#dean fan critical

[ramblingsupernatural]

some dean fans need to accept that dean winchester isn't perfect, he's done bad things, just like the majority of supernatural characters

[crowley-the-1-true-king-of-hell]

You rebloged the megstiel meta which also mentioned Dean taking Cas to a brothel and it's one of the scene I avoid because it's triggering.

Dean asked Cas what he wanted to do and then proceed to not care about Castiel’s wishes, he forced his decision on Cas, he put the angel in an extremely uncomfortable situation and did not back off even when Cas protested. That whole sequence is actually a good representation of their whole relationship.

CastielmcLeod has written a good meta about it, which probably the only post I have read about that scene but couldn't bring my self to reblog.

As someone who HCs Cas as Ace that and April encounter haunt me.

But most of the Fandom either doesn’t realise or don't care, I have seen destiel shippers be angry about April saying that's was just to impose heterosexuality on Cas

but they also write fics with destiel following the brothel scene where "Dean keeps his promise of not letting Cas die as a Virgin and takes matters in his own hands".

I feel a lot Fandom refuses to see Cas as a individual, they prefer a prop for Dean who protects him, bows his whims, provides comfort etc.

I left this ask for so long because I felt like I should add to this

I realize now that this ask is awesome as is and it's okay if I can't add to this

Thank you for sending me asks btw! They are one of the highlights of my day and I'm sorry if my long response has made you feel awkward in anyway

[red-hood-vigilante]

to yell about an argument done to death: even the language around sam in-show and amongst fans annoys me. sam didn't 'let lucifer out of the cage' which is a wording that implies he solely and singlehandedly opened the door - he unknowingly broke 1 of 66 locks on a door because he was being completely in the dark about lilith being a seal and what killing her would do.

dean unknowingly broke the first lock and started the entire thing but nobody in-show or amongst fans carry the same energy for dean as they do with sam even though neither knew what was happening or even that a seal was broken until it was too late. 'dean let lucifer out' never heard of her.

and then! dean's torture of people in hell is never brought up but sam gets this thrown in his face years and years and years later (by dean multiple times no less) and there's still the convenient ignorance of everything else surrounding this; angels let 64 seals break in the name of the heavenly plan, castiel sat on the truth about lilith of a year and opened the door to the panic room to push sam towards ruby and lilith, dean's voicemail was altered to send sam over the edge, dean was held captive by angels to prevent him getting to sam in time, the plan of heaven and hell was to isolate and crush sam mentally so he'd see lucifer as a grace and say yes, lilith dying by sam's psychic abilities was NEVER the requirement so dean stating he and bobby would kill lilith while sam was locked up in the panic room means she could've died a different way with the same result.

there are a lot of things about this that is so glossed over all the time. and it's just reduced to 'sam let lucifer out'. that exact phrasing. i hate it because it is truly not what happened. if anything he was the one that solved everything despite carrying the least amount of part in this. it was literally a collaborative effort manipulated by forces way beyond sam and dean, why is sam blamed for it by fans AND characters who had their own part in this.

[deanscutiepiesam]

It's always a big slap in the face to see Sam positive spn fans shipping destiel. Like logically, I know it makes no sense to be surprised by this. They can ship what they want, but idk it's just so shocking to me every time for some reason.

Like the majority of destiel shippers, not all of course, but most, hate Sam and/or Jared. And like, it sucks, but it makes sense. He threatens the ship they're delusional about.

But seeing a Sam fan going to bat for him, defending him from the haters, having "sam girl" in their bio, and then they make a destiel post, has me like :O

Like I said, idk if it makes any sense, but I just always assume Sam enjoyers are wincesties, and then I'm gagged when I'm proven wrong. Do any of y'all get what I mean? 😭

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Respecting a character's sexuality unless they are straight

Real-life straight men struggle to show their emotions and openly engage in hobbies they like that may be considered feminine because they are afraid that others will see them as homosexual.

Society: These dudes are emotionally constipated and full of toxic masculinity! Not to mention totally homophobic! Maybe even transphobic!

A straight male character has deep, platonic bonds with his male friends whom he considers brothers, and is so comfortable with his sexuality that he does not mind enjoying girly pastimes.

Fandom: What a gay/bi icon! There's no way he's straight! Just drop the 'bro' in bromance already and kiss!

[prentissluvr]

just saw someone saying that jared's acting in spn was bad... gonna commit heinous crimes

[vaicomcas]

Compliments

That tow-truck driver lady in s10e2 was the luckiest character on SPN.

Why? because she had one nice thing to say about Castiel ( great guy you have there) and did not get brutally killed.

Compared to anybody else who had any kindness or positivity to Castiel. It doesn't matter how big or small their role is.

Yeah, we know: in the show nobody is allowed to tell Cas they love him. But also: nobody is allowed to genuinely admire Cas or show kindness to him. Those who did admire him have to be killed, made villain (and then killed), or shown as "vapid hysterical fans" (such as Godstiel's female admirers who witnessed his miracles; or the angel army characterized as a "cult"). Sometimes they have to be killed by Cas himself, just to twist the knife some more.

