#THE EVOLUTION BETWEEN SEASON 5 AND 6 OF ''I DID THIS FOR YOU DEAN'' | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

astudyinfreewill · 4 years ago

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“it all comes down to the soul(s) in the end”: or, characters make the story work, and not the other way around

outing myself yet again as a dabb era critical blog here but. i just think the difference between carver era and dabb era is that carver era was character-arc driven while dabb era was overarching-main-plot driven with some good character moments thrown in (which may be to do with the fact that - iirc - during carver era for a while they didn’t know if they’d get renewed so they couldn’t plan too far ahead and just progressed the story by increments, as opposed to dabb era knowing they had a longer time frame to work with and deciding the plot beforehand).

the thing is, i think most of us can agree that after the kripke era - which, for all its flaws and setbacks (hello writers’ strike), had a self-contained myth arc involving both an internally coherent narrative and certain well-defined character beats - and going into the gamble “hot girl summer but make it angst” era, the appeal of supernatural relies largely on the characters. it has to, because for a show to keep running after 6-7 seasons, you have to be invested not just in the story/stories being told, but in the people driving the story forward. it simply won’t work otherwise.

and - to my perception at least - the carver era (perhaps largely due to ben edlund’s imprint in s8, lbr) knew that. some examples of what i mean:

it gave dean an arc about dealing with the toxicity of his upbringing and his unhealthy attachment to sam, as well as starting to explore other meaningful relationships for himself (benny, charlie, and of course him continuously reaching out to cas) - essentially it allowed dean to confront that he wanted things.

it gave sam an arc about dealing with his trauma re: demon blood, and having to confront what it means to be good, how he always felt impure through no fault of his own - and it shifted him over into accepting that his calling in life is as a keeper of lore and mentor to other people, by contrasting the failure of the sam/amelia relationship with him finding the bunker and discovering a different part of the hunting world

it forced cas to confront what he wants for himself, by making him deal with his own changing nature (being human, then an angel again, and the whole arc about living on borrowed grace), and with the other angels falling and what that meant for him; he got the chance to be on his own and be with the winchesters, to both make mistakes and be a leader to other angels - and then give up that leadership by choice because he prioritised his human family to his reputation in heaven (which should have been a clear indication of endgame human cas but i digress)

it brought in compelling new characters - primarily charlie and kevin, though they were both horrendously mistreated by bucklemming writing them off - claire novak as an angry teenager, aaron and his golem, metatron as a fascinatingly meta (ha) antagonist, rowena as a frenemy, and gave old characters compelling story beats (crowley and his “humanity addiction”). also, it had writers like robbie thompson who were attuned to the fan community in an unprecedented way.

with the dabb era, i feel like because they’d set their mind on where the story was going (e.g.: killing dean, having a new and “better” god in place, giving sam a white picket fence ending) they didn’t really care if they had to break the protagonists’ characterisation to get us there. we still had moments of great characterisation - steve yockey episodes first and foremost, and of course robert berens carrying the dean/castiel beats - but mostly, characterisation came second to what the story would need. this is how we get dean winchester, friend and protector to kids everywhere, being A-Okay with sacrificing a kid he supposedly cares about, not once but several times over, because the plot needed Emotional Stakes™️.

(and this, by and large, is my issue with jack as a character too, because he spends so much of his time on the show so clearly being a plot device - a literal deus ex machina - that he ends up being not very compelling to me. “but baby jack!” i hear you say. and yes, yes, he’s cute and i like him, but listen -- his characterisation reads as a blank slate because ultimately that’s what the narrative needs from him - and there’s a whole separate post i could make on that, really).

but i think the main problem is that the endgame the dabb era had in mind conflicted openly with the stakes they had set up in the carver era - and that the most attuned writers kept up with even in seasons 12-15, which is why the finale felt as stridently wrong as it did (other than being ridiculously badly written). by which i mean:

dean was set up as wanting something more for himself, more than hunting and violence, and we see that in moments - but it’s not what he ends up getting. additionally, he spends so much of seasons 8-10 breaking down his toxic traits, and then bam - suddenly, he’s turned into john 2.0, because the story demands it.

sam was set up to become a new kind of hunter, one with a men of letters background, and find happiness in the life - so you get a side plot where he successfully organises and leads a group of hunters - but ultimately he leaves all that behind and abandons the bunker (and eileen, his natural companion going forward).

cas was set up as choosing humanity over heaven because that’s where he wants to be, and choosing to become a hunter because he wants to be useful and do good - but that gets boiled down to “cas is still an angel but now he’s Also A Dad and that’s his one purpose in life now” (i’m sorry, i am not here for the hot take of “jack is good for cas because he can’t just revolve around dean”. first of all, that’s a disservice to cas’s character over the seasons, and second of all-- oh but it’s ok for cas to just revolve around jack? it don’t make no cents luv!)

i don’t think story-driven eras are inherently bad. i enjoyed seasons 1-5, but they take place when we’re still getting to know the characters; and there is a certain evolution for them there that you may like or dislike, but it makes narrative sense for them. but if you decide to go forward into a new era with well-established and beloved characters, you have to know who the characters are and what they want or your story will always ring hollow. the main problem i have with the dabb era is that it decided the story it wanted to tell - and didn’t stop to consider whether the characters living it out would actually organically fit into it. and isn’t that chuck’s whole mistake?

#spn #meta #spn meta #supernatural #dabb critical #team free will #my meta #mp #ambra.txt #in short: carver era my beloved. you committed some atrocities but i forgive you #big BIG thanks to tierney for watching me work out a shorter version of this in real time #tier i'm tagging you just in case you want to see me ramble even HARDER about this #katebushstandean #will i get cancelled for being critical of jack? stay tuned to find out #long post #long post for ts

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marlborodean · 4 years ago

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spn quotes: season one

i’m collecting a bunch of quotes from the show! favorite lines, good points of characterization, etc. all organized by episode and character, and with timestamps!

w/ncest shippers get lost

season two.

1. PILOT

Dean—

[Sam: So we kill everything we can find.] Save a lot of people doing it, too. (08:51)

I can’t do this alone. [Sam: Yes, you can.] Yeah. Well, I don’t want to. (09:30)

[Officer: So. Fake U.S. Marshal, fake credit cards. You got anything that’s real?] My boobs. (28:50)

Sam—

When I told Dad I was scared of the thing in my closet, he gave me a .45. [Dean: What was he supposed to do?] I was 9 years old. He was supposed to say, “Don’t be afraid of the dark.” (08:30)

You think Mom would’ve wanted this for us? (08:58)

We were raised like warriors. (09:06)

[Dean: Are you just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?] No, not normal. Safe. [And that’s why you ran away.] I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone. (09:09)

[Dean: You’re really serious about this, aren’t you? You think you’re just gonna become some lawyer, marry your girl?] Maybe. Why not? [Does Jessica know the truth about you? I mean, does she know about the things you’ve done?] No, and she’s not ever going to know. [Well, that’s healthy. You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but sooner or later you’re gonna have to face up to who you really are.] And who is that? [One of us.] No. I’m not like you. This is not going to be my life. (22:45)

If it weren’t for pictures, I wouldn’t even know what Mom looks like. What difference would it make? Even if we do find the thing that killed her, Mom’s gone, and she isn’t coming back. (23:17)

2. W*ND*G* ( x )

Dean—

Her brother’s missing, Sam. She’s not just gonna sit this out. (14:55)

[Hailey: And you’re hiking out in biker boots and jeans?] Well, sweetheart, I don’t do shorts. (15:54)

I’m supposed to be the belligerent one, remember? (25:13)

The way I see it, Dad’s given us a job to do, and I intend to do it. (26:31)

All that anger, you can’t keep it burning over the long haul. It’s gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man. [Sam: How do you do it? How does Dad do it?] Well, for one, them. I mean, I figure our family’s so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. It makes things a little bit more bearable. And I’ll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can. (27:05)

Sam—

[Dean: No, you’re not fine. You’re like a powder keg, man. It’s not like you.] (25:06)

3. DEAD IN THE WATER

Dean—

You don’t think I want to find Dad as much as you do? [Sam: Yeah, I know you do, it’s just—] I’m the one that’s been with him every single day for the past two years while you’ve been off to college going to pep rallies. We will find Dad, but until then, we’re gonna kill everything bad between here and there, okay? (04:09)

Well, maybe you don’t think anyone will listen to you, or... or believe you. I want you to know that I will. (11:58)

You’re scared. It’s okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom, and I was scared, too. I didn’t feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom—I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that everyday. And I do my best to be brave. (20:14)

What if we missed something? What if more people get hurt? [Sam: But why would you think that?] Because Lucas was really scared. [That’s what this is about?] I just don’t want to leave town until I know the kid’s okay. (29:48)

Sam—

People don’t just disappear, Dean. Other people just stop looking for them. (03:51)

4. PHANTOM TRAVELER

Dean—

It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp. (05:18)

Sam—

[Dean: It’s your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp.] (05:18)

[Jerry: Well, he was real proud of you, I could tell. You know, he talked about you all the time.] He did? (07:09)

Hey, hey, it’s just a little turbulence. [Sam, this place is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I’m friggin’ 4.] You need to calm down. [Well, I’m sorry, I can’t!] Yes, you can. [Dude. Stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It’s not helping.] Listen, if you’re panicked, you’re wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm yourself down right now. (30:26)

5. BLOODY MARY

Dean—

Do I look like Paris Hilton? (18:08)

Her boyfriend killing himself, that’s not really Charlie’s fault. (29:54)

