8, Sam’s attempt to murder Benny and him killing Emma, there is really nothing Dean does that I can compare it to. Even at Dean’s worst, his heart is clearly in the right place and he isn’t careless or selfish or cruel. I just can’t say the same for Sam.