#can you tell i’m not being samcrit. i’m not being critical of sam at all i say all this with absolutely no condemnation

[humandisorderincarnatedean]

i remember… this post i saw like, ages ago that remarked how all of dean’s arcs were about emphasizing his violent side and forcing him to become nothing but a weapon meanwhile sam’s arcs were about him being tainted and impure and becoming a creature who dean eventually has to kill or let die. and i’ve been thinking about that, and i agree a little bit about the first part (though obviously, not literally *all* of dean’s arcs were about this; the michael sword arc for instance was more directly about agency, the arc with amara was more about powerlessness) but i disagree about sam. the only time where i think the description i paraphrased above really fits is in season 4, where throughout the season sam is becoming more demon-like and dean is ordered to “stop” him by the angels (and even that season ends on sam almost killing dean- you could point out a whole different pattern if you take that as your focus point). what i think is a better encapsulation of some of sam’s biggest arcs is that they’re about something happening to sam, and dean having to step up and “save” him from whatever it is. for example the psychic kids storyline, where dean refuses to entertain the option that he can’t save sam and which ends with him bringing his brother back from the dead in exchange for his own life. the demon blood storyline, where sam is turning into more and more of a monster and dean has to save him from the slippery slope (and fails). endverse, wherein dean learns that without him there sam will eventually capitulate to the angels and say yes to lucifer. the soulless storyline, where dean had to get his brother’s soul out of the cage and back into his soulless body. the hallucinations storyline, where dean was forced to stand by and watch his brother almost succumb to his own broken mind but at the last moment managed to find and bring in castiel who saves the day. the trials storyline, where sam’s mental health is affected in such a way that dean has to make a big speech declaring how much he cares for him just so sam doesn’t wanna kill himself anymore. the lucifer storyline in season 11 where sam gets himself in between four walls with the devil again and relies on dean and castiel to come to the rescue. it’s watching out for your little brother because it’s not only what you do, it’s what you are.