Reblogged
One of the most frustrating things about the later seasons to me isn't the fact that Sam becomes more submissive or traumatized. I actually like this characterization of him. What I do dislike is the fact that he is increasingly turned into a narrative device whose main purpose is to create emotional stakes for Dean. Like, when Sam is psychotic, we barely get to see what that looks like for him. He is actively hallucinating for an entire 17 episodes, but we only really get to even see that in three of them. Bobby and Dean have more serious talks with each other about Sam's mental illness than either of them have with Sam.
When Dean lies to Sam about Gadreel, the emotional core of the story is Dean's guilt and his pain. Even post-Gadreel, we barely get to see any of the trauma this inflicted on Sam, because the story immediatly shifts, so that the most pressing issue is how much it hurts Dean that Sam is angry with him. When Lucifer is let out of the cage the second time and assaults Sam in the bunker, this is Sam's worst nightmare come true, but the episode ends with no acknowledgment of this. Instead, we see Sam comforting Dean, not recieving a single word of comfort in return. It's no wonder that the fandom has more sympathy for Dean, because if you watch the show without being critical of the narrative framing, that is absolutely where you will end up.
No, the Columbia. A great river of thorns and when this stranger stood up and muttered something about a cigarette, the Hazmat team in my chest begins to cordon off my heart, glowing a toxic yellow, and all I could think about was the punch line "sexy kids," that was it, "sexy kids," and all the children I've cared for, wiping their noses, rocking them to sleep, all the nieces and nephews I love, and how no one ever opened me up like a can of soup in the second grade, the man now standing on the sidewalk, smoke smothering his body, a ghost unable to hold his wrists down or make a sound like a large knee in between two small knees, but terrifying and horrible all the same.
- Ghost Story, Matthew Dickman.
Reblogged atticwifesam
A reminder that, according to the official Supernatural comics, John was physically abusive to teenage Sam and that the context and narrative of the story makes it clear that this is a part of the regular dynamic between them.
Reblogged atticwifesam
the fundamental tragedy of supernatural is that if Sam closed his eyes at any point in adulthood and opened them to find himself in that field full of fireworks from “dark side of the moon” again he’d experience a profound and crushing sense of dread and in the same circumstance Dean would experience perfect peace and happiness
Reblogged atticwifesam
sam winchester arriving at stanford thinking he’s freed himself from his controlling older brother’s influnce only to realize that the all the powerful authority figures in university are called deans
Idk, I just think it's really interesting that all the abusive men in Sam's life are also quite sentimental. Both John, Dean and Lucifer are terrifying in their anger, but they also get teary eyed all the time and they're all extremely emotional about any percieved rejection. Their violence is passionate and laden with emotion. John and Dean are abusive in part because of their intense love for Sam, not in spite of it. I also think Lucifer loves Sam, not like you would a person, but more like a child might love the only gift/pet that their absent father ever gave them. His violence too is triggered by the percieved betrayal of what he sees as his "other half".
It's part of why I think Sam's problem isn't a lack of people who love him, it's that he's only ever loved in a way that is suffocating and volatile and obsessive.
Reblogged viery
early seasons ep where they go to a gay bar to talk to locals & gather info for a case & dean is like great now people are REALLY gonna think we’re a couple and instead 10 different strangers come up to him throughout the night to say “hey I can tell you’re a little out of your comfort zone here, but I just want to say I think it’s great that you came along to support your friend- or is he your brother? I’m sure he really appreciates it :)” and dean’s like what and the person nods over to Sam who’s chatting up his new friends & beaming with glittery red kiss marks on both cheeks from when he generously tipped the night’s drag performer.
looks like the original post got deleted but i just had to add op’s tags 🥺
Reblogged boykingscourt
anyway ppl who hate Mary for leaving should die. she's in one of the most painful positions I can imagine. everyone she loves is dead or changed. her children only know her from photographs and they're treating her like a priceless delicate antique and/or their own wayward headstrong daughter!!! people keep trying to explain wifi to her.
Is this is a safe space to say that as a man who is approximately the same age as Dean was in the later seasons, I got severe secondhand embarassment at his whole "why don't you try to be a mom for once"/"i never got to be a child"-schtick. Mary was so fucking on point when she pointed out that she's more than a mother, and that dean is not a child! And the fact that Dean was parentified? That speech should have gone to John. I genuinly think that a lot of people who watch the show are just too young to understand how differently your relationship to your parents is in your 30-40's vs when you're a teen (or even your early twenties for some people). I'm sorry, but at my age, it's just not normal to expect (or even desire) that your parents stay close to you all the time and center their lives around you. Even without Mary's trauma, that expectation would still be insane. I do think it's pretty in character for Dean (and therefore to a lesser extent Sam) to want that, though, because Dean has an insane view of family, but the fact that it's in character doesn't make it reasonable. And don't get me wrong; Mary has plenty of flaws too, but compared to the rest of the Winchesters, I'd say she's doing pretty good.
God, I have so many feelings about this scene. Lucifer taking on the shape of John, the original patriarch in Sam's life, and referring to him in the same breath as Baby; as a thing, a possesion, that was given from father to son. That Sam looks well is credited to Dean, rather than to Sam himself, because Sam is an object, not a subject. Then there is the additional layer to it all, which is that this is the first conversation that Lucifer has with Sam after the cage. He isn't just pretending to be John, he is also making a comment about Dean having taking care of Sam for Lucifer, taking over the ownership of Sam in Lucifer's absence. And then there is the deeply intimate way in which the scene is filmed. The extreme close ups on their faces, the lingering glances, the quiet. It's just a really creepy and wonderful Samifer interaction all around.
I really struggle with differentiating Sam's failures vs what the show sees as his failures. I agree with you that he should have told Jack about Lucifer in more detail but I'm very interested to know what else you deem as major failures Sam is rightfully responsible for. I guess specific events is what I'm wondering about.
Love your blog btw I think your analysis is so cool
Well, Sam's biggest failure is that he is a hunter, because the practice of hunting is deeply immoral and inhumane, but that is probably a bit of a dull answer in a show where pretty much everyone who is not an angel or a villain are hunters. Honestly, though, the thing about Sam is that almost all of his biggest failures are ultimately the result of him adapting and complying to the wills of the abusive men in his life (Dean & John, mostly). That includes becoming a hunter and staying one, and it includes becoming increasingly willing to risk other people's lives or do bad things (like trick a guy to sell his soul) in order to be an appropriately devoted brother to Dean. Of course, this doesn't absolve him of guilt, but it does make it harder to discuss his failures, because they cannot be neatly separated from the manipulation he faces. Besides hunting & going too far to protect his relationship with Dean, the only major thing that I can think of was cutting off Kevin during his purgatory arc, as well as some of the ways he treated Jack (and I say that while also believing that Sam treated Jack better than anyone else did and that Jack all in all benefited from having Sam in his life).
Reblogged
the thing about mommy sam that we must never forget is that she is her brotherhusbands biggest enabler. she will make excuses for him every single time. i love this scene because it is peak battered!wife sam trying to justify to their son why daddy is scary and violent (he doesn't mean it, really, his wires just get crossed sometimes)
Reblogged
8x17 // 9x08
this show was so insane every other episode they would be like sam winchester is like a house that burned down he’s not even alive he’s falling apart i’ve invaded your brain and i can’t believe you live like this you’re a mess you can handle an unholy amount of torture because you’ve been tortured so much already your soul is like a crumpled old receipt at the bottom of god’s purse