in re: ācas knows dean better than samā
ācas sees dean as a whole person and sam just sees deanās faƧade as his big brother slash parentā but like how and where. outside of your fanfiction. season and episode. scene and line. if itās so obvious and apparent you should have at least 3-5 concrete examples right? āsam doesnāt know dean carried him out of the burning houseā yeah but did cas? outside of a footnote in the angelic manila folder they gave him between seasons 3 and 4 so he could better manipulate him and sam into doing heavenās bidding? like if youāre going to say ācas knows dean better than samā than you need to show how cas succeeds where you perceive sam to be failing at the very least. but even your perceptions of how sam doesnāt measure up are so warped, blinkered, and moronic that it wouldnāt even be worth much if you could provide the textual evidence, but at least youād have a semblance of a point. like say anything without going āas an eldest daughterā¦ā āwell my relationship with my sibling isnātā¦ā please say anything without fucking projecting your own self-pitying crybaby bullshit onto your little woobie dean and using the actual canon text of the show. Iām literally begging you.
like the thing of it all is and always has been that youāre so hell-bent on twisting the sam and dean relationship to fit into this narrow and almost entirely inaccurate mold which is the basis upon which you build the entire Destiel Mythos that you literally lose all sense of media literacy. you donāt even miss the forest for the trees, you miss the trees for like, the pretend invisible things youāre seeing in between the trees, the forest is a whole long way away from your current level of perception. because the Destiel Mythos is based entirely on the fact that dean is Not Seen and Not Appreciated and Not Loved and Cannot Be Himself until cas comes along, and that Family (read: sam) Is Only A Burden on Him That He Must Be Freed From In Order to Flourish, so you keep trying to warp the sam relationship into something that is only one dimension of it ā and keep ignoring the ways in which dean is seen, loved and understood within it, because you need to keep lying to yourselves that there is a narrative need to emancipate dean from something that he has never wanted emancipation from because it is ultimately a net good for dean in the particular circumstances of their lives. itās also profoundly unhealthy, codependent, evil and toxic etc. (a lot more deanās fault than samās but I will nawt be getting into all that right now) but that doesnāt change the fact that sam and dean both know and understand and feel deeply that they are each otherās person ā that they know the best and love the most in the world. but that ā which IS true canon fact ā is incompatible with the Destiel Mythos so it must be ignored and all good sense must be thrown out the window in order to do it.
anyway i digress there are two main categories of Bad Thinking that i will be addressing below
childhood/ āparent/childā / blah blah blah
every single thing people are saying in favour of the deeply stupid thesis in the title of this post is proof positive of the very silly form of āanalysisā I just described. a few things:
āwah sam didnāt know that dean carried him out of the burning house :( this means that dean withholds things from sam to protect him because he is a PARENT and sam can only know things about him in the context of him being a PARENT to himā ā what the fuck are you on about genuinely. first of all reducing the sam/dean relationship exclusively to parent/child is in itself foolishness for so many reasons that I donāt have time for right now. but also, itās clear that this is just something that happened when sam was a baby that just never came up. in the scene (1.09) where this is brought up, dean is mildly surprised that he or john never mentioned that detail and then states that sam knows the rest of the story (i.e. the actual traumatic stuff) just as well as dean does ā which is true, demonstrably whenever they talk about it.
obviously there are some things that happened to dean in their childhood that sam doesnāt know about (or didnāt know about, until told in whatever episode they come up in). equally, there are things dean doesnāt know about samās childhood, e.g. the fact that he was so lonely he needed a zanna (11.08). or how dean didnāt remember that sam was friends with barry cook until he mentions it when they go back to their old school (4.13). or about the nature of samās relationship with amy pond (7.03). these donāt mean that āsam withheld these things to protect dean out of parental loveā lol, itās just that there are details and events in each of their lives that the other happens to not have been told about.
