Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dean-critical

Why do most Jack Kline stans not pay enough attention to his scenes to realize that Dean is the least fatherly of the 3 mentors in his life? Dean who shoots him on sight when they first meet? Dean who shows zero interest in ever finding a way to safely let him out of the Ma’lak box? Dean who literally says “Jack’s not family?”

#sam is 10x more of a father to jack than dean ever is or wants to be #spn fandom #jack kline #sam winchester #dean-critical #just to be safe

My Castiel Manifesto, Part 5

Intro here https://vaicomcas.tumblr.com/post/679832135876640768/my-castiel-manifesto-intro

Unrequited love

I do believe Cas and Dean has that “profound bond”, but I also believe Cas’ love is unrequited or at least hugely unbalanced. See earlier manifestos about the fact that Dean never bothers to learn about where Cas comes from, his history, his culture, his physiology, his language, the many skills he has (unless being directly used for Dean’s goals). Dean is attached to Cas, of course; under his bravado, as the narrative goes, he has self-worth issues and abandonment issues from childhood, and doesn’t believe himself to be worthy of love. Cas is the only one who stands by him unconditionally. So, of course he is attached to Cas. And he is devastated when Cas dies or leaves him. OK, I can understand that. But is that enough to be called love?

Many people cite Dean’s heartbreak when Castiel dies as proof of Dean’s great love for Cas. But I would offer that Dean loves Cas the most when Cas is dead. When he is alive, Dean often treats Cas with condescension and disrespect. What does that say about Dean’s so called love?

When Cas leaves to pursue his own agenda, Dean calls it taking off and screwing up. When Cas has power (leading angel army, channeling Jack), Dean automatically go to suspicion and assumes he is power-tripping or is mind controlled. Some may say this is from the history of season 6 and 8 when Cas betrayed the winchesters when corrupted by leviathan or controlled by Naomi. I refute that. In season 6, when finding out Cas was working with Crowley, Dean immediately went to the “hunt him down and kill him” mode. No attempt to understand his motivations despite Cas’ heartbreaking pleas (how hard is it to understand “doing whatever is necessary to stop apocalypse? immediately after Season 4 and 5?). In Season 8, as soon as Cas returned from purgatory for unknown reason, Dean became suspicious. So, the suspicion, the distrust, the contempt of his power were present prior to any wrong-doing, it was Dean’s first instinct without reason. And even if — even if Dean’s contempt of Castiel’s power was rooted in consequences of Castiel’s actions (it wasn’t)— one doesn’t get to claim to be a friend if they can’t forgive past mistakes, but instead wield them like a weapon in all the subsequent years.

So, Dean is attached, Dean wants Cas to be his best friend, to stay by his side and be on his side. Then, Dean loves him, but only then. “I’m not debating logic with you, I am saying don’t do it just because I ask you to.” (this one should get its own chapter). There, is the core of my issue with Dean’s treatment of Cas: he is entitled somehow to Cas’ obedience and support, exclusively. Is this love? I suppose, if we subscribe to Dean’s abandonment issue and low self-esteem being the defining factor of his personality, perhaps this is the only way Dean can love Cas. But it’s toxic, it’s unjust, and it’s not what Cas (or anybody) deserves.

Castiel, being completely in love with Dean, does the best he can to conform to Dean’s expectations. He gave himself away to Dean, and let himself be depleted, diminished, body and grace. The support, the understanding, the forgiveness, none of those were fully reciprocal. They went mostly one way, from Cas to Dean. So yeah, even if Dean loved Cas too in his own way, I would say Cas’ love in its fullness was unrequited.

Of course, the bottom line may just be this show is Dean-centric. The writers never meant for Cas to have his own story outside of the Winchesters, he was just a support character. So that’s what he was written to do: to support, to love, to exist in the context of Dean, while Dean had other story lines to be busy with. But Castiel could not stop asserting his own brilliance and his own dimensions even while shackled to Dean’s shadow. In this way, Castiel truly did defy God, the writers.

#Castiel deserves better #My Castiel manifesto #dean-critical #unrequited love

I just watched 12.21- 23 and I really didn’t think much of 12.22. It failed completely to fix anything I wanted fixing. The Sam became a leader thing is bull because just because Sam’s well thought out reasoning doesn’t ever work out for him, doesn’t mean he hasn’t been a leader all this time. Damn it he was going to be the leader of Azazel’s army, that was back in season 2 for crying out loud!!!

And I hate, hate, hate, that Dean (who is way up there in ‘apologies I haven’t damn well made to my brother that he is OWED’) took it on himself to speak for Sam to someone who even then DIDN’T apologize to Sam. AT ALL. Ack!!

I have finally lost interest in anything Dean does or says. which makes me sad because I liked him! I watched 12.22 and he just pissed me off.

OK now that I have that off my chest ...

Here is me taking an interest in something that Dean does/says

So, I just reaiized what "I hate you but I love you" in Dean's convo with Mary reminded me of, and looking at the lyrics with a few minor tweaks (and formatting that won’t change), I feel this sums up Dean’s season 12. And In a season of borrowing, then borrowing from Kate Bush is a masterful decision:

Out on the wiley, windy road

We'd roll and drive in team

You had a temper like my jealousy

Too hot, too greedy

How could you leave me

When I needed to possess you?

I hated you, I loved you, too

Bad dreams in the night

They told me I was going to lose the fight

Leave behind your motherly, motherly

motherly heights

Mother, it's me, I'm Dean