Now listen to me. It wasn’t your fault. It you want to blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or, hell, why don’t you take a swing at me? I’m the one that dragged you away from her. [Sam: I don’t blame you.] Well, you shouldn’t blame yourself, because there’s nothing you could’ve done. (31:24)

Sam—

[Dean: Hell, why don’t you take a swing at me? I’m the one that dragged you away from her.] I don’t blame you. (31:37)

Charlie. Your boyfriend’s death, you really should try to forgive yourself. No matter what you did, you probably couldn’t have stopped it. Sometimes bad things just happen. (40:37)

6. SKIN

Dean—

He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home with Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends, you could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me. [Sam: What are you talking about?] You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. (24:21)

Sam—

[Rebecca: It must be lonely.] Oh, no. No, it’s not so bad. Anyway, what can I do? It’s my family. (39:02)

Misc—

Shifter: Evolution is about mutation, right? So maybe this thing was born human, but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else. (27:14)

7. HOOK MAN

Dean—

I told you, you don’t have to be a college graduate to be a genius. (14:59)

[Sam: Hey, be quiet.] Me be quiet? You be quiet! (19:48)

Sam—

[Dean: You’ve been holding out on me. This college thing is awesome!] This wasn’t really my experience. [Let me guess—library, studying, straight A’s. What a geek.] (21:30)

8. BUGS

Dean—

Growing up in a place like this would freak me out. [Sam: Why?] The manicured lawns, how-was-your-day-honey? I’d blow my brains out. [There’s nothing wrong with normal.] I’d take our family over normal any day. (08:21)

[Sam: You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad.] What kind of advice is that? Kid should stick with his family. (20:26)

Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that? [Sam: Just, uh, I know what the kid’s going through.] How about telling him to respect his old man? How’s that for advice? (23:20)

Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth. He’ll just think you’re nuts. Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you gotta go to the hospital, okay? [Matt: Yeah, okay.] Make him listen? What are you thinking? (32:44)

Sam—

Remind you of somebody? Dad? [Dean: Dad never treated us like that.] Well, Dad never treated you like that. You were perfect. He was all over my case. ...You don’t remember. [Dean: Well, maybe he had to raise his voice but sometimes you were out of line.] Right. Right, like when I said I’d rather play soccer than learn bowhunting. (11:46)

[Matt: Larry doesn’t listen to me.] Why not? [Mostly? He’s too disappointed in his freak son.] I hear ya. [Dean: You do?] Matt, how old are you? [Matt: Sixteen.] Well, don’t sweat it, ‘cause in two years something great’s gonna happen. [What?] College. You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad. (20:04)

[Dean: Hey, so with that kid back there, how could you tell him to just ditch his family like that?] Just, uh, I know what the kid’s going through. [How about telling him to respect his old man? How’s that for advice?] Dean, come on. This isn’t about his old man. You think I didn’t respect Dad, that’s what this is about. [Just forget it, alright? Sorry I brought it up.] I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough. [So what are you saying, that Dad was disappointed in you?] Was? Is! Always has been. [Why would you think that?] Because I didn’t wanna bowhunt or hustle pool, because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which to our whacked-out family, made me the freak. (23:20)

Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full-ride? Proud. Most dads don’t toss their kids out of the house. [Dean: I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases coming out of your mouth.] You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad, I don’t know if he’s even gonna wanna see me. (24:05)

9. HOME

Dean—

And then you tell me that I’ve got to go back home, especially when... [Sam: When what?] When I swore to myself that I would never go back there. (07:56)

I remember the fire, the heat. Then I carried you out the front door. [Sam: You did?] Yeah, well, you never knew that? [No.] (12:38)

I don’t know what to do. So, whatever you’re doing. if you could get here... please. I need your help, Dad. (14:45)

Sam—

[Dean: I remember the fire, the heat. Then I carried you out the front door.] You did? [Yeah, well, you never knew that?] No. (12:38)

Misc—

Missouri: All those years ago, real evil came to you. It walked this house. That kind of evil leaves wounds, and sometimes wounds get infected. (27:15)

10. ASYLUM

Dean—

[Sam: This is a job. Dad wants us to work a job.] Yeah, well, maybe we’ll meet up with him. Maybe he’s there. [Maybe he’s not. I mean, he could be sending us there by ourselves to hunt this thing.] Who cares? If he wants us there, it’s good enough for me. [This doesn’t strike you as weird? The texting, the coordinates?] Sam. Dad’s telling us to go somewhere. We’re going. (07:05)

[Sam: We deserve some answers. I mean, this is our family we’re talking about.] I understand that, Sam, but he’s given us an order. [So what, we gotta always follow Dad’s order?] Of course we do. (12:17)

[Sam: I mean, why are we even here? ‘Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? ‘Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval?] (36:52)

Sam—

[Dean: We’ve got to burn Ellicott’s bones, and all this will be over, and you’ll be back to normal.] I am normal. I’m just telling you the truth for the first time. I mean, why are we even here? ‘Cause you’re following Dad’s orders like a good little soldier? ‘Cause you always do what he says without question? Are you that desperate for his approval? [This isn’t you talking.] That’s the difference between you and me. I have a mind of my own. I’m not pathetic like you. [So what are you gonna do? You gonna kill me?] You know, I am sick of doing what you tell me to do. (36:43)

11. SCARECROW

Dean—

[Sam: I don’t understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it’s like you don’t even question him.] Yeah, it’s called being a good son. You’re a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. You don’t care what anyone thinks. (08:08)

[Sam: You know, if you’re hinting you need my help, just ask.] I’m not hinting anything. Actually, uh... I want you to know... I mean, don’t think... [Yeah. I’m sorry, too.] Sam.... You were right. You got to do your own thing. You got to live your own life. [You serious?] You’ve always known what you want, and you go after it. You stand up to Dad. I mean, you always have. Hell, I wish I.... Anyway. I admire that about you. I’m proud of you, Sammy. [I don’t even know what to say.] Say you’ll take care of yourself. (25:04)

Sam—

[Dean: Dad doesn’t want our help.] I don’t care. [He’s given us an order.] I don’t care. We don’t always have to do what he says. [Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives. It’s important.] Alright, I understand. Believe me, I understand. But I’m talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge. [Alright, look, I know how you feel.] Do you? How old were you when Mom died, 4? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel? (07:25)

[Meg: I had to get away from my family.] Why? [I love my parents. And they wanted what’s best for me. They just didn’t care if I wanted it. I was supposed to be smart, but not smart enough to scare away a husband. Well, it’s just.... Because my family said so, I’m supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my own way instead. ...I’m sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know.] No, no, it’s okay. I know how you feel. Remember that brother I mentioned before that I was road-tripping with? It’s kind of the same deal. [And that’s why you’re not riding with him anymore? ...Here’s to us. The food might be bad, and the beds might be hard, but at least we’re living our own lives and nobody else’s.] (21:11)

[Med: You’re running back to your brother? The guy you ran away from? Why, because he won’t pick up his phone? Sam, come with me to California.] I can’t. I’m sorry. [Why not?] He’s my family. (31:13)

12. FAITH

Dean—

Looks like you’re gonna leave town without me. [Sam: What are you talking about? I’m not gonna leave you here.] You better take care of that car. I swear I’ll haunt your ass. [I don’t think that’s funny.] Oh, come on, it’s a little funny. (04:44)

[Sam: Maybe it’s time to have a little faith, Dean.] You know what I got faith in? Reality—knowing what’s really going on. [How can you be a skeptic, with the things we see every day?] Exactly, we see them. We know they’re real. [But if you know evil’s out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too?] ‘Cause I’ve seen what evil does to good people. (08:10)

[Roy: I looked into your heart and you just...stood out from all the rest.] What did you see in my heart? [A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn’t finished.] (15:27)

You never should’ve brought me here. [Sam: Dean, I was just trying to save your life.] Sam, some guy is dead now because of me. (19:30)

The guy is playing God, deciding who lives and dies. That’s a monster in my book. (22:42)

[Layla: I wish you luck. I really do.] Same to you. You deserve it a lot more than me. (30:38)

[Sam: To cross a line like that, that preacher’s wife—black magic, murder. Evil.] Desperate. Her husband was dying. She would’ve done anything to save him. (31:35)

God save us from half the people who think they’re doing God’s work. (32:04)

[Sam: What’s happening to her is horrible. But what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself, Dean—you can’t play God.] (32:58)

Must be rough, to believe in something so much and have it disappoint you like that. (40:57)

You know, I’m not much of the praying type, but I’m gonna pray for you. [Layla: Well. There’s a miracle right there.] (42:00)

Sam—

[Dean: I’m gonna die. And you can’t stop it.] Watch me. (05:23)

[Dean: You’re not gonna let me die in peace, are you?] I’m not gonna let you die, period. (07:04)

How can you be a skeptic, with the things we see everyday? [Dean: Exactly, we see them. We know they’re real.] If you know evil’s out there, how can you not believe good’s out there too? (08:18)

[The guy is playing God, deciding who lives and dies. That’s a monster in my book.] No, we’re not gonna kill a human being, Dean. We do that, we’re no better than he is. (22:42)

Misc—

Layla: I guess if you’re gonna have faith, you can’t just have it when the miracles happen. You have to have it when they don’t. (41:19)

13. ROUTE 666

Dean—

[Sam: Look man, everybody’s got to open up to someone sometime.] Yeah, I don’t. It was stupid to get that close. (13:06)