similarly āsam didnāt even know dean wanted to be a firefighter Lā girl did dean know sam wanted to be a lawyer? in 1.01 heās pretty surprised that sam has a law school interview. the point here isnāt āneither sam nor dean know each other well,ā these are minutiae that arenāt relevant to how well you know someone as a whole, and very poorly demonstrate the bad and inaccurate point that dean withholds things from sam the way a parent does a child (on a constant or regular basis). obviously the way they were raised, sam was deemed too young to know about certain things until he got older and dean had to keep that secret, but as shown in 3.08 flashbacks, most if not all of this is eventually revealed throughout their childhood when sam is still fairly young.
or possibly the dumbest one is that āwah sam doesnāt even know that dean reads books Lā whenever that was he was also obviously joking because in more serious moments (e.g. 8.14) he admits that dean is smart/a better researcher than he is, literally remembers dean reading to him as a kid (8.21) so like. clam down Ā
one of the extra annoying variants of this type of āproofā covers things that are very clearly novel pieces of information about dean that dean, sam, and the audience are learning about dean in real time. like if youāre actually watching the show to comprehend it as it was intended to be comprehended, instead of funnelling everything through the Destiel Machine until itās unrecognizable slop that fits neatly into your pre-ordained molds that Make Destiel Necessary In the Narrative (when it actually isnāt, at all) itās abundantly clear. the top two worst offenders:
āsam didnāt even know that dean is good with kids :( he doesnāt even realize that dean raised him :(ā first of all you people need to understand that parentification does not literally create a parent-child dynamic between siblings but I digress ā this doesnāt make any sense bro. in 1.03 dean admits he doesnāt know any kids as an adult. dean being good with his own kid brother when they were both kids is to any reasonable person not necessarily linked with him being good with other random kids when heās an adult. in 1.03 itās clear that dean himself is a bit surprised that heās able to connect w/ lucas so well because heās clearly not dealt with a lot of kids since sam grew up. the whole point of this is that dean, sam, and the audience are all sort of seeing a new side of dean. who again is just 26. after this very early episode, thereās no question from sam that dean is able to connect w kids. sam being a bit surprised by this also has absolutely zero connection with him not understanding or realizing that dean looked out for him when they were both kids ā sam is standing there at 22 years of age talking about adult dean and children ā of fucking course he doesnāt mean himself are you stupid.
from the very first season, sam is very clearly aware of everything dean ~did for him~ when they were kids, see e.g. 1.21: āDean...ah...I wanna thank you. [ā¦] For everything. You've always had my back you know? Even when I couldn't count on anyone I could always count on you. And I don't know, I just wanted to let you know, just in case.ā
and 1.06: DEAN: Well, Iām a freak, too. Iām right there with ya, all the way. (SAM laughs.) SAM: Yeah, I know you are.
and then possibly even more stupidly, the one where itās like āwah sam doesnāt even know dean can cook :( he doesnāt even know that DEAN was the one making him food as a babe in arms :(ā ā when sam is surprised that dean made something fairly gourmet and from scratch literally the first time they have ever had a permanent living space with a functional kitchen. in this VERY scene (8.14), dean himself points out that they havenāt had a kitchen before and when sam remarks on the irregularity of him doing serious cooking, he says āIām nestingā, clearly showing that this is a novel development because they now have a kitchen, and that itās irregular relative to past behaviour ā both of them acknowledge this. because real proper in-depth cooking and making box mac and cheese for sam until he was like 11 and old enough to be left alone are two different things, which sam understands because heās smart, unlike whoever chooses to make this point. dean never showed significant signs of liking to cook before this, which is what the exchange is about, but he did have to prepare food for them both when sam was too young ā of course sam knows he had to, there are childhood memories referred to (e.g. 14.11) where sam is mentioned to literally help dean do the cooking as kids lol (and yes, genius, sam says āI didnāt know you knew what a kitchen wasā or something to that effect, but if you think heās being 100% literal there I have an oceanfront property in Kansas to sell you)
again, obviously there are pieces that sam doesnāt know about dean, e.g. when heās talking about his response to mary dying in 1.03. but again, Sam is 22, dean is 26, the last time they were in regular contact was when sam was 18-20, these are things that happen when people grow up, theyāre able to reflect and share on childhood experiences if theyāre close with their siblings as adults. itās clearly not something that 26 y/o dean wanted to hide from 22 y/o sam. yes sam didnāt know everything about how dean felt when they were young, but thatās equally true in the other direction, and itās such an irrelevant point in this discussion when, crucially, sam does learn these things about dean mostly fairly early on in the series (i.e. when theyāre really not that deep into adulthood yet). cas was also not magically blessed w/ knowledge about dean, he also had to learn whatever it is that he knows, but somehow sam has to know everything about dean from age 7 or it doesnāt count when itās sam lol.
