#we are supposed to like him after s4 with dean

[emmafallsinlove]

thinking about how people arguing about rory and jess doesn’t have a “you jump, i jump” moment but like. have you ever been 17 and a guy bought your home made basket for $90 and sat with you on a bridge by the lake, look into your eyes and told you “you know, ernest only has lovely things to say about you”? because tbh, it changes everything.

[nuemanfilms]

— at this point, just word porn of sam winchester

Warnings piv, quiet/trying not to get caught sex, unprotected, praise, dean’s in the same room, based on s4-s5 sam, deans a heavy sleeper like always, creampie

A/N well i was supposed to be in class but i think we all know what happened instead. Sorry if this is shit, my brain isn’t exactly processing well?? i hate being sick oml.

16+ I am not responsible for the content you consume under this age!!

Dean was in the room, the exact same motel room as you and Sam, but it’s not like that would you stop you both from getting atleast some type of intimacy.

The sound of Sam’s belt being undone was a lot quieter than you both expected it to be. Silently thanking the gods above for that as he lined himself up at your entrance, your panties pulled to the side so you wouldn’t have to worry about finding them in the morning.

As soon as he pushed in, his hand immediately went to muffle your moans. He knew you were trying to to be quiet, he knew that. Yet it’s not like you could anyway with him at this angle where you thought he was gonna spilt you in half.

“Shh— ‘s okay, hm? I’m almost in- just a little more, Sweetheart.” Sam had to bite his lip to hold back his groans as well at the feel of your heat around him after what seemed like decades. It wasn’t like he was doing a better job at it though.

After a few moments and your nod, he gave a slow yet punctual thrust causing your eyes to widen. He knew you were still getting used to his cock finally being inside of you after what seemed like weeks, but he also knew that you were both too desperate to waste time.

Each time his hips dragged, his head nudged at your cervix with each passing second. He felt your small moans and whimpers against his hand, he prayed that his brother would stay asleep. Dean always was a heavy sleeper.

“See? Look at you, Honey.. so good.” Sam praised, his breath hot against your ear as your eyes rolled back at his sudden change in pace. His thrusts were more purposeful, his angle more precise as he aimed to reach the sweet spot that always had you seeing stars.

You were so close, he was not too far behind you clearly as his hips started to stutter against your own. He buried his face in your neck, his lips pressing open-mouthed kisses against your skin in an attempt to muffle his noises.

“C’mon, c’mon, Sweet girl.. come, come for me.” he encouraged, and you let out a moan that was definitely louder than wanted when you pulsed around his length.

He groaned into your flesh, his hips giving one last stutter before he filled your cunt. Your panties were definitely ruined, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it. Atleast not with Dean in the room.

Sam carefully pulled out, your mixed arousal leaking out onto the motel sheets before he even had a chance to pull your panties back up.

When he tucked himself back into his boxers, he helped you with your own undergarments before pulling you into his embrace.

[justjensenanddean]

Jensen Ackles | Purgatory Con, Düsseldorf, Germany, May 26, 2024, Panel Summary

Most creepy or annoying toy the kids ever had? Slime. It creeps him out. He has it all over his house now. He doesn’t like the texture or feel. But his kids love it. Creepiest? Danneel has an old antique doll. It is old cracked, has creepy eyes and is the devil. (x)

Demon Dean or Soldier Boy, who‘s more powerful? Demon Dean because SB has a traumatized little boy in him and demon Dean is just empty. He‘s more dangerous because he just doesn’t care. (x)

Funniest moment from set of The Boys? Someone yells Herogasm so Jensen says it was probably not the funniest moment but when he arrived on day 3 of the set, Jack Quaid asked if he‘s been on set yet and when it was a no, he said „whoo, good luck“ (x)

People kept mistaking the bottles of lube and the bottles of hand sanitizer. Jensen was not prepared for when filming started and everyone took their robes off. Jensen was not prepared. (x)

Jensen couldn’t not look. They called cut. Jensen was like „I‘m sorry, there’s 4 people over here doing a position I have never seen before.“ His shower was extra long that evening. „There may have been tears.“ (x)

“There’s four people over here in a position I have not seen before!!!” “My shower lasted extra long that evening. And there were tears.” Jensen retelling stories from Herogasm set on #TheBoys (x)

How long did it take him to learn the Arabic phrase for s14? Not long, he can parrot things quite easily. He just needs to hear it a few times, then he can repeat the sounds. It‘s how he learns accents. Tap dance worked like it too. If he can see or hear it, he can emulate it. (x)

Jensen: “I don’t think Cas’s confession is something that needs to be resolved. There is nothing to resolve. He said what he needed to say, it was a long time coming, it was heartfelt and beautiful. But there’s nothing to resolve.” (x) “Dean took it in and then lost one of his closest allies and friends. The accepting of that happened when Dean sat on the floor. He lost one of his brothers in arms and one of his closest people. When they come back, it’s just understood.” (x)

Are there situations where he accidentally or on purpose bring out Dean? Yes. Sometimes he thinks „it would be great to be Dean Winchester right now. He could have handled this.“ Dean is alive in him and comes out from time to time. (x)

Were there fake tears on SPN or did he ever cry? He wasn’t classically trained, so the emotion we see is real. He doesn’t know how to fake it. Compares it to a book or movie making you emotional. You know it’s not real, but it still gets you. (x)

After the s4 scene when Dean confesses to Sam about his 40 years and torturing in hell, he had to walk away because his body didn’t know it was fake. The barn scene was probably the most real, but for different reasons. He was saying goodbye to Dean, Jared, the crew. (x)

Crew members had to leave set because they were crying too. They were trying to dial it down, because it was too much emotion. (x)

When things get too serious? Laughter. It‘s his levee. When things get too heavy, he makes a joke to ease the situation. (x)

„Do you use Jared‘s conditioner?“ No he does not. That’s just what his hair does. (x)

Who inspires you? Jensen doesn’t idolize anyone, but he has a lot of respect for certain people and tries to absorb as much as he can when he meets them. Could be a brilliant scientist, an artist, an actor. (x)

Being cold on set? There was a scene with Bobby where they looked at a map over the hood of the car. Jensen told Bob Singer that it was ridiculous because they would look at the map in their car. But Bob wanted a specific job and told him to just get it done. (x) A few days after he got lasic surgery, he was supposed to wear sunglasses all the time. But he had to film in the sun with light shining in his face. Jensen was in so much pain that Serge covered the white surfaces in black. Didn’t help much. He took ibuprofen and powered through (x)

Dead in the Water when he had to hold the kid up and the diver pulled him under, it was the most eery feeling. He was terrified for the kid. But the kid actor had fun. / End of panel. (x)

(JMacLean)

[manwiththemagic]

The writers of s11 were cowards. If IIIIIIIIIII was in charge I'd made Lucifer's weird obsession with Sam show up more. Like the writers have very obviously included it and yet when Lucifer is processing the same vessel as cas, and therefore pretending to be cas, he just fucks off and tortures Crowley with fucked up bdsm pet play.