Anna, Balthazar, Samendriel, Gadreel, Muriel, Hannah, even Bartholomew and Malachi (they were his enemies but they praised him); Meg, Crowley, Rowena; Kara the Biggerson's waitress who was nice to Castiel in that one scene in "The Great Escapist"; Charlie who thought Castiel was "dreamy"; Cecily, Crowley's NSA spy who thought Castiel was "hot"; Kelly who had faith in Cas.

One other exception of this rule is Gas-n-sip manager Nora who gave Cas a compliment (you are special) but didn't get killed; however she made up for the "sin" by taking advantage of Cas for free babysitting, so she got a pass.

To be fair, most characters on the show got brutally killed. So I'm going to stress only those I think were killed because they were sympathetic to Cas. (therefore I don't count Meg and Crowley because the characters were meant to be killed off for reasons unrelated to their relationship with Cas; or Charlie who was more killed to...actually I'm not sure why, to give Dean some man pain to showcase I guess)

Anna was killed to make the point that Cas would readily go against someone who was important to him to protect the Winchesters.

Balthazar was killed to make the point that Cas was so corrupted and evil that he would kill someone who was his friend.

Samendriel was killed to make the point that Cas was so under control he would kill without intention (but does it have to be the only angel who defended his character?).

Hannah was killed to make the point of the degree to which all angels, even one who loved him, were his enemy because he "chose the Winchesters".

Another observation from this list: those who have been (however briefly) friendly to Cas were mostly in the earlier and mid seasons. After season 12, he was so isolated, he simply had no more real relationship with anybody else, therefore certainly nobody left to admire him and then get killed for it. Writing and killing off a Cas-positive character was too much trouble.

So then, after I tediously re-established what is already known that Cas was not allowed any friends or allies of his own, let me ask: did the main characters, who were presented as his "found family", ever gave him an earnest compliment?

No, I don't count "and you do help, you are always on our side" as an earnest compliment to Cas. It was just telling him his worth was not his own. (Both Dean and Sam had given this "compliment").

No I also don't count "my devastatingly handsome friend", it's just Dean needing to be center of attention when the waitress was into Cas, not him.

Is "surprisingly tough for a nerdy little guy" close to a compliment? No, I don't count either--this was just excuse Dean gave Sam and himself for abandoning Cas injured and comatose in the past (as a result of helping them).

Or is "don't ever change" considered a compliment? No, not taking it either; this is Dean saying, your other version (even though willing to die for me) sucked, but I'm glad this version of you is still useful to me.

Damn, after two years as bitter Cas fan I am still surprised by Dean's awfulness.

I can't think of Sam or Jack giving Cas an honest compliment either. Jack never acted like he admired Cas, only the Winchesters. Sam hugging Cas after Cas healed him in Season 9 was the closest, I guess, but once again, it's about what Cas did for him, not Castiel's own qualities.

It's possible that it happened and I just don't remember it. But if it did, it certainly never rose to the level of what Cas deserved.

[castielmacleod]

Remember in 15x06 (t-minus 12 episodes before the “most caring man on earth” speech btw) when Dean literally almost brought Cas to tears by giving him a hard time on the phone and then hanging up on him when Cas needed his help to cover for him on a case. I think about it a lot because it’s FAR from the worst interaction Cas has ever had with Dean ESPECIALLY as of late, but it’s still the fact that Dean was clearly less interested in actually warning Cas about Chuck and more interested in making Cas feel guilty for leaving (even though Dean more or less pushed Cas out the door) and for not wanting contact with them. It was still awful enough of an interaction for Cas that it visibly frustrated him to such a point.

Because we know Cas is in the process of trying to leave a categorically abusive relationship here. He is obviously trying very hard to have no contact with Dean to the point of ignoring even Sam, so he definitely would not have wanted to fall back to calling the Winchesters’ fake FBI phone if it hadn’t been absolutely necessary for his investigation. He didn’t intend or want to talk to Dean himself but Dean forced it—and knowing Dean, it was almost certainly a power thing over any actual demonstration of care or worry for Cas’ wellbeing. Regardless of Dean’s intentions, though, it was clearly not an interaction Cas was comfortable with having, and even that relatively small amount of harshness from Dean over the phone was enough to bring Cas to this

So case in point is that this interaction on its own may not be the worst ever, and sure Dean did the bare minimum of covering for Cas and telling him about Chuck, but in the context of what happened before (Cas was more or less driven out of the bunker by Dean’s belligerence and refusal to cut him even the slightest break) and what Cas was trying to do (leave the person who was treating him poorly to the point of having no contact for his own personal wellbeing, and in the meantime solve a case in order to save people) then Dean using the situation to force Cas into talking to him only to guilt trip him and make him feel still beholden to Dean despite Dean himself having pushed Cas away, and then hanging up on him, is just. Incensing. 

[gh-0-stcup]

"Destiel couldn't have gotten together because it would have made the show about something it wasn't."

"Destiel couldn't have gotten together because romance was never supposed to be a focal point of the show."