[Cassie: Whenever we get—what’s the word?—close? Anywhere in the neighborhood of emotional vulnerability, you back off or make some joke or find any way to shut the door on me.] (15:19)

Sam—

You told her. You told her the secret. Our big family rule number one—we do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half, I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a couple of times, and you tell her everything? (04:18)

Oh, my life was so simple. Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms. [Dean: So I guess I saved you from a boring existence.] Occasionally I miss boring. [So, this killer truck—] I miss conversations that didn’t start with “this killer truck.” (29:31)

Ever make you wonder if it’s worth it? Putting everything on hold, doing what we do? (39:10)

14. NIGHTMARE

Dean—

[Sam: Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people—I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane.] Yeah, but it doesn’t justify murdering your entire family. [Dean—] He’s no different than anything else we’ve hunted. Alright? We gotta end him. [We’re not gonna kill Max.] Then what? Hand him over to the cops and say, “Lock him up, officer. He kills people with the power of his mind.” [Forget it. No way, man.] Sam— [Dean, he’s a person. We can talk to him. Hey, promise me you’ll follow my lead on this one.] Alright, fine. But I’m not letting him hurt anybody else. (25:01)

[Sam: We’re lucky we had Dad.] I never thought I’d hear you say that. [Well, it could have gone a whole ‘nother way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him.] All things considered. (38:27)

As long as I’m around, nothing bad’s gonna happen to you. (41:27)

Sam—

Well, I know one thing I have in common with these people. [Dean: What’s that?] Both our families are cursed. [Our family’s not cursed. We’ve just... had our dark spots.] Our dark spots are pretty dark. (19:13)

I was connecting to Max. The thing I don’t get it why, man. I guess because we’re so alike? [Dean: What are you talking about? Dude’s nothing like you.] Well, we both have psychic abilities. We’re both— [Both what? Sam, Max is a monster. He’s already killed two people, now he’s gunning for a third.] Well, with what he went through, the beatings, to want revenge on those people—I’m sorry, man. I hate to say it, but it’s not that insane. (24:43)

If I just said something else, gotten through to him somehow. [Dean: Don’t do that.] Do what? [Torture yourself. It wouldn’t have mattered what you said. Max was too far gone.] When I think about how he looked at me, man, right before.... I should have done something. [Come on, man, you risked your life. I mean, yeah, maybe if we’d have gotten there 20 years earlier.] Well, I’ll tell you one thing. We’re lucky we had Dad. [I never thought I’d hear you say that.] Well, it could have gone a whole ‘nother way after Mom. A little more tequila, a little less demon hunting, then we would have had Max’s childhood. All things considered, we turned out okay. Thanks to him. (38:03)

15. THE BENDERS

Dean—

Look... he’s family. And I kind of—I kind of look out for the kid. You gotta let me go with you. [Kathleen: I’m sorry, I can’t do that.] Well, tell me something. Your country has its fair share of missing persons. Any of ‘em come back? Sam’s my responsibility, and he’s coming back. I’m bringing him back. (08:56)

When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire. And ever since then, I’ve felt responsible for him. You know, like it’s my job to keep him safe. I’m just afraid if we don’t find him fast.... Please. He’s my family. (15:04)

Demons, I get. People are crazy. (28:08)

If you hurt my brother, I’ll kill you, I swear. I’ll kill you all. I will kill you all! (35:54)

16. SHADOW

Dean—

[Sam: What are you gonna do when it’s all over?] It’s never gonna be over. There’s gonna be others. There’s always gonna be something to hunt. [But there’s got to be something that you want for yourself.] Yeah, I don’t want you to leave the second this thing’s over, Sam. [Dude. What’s your problem?] Why do you think I drag you everywhere, huh? Why do you think I came and got you at Stanford in the first place? [’Cause Dad was in trouble. ‘Cause you wanted to find the thing that killed Mom.] Yes, that, but it’s more than that, man. You and me and Dad. I want us to be together again. I want us to be a family again. [Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before.] They could be. (24:04)

Sam—

What if this whole thing was over tonight? Man, I’d sleep for a month. Go back to school, just be a person again. (23:42)

Dean, we are a family. I’d do anything for you. But things will never be the way they were before. [Dean: They could be.] I don’t want them to be. I’m not gonna live this life forever. Dean, when this is all over, you’re gonna have to let me go my own way. (25:02)

Misc—

[Sam: Go to hell.] Meg: Baby, I’m already there. (30:22)

17. HELL HOUSE

Dean—

People believe in Santa Clause. How come I’m not getting hooked up every Christmas? [Sam: ‘Cause you’re a bad person.] (27:01)

Sam—

Man, we’re not kids anymore, Dean. We’re not gonna start that crap up again. [Dean: Start what up?] That prank stuff. It’s stupid, and it always escalates. (04:24)

Kind of makes you wonder—of all the things we hunted, how many existed just ‘cause people believed in them? (37:17)

18. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

Dean—

[Sam: What makes you so sure?] Well, because I’m the oldest, which means I’m always right. [No it doesn’t.] It totally does. (03:38)

Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault, okay? [Michael: It’s my job to look after him.] (20:53)

I know how you feel, I’m a big brother, too. But you got to go easy on your mom right now, okay? (21:24)

Dad did not send me here to walk away. [Sam: Send you here? He didn’t send you here, he sent us here.] This isn’t about you, Sam, alright? I’m the one that screwed up. It’s my fault. There’s no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me. (25:35)

Dad never spoke about it again. I didn’t ask. But he, uh... he looked at me different, you know, which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order, and I didn’t listen, and I almost got you killed. [Sam: You were just a kid.] Don’t—don’t. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it. (29:26)

Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to. It’s okay, I won’t be mad. (33:57)

[Sam: Sometimes I wish that...] What? [I wish I could have that kind of innocence.] If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too. (40:05)

Sam—

Dean, I’m sorry. [Dean: For what?] You know. I’ve really given you a lot of crap for always following Dad’s orders, but I know why you do it. (34:39)

Sometimes I wish that... [Dean: What?] I wish I could have that kind of innocence. [If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could, too.] (40:05)

19. PROVENANCE

Dean—

I’m sure that this is about Jessica, right? Now, I don’t know what it’s like to lose somebody like that, but... I would think that she would want you to be happy. God forbid have fun once in a while. (20:47)

Sam—

I had a girlfriend. And she died. And my mom died, too. I don’t know, it’s like... it’s like I’m cursed or something. Like death just follows me around. Look, I’m not scared of much, but if I let myself have feelings for anybody— [Sarah: You’re scared they get hurt, too.] (30:39)

Misc—

Sarah: I know, losing somebody you love—it’s terrible. You shut yourself off. Believe me, I know. But when you shut out pain, you shut out everything else, too. (31:27)

20. DEAD MAN’S BLOOD

Dean—

He does what he does for a reason. [Sam: What reason?] Our job. There’s no time to argue. There’s no margin for error, alright? It’s just the way the old man runs things. [Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, alright? Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you’re cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show?] If that’s what it takes. (14:51)

Sam—

I’m happy he’s okay, alright? I’m happy that we’re all working together. [Dean: Good.] It’s just the way he treats us like children. [Oh, God.] He barks orders at us, Dean. He expects us to follow him without question. He keeps us on some crap need-to-know deal. [He does what he does for a reason.] What reason? [Our job. There’s no time to argue. There’s no margin for error, alright? It’s just the way the old man runs things.] Yeah, well, maybe that worked when we were kids, but not anymore, alright? Not after everything you and I have been through, Dean. I mean, are you telling me you’re cool with just falling into line and letting him run the whole show? (14:51)

[John: You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam. You walked away!] You’re the one who said “Don’t come back,” Dad. You’re the one who closed that door, not me! You were just pissed off that you couldn’t control me anymore! (19:27)

[John: Sammy, it never occurred to me what you wanted. I just couldn’t accept the fact that you and me, we’re just different.] We’re not different. Not anymore. With what happened to Mom and Jess, we probably have a lot more in common than just about anyone. (29:20)

Misc—

John: This is never the life that I wanted for you. [Sam: Then why’d you get so mad when I left?] You got to understand something. After your mother passed, all I saw was evil, everywhere. And all I cared about was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you prepared, ready. So somewhere along the line, I stopped being your father. I became your drill sergeant. So when you said that you wanted to go away to school, all I could think about, my only thought was that you were gonna be alone, vulnerable. (28:21)

21. SALVATION

Dean—

For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault. [Sam: Yeah, you’re right, it’s not my fault, but it’s my problem!] No, it’s not your problem, it’s our problem! (05:42)

You’re just willing to sacrifice yourself, is that it? [Sam: Yeah. Yeah, you’re damn right I am.] Yeah, well, that’s not gonna happen—not as long as I’m around. [What the hell are you talking about, Dean? We’ve been searching for this demon our whole lives. It’s the only thing we’ve ever cared abut.] Sam, I want to waste it, I do, okay? But it’s not worth dying over. [What?] I mean it. If hunting this demon means you getting yourself killed, then I hope we never find the damn thing. [That thing killed Jess. That thing killed Mom,] You said yourself once that no matter what we do, they’re gone. And they’re never coming back. [Don’t you say that! Don’t you—not after all this, don’t you say that.] Sam, look. The three of us, that’s all we have. And it’s all I have. Sometimes I feel like I’m barely holding it together, man. Without you or Dad.... (37:51)

Sam—

So Mom’s death, Jessica—it’s all because of me? [Dean: We don’t know that, Sam.] Oh really? ‘Cause I’d say we’re pretty damn sure, Dean! [For the last time, what happened to them is not your fault.] Yeah, you’re right, it’s not my fault, but it’s my problem! (05:34)