Like the few times casifer and Sam interacted were GOLD. because Sam sees it as his best friend cas, and Lucifer (who keeps talking about Sam like they're toxic ex's) is pretending to be him!! Although not to well. Like his freaky smirk when sending Dean into the past and coming back to harass Sam? Dude lives off of sadistic pleasure.

The way he full on LAUGHS when Sam says he trusts him bc Sam thinks it's cas?? Like gold!?!? Don't know why the writers didn't do more with that.

Also why not do more with the 'lucifer sent Sam visions to get him down to hell'. Like Lucifer is Obsessed w/ sam because that body/vessel is "supposed to be" his. And yet after revealing himself he doesn't try and convince Sam anymore?

He's just given up? Like nah man I don't believe that. I feel like he woulda fucked with Sam more in cas' body. And like it woulda been a way better not-romance-romance plot then whatever the fuck Dean and Amara were..

Like that came outta no where... I mean I get it.. but ew?? We saw her grow up, and maybe id argue "well there were two versions of her!! One physical on earth, the other her actual form and memories as a celestial being!!" BUT NO. SHE CALLS CROWLEY UNCLE CROWLEY.

cause he like raised her for a day or wtv..

Idk s11 is better than s10. Like the episode from baby's prospective?? PEAK CINEMAAAA!! also not that I dislike s11, no I quite love it, I just wish the dean plots were more fleshed out, and that it was more "Dean and Sam vs the world!!" Then Dean vs Sam yk??

Like where's my dynamic duo??

That's part of why I didn't like s10. Like no I loved the IDEA of Mark of Cain dean, and demon dean was hilarious (although I HATE him) but it was just Dean vs Sam, Dean vs cas, Dean vs the world. And idk I liked the idea, cause this time it was sam doing everything to save Dean, but man I just didn't like the fighting..

Also s11 had a mention of TMNT, S10 did not so... points!!

S1 and 2 of spn were peak ofc, and s3 was good but not really memorable for me?? Idk I'll go back and rewatch once I finish the series (just finished s11)

S4 and 5 were also really good, we got Castiel who is peak, blood junkie Sam, which was one of my favorite plots!! And of course a lot more bobby. Rest in peace king!

And unlike some I loveeeed s6-7 like.. the soulless plot, and death? Dean dealing with soulless sam?? Chefs kiss I mean mwah. Then Sam tweaking because of hallucinations. NOT TO MENTION GODSTIEL?? loved him sm stg.

8-9-10 is where it kinda fell off. I mean idk the leviathans?? Weak. Hated them ngl. Idk if they were s7 but either way.. mid. I didn't like purgatory bc no way Sam would do that?? But I did like how it developed deans character..

I don't remember what happened in what season but I lovedddd kevin, hated metatron (but in the "it's because he's well done" kinda way), the tablets were aight, Mark of Cain was uh... something.. (I hate demon dean but he was peak..)

So like idk.. show is peak though, I'm just at that point in the hyperfixtion where it's like "BUT I COULD DO IT BETTER!!" ykwim?? NVM I'm sick with a fever, supernatural is all I have going for me man.

[trialssam]

https://www.tumblr.com/trialssam/755982983333347329?source=share

Hi, I saw this post you reblogged and didn't want to derail it or give you/the op unwelcome notes to deal with so I thought it'd be better to ask this way. I felt like the post felt kind of contradictory and selective to me, and I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it?

First, I won't defend Dean keeping Gadreel a secret from Sam after Sam was possessed, that was wrong and it led to Kevin's death. Full stop, he was in the wrong for concealing that. But Dean didn't "let" Gadreel possess him... He told Gadreel that it was Sam's choice and didn't know the manipulative methods that Gadreel would use to get Sam's yes. He trusted Gadreel bc he thought he was Ezekiel and Cas told Dean that he could be trusted. Gadreel took advantage of his trust and he was the one who lied to Sam to get Sam's permission.

I'm also trying to remember when Dean violated Sam's body autonony other than keeping Gadreel a secret and I can only think of him and Bobby forcing Sam to detox in s4, but in the context of Sam being manipulated by demons and the way that the demon blood was affecting him, I think that can be justified (though I guess I understand if you don't agree). Either way, I think it's most directly comparable to Sam trying to rid Dean of the Mark of Cain, and the route Sam chose to do that did actively violate Dean's expressed wishes, resulted in Charlie's death and putting the entire world at risk of ending, which Sam knew was a risk... When Dean forced Sam to detox he was trying to save Sam and prevent the apocalypse, while when Sam cast the spell to remove the MoC he was trying to save Dean while knowing that it would cause unimaginable destruction and death. So in comparing those two similar situations, it seems to me like Sam was the one who was more reckless and willing to risk more because he couldn't live without Dean.

Also, in as early as Faith we saw Sam actively going against Dean's wishes to save him despite the method being incredibly suspicious and Dean not wanting to be saved that way. Sam saving Dean resulted in the death of an innocent person in Faith (it's not Sam's fault, the person would have died anyway, but now his death was on Dean's conscience when he didn't want to be saved like that in the first place), and in s3 Sam was on board with harvesting organs and frankensteining him and Dean to go on living forever just to save Dean from Hell.

Also in Mystery Spot, I'm a little confused how it was used it as an example of how he can live without Dean? That episode is supposed to show us that Sam will risk and do anything to keep Dean alive (kind of like the body part harvesting episode), to the point of possibly murdering Bobby on the suspicion that it was actually the trickster (he was correct about that, but he wasn't 100% sure so he did stab him knowing that he might be wrong and would be killing his uncle). So I just don't think it's a good example of Sam being less codependent than Dean, since the message of the episode is the exact opposite.

To be clear, I am not a Sam anti, I like him a lot. I just think that the show shows us time and time again that both Dean and Sam make reckless and harmful choices to save each other, and both of them display a lack of concern for the other's autonony over the course of the show. I don't really like the idea of arguing over which one incident was worse than the other, since ultimately that's kind of unquantifiable and they both make so many mistakes and both ultimately forgive each other. And the purgatory thing and the Gadreel thing are so different, if we want to compare one situation to another I feel like it makes more sense for the more similar situations like the demon blood detox and the MoC.

Anyway, hope you have a good day and I'm interested in hearing your thoughts!

Hey, Anon! I have an extended list of what Dean did to Sam that he thought it was right or that it was fair, but it wasn't.

• Dean DID let Gadreel possess Sam. Gadreel manipulated Sam when it was the time for Sam to say yes, but Dean LET him. What was even worse is that, after the possession, Dean kept lying to him, even when Sam thought he was crazy because he felt like there was pieces of time missing. Dean knew about Sam's story with possession, but he let it happen because he was desperate to not be left behind by his brother. Sam only found out the truth when the king of hell possessed him (after his body was tortured). Dean NEVER apologized for it. And he would do it again.

