samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
Unpopular opinion [about Sam]:
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
We were rewatching earlier seasons during the hellatus, as you do, when the sister pointed out that the pie Sam picks up in Dean’s room during Soul Survivor is looking rather well-preserved considering we know it has been, at the very minimum, four weeks since Dean was last in his room. Her theory is one night, when it all got to be too much, Sam went and bought Dean’s favorite pie, then proceeded to sit in his brother’s room in the dark, feeling the loss and getting royally smashed. So @idontneedasymbol, as you requested…XD
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
do you ever just find yourself crushed with an all consuming, breath-stealing,chest-crushing love for Sam Winchester?
because I do. every day.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
even during s1, when the “only” odd thing going on with Sam are his visions, he feels like an outsider and a freak and blames himself for Mary’s death, and it’s breaking my damn heart
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
the parallels between dean killing amy in front of her son’s eyes and azazel killing mary in front of sam (and john and dean) physically pain me.
amy and mary both did what they had to to save their sons, then both mary’s sons grew up hunting the thing that killed their mother, while amy’s son told dean, “the only person I’m gonna kill is you” setting him on the same path of revenge that destroyed the winchester family.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
The top scene is great because Dean’s face is like “but what about meeee, what about how awesome I am?” And the second scene with Maeve and Sam is an interesting choice on Robbie’s part as a way to represent how some of fandom sees Sam. It hits the nail on the head and pretty straightforwardly calls out the interpretation Sam haters have of him. Here we see Sam did something he has always done, saved people, and it’s pegged as a ‘Dean’ trait even when it clearly applies to him. It reminded me of fandom’s response to Death complimenting Sam last season: but he’s Deaaaan’s friend! Sam didn’t save the world, it was Deaaaan and the Impala! Sam doesn’t take care of his brother, only Deaaaan does! Sam isn’t smart or nerdy or kind or sensitive or brave, those are Deaaaan characteristics!
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
transmalesammy
The fact that it’s pretty much canon that Sam must have walked into a store, found a pink flannel shirt and made a conscious decision to buy it makes me extremely happy.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
i need to talk about gentle boy king sam ok
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
True fact: the supersoldier serum was tested on Sam Winchester, but the test was considered a failure because it made no discernible difference.
When he was told that the test had been a failure, Sam apologized.
Scientists later theorized that the serum would have worked, but that it was simply impossible for Sam to be any stronger, kinder, or more heroic than he already was.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
spn writers: I Have Made Another Dean-Centric Ep
me: you’ve written off a perfectly good character is what you did. *points at Sam* look at him. he’s got unresolved trauma.
Fallacy of Division, The Great Escapist (8.21)
[This fallacy occurs when someone infers] that something is true of one or more of the parts [of a thing] from the fact that it is true of the whole. (x)
The fandom makes this mistake more often than the characters themselves do, but a notable instance where it’s clear that Sam makes this assumption is in 8.21, where he says that demon blood is evil and that he is impure. He seems to be making the assumption that demons are evil, and therefore all parts of them (including their blood) are also evil.
The fandom often condemns Sam for consuming the blood based on the same assumption (and Appealing to [False] Authority, but that’s a topic for another day), and during seasons 4 and 5, Dean did much the same thing. Demon blood may or may not actually be evil. We may never know. However, there isn’t sufficient evidence to say that it is based solely on the assumption that the supposed attributes of the whole (demons) also apply to all parts.
More in the series can be found here, and the disclaimer/FAQ is here.
elwarre
I’ve always wondered why this is considered such an unpardonable sin. Drinking blood itself isn’t evil. Even drinking human blood isn’t evil. Weird, yes, but not necessarily evil (assuming it’s given freely).
One possible concern is, of course, where you get your supply, and whether maintaining access to that supply makes you more likely to kill demons (and their hosts) than exorcise them. This, to me, seems like a legitimate concern, though not an insurmountable one. By this point in canon, they’ve got their special knife, and they’re just killing demons with it willy-nilly anyway. Sam’s got Ruby, who’s more than willing to share her blood. And neither Bobby nor Dean objected to wherever Sam got the blood he chugged right before he said yes to Lucifer. Regarding the fallacy of division - there is at least some precedent in canon for blood-drinking having powerfully negative effects on the drinker, most specifically in the creation of vampires (unless I”m misremembering how vampires are made, which is definitely possible). There’s nothing specific said about demon blood, though. The general worry seems to be that it might somehow make Sam go dark-side, though that’s tied more strongly to Sam’s demonic powers than to the blood - Ruby indicates that the blood isn’t even necessary for Sam’s powers to work. The addictive nature of demon blood is a legitimate concern, but all that does is make the choice potentially unwise, not evil. I can’t think of anything Sam did hopped up on demon blood that he wouldn’t have otherwise at least considered (can we be real for a minute and admit that everyone thought he should kill Lilith?) Honestly, I think the biggest factor at play in the reactions (both character and fandom) to Sam’s blood-drinking is disgust. Blood is gross; demons are gross. Drinking blood is gross; drinking demon blood is even grosser. It’s a natural human impulse to conflate physical and moral disgust, but it doesn’t make for a particularly sound argument (and lets not forget all the many things we thought were evil in the past simply because we found them disgusting). So I dunno. There’s my thoughts on the demonblood!Sam saga. It doesn’t seem like a horrible evil thing to me.