Misc—

John: I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school. I want Dean to have a home. I want Mary alive. I just want this to be over. (21:10)

22. DEVIL’S TRAP

Dean—

You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there. [Sam: You didn’t have a choice, Dean.] I know. That’s not what bothers me. [Then what does?] Killing that guy, killing Meg... I didn’t hesitate. I didn’t even flinch. For you or Dad, the things I’m willing to do or kill, it’s just... it scares me sometimes. [Azazel!John: It shouldn’t. You did good.] You’re not mad? [For what?] Using a bullet. [Mad? I’m proud of you. You know, Sam and I, we can get pretty obsessed. But you, you watch out for this family. You always have.] (29:41)

Listen, you mind just getting this over with, huh? ‘Cause I really can’t stand the monologuing. [Azazel: Funny, but that’s all part of your M.O., isn’t it? Mask all that nasty pain, mask the truth.] Oh yeah? What’s that? [You know, you fight and you fight for this family, but the truth is, they don’t need you. Not like you need them. Sam—he’s clearly John’s favorite. Even when they fight, it’s more concern than he’s ever shown you.] (36:52)

Sam—

[Dean: Well, you and Dad are a lot more alike than I thought, you know that? You both can’t wait to sacrifice yourself for this thing. But you know what? I’m gonna be the one to bury you. You’re selfish, you know that? You don’t care about anything but revenge.] (19:24)

Misc—

Azazel: He’s gonna tear you apart. He’s gonna taste the iron in your blood. [Dean: Let him go, or I swear to God—] What? What are you and God gonna do? (35:09)

#finally posting this 😜#tagging the ppl who said they'd be interested!!#lukeskysaunter #ijaazat #let me know if you want to be removed from/added to the tag list for future posts like this :)#spn #supernatural #ej.pdf #dean winchester #sam winchester #spn season 1 #spn season one #spn quotes

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pynkhues · 4 years ago

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I know a lot of people in this fandom love the "I'm not afraid of the dark" speech that Beth gives and wishes 'for the old Beth back', but i disagree. I love Beth but she had no idea what the fuck she was talking about, she was just being cocky. I think that's what the season 1 finale was all about, and I think a really big part of season 2 was her discovering what 'the dark' actually was: getting rid of a body, almost going to prison (and no matter how clumsy it was executed) shooting someone.

Yeah, I agree, anon!

I think it’s interesting when people think of the Beth in season 1 as being the tougher person, because sure, she might’ve thrown Dean out briefly and done a few more power walks, but the Beth in s1 was – like you said – overall pretty cocky without having much of an idea of what she was doing.

She was also somebody who was still a ‘good’ person.

Sometimes I think it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that this is a show which – at it’s core – is about moral decline. It’s about that just as much as it is about it’s more explicit throughlines like female friendships, motherhood and how social structures frequently force women into poverty.

Beth’s moral decline too is incredibly central to her character arc, and a lot of that has been structured as these sorts of slips down rabbitholes accompanied by deliberate digs deeper (i.e. discovering the money they stole belonged to a gang and getting into debt with them - a slip! Leaving Rio her pearls after that debt was paid - a dig deeper), and over the course of the three seasons, the stakes of that have evolved substantially.

The context of that scene with Dean is actually a good example of that evolution – in season 1, she only played lamb briefly, before she told Dean via that speech that she was doing crime, and then the specifics of that crime honestly and openly in 1.08 after warming up to him again.

Compare that to Beth in s2 and s3 – yes, she might still be with Dean on paper, but she’s now gotten him shot, slept with the man who shot him, chose money over him, and used him not just personally to try to get pregnant, but professionally too through Boland Bubbles.

And it’s actually that which makes a neat circle – the Beth in s1 could only play lamb for an episode before she wanted Dean to acknowledge the lion in her and told the truth about her work. The Beth in s2 involved Dean from the start of her work – giving him the fake cash to save Boland Motors. In s3, not only did Beth successfully play lamb for months at Paper Porcupine while building her new business, but she’s setting him up as a patsy at Boland Bubbles.

In every way, the Beth of s3 did what the Beth of s1 couldn’t, even if she’s yet to throw Dean out. She’s become more insidious, and no doubt a ‘worse’ person, but she’s also capable of doing now what she couldn’t before.

That said, I actually don’t mind Beth’s naivety in her speech to Dean in 1.06. I think the show does a good job on the whole of showing that Beth doesn’t always entirely realise her ambitions with who she is or what she looks like, and not only enters situations, but plans for them in a way that rarely thinks about possible consequences – getting Rio arrested, going back to the house for the dubby and the initial kerfuffle with Gil being the biggest examples of that.

As a character flaw, I find it really compelling. The way Beth’s ego pretty much pendulums between crippling lows and staggering highs depending on what’s happening in her life feels believable to me for a character like her who’s never before had this degree of autonomy over her life, her choices, her finances, or her future.

All of that said, I don’t like the speech either, haha, but my issue with it is more of a structural problem than a character problem. I don’t think it works because it’s almost beat for beat the same as the ending of 1.05, and the effect of that tonal repetition dilutes the impact of both scenes.

Take a look!

(Also apologies in advance some of these screencaps are terrible, haha)

1. Character enters room

2. Some light, dairy-based dialogue.

3. Beth plays it light and innocent.

4. Man diminishes and undermines Beth.

5. Beth monologues a half truth.

6. Beth has the final word.

These are hitting the same emotional beats in Beth’s arc and as a result, like I said above, lessen the impact of both scenes. One of them should’ve been cut, and I do think it’s the one with Dean. I think there are a lot of other ways this particular conflict could’ve come to a head without it being so derivative of the scene with Turner, and perhaps better capturing both Beth’s naivety and the goodness in her who still wanted Dean’s acknowledgement.

#gg 1.05 #gg 1.06 #callbacks and parallels #sort of #haha #beth boland #beth x dean #beth + turner #dean boland #jimmy turner #welcome to my ama #nbc good girls #Anonymous

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auberose · 4 years ago

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So, I’ve finished season 5 of Supernatural and I have some thoughts I wanted to write down.

It was a really good season and a hell of a rollercoaster between comedy and some really tragic moments.

The tragedy mostly came from Dean who, more than ever, expressed his suicidal tendancies. When he broke down in tears begging for help after meeting Famine, I was so sad for him. I want him to be wrapped in fluffies blankets with the biggest hug on the planet.

The whole time travel plot is not really my thing and it confused me a lot. I felt like there were 2 differents spn writers : one saying that John Winchester is “the greatest dad who was right to train his sons, we forgive him, he loves them blabla” and the other saying that John Winchester was an abusive bastard. Make up your mind spn, what are you trying to say ??? I’m onboard with the “abusive father” so stop confusing everything. Also, some disturbing addition are brought about it : John and Mary’s paring that was “made” by angels while they didn’t like each other at all at first, and then the scene where Dean is comforting his mom at 4yo after she had a really bad fight with John ? Uuuuh I’m not having a good vibe from all this you know ?

Sam was less on screen this season and I’m happy with it since the last one was very focused on him. I like the “addict” theme for him, it’s interesting. I just wish we got more gratefulness from him towards Dean. He’s not responsible for Dean raising him but a little thank you and more kindness would be nice.

Very unhappy about Ellen and Jo deaths. Wow the two girls who can maybe dare say they’re supportive characters are both killed in the same episode for a stupid reason in the most stupid way ? Your mysoginy is showing Spn. also stop making all girls love interest, Jo was like a little sister, seeing her kissing Dean was very disturbing.

I so love the evolution of Castiel as a character. He’s perfect between serious business and fun, especially with Dean. I love him and I love their moments together they’re hilarious. In Famine episode, when Dean’s calling him Hamburgler, “Did you triy to stop ?” and Castiel answering “I’m an angel I can’t stop whenever I want”... I laughed so hard at that. Reminded me Pikachu from the live action movie, addict to coffee with his “I can stop whenever I want, these are just choices”. Also, the scene where he kicks Dean’s ass was awesome !

Hands up to the best entrance of the show, aka Death ! Castiel’s first time on screen was great, he was really badass, but Death... it was legendary. I’m so relieved because honestly I found the others horsemen forgettable, like any other demons. War was a complete joke, Pestilence is just a mad disgusting doctor, and Famine.. Famine was a bit better but not enough. Death was incredible.

Next to him, I’m a bit disappointed in Lucifer. I like the charming and chill aspect of him but again, not charismatic enough to make me really feel “Wow it’s the Devil himself”. Missing a little spark here.

I’m not convinced by Dean’s end at all in this season. He goes to Lisa who is his great love or something ? We saw that girl like twice in 5 seasons ??? I had completely forgot about her, she was just another one of those girls the Winchesters kiss in half the towns they visit. Bela had more screen time. Ruby had more screen time. Hell, even Meg had more screen time. Dean didn’t even talked about her, just in passing like that, on the road, between two missions. Show me she’s important, instead of just dropping it from nowhere because it’s convenient.

I guess it was needed to symbolize a reset of some kind. If there are 10 more seasons, you can’t just keep escalating when you’re already at the apocalypse. You need to reset the show to a status quo less hyped. I also guess that something is gonna disturb Dean’s life in season 6 and for some reason he won’t be able to keep seeing Lisa because otherwise he won’t have a reason to keep hunting. Same way John Watson can’t stay happily married because then he doesn’t go with Sherlock and the show is stuck. I just hope she doesn’t die like Jessica, becoming another woman in the fridge among all the others, ending up as a motivation for Dean.

