#not much we can do about viewers who cross the picket line but i hope the participants who scabbed get blacklisted from venues
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I'm not surprised that people are incapable of boycotting Eurovision - many can't let go of other things for oppressed people, like Harry Potter and Chick-fil-A. Every strike has scabs who cross the picket lines. It doesn't matter that they're always remembered poorly in history, it still happens.
It's easy to give up something that didn't affect you or you didn't like, but something you found joy in? That's a real sacrifice that some people aren't capable of making.
Which, fine, we have the freedom to cross a picket line. But I don't understand the ones who weedle and whine about how they're not doing anything wrong. You're crossing a picket line; don't be embarrassing about it, too. Just own up to it.
#eurovision 2024#eurovision#and this is crossing a picket line a boycott was called and anyone who chooses to ignore that is a scab#its a free block list at least for those who dont want to deal with it#same as people who can't give up a childrens story mediocre chicken or any number of bigoted products#not much we can do about viewers who cross the picket line but i hope the participants who scabbed get blacklisted from venues
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15x04: Lucky Them
Wow. Davy Perez has this knack of bringing it, and this time was no exception. Icing on the cake was the delight at having Jensen directing again!Ā
We got a glimpse of Benny (happy not to have more) (however much I love his character, heās fulfilled his purpose in the narrative in beautiful ways that I donāt really need extrapolated on) (anyway) and we got Becky back, with some real character progression to juxtapose Chuckās alpha and omega of douchebaginess.Ā
The more of a douche connected to dark and horrible endings Chuck is, the more hopeful I become of the opposite heading our way. *fingers crossed* :)
The best line that Becky delivered was about how sheās carved out a good life for herself and she actually likes herself now. Thatās character growth right there. She found what would truly make her happy and she built on it. Bless you, Becky, youāre one of the lucky ones!Ā Sorry you got smoked. :/
But letās move into the meat of the story (pardon the pun) and talk about Sam and Dean and how they are simply not dealing at the moment. Either of them.Ā
*e p i c*
SamĀ
Oh Sam. Sam is having nightmares and theyāre of the callback kind, because here we get a glimpse of how heās still not processed his choice to drink that demon blood, how he still carries the self-blame and the guilt and the fear of losing his tightly held control of himself around with him, even to this day. Because, as he will state in that gorgeous (and seriously tear-jerking) end-of-the-ep exchange with Dean: he canāt let it go.
But letting go doesnāt mean forgetting. Letting go means understanding that you canāt change the past, that you canāt live in a blame bubble and that carrying that guilt for choices that you wouldnāt repeat now, if put in the same situation, is toxic for the mind because it hollows out your sense of self.Ā
Moving on means gaining perspective enough to forgive yourself your past mistakes, trust yourself not to repeat them and gain actual control of yourself through understanding where yourĀ boundaries need to be drawn and drawing them for yourself.Ā
It sounds easy (itās not), but if Sam can just see how strong he truly is in himself, how strong he always has been - he held Lucifer and went into the cage with him and was tortured by the Devil himself and heās still standing - then he can begin to trust himself not to ever let the past repeat itself.
I loved that the images of Sam with black eyes was a nightmare. Does this mean itās not foreshadowing? I donāt know! Maybe Sam needs to face his demons through a visual manifestation, but I think an internal gradual moving away from this fear of losing control could be just as effective. We shall see!
Sam daring to take the leader position is one of the ways him dealing with this fear can be, and has already been, explored, because heās been happy for Dean to take the lead for so long because of his fear of losing control of himself, of hurting people, of hurting the ones he loves and, of course, hurting Dean, that heās been okay with second chair, but Sam is the born leader and that second chair has never really fit him all that well.Ā
He just has to accept that happiness, while in the life, is always going to be shadowed by the fact that people will die, that they canāt save everyone, that monsters will continue to roam the Earth, but that theyāre doing what they can to make the world just a little bit better each day, and thatās all that we can ever hope to do. Like Cas once said to Dean:Ā āYou canāt save everyone, my friend. Though you try.ā
Dean
Dean eats his emotions. This is what is known as an unhealthy coping mechanism, meaning that instead of actually acknowledging and dealing with whatever emotion heās feeling thatās causing him distress, he pushes that emotion down and because of him suppressing it, the emotion finds an unhealthy behavioural outlet.