āsam doesnāt know the One True Dean / doesnāt see through his facadesā
the next branch of defending this flawed thesis is invariably that sam has little idea of the fronts and facades that dean puts up and is content to just believe them, whereas cas digs deep and sees the One True Dean that stupid sam always misses. there is nothing in the text that demonstrates this is true. multiple times, we see sam being very knowing of the fact that dean puts up fronts and facades. sam is also knowledgeable of the way dean perceives himself, and ā demonstrated in multiple episodes before such sam lines were very poorly recycled and regurgitated into casās dialogue in 15.18, but keep acting like that was the first time anyone ever showed that they knew the One True Dean.
Obviously there are times where sam teases dean when heās being more touchy-feely than usual, but 9.99 times out of 10 (as a conservative estimate in case there's something i'm forgetting otherwise i would say every time) thatās very clearly coming from a place of knowing the real dean vs. the faƧade he puts up because thatās the whole joke. and itās allowed to be a joke because theyāre siblings and thatās what siblings do lol. esp since sam and dean have touchy feely moments at the end of like every episode.
examples of all of the above off the top of my head (there are more than these, but these are the ones I can think of):
2.02 (about Johnās death)
Sam: āI mean this āstrong silentā thing of yours, it's crap. [ā¦] I'm over it. This isn't just anyone we're talking about, this is Dad. I know how you felt about the man.ā
Dean: āYou know what, back off, all right? Just because I'm not caring and sharing like you want me to.ā
Sam: āNo, no, no, that's not what this is about, Dean. I don't care how you deal with this. But you have to deal with it, man. Listen, I'm your brother, all right? I just want to make sure you're okay.ā
2.03 (Sam to Dean, also about Johnās death): āYou know, you slap on this big fake smile but I can see right through it. Because I know how you feel, Dean. Dad's dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can't take it, but you can't just fill up that hole with whoever you want to. It's an insult to his memory.ā
Note that Dean essentially admits that Sam is right in these two instances in 2.04 bc I know yall have stupid shit to say about john too that has nothing to do with how anyone actually felt about him in canon
3.07 (about Deanās demon deal ā also proven true in later episodes)
SAM: Dude, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punch line. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid.
SAM: You're lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you.
DEAN: You got no idea what you're talking about.
SAM: Yeah, I do. You're scared, Dean. You're scared because your year is running out, and you're still going to Hell, and you're freaked.
DEAN: And how do you know that?
SAM: Because I know you! [ā¦] Yeah, I've been following you around my entire life! I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world. And this is exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just [ā¦] I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again. 'Cause... (can't find words; tears in his eyes) just 'cause.
5.18 [Sam figures out what Dean is doing re: his plan to let Michael possess him, tracks him down, and eventually is the catalyst for Dean āmaking the right callā, which he predicts] ā e.g.:
SAM: No, you wonāt. When push shoves, youāll make the right call
DEAN: You know, if tables were turnedā¦Iād let you rot in here. Hell, IĀ haveĀ let you rot in here.
SAM: Yeah, wellā¦I guess Iām not that smart.
DEAN: IāI donāt get it. Sam, why are you doing this?
SAM: Becauseā¦ youāre still my big brother.