So far, I really like the show despite its flaws. A lot of it are not important to me, there are only 2 that I find really problematic : the treatment of female characters, and the lecture of John Winchester. Those put aside, it was a very good season and I’m gonna keep on watching because I feel fond of the characters and their stories. Time to end this (way too long) post and start season 6.

(Also they have a problem with daddy issues in this show damn)

(And Chuck is probably God)

#supernatural #spn #spn s5 #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #first time watching #lucifer #john winchester #mary winchester #lisa #four horsemen of the apocalypse #john watson #sherlock #spn s6

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angel-e-v-a · 5 years ago

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POSITIVE 20 QUESTIONS TAG GAME

I was tagged by @fierydeans, thanks so much darling, this is fun!!! ❤️❤️❤️

1. Name 4 fictional characters who showcase your personality the best, with explanations if you want.

Ouch, that’s hard, I have a very weird personality.

Temperance Brennan from Bones: For one part. I love to read, watch documentaries, have a scientific approach to life and little to no knowledge of popular culture and can appear unintentionally cold and offensive, but in fact am anything except cold.

Lucifer from Supernatural: I’m a very bitter bean who’s in more than an instance almost ruined her life and everything else around me because I’ve little to no idea what’s forgiveness. I variate between being very emotional and wanting to burn down everything. I love annoying people who annoy me. Also, family blows. Plus, I literally don’t know how to shut up and pay attention to me, I’m bored sums up 50 percent of my personality.

Yennefer of Vengerberg from The Witcher: I’ve never been shy a day in my life. I want everything. My biggest dream was to be important to someone, and I also had big self esteem issues on the account of my physical look. I’m super nice and sweet, but only with chosen group of people. Otherwise, I’m that snarky bitch™ .

Dean Winchester from Supernatural: Now, we may not share life views, and I’m definitively not the person that loves flirting, but gosh, do we share a temper. Besides, we have same taste in movies and music, we both don’t hold ourselves back and do what we want to at the moment, whether it’s too eat junk or drink until stupor. Also overly protective, and very much not above crude jokes and random childish innuendos.

2. Aesthetic

Too wild and messy for one. Blog consist of whatever I love/drool on.

3. Favorite musical/play?

Hamlet or Richard III. How am I supposed to decide?

4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

People telling me I’m the smartest/one of the smartest people they met. It doesn’t do good to my ego or social life, but certainly the only type of compliment that makes me truly content.

5. How many times have you been in love?

Umm, five times? Though, three of those were more obsession than love. Only two of those experiences were positive, both in term of relationships and emotions, with my ex-boyfriend who I lived with for almost a year, and we parted just because we had nothing more in common, and with my husband, on the account of him being as sane as I’m.

6. Embarrassing story or fact about yourself that makes you laugh now?

Oh hahahahah, my, I have a lot of those. I once got so drunk on moonshine I just fell asleep at the table and woke 24 hours later. Friends were unsuccessfully trying to wake me up with loudest music all day. The other time my husband (boyfriend at the time, we knew each other for few weeks), made pirozhki and I, who weighted only 35 kg at the time, ate 40 of them!!! Imagine that! 40!!! I vomited all over the apartment, vomited all night and thought I was legit gonna die. And the first time I went to a Chinese restaurant (the worst thing it was with my boss) I loved the food so much, I was just ordering random things from the menu, up to the point the waiter could barely contain laughter when bringing plates. I got so bloated that when I left the place, I had to take of my skirt in the middle of the street because I couldn’t breathe. The luck is I had the tunic, which I sometimes wore as a dress with thighs, and sometimes as blouse with wide belt and skirt, so I wasn’t naked or flashing undies, but man, were people looking at me thinking I’m legit gonna strip bare in the middle of the street.

7. Favorite Disney/Pixar movie?

Hmm, I don’t really like many of them. Toy Story I think.

8. Favorite flower or plant?

Not much of a plant person. But I love roses, and poisonous flowers, and adore venus fly traps.

9. What’s your favorite holiday?

Birthdays. The only holidays I accept.

10. Name three things that made you laugh or smile this past week.

I just laughed like mad when recalling the embarrassing stories.

My dog doing dances to get more food, because it’s never enough.

I’m teaching my husband to play chess, because it’s not fair, I have nobody left to play chess with me and I miss it so much. And it’s quite hilarious, especially since he can’t stop thinking he gets a bonus move if he eats my figure.

11. What song would you play to introduce yourself to someone?

Look What You Made Me Do!!! It’s so me.

12. Name something that truly makes you feel peaceful even at your most stressed moments.

It’s usually books and shows and movies I like, and making gifs, but for the last couple of months, whenever I get to the point of blowing up I just watch over and over again that one blasted season of The Tomorrow People. Oh and since coronavirus, I got myself Yu-Gi-Oh! Legacy of the Duelist Link Evolution and can’t stop drinking with more than couple of days pause. It’s the year 2020 and all I’m doing is playing Duel Monsters and getting drunk, it feels like I’m back in my teenage-hood, somebody kill me pls.

13. What do you, did you, or would you study at college?

I'm a vet technician by profession (the one I learned for, never worked as one a day, I somehow wound up being a translator), but what I wanted to study the most is forensic medicine. However it was a no no (nobody wants to specialize those, they are needless around here). Now I just wanna scrape enough money to enroll either molecular biology or biochemistry and not let myself get intimidated by the fact I’m bad at math. I was bad at math before, but I still had top grade in chemistry. Surely college can’t be much worse.

14. This is kind of a weird one, but which outfit of yours makes you feel most like yourself?

My leather jacket, tights, black shirt and black boots. The blacker, the better.

15. What is a quote you live by?

You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist. ― Nietzsche

16. Name the funniest playlist name you have.

I don’t name them. Pah. Too lazy

17. Make a reference to an inside joke you have with someone you love with zero context.

It’s not dead enough.

18. What is a message you would give your younger self if given the chance?

Please, stop trying to off yourself and drinking all your money. Also stop being a total douche with everyone, not everybody hates you.

19. Who is your favorite family member? (If you have no good blood family members, feel free to mention someone in your found family)

My husband. He’s technically the only family member I have now, unless you count the dog, and a bunch of uncles who don’t really care and it’s mutual.

20. What’s a secret dream of yours?

World domination. Admit it’d be cool.

Thanks again, @fierydeans, I had loads of fun doing this!!!

Tagging: @blakechaos08 @stormborndean @brieflymaximumprincess @mrsimoshen @smolrowena @cherrypierowena @honeyeddeans and everybody who wants to do it.

#tag game

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let-me-be-your-home · 6 years ago

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Supernatural 300TH : Review

As far as milestones go, the 300th episode of Supernatural is I guess one of the best episodes I have seen on TV and one of the best episodes dished out by this show. They don’t always get it right but when they all make sure they have to, they knock it out of the park.

I think it was a brilliant idea (whoever’s it was) to bring back John Winchester. In my opinion, he doesn’t have much of a story left to say, he got closure for his journey in the Season 2 finale. Him being around probably wouldn’t add much to his own tale, but adds heaps of content to the brother’s bond, and especially their individual character development.

The boys were emotionally stunted due to their individual equations with John, how he treated them or because of the way they bonded with him.

I don’t think I realized just how much John’s presence was necessary for the show. It may have been done to give a nod to the “Winchester Family” to the roots of the show…or basically to create a memorable milestone episode, but the team made sure it wove with the current story perfectly…

1. I love how both Sam and Dean got what they needed the most through this experience. Sam got closure which he direly missed getting in relation to his father. Their equation had always been rough and wading through every storm possible. They had misunderstandings and bitterness lacing the better memories of their time spent together, all because of bruised egos and harsh words spoken between them and never dealt with timely. Having to remember his father dead on the floor and again a fight as their last interaction must have always weighed on Sam, and has been made clear time and again through the story. That scene he and John shared was so meaningful. It carried so much pent up emotion and was elevated with how beautifully Jared and Jeffrey performed it. It was noticeable how Sam (a giant, the best at his job, so brave) was so childlike in front of his father. He wouldn’t meet his eyes, was hesitant and reigning in all the feelings he was feeling then. I am particularly impressed with the acting choices made by Jared here. To chose to keep a tinge of the resentment he still feels warring with the love and understanding he has come to post so many years of living without his parent that ultimately (maybe in the wrong way) only wanted to protect his sons.

2. For Dean, this was a dream come true. His deepest desire from when he was four… which was what inspired the situation they came to this episode….THAT in itself is so endearing and touching.. But these moments they spent together were monumental for Dean. In so many ways it was if this was a closure for Sam, it was an evolution for Dean. Dean has always yearned for approval from his father, wanted his family together and in fact measured himself and his own worth through his family’s eyes. Today he had it all. His mother, father and brother with him and if he REALLY wanted, he could work a way to have it like he’s done so before. But what he chose was still the life he has (which maybe haunted with nightmares literal and otherwise, that gives him pain and wrings him through hell fire) But it’s a life he and his brother have painstakingly built. And It was incredible to watch him chose that, chose saving the world and sacrificing their own peace for others. If he hadn’t it would have insulted all that they have endured over the years. And it was phenomenal to hear the words “I am happy with who I am, I am happy with who you are” For anyone who has been on Dean with this journey will know just how special those words are, and how pivotal they are to his personal growth.