This is also a form of self-punishment.Ā
Guilt, shame and regret are all powerful emotions that cause a person to have an unconscious need to self-punish. And what emotions are Dean feeling at this very moment, ever since he pushed so hard at the love of his life that the love of his life finally decided to put his foot down and leave?
Yeah. Iād venture thereās a fair amount of all of those emotions battling it out inside Dean. What I love most about it, though, is that yes, heās eating the entire episode, but he only takes a sip out of that flask. Meaning? That this is unhealthy coping, but at least it is just that: coping.Ā
Heās not being self-destructive in a putting himself in harms way, let the chips fall where they may sort of self-destructive. Heās not taking care of himself, obviously, because he doesnāt feel he deserves it, because of the aforementioned guilt, shame and regret, but heās also not taking unnecessary risks. His sense of hopelessness, of his chance for happiness being gone, is subtle and is only highlighted inĀ that end-of-the-ep exchange with Sam.
Oh, itāsĀ enough to send shivers down your spine. And jerk them tears, too. *iCry*
Through that exchange we also get a Dean who is determined to keep going, to find a reason to keep going, which, to me, means thereās still slight hope that Cas will find his way back to him again. That this isnāt the end at all. Dean just doesnāt know exactly what he can do to ensure it isnāt.Ā
I would think it would be absolutely beautiful if what Dean needs to do is drop the fast food and eat some fruit, you know? If he actually starts to do little things of self-care that show heās actually beginning to open up to forgiving himself his past mistakes and loving himself as he is. The moment Dean can believe he deserves Casā love is when heāll be able to actually see Cas and see that he might mean as much to Cas as Cas does to him. And once that door begins to openā¦Ā
Yah. Fireworks.Ā
Anyway, thatās just what Iād love to see happen.Ā
Casā self-worth has clearly sky-rocketed, demonstrated to us when he decided to leave that Bunker and Deanās emotional abuse behind, effectively telling Dean that he deserves better treatment than that. Like hell yes.Ā
This action was so necessary, not only for Casā sense of self-worth, but to bringĀ Dean into a position where he honestly has no choice but open himself up to some much needed self-reflection.
Dean needs to reflect on his own behaviour, and he should feel guilt and shame and regret, but without getting defensive about it, without pushing it down and pretending heās fine with it. He has to actually face the consequences of his actions and step up and take responsibility for how his usual behaviour of taking his emotions (his anger) out on those closest to him is harmful, and he needs to become self-aware enough to not engage in it anymore.
Time to grow up, Dean Winchester, you beautiful man!
Letās take a look at the end-of-the-ep exchange, shall we?Ā
End-of-the-Ep Exchange
So we get the brothers, in the Impala, having one of those heart-to-hearts that Baby seems made for half the time. In this place of safety thereās room for honesty, always. And they usually find their way to it around her.Ā
*still worried something will happen to Baby by the end of the season as a visual manifestation of them letting go of needing her to have this type of communication as well as moving on from the past and into the future but omg I hope nothing does and still I kinda hope something does gah*
Anyway.
Iām skipping into the meaty part of this exchange (okay stop with that pun already itās already old) Fine.Ā
Dean talks about how he felt like cashing out in the crypt after Chuck went all Apocalypse World 55.1 on their asses, but Sam brought him out of that line of thinking by reminding him that what they do matter. And Dean is all about picking Sam up, has been trying to for the whole episode, wanting to do the same for Sam that Sam did for him, of course, and remind him that what they do matter, because they save lives.
And a little more than that.Ā
They keep the blinds down for the rest of the world, right? They allow for people to live their white-picket-fence lives and never worry about what goes bump in the night, which is what Sam has been so fed up with for the entire episode: the hopelessness of their situation; because there will always be more monsters, no matter what they do, and people will die, no matter how many they save.
To the exchange, then ā>
Dean: āCause it is, you know,Ā Itās a crap job.Ā We do the ugly thing so that people can live happy. Sam: Yeah. Lucky them. Dean: Yeah, lucky them.