8.14 (basically the o.g. version of whatever went on in 15.18 + sam intrinsically understanding the trials are a death wish for dean): āI'm closing the gates. It's a suicide mission for you. I want to slam hell shut, too, okay? But I want to survive it. I want to live, and so should you. You have friends up here, family. I mean, hell, you even got your own room now. You were right, okay? I see light at the end of this tunnel. And I'm sorry you don't ā I am. But it's there. And if you come with me, I can take you to it. [ā¦] I AM smart, and so are you. You're not a grunt, Dean. You're a genius ā when it comes to lore, to ā you're the best damn hunter I have ever seen ā better than me, better than dad. I believe in you, Dean. So, please ā please believe in me, too.ā
10.22 (understanding how much dean has ~done for him~)
SAM: I'm saving my brother.
CASTIEL: You told Deanā
SAM: āI know what I told Dean. Cas, look. I've been the one out there, messed up and scared. And alone. And Deanā
CASTIEL: He did whatever he could to save you.
SAM: Yes. I mean, it's become his thing. I owe him this. I owe him everything.
10.23 (basically the o.g. version of whatever went on in 15.18, x2 ā from Sam to Dean): āYou were also willing to summon death to make sure you could never do any more harm. You summoned me because you knew I would do anything to protect you. That's not evil, Dean. That's not an evil man. That is a good man crying to be heard, searching for... some other way. [ā¦] You will never, ever hear me say that you -- the real you -- is anything but good.ā
11.13 (Sam understanding exactly how Dean feels about Amara being his ādeepest desireā, and confirming that it doesnāt make him a bad person)
Dean: Why? Because if she is that means that Iāmā¦
Sam: Means youāre what? Complicit? Weak? Evil?
Dean: For starters, yeah.
Sam: Dean. Do you honestly think you ever had a choice in the matter? Sheās the sister of God, and for some reason she picked you and that sucks, but if you think Iām gonna blame you or judge youā¦Iām not.
Dean: You know that I want her ass dead.
Sam: Yes. Of course. And I know youāve also probably beaten yourself up a hundred times over it, but where has that gotten us? (Long silence) Just how bad is it?
13.02 (Sam perfectly explaining Deanās psyche to Jack)
JACK: Is that why Dean hates me?
SAM: Dean doesnāt hate you. Itā¦ Look, sometimes the wires in Deanās head get crossed andāand he gets frustrated, and then he mixes frustration with anger, andāand fear.
JACK: Why would he be afraid?
SAM: Because Dean feels like itās his job to protect everyone. And right now, we need to protect you. But we may also need to protect people from you.
14.03 [Sam assesses Deanās psychological/emotional response to the Michael possession; end of episode, Dean confirms that Samās assessment was fully accurate]
14.10 [Sam is the only one able to snap Dean out of his weird Michael mind loop by using their code word]
14.11 [Sam figuring out that something is troubling Dean just based on the fact that Dean hugs him]
15.17 (self explanatory at this point)
DEAN: Chuck has to die. He has to! Otherwise he'll keep us tap dancing forever, and I can't live like that, man! I can't live like that! I won't!
SAM: I know you feel like that right now, okay. I know you do. But you gotta trust me. My entire life, you've protected meā from Dad, from Lucifer, from everything. I didn't always like it, you know, but... it's the one thing in the whole world that I could always count on. It's the only thing I've ever known that was true. So please... put the gun away. Just put it away, and we'll figure it out, Dean, we'll find another way, you and me. We always do.
like maybe there are some cas moments w dean along these lines too. i don't know, i don't remember what the guy says or does anymore it's been too many years and he is not memorable. but the point is where and in what capacity and based on what metric other than the amount of bad fanfic you've read does cas exceed sam in these respects.
so basically just. genuinely, what are you people literally ever talking about. go watch the show instead of saying stupid wrong stuff about sam on the hellsites all day. or watch another show (please for the love of god watch any other show this one is absolutely lost on you and itās such a stupid one too i'm embarrassed for you)
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