3. For me, more than anything else the scene between Sam and Dean was the best out of everything. Not just because they are the reason I watch the show, but it’s always good to see the roots that define the show be emphasized in the story. Sam and Dean have been offered a new chance at life, their dreams coming true, an out to be part of normalcy and much more, but they always ignore that and chose each other. Chose being a team, being a family and partners….choosing to save humanity.

4. Mary isn’t my most favourite character at all, but in this episode she literally made me want to hug her tight. Her guilt, her wonder and numbness on having this chance to be with John again and her pain on losing it all over was heart breaking and Samantha Smith acted the hell out of it.

5. I literally felt just as overwhelmed as Dean did on seeing John and Mary meet. Felt like Supernatural almost came full circle. This episode could very well pass off as a series finale (GOD FORBID – I DO NOT WANT THAT DAY TO COME SOON THOUGH) And WOW for two actors who have acted in just one scene previously Jeffrey and Samantha have such impeccable chemistry.

6. The whole episode was stupendous, and it’s so difficult to chose any one moment that stole the episode per se. It all literally did feel like a dream none of us viewers wanted to wake up from.

7. I loved the other half of the episode, where we get to see Sam and Dean from the eyes of outsiders. And to be made privy to the little things these two do…like getting to know town people, forming bonds and a home place where they come back to ….it’s always been unique considering the kind of lives they have lived.

8. I have to sign off with the most important mention and that is just how lucky we are to have Jensen and Jared acting out Sam and Dean. Because they don’t just act, they literally LIVE these characters. The script definitely has to be top notch for any actor to perform. But if these two didn’t bring their talent and the chemistry they share to the show, Supernatural wouldn’t be half the show it was. The acting choices made today showed just how aware and mature these two guys are of the story this shows taken, and are so respectful to the base laid by the original creator of Supernatural. Jared chose to be the Sam who carries his heart on his sleeve, who doesn’t normally hide his emotions and is a little kid or little brother when the love and togetherness of his family overwhelms him. And Jensen’s choice here bowled me over. He bought back the Dean who still yearns for his father’s pride, for his family to be one and who is numbed by the experience he never thought he would get again after that damned night that started it all. Everyone else sobbed in this episode but Jensen chose for Dean to reign it in, wanting to live the moment and then painfully letting it go (even though every cell in his body wanted to do otherwise) His flinch at the pearl breaking and his hollow cry later just leaves you with the same emotion as a viewer.

9. To bring back John is such a gold mine. That if dug well and deep it could have been worth a few more episodes. But to even get to hear John be proud of his boys and hear him say he loves them, to see John and Mary reunite and the Winchesters have a beautiful dinner together is way more than I thought I’d ever see.

#Supernatural #Supernatural Season 14 #SPN #spn 14x13 #Jensen Ackles #jared padalecki #Dean Winchrster #Sam Winchester #Sam Dean #Jensen Jared #J2 #jeffrey dean morgan #samantha smith #John Winchester #Mary Winchester #John Mary

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fleur-de-violette · 7 years ago

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I was tagged by @stars-and-galaxys thank you !

1. What/who first got you into Supernatural?

My best friend ! I actually got an original story that looked a lot like the early seasons (and evolved since) and when I let her read my notes, she told me about supernatural in those words “This is a story about two brothers hunting monsters but then there are demons and angels and the little brother is a demon or something anyway it’s complicated and there is a lot of drama”. That was in 2013 and I never found a more accurate description. We started actually watching it two years later. (we bridge watched the 3 first seasons between engineering school entrance exams and engineering school entrance exams results). Since we put a point on only watching it together and we live in different towns, we’re around the beginning of season 12 now.

2. What was the clincher that made you keep watching the show?

Well, first of all I watched it with my friend so doing something together is always more fun. I loved the characters (I liked Dean more in the beginning) and I will say that it was only after watching Swan song that I really really want on full “I love this show” mode. I started reading fanfictions and making theories.

3. Which more rare character do you wish appeared more often in episodes?

So. Many. I would have liked to see more Charlie, more Garth, I also really like every episodes with Donna in it (So I’m super exited for wayward sisters). I would have liked to see more about Lisa too. She was interesting and strong and I feel like she would have really helped Dean in terms of character development if she had become a recurrent character. I know we would see more Elieen in the future so I’m kinda impatient but I also know she dies so not so much.

4. If you could bring one character back to life permanently, who would you choose?

Charlie. Her death was so quick and really unemotional at this point. She deserved better and why couldn’t she stay as a recurring character? She could have been just severely hurt and the story wouldn’t have changed except she would have been mentioned a few more time and maybe came back for one or two cool episodes? I feel like this is wasted character potential.

5. What is your favorite thing about Dean Winchester? Sam? Cas?

Dean – His protectiveness toward his friends and family, his outgoing attitude and the fact that he’s trying to make everyone comfortable.

Sam – His kind heart and the fact that he can go from giant teddy bear to highly skilled killing machine.

Castiel – His attempts to be human and to fit in. The fact that he question everything and the development he want trough thanks to that.

5. Favorite rarepair?

Not as a couple but I would have loved seeing Charlie and Kevin interact with each other. I would have liked to see more Garth and Bobby interactions too (not as a couple of course). How did they met each other, did they hunt together at some point, like did Bobby teach Garth the ropes?

6. Which character do you admire most?

Ellen and Jody (basically the moms (I know too little about Mary to have an opinion yet)) the two of them have a very different way to deal with their hunter child, but the two of them deserve absolute respect.

7. Top 3 favorite quotes?

“I’ve been following you around all my life. I mean, I’ve been looking up for you since when I was four Dean! Studying you trying to be just like my big brother. So, yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world.” -Sam, Fresh blood. Most. Relatable. Quote. Ever.

“I’m sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself, sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself. My head hurts” – Dean, The monster at the End of This Book I just find it fun.

“I adopted two boys and they grew up great. They grew up heroes. So you can go to hell!” – Bobby, Death’s Door. There. Take my heart and crush it under a combine harvester*. Didn’t need that shit anyway.

*Yes, I did look up how to say that in English just to describe that feeling.

9. Ever written fanfiction? What about?

I did. I got an A3O account here (self-promoting? What’s self promoting? Who’s self promoting? Not me.) This is five short gen (trough you can see some as Sastiel or Destiel I guess?) one shots and I’m currently writing a hunt fic.

10. Favorite fic?

Since I can’t just classify the fic I’ve read to say witch one is my favorite I’ll just say that I really love hunt fics and fics were Dean is comforting Sam either for a canon or non-canon event.

11. Favorite season?

You still want me to classify? I’ll go with 5 or 8 I guess. I also liked season 11.

12. Favorite popular ship?

Please no more “Favorite…” questions… I don’t have ships as in “I totally want to see this characters together” I read fics with mostly all ships except wincest and I appreciate it, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying I have a favorite.

13. If you could add to or change one thing that happened in the show, what would you do?

See question 4. Either that or save Kevin and saving us a lot of season 9 angst.

14. You’re transported into the show and you get to be one villain, dead or alive. Who do you choose?

Amara probably, she’s cool. I don’t really know.

15. Top 5 favorite episodes?

1 – 5.22 Swan Song Like I said, the episode that made me like the show

2 – 5.08 Changing Channels It was fun.

3 – 11.4 Baby Because wow

4 – 8.21 Pac man fever Because we’ve got to know more about Charlie and we’re seeing a protective side of Dean.

5 – 10.05 Fan fiction This is a fun and totally motivational episode at the same time.

16. What’s one plot twist you did NOT see coming?

In the risk of seeming naïve, Ruby’s betrayal. Of course, I knew she had her own interests, but I didn’t thought she was lying to Sam.

17. What character are you most similar to?

Not as in similar but the one I can the most relate to is probably Sam. I grew up with a four years older sister I love and admire a lot, and the circumstances are different (and way less dramatic) of course but the “us against the world” feeling is there. Like I said, I can relate to his speech in Fresh blood, and in some extent to the one in sacrifice (“who are you gonna turn to next time instead of me?”) but I’m sure not as strong nor as persistent as Sam.

18. Have you ever cosplayed? If so, as who?

I’ve never cosplayed. If I had to choose a character maybe Eve?

19. What episode scared the crap out of you?

1.08 Bugs Not as in scared scared but most as in herk no. I fear cockroach and earwigs (don’t laugh) so…

20. What character do you hate with a passion?

I don’t hate anyone with passion, but I didn’t like Dick Roman. He wasn’t as charismatic as the other villains.

21. You have the power to choose how the show ends. How do you end it?

Oh my god no, don’t let me do that everybody will die I like bad endings.

22. Favorite alternate version of a character? (i.e. Casifer, demon! dean, gadreel in sam, souless sam, ect.)

I liked Lucifer!Sam. He was really charismatic and cold and it was a total 180° turn to usual Sam which made me feel really uncomfortable as that was probably the goal.

23. Who is one character you love that other people have mixed feelings about/ don’t really care much about?

Ok. Time to say it and going against the whole fandom. I like Metatron. I like his character and his evolution. I love him in Don’t call me Shurley. I just. I like Metatron. There. I said it.

24. Funniest episode?

5.09 Changing Channels and we’ve also got a bang at this end when the hilarity dies with Gabe’s heartbreaking speech.

25. Episode that left you emotionally dead inside?

So. Many. I’ll settle for 2.16 Roadkill. That moment when you realize and yeah. Time to use that combine harvester word I learned today to describe the state of my heart.