So Samās reaction here can be read whichever way you like it, really, but looking at the subtext of the exchange - which, for Dean, is un-subtly all to do with Cas - Samās reaction tied to Dean agreeing that the people who get to live happy are lucky can very well be seen as Sam reacting to Dean letting his guard down and Ā admitting that, yes, happy sounds good, happy sounds nice, and he wouldnāt mind a bit of happy for himself.
Whatās more mind-blowing about this admittance, to me, has to do with the Cas-subtext of the exchange, though, because thatās for us, the viewers, who understand that when Dean talks about moving on, thatās a signal for us - who witnessed that very private moment between Dean and Cas in the previous episode - to get where Deanās head is at.Ā
So when Dean very subtly agrees with Sam about how living a long and happy life (and Iām paraphrasing Mildred because relevant)Ā would be good, we can detect that thereās a deeper reason for why itās not only monsters and death keeping Dean from living it.Ā
And, whatās more, the fact that he puts into words that he wants to live a long and happy life is a huge, huge marker, at least to this meta writer, of how far heās come in his progression, because he wants it and heās not about to lie to himself that he doesnāt, but, by that same token, he still does not believe he deserves it and he canāt see himself ever having happiness, which is part of why heās been self-punishing himself the entire episode, because itās this incapability of accepting happiness when itās right there that made him push Cas away and itās a vicious, vicious cycle of lack of self-love and self-worth.
(jaysusssss very beautifully done)
And look at Deanās FAAAACE ^^^
And Sam is still reacting to all this because what? ā did Dean just admit that he doesnāt want the Blaze of Glory ending for himself? (and yeah with Cas having left Iām pretty sure Sam is hyper aware of the possibility that Dean is actually, in his own way, admitting that a future without Cas looks pretty bleak to him)Ā
Back to the exchange where Dean says all these amazing, amazing things ā>
Dean: But it doesnāt change a thing. You know what I mean? We still do the job, but we donāt do it for us. We do it for Jack, for mom, for Rowena. We owe it to anyone whoās ever given a damn about us to put one foot in front of the other. No matter what.Ā
And let me pause for a moment there and just have us all look at what exactly he is saying here, because, oh boy, is it telling of how he just has not reached a healthy place in any shape or form. Now, in a way, this is healthier than digging himself a hole and lying in it, yeah? Absolutely.Ā
Itās thatĀ āfake itā mentality of S7 all over again and Iād rather he be here, with a glimmer of hope (I always thought youād come back type of hope with that trench coat in the trunk of every car they drove that season), and finding a reason to keep going, than be in that dark place he was in during his grief!arc at the start of S13, when he couldnāt believe in a damn thing and he didnāt care, at all, what happened to him, BUT there is still that echo here, which is why itās such an unhealthy frame of mind for him to cling to.
They donāt have a purpose in life for themselves, they find it through others.
No.Ā
It brings us right back to what he said to Sam at the end of 13x20: I donāt really care what happens to me, I never have.Ā
And what he told Death in 14x05: I donāt matter.Ā
This attitude is the reason why he canāt move out of this perpetual state of not believing he deserves more. That he deserves everything.Ā
And this is whatās keeping him from daring to want more for himself, daring to feel how much more he does want for himself, because every time heās dared to want more, itās come crashing down around him. His fear of happiness runs extremely deep.Ā
Itās time to face it and let go of it and embrace the fact of how his life and how he chooses to live it benefiting others is a great gift, but him giving that gift also means he has every right to balance the giving out with a bit of receiving.
*please and thank you*
Of course, all of this is underlined in what he says next ā>
Dean: And hey, man, like you said, now that Chuckās gone, weāre finally on our own. We are finally free to move on, you know?
And the way this is phrased, so brilliantly, of course makes it impossible not to see it as a subtle reveal of what Dean is thinking about Cas leaving: without Chuck pulling Casā strings, Cas was finally free to make the choice to leave.