• Dean was the one who started the Apocalypse, but the narrative, the characters only blamed Sam. They both had the same goal: kill Lilith, then why only Sam got the blame? Dean left Sam in that panic room to die, Castiel let him escape, and instead of trying to talk to Sam, Dean called him a monster. Sam was manipulated by Ruby the entire time, so he was always at a disadvantage. When Dean went to hell, Sam was alone and grieving, and Ruby was there for him to give him what he wanted. But Sam learned from his mistakes, having THE arc of redemption in s5.

• I wouldn't discuss the Mark of Cain because that whole storyline was a JOKE. But anyway, Dean took the MOC willingly. He was becoming the worst version of himself. He was getting dangerous, and Sam tried talking to him to see the reason, but Dean didn't want to hear it. So Sam did what he had to do. And let's be honest here: Charlie caused her own death. She was dumb enough to leave the place where she was safe, to get killed. Dean never faced the consequences for anything related to the Mark. Different from the demon blood detox, Sam would never be cured by it because it was literally inside him. The Mark was only a curse that could be cured by a spell (the result wasn't nearly as bad as the apocalypse because the Amara storyline was pretty weak).

• In Mystery Spot, Sam was different because he was fueled by revenge, but he only "killed" Bobby because he knew it wasn't him. "You know why? Because you're not Bobby" and then stabbed him. And I'm not saying Sam doesn't have questionable decisions, but they're less harmful than Dean's.

• In episode Faith, when Dean was "saved" by that preacher, they both didn't know how that happened, but Sam believed Dean deserved to be saved, he always believed in Angels and in God, but he didn't know that it was a work from a reaper.

I'll never deny that they both were codependent on each other, but this codependency was unbalanced.

And I won't talk about the purgatory thing because I will not touch that can of worms again (too many years talking about it, and I'm so sick of it, lol)

Dean wasn't being selfless in "saving" Sam, every time he did, was for himself. Sam even said that to him in 9x13:

Dean always had this hero complex (and God complex bc it fits) that he SHOULD keep Sam alive, even when he doesn't want to, and that is a violation. Sam couldn't even keep secrets about HIMSELF from Dean, that he got punched in the face, like his life is not his own. Sam constantly thanked Dean for being there for him, and he always felt like he owed his brother everything, but you guys are 1st to judge Sam when he DOES something to save Dean and he doesn't as well, which is a hipocrisy.

To say that they're "equally" harmful to each other is not paying attention to their dynamics throughout the years. Dean always had the final word, even when Sam didn't agree with him, which it became worse in late seasons, and like Sam told him in s9, "I'll give you this much. You are certainly willing to do the sacrificing as long as you're not the one being hurt."

They ultimately forgive each other because Dean doesn't want to be alone, and I know he loves Sam, just like we know Sam loves his brother, but what choice does Sam have? He could never go on with the life of hunting without his brother. That's why it was so important for Sam to Dean to give him his blessing in 15x20 to stop hunting.

I hope you have a good day as well :)

[ardentpoop]

your a person who I feel really understands Sam and I always enjoy seeing your opinions on the show so i hope you don’t mind me asking a bit of a specific Sam question. In s8 Sam says that the time is he found with Amelia was something unique that he found for the first time in his life. I’ve always found that line to be a bit weird considering Stanford and Jess but I’d like to see what you think Sam means and is saying by this line. Have a good day.

hi :)

I have mixed feelings on the amelia arc leaning more positive than negative bc I’m a contrarian and I thought the fandom disliked that arc for the wrong reasons lmao - as usual dean’s inescapable perspective aggressively dampened ppl’s ability to empathize w/ sam. also as usual this fandom hates women as much as the show does.

anyway bird’s eye view: sam’s “break” with amelia pre-s8 followed the extremely traumatic events (for sam more than anyone) of s4-s7. he spends literal years dealing w/ one catastrophe after another, his and dean’s relationship suffers its first major breakdown in s4 that imo they never truly recover from, he sacrifices himself to save the world bc it was “his fault” it nearly ended, he suffers an eternity of torture in the cage and loses those memories then regains them then loses them again, nothing feels solid to him least of all his own body and mind. and then dean dies in the s7 finale! or at least, sam thinks he does - he has no reason to believe otherwise. and sam looks for dean, we see that he does, we see him spinning out and suicidal again, but then he stops. bc he hits a dog! and he meets A Girl. and this girl, like him, is drifting and grieving and desperate for something solid to hold onto for just a while. and she’s prickly and unapproachable at first and sam finds that comforting.

my overall point is that sam’s headspace going into stanford era and sam’s headspace pre samndean reunion in s8 are like…. impossibly different. he goes through shit his teen self wouldn’t even have the words to describe. he and dean hit lows that he would’ve never thought possible when they only had each other for comfort under john’s roof.

stanford era sam was blessed with ignorance; he was trying to be Normal, he left his stifling family unit behind and started planning a stable future without them, he was doing everything you’re Supposed to do to be a happy successful person per american individualism - and at the time, it WAS making him happy, bc everyone had kept him in the dark abt the nefarious plot he was smack-dab in the middle of; he didn’t know his freedom was an illusion and that he’d never stopped being watched.

pre-s8 sam on the other hand has long since given up on normalcy. he views himself as a freak who will “never be okay” and hunting as a burden that he deserves to bear. it takes dean being gone for the veil to lift a little and remind him that A) it’s maybe okay that he’s a freak lmao bc amelia’s kind of a freak as well and they can help each other specifically because they’re broken in similar ways, and B) he CAN feel okay when he’s not hunting.

like we know sam’s always hated hunting lol his introduction as a character is centered on this inner conflict. however sam “running away” from “the life” before he knows abt what azazel did to him and before he’s made to shoulder the burden of the apocalypse in s5, among countless other burdens, and sam making an Informed Decision to step back from hunting are 2 entirely different things. to me.

also btw sam turning away from hunting is inextricable from sam turning away from dean, and punished accordingly. bc sam’s Place is at dean’s side whether he likes it or not. he is reminded of this the very instant dean gets back from purgatory and bombarded with guilt abt it for the rest of the season until he cracks.

[sothischickshe]

Up for a discussion question? If we’d gotten a full season three as intended, what would you have expected/liked to see from Beth and Rio?