I tag @i-am-eurus-holmes, if you feel like answering Supernatural tamed questions :)

#supernatural #questions #personal #i guess

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elsiesmith672 · 4 years ago

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Design Thinking as a Strategy for Innovation

When design principles are applied to strategy and innovation, the success rate for innovation dramatically improves. Design-led companies such as Apple, Pepsi, IBM, Nike, Procter & Gamble, and SAP have outperformed the S&P 500 over a 10-year period by an extraordinary 211% according to the 2015 Design Value Index created by the Design Management Institute and Motiv Strategies.1

Creative Design Agency has that “wow” factor that makes products more desirable and services more appealing to users.

Designing is more than creating products and services; it can be applied to systems, procedures, protocols, and customer experiences.

Design is transforming the way leading companies create value. The focus of innovation has shifted from being engineering-driven to design-driven, from product-centric to customer-centric, and from marketing-focused to user-experience-focused. For an increasing number of CEOs, design thinking is at the core of effective strategy development and organisational change.

Roger Martin, former Dean of Rotman School and author of The Design of Business, asserts, “Design-thinking firms stand apart in their willingness to engage in the task of continuously redesigning their business… to create advances in both innovation and efficiency – the combination that produces the most powerful competitive edge.”2

You can design the way you lead, manage, create and innovate. Moura Quayle, the author of Designed Leadership, says, “Great leaders aspire to manage ‘by design’, with a sense of purpose and foresight. Lessons learned from the world of design when applied to management, can turn leaders into collaborative, creative, deliberate, and accountable visionaries.”3

Despite what critics say, design thinking is not a fad (although if not managed well, it can result in failure). Consulting firms such as McKinsey, Accenture, PwC, and Deloitte have acquired design consultancies: evidence of design’s increasing influence on business. Jeanne M. Liedtka, Strategy Professor at Darden School UVA and design thinking educator, views design thinking as a “social technology which has the potential to do for innovation exactly what TQM did for manufacturing: unleash people’s full creative energies, win their commitment, and radically improve processes”.4

Distinctions Between Design and Design Thinking

Steve Jobs famously said, “Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer – that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”5

Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, the design company that popularised the term design thinking, says “Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity.”6

Thinking like a designer brings together what is desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows people who aren’t trained as designers to use creative tools to address a vast range of challenges.

Design thinking draws on logic, imagination, intuition and systemic reasoning to explore the possibilities of what could be and to create desired outcomes that benefit the end user (the customer).

A design mindset is not problem-focused, it’s solution-focused and action-oriented. It involves both analysis and imagination.

Design thinking is linked to creating an improved future and seeks to build ideas up – unlike critical thinking, which breaks them down. Problem-solving is making something go away. Creating is bringing something into being. Design thinking informs human-centred innovation and begins with developing an understanding of customers’ or users’ unmet or unarticulated needs. The purpose of design, ultimately, in my view, is to improve the quality of life for people and the planet.

What is the driving force behind design thinking?

The biggest driving force is the accelerated rate of change in business and society caused by advances in technology. As companies become more software-driven, and the rate of change increases, so does complexity.

Most companies are optimised to execute and solve a stated problem. Creativity is about finding the problem worth solving. An absence of a scalable creative framework encourages incremental innovation in lieu of disruptive innovation. As companies strive for disruptive innovation, they must find ways to inject and scale creativity across their organisations.

Digital transformation is about the accelerated disruption of business models and requires a mind-set shift from problem solving to problem finding. CEOs need to be visionary leaders: from establishing an internal culture that encourages ideation, creation, and iteration, to building strategic partnerships to create new value propositions.7 – Sam Yen, Chief Design Officer and Dr. Chakib Bouhdary, Digital Transformation Officer, at SAP

Design thinking is our best tool for sense-making, meaning making, simplifying processes, and improving customer experiences. Additionally, design thinking minimises risk, reduces costs, improves speed, and energises employees. Design thinking provides leaders with a framework for addressing complex human-centred challenges and making the best possible decisions concerning:

• Redefining value • Re-inventing business models • Shifting markets and behaviours • Organisational culture change • Complex societal challenges such as health, education, food, water and climate change • Problems affecting diverse stakeholders and multiple systems

Design thinking succeeds when it finds ideal solutions based on the real needs of real people. In a recent Harvard Business Review article on the evolution of design thinking, Jon Kolko8 noted,

People need their interactions with technologies and other complex systems to be simple, intuitive, and pleasurable. When done well, human-centred design enhances the user experience at every touch point and fuels the creation of products and services that deeply resonate with customers.Design is empathic, and thus implicitly drives a more thoughtful, human approach to business.

When done well, human-centred design enhances the user experience at every touch point and fuels the creation of products and services that deeply resonate with customers.

Design thinking informs human-centred innovation. It begins with developing an understanding of customers’ or users’ unmet or unarticulated needs. “The most secure source of new ideas that have true competitive advantage, and hence, higher margins, is customers’ unarticulated needs,” says Jeanne Liedtka (Batten Briefings, 20149), “Customer intimacy – a deep knowledge of customers and their problems – helps to uncover those needs.”

Design thinking minimises the uncertainty and risk of innovation by engaging customers or users through a series of prototypes to learn, test, and refine concepts. Design thinkers rely on customer insights gained from real-world experiments, not just historical data or market research. McKinsey reports the best results come from constantly blending user research –quantitative (such as conjoint analysis) and qualitative (such as ethnographic interviews) with market-analytics.

A Framework for Design Thinking

When you are facing uncertainty, it’s essential to have a structured thinking process to guide your journey. Design thinking offers a structured framework for understanding complexity and pursuing innovation, which I see as being part scientific inquiry and part art. Jeanne Liedtka notes that a new business concept derived from observing customers is actually a hypothesis – a well-informed guess about what customers desire and what they will value. Rapid prototyping provides the means to place small bets on a hypothesis and test it out before investing in expensive resources.

Design thinking is also like jazz. The structure offers a basic melody from which you can improvise, but like any art-form, you need to master the basics first. Kaaren Hanson, head of Design Strategy at Intuit explains, “Anytime you’re trying to change people’s behaviour, you need to start them off with a lot of structure so they don’t have to think. A lot of what we do is habit, and it’s hard to change those habits. So, by having very clear guard rails, we help people to change their habits. And then once they’ve done it 20 or 30 times, then they can start to play jazz as opposed to learning how to play scales.”10

The framework I designed for Creativity at Work (see the diagram above) integrates design thinking principles with classic creative problem-solving (Osborne-Parnes, 1953).11 Creativity is central to design, so I include artistic processes to find aesthetic ways of knowing to stimulate the imagination and assist in sense-making and meaning-making.

The design thinking is an iterative non-linear cycle which involves developing a deep understanding of customers’ or users’ unmet needs within the context of a particular situation, making sense of data and discovering insights, questioning assumptions, exploring different perspectives, reframing problems into opportunities, generating creative ideas, critiquing and choosing ideas, testing through prototyping and experimentation, refining solutions, and finally implementing your innovation.

Implementing design thinking

Design Thinking is a journey of learning and discovery. It’s also a way of being. If you are strategising, you are designing.

Start at the beginning. Learn how to be a design thinker/doer from a seasoned practitioner.Look for ways to add quality/value to your offerings.

Build your creative confidence by conducting low-risk experiments, such as designing a meeting with your team. Ask questions which you don’t have answers for.

Learn how to coach and facilitate for creativity, co-creation and collaboration. This is crucial for creating a safe space for conceptual risk-taking.

Stay focused on the users’ experience.

Help teams unlock provocative insights, reframe existing problems, and generate ideas in response to your research.

Encourage multiple perspectives. Reframe constraints into opportunities and check assumptions.

The five practices that enable innovation include: (1) the development of a deep empathic understanding of user needs and context; (2) the formation of heterogeneous teams; (3) dialogue-based conversations; (4) the generation of multiple solutions winnowed through experimentation; and (5) the use of a structured and facilitated process.12

Scaling Design Thinking

SAP, P&G, IBM, and Cisco are integrating design and design thinking throughout the organisation, by creating their own frameworks, educating employees at all levels, hiring professional designers and design researchers, as well as acquiring design companies in order to operate at scale.

Cisco was the first company to launch non-tech HR hackathon in 2016. They used design thinking to “break” and then re-imagine HR solutions for 71,000 global Cisco employees. The “Breakathon” gave birth to 105 new HR solutions covering talent acquisition, new hire on-boarding, learning and development, team development, and leadership.13

Charlie Hill, Chief Technology Officer of IBM Design, said “Our teams had a very engineering-centric culture, but in 2012, everything changed. We wanted to shift that culture towards a focus on users’ outcomes.”14 They made the pivot from standalone, siloed business units to a cloud-first and AI strategy. Karel Vredenburg, head of IBM Design said this enormous transformation wouldn’t have been possible without embedding design thinking into the company culture – and innovating on the methodology to make it uniquely their own.15

When Indra Nooyi was the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo (2006–2018), she decided the company needed to rethink its innovation process and design experience. “It’s much more than packaging,” Nooyi told the Harvard Business Review. In 2012, she hired Mauro Porcini as Pepsi’s first-ever Chief Design Officer, placing design thinking at the core of business strategy and leadership. “Now, our teams are pushing design through the entire system, from product creation to packaging and labelling, to how a product looks on the shelf, to how consumers interact with it.”

During his tenure as CEO of Steelcase, Jim Haskett pioneered the team-oriented, open workspaces (with the help of anthropologists, sociologists and tech) and transformed the furniture company into a leader of the revolution in the way we work.16 Now, he is tasked with transforming General Motors by design, in his new role as CEO.