Anonymous asked:
There was a torturing scene in 13x22. Cas and Dean was torturing a soldire. Many viewers thought that was “cool”. I recalled another torturing scene from 10x03, which was Sam torturing a crossroad demon. At least I couldn’t find anyone who thinks that scene was cool. What would be the difference? Those are the same torturing scene, but one is accused, and the other is okay like it’s no big deal. Sam was in a desperate position. (1/3)
Why would Sam’s motive was ignored and only his brutal action was emphasized? This show chose to accuse Sam. I wonder why they don’t put the same standard to other characters. There are also some dramaturgic difference between demon Dean and soulless Sam. When demon Dean hits someone, they put lively rock music behind and make the scene very thrilling.(10x02) When it comes to soulless Sam, it was never like that.(6x13) (2/3)
Wouldn’t this be a double standard? How come Dean could be a badass while Sam is only ruthless, despite the same violence? Would it be only me who have this inquiry? I would like to listen to your opinion. (3/3)
You are, of course, absolutely correct. The way the show handles Sam’s premeditated violence is completely different from the way it handles Dean’s, or, in some cases, even Castiel’s.
On one hand, it’s absolutely a horrible double standard, and it disgusts me. We saw something very similar in season 13 when it came to Sam and Dean’s expressions of grief. Dean started the season belittling, threatening, and overall being absolutely terrifying to Jack. His accusations and cruelty were significant factors in Jack taking a kitchen knife and attempting to kill himself.
Then again, the show has spent literally 13 whole seasons showing us how unhealthily Dean reacts to loss. He lashed out physically at Sam in season 2 after John’s death. This is not entirely unexpected, and the show doesn’t really hold Dean accountable for his actions. After all, he is grieving. Dean is hurting, too. In fact, fans often see such violence and jump straight to, “Dean must be suffering. Poor Dean!” And while they’re likely correct that Dean is dealing with some sort of emotional turmoil or loss, the way the show deals with his violence means that viewers thoughtlessly excuse it. I’m not saying that fans are not allowed to feel bad for Dean or love him despite his hurtful and unhealthy coping mechanisms. I would, however, appreciate if the show had a more nuanced handling of it. It’s entirely okay to feel sympathy for a character’s bereavement while understanding that the way they react to it is Not Good At All™.
Unfortunately, the way the show deals with violence doesn’t work well for Sam. Where, for Dean, the handling of violence or emotional outbursts has historically been permissive and sympathetic, it’s the exact opposite for Sam. The writers made sure we were worried for Sam’s humanity in the early seasons. We viewed every action with suspicion, even his kindness. Sam is a gentle, caring person, so it was very, very easy for the show to make us suspicious. From the beginning, Sam cared. He was so kind and so emotionally invested in things that he literally only had to do something a tinge less than saintly and we’d be cautious. Oh, wow! Sam did a thing that Dean does every day? Must be going evil.
Soulless!Sam is such a good example of this, and I’m so glad you brought him up. Rewatching season six with a critical eye, it’s hard not to notice that…. objectively, Soulless!Sam was still miles more principled than almost any other hunter in the early seasons. He was pragmatic and direct, but not actively malicious, yet his personality was such a huge departure from his usual self that it set all the alarm bells ringing. (By god, Sam gave his brother a hug but didn’t express enough emotion while doing so?! MUST BE E V I L.)
Sam has good, cheerful, consensual sex with a sex worker who enjoyed the experience so much she forgets she’s working? BUT BY GOLLY Sam didn’t profess his undying love and put a ring on her finger?!
MUST BE E V I L.
If Dean did almost anything Soulless!Sam did, viewers would either excuse it or wouldn’t even think twice. But because it was so unthinkable for Sam to do those things, viewers sat up and took notice of even the slightest indication of apathy or lack of consideration.
So I mean… part of it is just Sam’s natural goodness working against him.
He’s so kind, principled, and serious about his moral code that any departure, no matter how small, is alarming. In contrast, Dean started out as the “unprincipled rogue” who had more or less adopted John’s credo and methods without critically examining them. Sam was the show’s conscience, and viewers held him to a much higher standard because of it.