Hey sweetie, I'm always up for a discussion question danke 🙇🏼‍♀️🥰❤️

I stand by what I said once re what i'd've liked to see from s3, particularly: the full s3 😭😭, whatever their vision for that was, so I could judge it on its own merits!! It remains a very romantic concept to me, bc while I certainly have my issues with other plots in s3 (terrible therapist, donor family, here's a hitman let's give him all our money woo, dean's salesman shenanigans & boring affair with gale etc) the angsty messy sexy brio scenes were soooo delicious 🥺🖤 and then while I understand s4 had a lot to reset from/deal with, s4 (b)rio frequently doesn't make all that much sense to me 🤷🏼‍♀️

but also! i finally started posting a fic which is kinda about that? (rio pov, post s3, eventually very long etc). so im gonna say a lil more (thus warning: minor fic spoilers) behind the cut...

....but this thing keeps moving where i put the readmore?!

how do u make a website this bad. um anyhow

pay-off to the boring dean/gale stuff!! helllooooo beth and dean both sleeping with their bosses?! hilarity goldmine no?!

MORE RHEA. like you can't just introduce a character beth's having a quasi-romance with & rio's presumably had an actual one with, who's seen them both at their softest and uncovered worstnesses, and is surely best placed to comment on say their similarities and then do nothing with it???

beth and rio yelling at each other. surely this was coming??

not ending on that next time empty the clip line (which i don't like) / wrapping up the hitman plot

given the (sudden!) arrival of nick in s4 and depressing rio backstory, i'd've loved some suggestion that rio was like consciously paralleling nick & beth's betrayals of him & considering them as similar and/or that his mentoring of beth had something to do with even the vaguest of plans to extricate himself from nick (plus Revenge) etc

like. acknowledgment and processing of trauma???

weird angsty sex

more brio bar scenes, more brio drinking, more brio laughing (at each other)

if not the furniture return, then at least it being more a topic of conversation...like how wasnt it? beth pitching ideas for earning the return (at least of her kids' stuff??) or rio holding it over her head or at least him going on abt how much he's enjoying her lamps or something!

death divorce. the show held this over our head for far too long. i also like this being decoupled from the brio stuff as much as plausible. beth needs to divorce dean not bc she's interested in rio but bc dean is the worst.

plenty of boland bubbles, that spot lasted abt 0.4 seconds after we sat through all that dean nonsense... we should have at least got rio testing out an empty hot tub cos he doesnt know theyre supposed to have water in or something.

inordinate amounts of brio bickering

ending of hitman/plot consciously paralleling s1 and 2 finales, even if it wasn't literally beth + rio + some man + a gun (ideally with some rationale as to how rio finds said hitman, whether or not that was a reveal of his magical powers)

Incentive Convo Callbacks (also rio vs sushi like a million more times, pls)

scars.

[speyerboot]

I've been discussing this with @bohello ad nauseam but I 150% believe that at one point it was planned but later dropped for Billy to eventually be revealed as a Venture. (spoilers mentioned under the cut)

I was inspire to collect my thoughts after seeing this post

Reasons:

Hair color (This is already a signifier for a lot of Rusty's relationships to family members and Billy's is similar enough to Baby Rusty's more orange hair)

higher natural / gifted intelligence (I would argue on the same level as JJ just in a different field)

Grew up obsessed with Rusty Venture (Cartoon)

His mother had ties to the original Team Venture but she chooses to keep her past a secret from him even in the current timeline.

---

Now this could equally go either the Tara (possible half sibling) route or the Rusty clone route.

Our logic for the Rusty clone route is we see enough examples throughout the show of "Failed" or disfigured clones. (D19 / JJ / Rico) We know from 'S4 E3 - Perchance To Dean' that Rusty's attitude towards disfigured slugs is to "abort" them and I have a pretty good reason to believe Jonas probably felt the same.

I think the way Cloning is supposed to work in Venture bros is that you have the subject that needs cloning (in the show always depicted as male) but that you need a donated egg to contribute to the process. Meaning the clone will still have some influence from the "mother's" DNA. I like to think that this is why Malcolm and Rusty take after Mrs Fitzcarraldo and less like Jonas.

Sidenote: I like to believe that the reason the "Rusty" Venture from the cartoon looks so drastically different from childhood Rusty depicted in flashbacks is because the cartoon version was based off of a different Rusty (possibly OG Rusty) who's would have had a different egg donor / parent.

or that Venture Twins look a lot less like Doc. With that logic in mind I would assume Jonas used a donated egg from Rose to create Billy, his clone then experience minor defects which Jonas pawned him back off to her (which causes her to quit being Triple threat and focus on raising her son )

---

I just think it would be very tragically poetic for a character like Billy (who grew up obsessed with the Rusty Venture cartoon and idolizing Rusty to eventually have it found out he was a "Rusty" this whole time.

[ruinedsam]

Meg possessing Sam was multipurpose in my now dearly beloved AU: it is revenge on Dean but also Meg needs to spend time with her baby brother; demons are allowed to openly be around him, no more hiding that people in Sam’s life are actually demons, so Meg is actually allowed to call him her brother. We see Azazel cared about Meg and Tom, Meg cared for Azazel and was genuinely shocked Tom shot her with what they thought was the Colt, so I want Meg to be really excited about having a new addition to their family, except she’s very much a demon so her way of showing this is deeply twisted and disturbing. Meg wants to hurt Dean and get to know baby bro, what better way to do both of these things than to hijack Sam’s body so Sam has no choice but to spend a week with her and they can get to know each other, but also commit crimes so Dean thinks he’s failed to save his brother. Meg planned to leave before Dean killed his brother, so Dean would realize it was possession and not kill Sam, so she wasn’t actually endangering her brother. Sam snarks that she could’ve gotten him arrested if the cops saw the video and he might end up with the dead hunter’s friends hunting him down; Meg assures him she would kill any hunters or cops that came after them. Sam is not reassured. But every time Meg and Sam meet, she greets him very enthusiastically as “little brother!” Dean glares every time. Meg meets Ruby and proceeds to threaten her; when asked why she has decided to threaten this random demon, Meg says that she’s pretty sure the older sibling is supposed to threaten whoever is dating the younger sibling. Meg and Sam have a very weird dynamic in s4 where Meg is open about wanting Lucifer free, but says she won’t stop Sam from killing Lilith, which Sam assumed was Meg thinking he’d fail but was actually because she knew what the final seal was; you know how Ruby tells Sam that Lucifer will reward Sam for freeing him? Yeah, Meg’s got the same kind of stance regarding Sam and Lucifer, where she thinks Lucifer is actually the best thing for Sam and she’s intensely loyal to Lucifer. This means that Meg thinks nothing of not telling Sam that killing Lilith is the final seal because Lucifer is good for her brother so he needs to be free and Sam will understand later. Also, Sam’s weird relationship with Meg absolutely makes things so much worse between him and the angels, it’s not just sleeping with a demon—which, while filthy and proof he’s an abomination, is why he’s going to break the final seal and start the apocalypse so it’s accomplishing what the angels want anyway—but it’s having one as a sister and he never attacks her despite knowing she’s helping with the plan to free Lucifer so Sam should want her dead but he always sounds more exasperated than anything else when she turns up. This contributes to the Sam-Dean rift, with the voicemail this time saying something about Sam really being Azazel’s son and Dean will hunt him down just like he would any demon because Sam’s as good as a demon here and Dean isn’t even sure he has any human blood in him at all (which is related to Dean saying at least Sam would die human in the detox). It’s never clear if the voicemail was the angels or not, in my head the scene would have Dean reaching Sam’s voicemail when he calls but cuts out before Dean starts speaking and then we go to Sam and hear the voicemail.