But this is also tied to what Dean needs to stop getting hung up on, because heās purposefully blocking out what Cas said, which is that for all his string-pulling, Chuck still had to pivot with their choices. He didnāt control those. He manipulated them, sure, but he didnāt force them into making them. And each choice theyāve made has added to their understanding of themselves and of the world and their place in it. They are real.Ā
Cas didnāt choose to leave because now heās free of Chuckās influence - he chose to leave because Dean was breaking his heart, because Dean refused to hear him, because Dean was shutting him out and pushing him away, because Deanās inability to stop using the blame game as an excuse not to connect or open up wasnāt gonna fly anymore.Ā
And this is what Dean needs to face, so Dean talking about finally being āon our ownā and free is the last vestige of his performance remaining, the final lie he has to tell himself until he can face his fears and take responsibility for his actions, because the alternative is to live without Cas, aka without happiness.
I mean, the absolute defeat on Deanās face in the screen grab above reminds me of his face watching Casā body burn at the end of 13x01. And then that expression switches into this ā>
ā> grim determination.
The top one is all: Iāve lost him, Iāve lost him.Ā
The bottom one is all: Itās for the best anyway, what did you think was gonna happen, heās better off without you, let him go live his life.Ā
(headcanon but yeah like fuuuuck feelings)
And, of course, Sam is there to voice exactly how Dean is really feeling.Ā
Sam: I donāt know if I can move on. You know, I canāt forget any of them. Dean, I still think about Jessica. I canāt just let that go. Dean: No, no, man, thatās not what Iām talking about.
(because Dean is talking about the healthy way to let go, which is to not let the past rule your present, to be aware and appreciate and remember, but not cling onto old ideals and ideas, or past mistakes that you canāt change, no matter how much you wish you could)
Sam: I know, I know, I know, Iām sorry, I know, but what Iām talking about is that I donāt feel free. What weāve done, what weāve lost, right now that is what Iām feeling and sometimes itāsā¦ Sometimes itās like I canāt even breathe.
And all I could think when Sam said that was Dean talking about feeling as though he was drowning while being possessed by Michael. The suffocating feeling of the weight of all those old ideals and ideas and having no other choice but to succumb, because he wasnāt strong enough to fight them at the time.Ā
Sam is dealing with his own set of old ideals and ideas now, because while we see Dean actively suppress his thoughts and feelings and finding unhealthy, though at least stabile, outlets through coping mechanisms like overeating and drinking and working this episode, Sam is not about to suppress anything.
He feels his irritation, his impatience, his hopelessness and it comes out in how he interacts with others, with his surroundings, with Dean, with the case. Sam doesnāt have outlets. He bottles everything up. He thinks heās fine and heās handling it, but heās not. And he hasnāt been fine for a very long time. That hopelessness always niggling. That question of what is the point if thereās no end to the suffering?Ā
I honestly believe he needs to accept that not everyone can be saved. Iām hopeful that he will, but Iāll admit Iām a little worried about whatās in store for our Sam. I hope heāll have to get dragged through the darkest place before he can come out victorious on the other side, the same way Cas and Dean have been over the past four seasons.
Sam: ā¦Maybe tomorrow. You know, maybe Iāll feel better in the morning. Dean: And what if you donāt? Sam: I donāt know.
Itās interesting looking at how this conversation is structured: Dean reminding Sam that Sam saved him from himself and succeeded, and Dean, this episode, trying to save Sam from himself without success.
The thing is, I can see Sam needing to save himself, needing to get to a place where heās ready to fully let go of Dean, because he realises that Dean doesnāt need him the way he used to, and them holding onto each other and their old ideals and ideas of how to relate themselves to each other is no good, for either of them,Ā and, once this shift in Sam happens, for him to, without hesitation, step into a leader position and accept that this is his place and where he belongs and there is great purpose to be found there, and through that purpose, thereās great happiness to be had too. Aw Sam! *hopes and wishes*
I really loved this episode so much. Iām still not over this scene, havenāt quite digested how Jensen delivered that slight speech and all the very subtle truths baked into this exchange that were so extremely revealing of whatās really going on inside of him, as well as Sam stating whatās going on inside of him, following that harrowing dream sequence that opened the ep.
Gorgeous stuff. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.Ā
#spn meta#spn 15x04#speculation#dean winchester#sam winchester#cas#destiel#my reading#davy perez#good god#codependency#toxic masculinity#breaking of patterns#coping mechanisms#character progression#dean isn't doing too hot#neither is sam#oh dear oh dear#let it go#move on#suffer grow heal#home love family#fear of happiness#face your fears my loves!
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