SAP describes its design thinking journey as one that develops from a set of tools, to a methodology, to a mind-set, and until finally becomes a culture.

SAP has identified four critical success factors when implementing design thinking:

1. Leadership: Link design thinking initiatives to your strategic goals.Provide direction, resources, and commitment.

2. People: Enable champions to lead the change through successful lighthouse projects. Build up an internal design thinking community where best practices are shared.

3. Process: Use the generic design thinking framework, but evolve the method and tools so they support your company’s objectives.

4. Environment: Develop and create collaborative workspaces for your workforce. Use to co-innovate with your customers and partners.

Design thinking works because it is a collaborative co-creative process grounded in engagement, dialogue, and learning. When you involve customers and/or stakeholders in the process of defining the problem and in developing solutions, you have a much better chance of gaining commitment for change, and getting buy-in for your innovation.

Develop creativity and innovation skills in your workplace

Discover how the interplay of art, design, and technology can help you solve problems and inspire creative solutions desired by your customers.

Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership Skills Development

Whole-Brain Creativity Problem Solving

Design-Thinking Training, Workshops & Coaching

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tinkdw · 8 years ago

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i just re watched beyond the mat and i think its very sweet that dean had just lost cas in the previous episode, and gets nervously flirty(?) around lawless - and then a season on got awkward and flirty around a waitress. just wanted to appreciate deans bi vibes with this ask but now im wondering if the writers are being constant w dean using coping mechanisms to avoid his worry about cas! :0

Hi!

Ahh, Beyond the mat, another fantastic Dabb episode :)

I mean, Dean’s coping mechanisms have been the same pretty much for the whole series which I really enjoy, it means it’s easier to pick up on the subtle evolution over time…

For me there are three main coping mechanisms for Dean: hunting, sex and food.

In season 3 when he knows he is dying he goes straight to find the bendiest one night stand of his life, he eats cheeseburgers like there’s no tomorrow (because there isn’t) for example and hunts, hunts, hunts. These continue throughout the seasons but there is a steady, interesting change over time.

During the pestilence episode it’s hammered home to us what his coping mechanisms are in the fact that he doesn’t succumb because he is a whole heap of ‘nothing’ inside and suicidal… the metaphor is showing us that actually what he is desperate for is not to have these coping mechanisms.

We also know that Dean is a bit of a neat freak in his own space from s8 and glimpses into how he folds his clothes in the back of Baby in 12x04 etc. We also know that he is in fact an excellent cook, enjoys ‘nesting’ in the bunker, thinks Jeoffrey is a dick…

These are fantastic metaphors, even more so now in ‘season fanfic 12′, thanks to Dabb encouraging the use of past subtext on to another level, Chuck bless him. He’s used food, sex, hunting, cleanliness and so much more to show the nuances in Dean this season *whispers I love you Dabb*!

I’ll go into the sex part now as that’s what you prompted me about :)

It’s really interesting to see how he interacts with his one night stands throughout the seasons and I think there is a really clear reading that is become more and more obvious, culminating with 12x18 with what it is showing the audience about Dean and his emotional side.

Now I’m going to delve into these one night stands a little deeper and it shows a clear arc for Dean…

Throughout the seasons we have had off the top of my head:

Cassie, Carmen (djinn dream), Anna, the waitress in Monster Movie, Lisa, the Amazon, Suzy, Anne-Marie (Demon!Dean so only kinda counts), Carmen the waitress.

So quickly, the 2 who mean more:

Cassie:

Cassie is extremely important. She sets the scene for us that Dean is not all performing!Dean, that he is actually a romantic, he has abandonment issues in love, he wants to be honest in love, he was in love with Cassie although they weren’t quite the right fit in the end and they parted ways. Also, it’s extremely interesting to see just how, when rewatching this episode in season 12, Cassie is so similar to her namesake in how they interact.

Literally at this point you could take the argument leading to the sex scene in Route 666 and insert Cas instead of Cassie and you wouldn’t even notice anything OOC or off script in the words they say and the way they act.

Cassie calls Dean out on his emotional repression. Dean calls Cassie out on leaving him. Cassie said she left Dean because she thought it was in Dean’s best interest and what he wanted because she though he wasn’t being honest. Dean doesn’t pursue her because he thinks she abandoned him… They didn’t mean to hurt each other but they did…It’s like they made Cassie as a character who was nearly right but not quite, an overture to who Dean would end up with and just… rolled with it.

Just watch it again now after 12x12.

It’s insane, do it.

Anyway…. moving on.

Lisa:

Lisa’s been meta-d about loads. I’m just gonna say she was a plot device, could have been a cool character but that wasn’t her purpose in the end, she and Ben were just there to show how Dean kind of wanted the ‘apple pie life’ but in the end it wasn’t actually what he wanted and it wasn’t possible.

Ok, the one night stands:

While we know that Dean uses sex as a distraction and a coping mechanism, let’s take away the relationships and focus on these one night stands.

1. In Monster Movie we know that Dean is terrified of what the hell is happening with the Biblical arc, that he is still suffering immensely from his time in Hell and needs release and to feel ‘human’ again. He interacts a lot with this waitress Jamie, they have a real connection, if not deep, at least they do talk and care about each other for their brief time together.

2. In s7 after he loses Cas (and has other issues going on too of course) he has the one night stand with the Amazon as a distraction, just a few episodes after in his drugged up haze revealing that his biggest issue right now is “Cas and black goo”. This time he does speak to her and chats her up, but it is all a little…. flat. But hey, she is amenable and they go off together. However, I always come back to this being his face after they finish… he just doesn’t look….satisfied or happy. Just empty.

3. Then we have during a ‘lost Cas’ period while he is human and separated from the boys the ‘sex is great but I hate saying goodbye’ speech and Suzy in season 9 originally due to air right after the episode where he has the awkward emotional encounter with Cas and the ‘fanfic gap’. Whether it’s sexual or not, the whole episode is emotional with Human!Cas (if you watch them in the right order) and the adios is so painful. With Suzy he does talk, they do ‘connect’ but not really, Dean is lying about who he is not only his name but also his character, then he specifically acts a role and ensures Suzy plays a role too, this is all ‘fake’.

4. Then we have beyond the mat in season 11, as you say, right after he loses Cas again and Lucifer is out of the cage. And damn if Sam/Rio isn’t a direct comparison for Dean/Gunner in this episode.

5. The waitress in 12x11. Now this one is interesting because her story is very wishy-washy and for Dean “its almost like it never happened”… read into that what you will. He does talk to her clearly, enough to make her think they had a bit of a connection anyway and something might happen after her shift, however, he ups and leaves her and then can’t remember her at all… (the important thing is how this is written as such, not the fact that it is such for the character, bear with me, this is about how he is portrayed not what it would mean in real life, because this is a chosen character scenario, it means something).

6. And now the waitress in 12x18, also during a ‘lost Cas’ period and time of strife. I’m sorry but the fact that she is called Carmen is fantastic from the aspect that she is paralleled with the Djinn Dream, but really the interesting thing for me is just how nameless, characterless, speechless and relatively faceless she is (we see so little of her, after the event she is blurred out, her name is said so quietly we can barely hear it and most only know as it was in the credits/imdb). Because this is what is important TO DEAN. She is not important, he really is just using her as a coping mechanism, and in no way do I mean this negatively, like he is forcing her, that is part of what I LOVE about Dean, that he is so caring of people and always caring of the women he beds, but the way she is framed narratively and cinematographically is specifically to make this clear to us that SHE IS NOT IMPORTANT BUT THE FACT THAT HE IS SLEEPING WITH HER IS. Again, framed with the food as well (the omelette that isn’t quite the pancakes that he wanted but will do as a substitute, pfff).

Also, if you take these one night stands and Jensen’s micro expressions into account you can clearly see how he goes from dazzling smile to solid, kind smile but fake identity/role playing to now just kind of awkward flirting in 12x18 and, well, this split second dropping of the facade, the dead eyes, between speaking to Sam and going to speak to her, which to me is a real insight into the fact that he is not excited about the prospect, but is doing it out of necessity, to feel better, it is the face of resignation, not excitement, before he plasters on a (imo fake) smile to go over and talk to her.

credit: @lost-shoe thank you :)

Which leads me to think…

Over time we can see how these casual encounters become less and less ‘real’, the women become less and less ‘real characters’ and it is more about framing the fact that Dean is coping badly with something (and yes, it seems a recurring theme now that this is the loss of Cas). These women are meaning less and less to Dean and to us as the audience seeing it through his POV, he is the protagonist, and because of this the struggle within himself is become clearer.

It really is season fanfic 12 and I love it :)

Moving forwards

If we are going to have another separation between Dean and Cas, which I believe we might, I can totally see the next step being:

Dean will lose his appetite or just right off order ‘whatever Sam’s having’ and not even try to have sex with a waitress. Ideally, a waitress would hit on him and he would actively say no.

This is where this narrative is taking us before we will get to canon Destiel. If this happens I will know they are using this metaphor as I am reading it, and tbh I don’t really see how it isn’t at this point, it has been so consistent over years!

So, I feel like they are using his coping mechanisms very consistently and clearly, which is great, I hope the general public do pick up on at least some of it!

For me this season is a lot more about Destiel than it is about bi!Dean, but I really wouldn’t be opposed to both, of course! It’ll be interesting to see over time which becomes the first to be textualised, but at this point in time I would say Destiel due to the narrative being so strong for this this season, more than bi!Dean, in my opinion.

#asks #bi!dean #dean is bi #destiel #spn 11x15 #spn 12x18 #Anonymous

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