Meg wants to hurt Dean and get to know baby bro, what better way to do both of these things than to hijack Sam’s body so Sam has no choice but to spend a week with her and they can get to know each other, but also commit crimes so Dean thinks he’s failed to save his brother

I ADORE your Meg 🥰 Honestly so true of her...

Now what I really want to know about is Meg and Ruby's relationship. Does Meg know Ruby is undercover or does she assume she's truly working against hell, like Alistair did? How do they see each other? What is their dynamic like?

Also what would Sam's relationship with Meg look like in S5? I can't imagine him having any sort of non-adversarial relationship with a demon during that time...

It’s never clear if the voicemail was the angels or not, in my head the scene would have Dean reaching Sam’s voicemail when he calls but cuts out before Dean starts speaking and then we go to Sam and hear the voicemail.

Yesss you got the right idea, let's say goodbye to voicemail fix-its and instead make it worse <3

[zmediaoutlet]

Happy wincest wednesday!

How do you think their relationship would have progressed if the events after s2 didn't happen (aka sam not dying and dean not dying)? would they always be as tight of a unit as they were in s2 or would sam eventually seek "independence" like he did when he went with ruby (or was that because of the demon blood)? Also do you think sam would've reacted to dean coming back to life differently (less cool about it) if he weren't using his powers but being "old sam"?

(does that make sense)

hello, hello, anonymous wincest friend! i know you sent this in plenty of time but it has Been A Week and so i'm just getting to it --

-- sidenote i know that wednesday is the day for wincest but i hope everyone feels thrilled to be wincesty on any day that we can manage, yes? yes. okay, so --

This is a really interesting question, friend anon. In a sense this is like -- imagine myself back in 2007 when people were writing early-years wincest, contextless, without the weight of the future and also without the weight of the deepened past that we got over the many years of actual canon information. That's really hard to do, haha! But I'll try, for wincest saturday. Although this is a two-part imagining, so, let's see-- let's take the second part first:

How would Sam have reacted to Dean coming back to life in s4 if he hadn't been using his powers?

Very interesting question. Part of the question inherent in that is: is he still working with Ruby? I think we might have to say no -- her whole job is to corrupt him with hubris, and how would she manage to cling on if she doesn't have the excuse of ""helping him"" by getting him to use his powers? So we'll imagine a world where -- whatever, Sam stabs her with her own knife when she shows up -- and that sobers him up a little from his grief spiral, and of course he's still trying to figure out a way to bring Dean back, and maybe he's still even looking for Lilith, but he hasn't spun off onto that path-of-good-intentions that made so many things go wrong in s4.

So -- Sam's still had a hard goddamn summer, but he's not got that early corruption set in. Maybe still talking to Bobby. And one day he opens up his motel room -- he ordered pizza and he's tired and his leads keep petering out -- and there's Dean, standing there, Bobby over his shoulder, and Sam's luck is never this good so of course it's a shapeshifter or a demon or a -- and of course, it is Dean, and that means -- it means --

I don't know if you'd be able to peel them apart, honestly. Bobby'd start getting uncomfortable. ...My 'stick to canon' heart is elbowing me to remind me of how in s6 when Sam got resouled, Dean was perfectly happy to go off and do a case without him, but I really do think this'd be different. Sam would have been operating on a possibly Mystery Spot-esque emptiness and lack of hope and Dean coming back pours light and color back into his life in a way that the demon blood/Ruby/corruption path he was on just didn't allow. Of course he was happy in canon to have Dean back, but killing Lilith had become the main goal that overshadowed Dean's return bc Ruby needed that to be true, and here it wouldn't be. And that just. Does a lot. If they hadn't already consummated the wincest, strong chance a first time would happen within that first month back.

What if Sam and Dean didn't die and instead just kept 'normally hunting', presumably still after avenging John & Mary by killing Azazel since those are the events of s2?

So this is yet another world. I suppose if Sam doesn't die that means that he's the 'winner' of the Special Kids olympics. Whether he opens the devil's gate or not, the trouble with Sam not dying means that Dean doesn't sell his soul, and if Dean doesn't sell his soul he can't go to hell as the righteous man who will start the apocalypse, which means Lilith doesn't get killed at the right time, which means that they aren't the vessels of angels and none of that terrible shit happens. And so, without all that...

If the apocalypse doesn't happen, and they're just hunting and cleaning up demons and getting on with their lives, I think... they break up. Not necessarily in a super sad way, and not even necessarily angry. But there's no reason for them to stick together, not really. Maybe Sam meets some girl, in some town. Maybe going back to college seems feasible. There'll always be another ghost, another werewolf, and the thing is that now we're past s2 and they know so many other hunters, it doesn't feel like the end of the world if they find a job and pass it on to someone else, you know? Hell, maybe Dean wants to settle down, slow down. He never was as bought in on the hunting as he actually seemed. But -- in the same way that I always hold firm to the opinion that they make themselves into soulmates -- without all the shitty, scary things that happen to them over the middle years -- their soulmate status isn't actually there. They're still tied together by history and love, but it's a thinner weaker connection than it would be in s5, s7, s11. So Sam goes back to law school. Dean opens his own roadhouse. They talk, they maybe even still go on hunts occasionally. They're good brothers. They aren't more.

Healthier, probably. More fun for me? Absolutely not, lol.

[rellik24]

Hi. Super new to the Supernatural Fandom and I'm only a few eps into s4. Basically I just finished ished the episode where Dean is scared of everything and nearly dies bc of it.in the end, Sam's eyes did a little flash of yellow like the yellow eyed demon. And since we all know that the demon made Sam into what he is so like. I have a theory and I want people to just say whether it's true or not bc now I NEED to know so pls tell me.

Basically my theory is that the demon was once human, like Sam, and a demon before had done to him what he did to Sam and the other kids and then the current demon won the competition thing to see who's strongest. Still following? OK. So basically we all know that Sam was meant to lead a demon army eight? Okay. And Dean was told to stop Sam from going down whatever path he was going down with his powers and all that. He hasn't been doing a very good job of stopping Sam from doing is power stuff and I feel like that's how he'll become the demon leader.

Okay so I have a couple theories.