Part of it, of course, was that the early seasons were actively vilifying Sam. Sam bleeds a nurse to get the juice to take on Lilith? Absolutely horrible, a literal point of no return. Dean is also killing human vessels without a care in the very same season and helps drain possessed humans a season later? Perfectly all right, if the way the show handled it is any indication.
It’s partly understandable (it’s clear that having that tension about the state of Sam’s soul was important to the writers, and the stronger reactions to Sam’s violence are understandable because it takes a lot more for Sam to act out in anger than it takes for Dean to do the same), but as the seasons go on, and especially as they go on without any balance or nuanced portrayal of the brothers’ violence, it just becomes lazy writing. It got so bad during the MoC arc that it was literally painful to watch the show week by week. I think anyone who lived through it can share horror stories. The Sam hate was unimaginable.
So in season 10, when Sam tortured the demon, it was a shock because he isn’t the type to do that. (Except, if we look back at any time Sam has lost Dean, desperation, suicidal action, and ruthlessness are par for the course.) Meanwhile, Demon!Dean murdered gleefully and people cheered that Dean was finally getting to let go. And in season 13, when Dean’s thoughtless cruelty over the course of several episodes made Jack question his worth and attempt to end his own life, there was little backlash.
In contrast, when Sam, overcome with emotion, said to a grief counselor that he felt that Dean had more of a relationship with Mary, I can’t even tell you how many posts I saw belittling Sam for that single, 15-second expression of his pain.
It’s a double standard, yes, but it’s a double standard the show has nurtured since its inception, either accidentally or on purpose.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
me at all times: sam winchester deserves better than everything he’s been given
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
What’s interesting to me is the things that Lucifer is connecting for Sam are fairly easy jumps to make. Just shy of obvious really. It makes me wonder just how fractured Sam really is because he should be able to make these connections.
If they were able to remember a demon case from four years ago, then a rare spell in a very specific format he saw just that day should be easy to place. But it wasn’t. He’s struggling to get there.
We see it again with the coroner report or when Sam is trying to talk to Jeffrey and can’t articulate himself. When Sam can’t remember the detective’s name but Lucifer is whispering it in the background (“Sutton”) and again when Sam is looking for evidence. Sam almost passes the drawer over entirely before Lucifer taps his forehead and Sam pauses, goes back, and taps the drawer and finds it’s hollow.
Sam has shut out his own instincts to keep Lucifer at bay. He’s spent so long second-guessing himself and trying to keep Lucifer out – Lucifer who is so ingrained in everything Sam does – he’s crippled himself.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
Sam stood up to Dean for Jack.
Sam defended Jack and called Dean out for that conversation at the end of 13x02.
Sam bringing up his powers, his destiny (boyking!sam), and how Dean protected/didn’t give up completely/didn’t put down Sam.
That scene happened tonight.
Those last five minutes watered my crops and tiled the soil. I’m living.
The harsh truth, though, is that Sam has NOT been the exception to Dean’s emotional and physical violence. He’s been the focus of it. And Dean, Sam, and canon have never dealt with that. And they need to.
Or rather, they’ve dealt with it by lying about it. Dean, and Sam, and canon.
That won’t change, of course. But that’s going to leave what they do with Sam and Dean’s relationship, and with the other relationships built in tandem or parallel to it, fundamentally dishonest.
Until Sam and Dean both have an utterly horrified realization that Sam being grateful to Dean for not murdering him is FUCKED THE FUCKING HELL UP, progress is not going to happen.
And until the show stops treating it as OK for Dean to be judge, jury, and executioner as long as he’s a merciful judge and jury and an executioner who stays his hand, the show’s vision is still going to be horrific to me. They’ve got Dean lodged in a position of power in such fundamental, invisible ways that I don’t think they know how to think outside that box.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
Sam telling Jack that he’s not evil, and that his powers are not evil (not just because they can be used for good, but because he is good) is so incredibly upsetting when you consider that Sam always considered a part of himself evil, that he considered his powers evil, even when he said he’s using them for good.
I wish Sam could believe in himself the way he believes in other people.
samwinchesterappreciation reblogged
Even after months of school, away from John, away from Dean, Sam can’t shake the strict methodical lifestyle that was drilled in him since he was a kid. So he takes to swimming laps at one of Stanford’s Olympic-size pools. His slim, sinewy, and surprisingly curvy body moves with an unbreakable concentration. He notices the stares of people, but he thinks it’s that same look of curiosity at a foreign thing that he would encounter at every motel and stop of the American highway. He can’t imagine that those who linger around the pool are falling a little bit in love.