1. If Sam uses his powers then he becomes more and more likely to become the demon army leader

2. The yellow-eyed demon knew he would have to die or something in order for Sam to take over

3. Yellow-eyed demon that they killed was the previous demon army leader. (Everything went to shit after he died plus gates of hell opened)

4. There's been previous yellow-eyed demons and they all came to be the same way Sam kinda is

5. Their dad knew that Sam would become the next yellow-eyed demon and that's why he told Dean to stop Sam and also why Dean told Sam to never use his powers and got mad when he found out he learned while he was dead.

6. Sam can exorcize the demons without speaking our without anything really is because he's supposed to be The leader and he's forcing the other demons to listen to him bc if he's a leader then he has to be stronger than the others

Anyway. Half of those rely on eachother being true. Can someone who knows some stuff about the show pls tell me. I am very eager to find out if I was smart enough to figure it out before the show told me bc it makes me happy. Anyway if someone does let me know I will be eternally grateful. This is my current hyperfixation and it's kinda become my comfort show

[mlobsters]

supernatural s6e9 clap your hands if you believe (w. ben edlund)

oh no. a cheeky and obvious knockoff of xfiles, my expectations are subterranean. even the titles. oh lord. (the fake xfiles music is awful. and the knockoff version of the titles. ack. watching this show does make me appreciate mark snow, the xf composer, even more)

(i watched xfiles while it was airing back in the 90s and it was my favorite show, very formative. i have many squishy feelings about the xfiles and my otp. and! my first impression of sam and dean, season 1, without really knowing much about the show, was s4-5ish mulder and scully)

okay, probably mostly everyone would say star trek voyager for robert picardo, but he was also in china beach! which came up back in s2e19 folsom prison blues with jeff kober.

china beach (1988-1991) rober picardo as dr dick richard

picardo was also in the wonder years AND he was the johnnycab voice (and the "robot" was modeled after him too) in total recall. resident actor of my childhood.

total recall (1990) robert picardo (voice and likeness) as johnnycab

(really pretty natural lighting, and pleasantly populated feeling street)

DEAN Hey, you wanna be a real boy, Pinnochio, you gotta act the part.

SAM I was faking it Dean! Ever since we got back on the road together, I was picking every freaking word. It’s exhausting.

DEAN Okay. All Right. But until we get you back on the soul train, I’ll be your conscience, okay?

SAM So you’re saying you’ll be my… Jiminy Cricket.

DEAN Shut up. But yeah, you freaking puppet. That’s exactly what I’m saying.

again, the soulless banter and bickering we were missing! thank you

another nice little detail. sam is itching to push this guy and dean has to nudge him out and they made him like. audibly grumble a little, it's very loud and clear for such a likely quiet sound. but it was a cute touch. him being visibly different is fun

SAM Close encounter! What kind? First? Second?

DEAN They’re after me!

SAM Third kind already? You better run, man. I think the fourth kind is a butt thing.

DEAN Empathy, Sam! Empathy!

again, cute

good grumpy dean content

DEAN Our reality’s collapsing around us, and you’re trying to pick up our waitress?

SAM Yeah. Okay. Look. Brings up a question. So, say you got a soul and you’re on a case, and your brother gets abducted by aliens—

DEAN Yeah, then you do everything you can to get him back.

SAM Right! You do, but, what about when there are no more leads for the night? Are you supposed to just sit there in the dark and suffer, even when there’s nothing that can be done at that moment?

DEAN YES!

SAM What?

DEAN Yes, you sit in the dark and feel the loss.

SAM Absolutely! But couldn’t I just do all that and have sex with the hippie chick?

DEAN No!

SAM It’d be in the dark.

makes a good case!

breaking news, we're back to the black desktop background

MARION Mmm. There is much theory and little fact. We know they only take firstborn sons, just like Rumplestiltskin did. Personally, I think they’re taken to Avalon to service Oberon, the King of the Faery.

SAM Dean? Did you service Oberon, King of the Fairies?

all right they'd been hitting with the humor for me so it's only fair they take a bit way too far with this whole tackling the rando guy and having dean call him a fairy repeatedly, obviously so people can think he's doing a hate crime. oh, great. and you know it's going to be some ableist joke because it's a little person too.

also the effects for the watchmaking elves is... not great lol

nice end of episode scenic chat,

SAM Dude, I do still have all my brain cells. If anything, my brain works better now.

DEAN Just making sure that’s where your head’s at. That you’re not having second thoughts about getting your soul back.

of course not!!!

considering it started out so painfully, it was overall a fun episode! kind of cracky but still dealing with the main plot. and not pushing the awkward humor buttons nearly as much as they did in the earlier seasons

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 04x02

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Dean Winchester

“So do you jizz your pants every time you hear Cas say the perdition line in the intro?” “Cas is so weird as a character.” “this is the eye roller part. Oh she’s got the breath. Oh the lights. Oh she’s fucked” “the salt budget increased” “how many analogies for hell are we gonna get?” Oh, Dean and Sam become Chuck’s favorite boys

“He didn’t even grab a book. He just slapped them” “That’s the dirtiest Baby has ever been” “Not Ruby - I mean the car” “That’s something supernatural weird - you’d think you’re done being trapped as a demon, and hell is pretty bad. You’d think they’d want to redeem themselves or something but even the demons don’t want to go to heaven so it makes you wonder what’s happening up there” “Dean likes cherry pie especially” “sausage” “Dean’s sleeping with the window down? With his face in the air? Is he a dog or something?” “I supposed dogs are no better than daddy’s blunt instrument or something” “of course they zoomed in on his hands where there’s something trapping him” “Is it his childhood shotgun?” “that was a weird scene transition” “Is this supposed to be like the Shining?” “nice” “I guess deep-throating demons does that to you” “that was smart. I didn’t see that coming” “You didn’t have to say “iron” out loud” “every time I see this sort of scene, I think of Casino Royale when the balls get hit by the rope. So this is the ball-hittin’ rope dungeon” “wouldn’t it be rusty? It’s not going to last forever. What’s the maintenance like?” “3 dudes in a room and point out the lady calendar on the wall” “what the fuck” “not even 2 episodes into S4, and we’re talking the end of the world? That’s some serious escalation there” “$5 gallon gas. That’s it?” “He would say Bunny Ranch” “They’re really going broad with the salt this time” “It would have been funny if there was a cat in the linen closet” “getting your insides groped by a ghost. It’s weird” “they would be so deaf after this episode” “whack-a-mole with ghosts” “it’s like that quest - defend the spell caster for however minutes” “pretty extreme” “lots of heavy breathing for 3 old men. Just saying” “fkn messy hair. Showing up at night, too. Tie hair half-down. Sex hair” “why is he talking so quiet? He’s half-yelling, too. Can’t wake the other guys?” “that’s funny as fuck” “I mean the black backgrounds, tight shots, music…I mean you’re not even thinking about Bobby and Sam. Plus, they’re whisper-talking well within a comfort zone” Points out how close Jensen and Misha get and the lip staring “What the fuck” “was he dreaming?”

[deanstudies101]

s4 predictions / reading of the titles (we forgot to do these before the season, hence why they are intermingled + we missed a few episodes)

Episode 1, Lazarus Rising: Iga, Lazarus from the bible does a jump.

Episode 3, In the Beginning: Kai, lore episode. Iga, about the seals, god, Lucifer, and Lilith etc. and about how Lucifer is this big evil guy and they should be so scared about him coming out but when he does come out he’s like. Fine. Kai, maybe Lilith is Eve, or was Eve? Lilith backstory.

Episode 4, Metamorphosis: Kai, big bug. Iga, big bug. Kai, no, Sam. Things move along with Sam’s powers, he starts being more demonic. Iga, no it’s gonna be something in a cocoon, slimy. Julio, I feel like I’m going through an internal metamorphosis

Episode 6, Yellow Fever: Julio, disease? Iga, babies being ill, but a demon illness, maybe about Sam’s babyness. Kai, about the yellow eyed demon. Iga, they wanna fuck the demon?

General predictions

Sam evil arc (Iga, Kai agrees)

Dean is gonna have to cope with his time spent in hell, but we’re never gonna see him get over it, he’s just going to be expected to move on. But he’s going to be struggling. The closest we get to him talking about it, he gets told to man up (Iga, Kai agrees)

Find out if Lucifer is real, and probably yellow-eyes’ plan (Kai)

I wish that Dean finds a better relationship with his work (Julio)

Episode 7, It's the Great Pumpkin Sam Winchester: Kai, it’s giving similar to fairy tale episode, some whimsy. Iga, yeah, whimsy.

Episode 8, Wishful Thinking: Kai, djinn, or something similar. Making wishes, wishes being granted. Iga, yeah I like that

Episode 9, I Know What You Did Last Summer: Kai, Dean’s time in hell. Iga, yeah maybe they talk about it. Maybe Cas is there

Episode 10, Heaven and Hell: Kai, lore. Iga, Lorę. Maybe Can is telling them a bedtime story about why heaven and hell exists. Kai, Can meets a demon, and there’s some clashing. Iga, maybe it’s Ruby, but she’s terrified of him.

Episode 11, Family Remains: Iga, not about Winchesters. Maybe about Bobby? A Bobby episode. Kai, another Mary episode.

Episode 12, Criss Angel Is a Douchebag: Iga, about Cas. Kai, magician. But actual magic. Looks like a fake magician but it’s real magic.

Episode 13, After School Special: Iga, about kids again.Been a while since we’ve had creepy kids. Kai, genre one, they do a genre for an episode.

Episode 14, Sex and Violence: Kai, evil puppets. Evil video game. Julio, they find another cool ass hunter, and they have sex, and there’s some misunderstandings, a hunters hunter.

Episode 15, Death Takes a Holdiay: Julio, someone is supposed to die but they don’t die. Iga, Dean has a little cocktail on a beach. Kai, I would love a beach episode.

Episode 16, On the Head of a Pin: Iga, nothing. pins in maps. Kai, very tiny demon, they have to shrink themselves down.

Episode 17, It's a Terrible Life: Kai, Christmas episode. Attempted suicide? Cas episode?

Episode 18, The Monster at the End of This Book: Iga, about Lucifer. Kai, Lucifer. And the apocalypse. Another seal gets broken.

Episode 19, Jump the Shark: Iga, goof episode, meta episode, making fun of the journey so far. Kai, second beach episode. Iga, or the ghostfacers are back

Episode 20, The Rapture: Kai, another seal breaks. Iga, the seals are breaking, they’re trying to stop it but they can’t. They’ve only got like ten seals left. Kai, they’re still at the beach, and one of the seals is about seals the animal and they have to protect the seals.

Episode 21, When the Levee Breaks: Iga, so the seals are broken. Kai, ohh last seal.

Episode 22, Lucifer Rising: Iga, Lucifer rises. Kai, Lucifer rises. (Iga, and he’s a nice guy, just misunderstood.) (Iga, it’s a metaphor for the sun rising, except in this metaphor the sun is a star. Kai, there’s a really important sunrise, and all the demons get let into heaven. Iga, and John comes back, and does the worm.)

[thebiggestmenace]

don't know at what cost though

I am worried

so is everyone stuck here now?

you are not good, Sam

so his grace doesn't regenerate?

"I thought you two were joined at the, everything" you know. you are so right

oh, it's Nick??? how is he alive? I thought he was dead

Jack, don't be so hard on yourself :(

Kelly's parents!!! he's named after her dad :(

how do we know if Dean's telling the truth?

THE HANDPRINT IS GONE?????

she just threw Dean on top of Sam 🤭

oh, Claire had a crush on Kaia :(((

this isn't just a cold, is it *

* no. no, it is not

PLEASE tell me they do celebrate Halloween in the GOOFIEST way possible

wait, this Bobby had a kid?

Michael's still in Dean, isn't he? somehow

they're together now? and they're taking a break :((( Bobby deserved a break

never change, Jack, never change

and he's in the hospital now

he's wearing Cas' trench coat :((((((

1, what is going on with Dean?? and 2, technically speaking, would he not have some grace left from Michael? could they extract that?

Jack, you're scaring me, please tell me they don't kill you

yeah, Cas, you fucking tell him.

he is not bringing Lucifer back wtaf

he's gone? just like that?

he really was their kid :(((

he's in heaven :((((

tf is that???

the shit from the Empty????

wait, Cas goes to the Empty to save Jack??

GARTH??????

and he has a daughter??

Sam, you're supposed to wait

he's so silly

knew Michael wasn't fully out.

this is just a dream, right? this isn't heaven or anything, right?

Jack!!! you have powers again!!

I remember this???? I remember Dean throwing Michael into a closet in his mind??? we never made it this far???

oh, it's a bad thing, nevermind >:( but now Jack gets the disappointed dad™️ talk

Dean, you are concerning me, what are you doing?

wait, I remember the box thing, too?? don't know how it ends, but I remember it and I hate it

omg clowns!!! Sam, you love clowns!!

JOHN??????

oh and they fucked with time!! and everything's weird now!

Jack used his powers one time! one! and you mean to tell me he's getting bad again?

jk it's at least twice now

Michael is in Rowena????

Jack can just do that? amazing

yk I love that Cas and Dean are talking about Jack and Sam like they're their children and they're married

"if we cannot remain civil, then you can skedaddle" IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE OH MY GOD THIS IS SO FUN

doesn't Jack hurt Elliot?

no, it's Stacy :((((

the samulet has a pair?! and that one supposedly talks to God?? idk the poeticism of that,,,,,,,,

of course they're trying to bring Lucifer back

yk I was so sure nothing bad would happen in this finale because of Dean and Cas, but I completely forgot to think about Sam and Jack

that was, uh, that was a lot

Jack, what did you do?

wait, did you kill Mary??

and now he's having hallucinations? I am so confused, what is going on

he smote her??? I know it was an accident, but still

Dean. this isn't Cas' fault

I thought the gates to Heaven were closed?

oh, Jack's gonna make more angels?

is the box even gonna work??

yeah, didn't think so

Chuck's back!! and he better help smdh

they're all confused puppies

but one of them has to die?

"I've already lost too much" Sammy :(((( it doesn't even get better :(((((

come on, Chuck

Sam......

what is this????

so everything they've killed,, they're all back? but tenfold because it's souls from Hell?

is this all of the souls??????

are they zombies?

so we have finished 14 now,,,,,, I am so confused. what was that??? they're acting like zombies, but are they just ghosts?? and is it all the souls?? cause with the amount, it sure seems it. so much has happened this season wtf and now onto avoiding 15 :')))

s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8, s9, s10, s11, s12, s13, s14, s15

[queerstudiesnatural]

still thinking about this. i think in early seasons/pre-canon dean very much was a member of society whereas sam was not. which is ironic considering sam was trying so hard to belong while dean was purposely living on the outside of anything even remotely resembling community (with the exception of cassie).

as said previously, dean had to spend time around people in order to parent sam. he had be confronted with the reality of what it's like to survive when you have no money. to look society in the eye. and sam was somehow shielded from that. so when sam wanted to belong, when he imagined being part of society, he had a utopian and naive vision of what society was, or could be. he believed in meritocracy because that's all he could believe in. study hard and you will get a scholarship and get out of here. pray every day and you won't turn into a demon to be hunted by your family.

sam's views were basically "play nice and you too can have a seat at the table". dean's were "nice is a mask, there is no justice, all we can do is our best to survive and help others survive".

and then of course around s4-5 sam started realising that there was never any hope for him and changed his reasoning from "i can avoid this by being good" to "i can make up for this by suffering a lot/dying". and the thing is he was never wrong to believe he was special and could rise above/be a martyr for mankind because like, he literally was. he was the chosen one all along. and before he knew that for certain (though deep down he could feel it from day one) he believed he could be better than the life he was born in. after he knew, he realised he never had a choice in what he became, but he clung to the hope that he could turn it into something good. with the demon blood, with the trials, with his community of hunters. no longer trying to escape, but to spite the devil and turn his curse into something helpful and good.

and dean, well he went from being some guy to the queen in some cosmic game of chess, to god's favourite npc, and he was never able to reconcile with that. his whole life dean's desperately wanted to be just some guy. he never wanted to be important, and he never felt like he was.

and in the end any talk of politics or fitting into society is pointless, because sam and dean were never written to be part of human life. society is just background noise to their story. they literally are the main characters in god's book series, and any attempt at world exploration is futile, they are both in a highly guarded enclosure.

but the difference between them is that sam was specifically chosen and never had any choice in what he became. he was always going to be lucifer's vessel, his whole life was orchestrated down to every little detail. lucifer was very specific about wanting him. but dean could have been anyone. michael never cared who his vessel was, as long as it could sustain him. it was supposed to be john, and then it was adam. dean didn't matter. he wasn't designed to be special at first, and he never wanted to be, what did make him special is that he wouldn't let anyone else take on his burden if he could help it. sam never had a choice, but dean did, and he chose not to let anyone else be chosen. and he hated himself for it. he went to hell, surrendered to michael, took on the mark of cain. knowing it would turn him into a monster. a demon, a harbinger of the apocalypse, a relentless killing machine. but at least no one else would have to bear the burden of hating themselves as much as he did.

sam's martyrdom is in dying for humanity, dean's is in living pitifully. makes the finale really ironic don't it.

i find it so interesting to look at sam and dean's respective views of society and people vs monsters, especially in early seasons, and then how that shifts and evolves throughout the show. like when we first meet them dean is very anti establishment whereas sam is literally studying law at an ivy league college. dean is very vocally anti police, and you're like wow for someone who was raised by an authoritarian father and is trying his hardest to please him this guy sure hates authority. he is aware of and cares about issues like racism and classism. but then when it comes to anyone non human he pretty much has no grey area, he sees them all as monsters to be put down. they are Things and they all killed his mum. whereas sam is pretty neutral about people, he doesn't even seem to be aware of systemic inequalities, he has a more individualistic approach to society. but this means he also sees monsters as individuals, just as capable of being good or redeemed.

This has everything to do with the way they grew up and the challenges they faced that affected them the most. dean's biggest challenge was putting food on the table. dean grew up poor and hungry. he was arrested for stealing, he had to use his body to get by, and he had to starve to try and feed sammy. and sam also grew up poor, but he was somewhat shielded from the reality of it. he wasn't the one who had to get food and pay for the extra week in a motel john left them in. his issues were much more personal. because sam knew he was a freak by all standards, he felt impure, and he knew in his heart that the monsters they hunted weren't too different from him. so his hope was in believing that anyone could be saved. anyone could choose to be good. where dean saw a system, with people in power and people who suffered because of them, sam saw grey individuals, and he was drawn in particular to the ones that had something "wrong" with them (max, madison, the kid from bugs, etc)

dean grew up so isolated that he couldn't be individualistic. he could only look at people from afar and that's why he sees the systems. and the violence he faced wasn't targeted at him personally, it was targeted at people like him. poor people, drifters, queer (or queer-looking) people. sam grew up trying to make connections. he made friends, he wanted an education. he tried so hard to belong.

and it's interesting to me that dean ended up being the one who formed the most personal bonds with people who were different, or ostracised, or monsters. see crowley, benny, charlie, claire.

sam tried to build communities (see his s14 arc) but every time he tried to get close to someone it ended in disaster so he ended up keeping his distance. and building a system. throughout the show he takes on leadership roles, and as time progresses he keeps his relationships more and more goal-oriented. whereas dean ends up forming personal bonds with a lot of people, and focusing less on helping oppressed people in general, and more on saving the individuals he cares about. i'm not saying they switched roles, they both kept their original views of the world, but they shifted towards a more confused and confusing moral compass that pointed somewhere in the middle and made it harder for them to understand each other. and ain't that just what growing up is like. dean cared about the whole world as a teen and young adult, but then that became too much to bear, and he had to focus his energy on his circle of loved ones. still caring about the world, but he had individual connections now and had to prioritise them. and sam still saw the potential for redemption and goodness in everyone, but he grew weary of people too, afraid of them or afraid of losing them, and he built walls. tried to help by giving himself missions rather than getting personally and emotionally involved.

psychologically speaking this show is so rich, the characters don't feel one dimensional (despite some of the writers' best efforts), and following their journey for 15 years means we saw them change and evolve, they don't remain the same people they were in season 1, but they keep some of that, and they just grow organically. sometimes i just love spn