These sorts of comments are so irritating because they gotten together without exploring the relationship on the show. It could have been made entirely ambiguous, up to viewer interpretation.

Just don't give Dean and Castiel love interests outside of each other and don't mock fans who are invested in their dynamic. They didn't need a coming out episode or an arc where Dean comes to terms with his sexuality. Just queercode it Xena style, but respectfully. To both the fans and the concept of the two of them together.

Still not great, but it would have been better than what they decided to do.

[acesammy]

daily mantra: you can do nothing about peoples rancid takes you can do nothing about peoples rancid takes you can do nothing about peoples rancid takes

[x-nephophile-x]

Tell me you're new to fandom without telling me you're new to fandom

An example: people calling stranger things cosplayers and people doing the horns and people buying merch "cringe".

[dead-joy]

Desperately trying to find fans of either brother that are normal about the other, but every single one has been in the fandom so long theyve gone feral and just hate the other brother or dismiss them like can I please get some normal takes ma'am

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Dolly Parton - Jolene 1973

Dolly Parton is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and philanthropist. With a career spanning over fifty years, Parton has been described as a country legend and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She has had 25 singles reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them is the Dollywood Foundation, which manages a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee where she grew up. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parton donated $1 million towards research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which funded the critical early stages of development of the Moderna vaccine.

"Jolene" was released on October 15, 1973, as the first single and title track from her the thirteenth solo studio album Jolene, and became Parton's second solo number one single on the country charts. "Jolene" became Parton's first top ten hit song in the UK, reaching number seven in the UK Singles Chart in 1976. It also re-entered the chart when Parton performed at the Glastonbury festival in 2014.

According to Parton, the song was inspired by a red-headed bank clerk who flirted with her husband, Carl Dean, at his local bank branch around the time they were newly married. In an interview, she also revealed that Jolene's name and appearance are based on that of a young fan who came on stage for her autograph.

During an interview on The Bobby Bones Show in 2018, Parton revealed that she wrote "Jolene" on the same day that she wrote "I Will Always Love You".

"Jolene" was nominated for the Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance twice, in 1975 and 1976. The first nomination was for the original recording, and the second was for a live recording from the TV series In Concert. It did not win either time, but in 2017, a cover by the a cappella group Pentatonix which featured Parton as a guest singer won the Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.

In 2023 she released her forty-ninth solo studio album, Rockstar, a collaborative project with a variety of rock musicians and where "Jolene" is sung by Italian rockband Måneskin, listen to it here!

"Jolene" received a total of 94,3% yes votes!

[creatorofarcadia]

It's been a while since I watched Supernatural, so don't take my opinions as gospel or anything. But I think Dean is self-hating to the point of narcissism in some ways. Don't get me wrong, I empathise with Dean and understand why fans largely do too. But his self-loathing warps his perception and becomes the centre of EVERYTHING and at times that really has ripple effects on those around him - particularly Sam.

Take their childhood, Sam has a right to mourn the fact that he didn't get a normal childhood. He's allowed to be angry that he didn't get a home, a present father, a stable community, and consistent education. But whenever Sam attempts to express his complicated feelings about his childhood, Dean immediately interprets it as ' oh I was supposed to look out for you. Are you saying I failed? Are you confirming I'm worthless?' which grinds the conversation to a complete halt. Because of Dean's intense self-criticism, Sam can never really be 100% honest with him or ask for support with his own issues, especially regarding their childhood. As anything outside of 100% gratitude just becomes another stick for Dean to beat himself with, and the conversation is immediately derailed.

Not only does Deans self-hatred mean that Sam's expression of his own experiences are pretty consistently shut down. In some ways, I think Dean strips Sam of his autonomy - he's so self-loathing, he sees every decision Sam makes as being about/a reaction to him. A good example of this is Stanford. Rather than understanding Stanford for what it was, an attempt by Sam to carve out a better life from himself and escape hunting. Dean views it as betrayal or abandonment, some re-affirmation of his own belief that he's not worth caring about. Rather than understanding it's a rejection of hunting, he sees it as Sam rejecting him. To Dean, Sam isn't attempting to find a better life, he's punishing the family.

Overall, it's interesting that people largely and rightfully sympathise with Dean due to his self-hatred. However, I don't see as much discussion about how his self-hatred doesn't just hurt him, it hurts those he's close to, as it colours his interpretation of their every action. Dean's self-loathing is always the biggest thing in the room and that has consequences.

[delicatestones]

Various Parahuman Teen Couples Go To The Mall

Brian and Taylor: Going to the mall is a normal thing neither of them enjoy, which is precisely why they convince themselves that they should do it. Brian musters up hope that he will be able to carry Taylor's bags and wait for her on benches outside of clothes stores, which will affirm his value as a man. Taylor, who only wants to buy a single hoodie, anxiously refuses to let Brian carry her bag because she doesn't want to be a burden, which banishes Brian to the Masculine Insecurity Pocket Dimension in his own mind. They attempt to rally by going to the food court, where they try to have an awkward 'normal' conversation over greasy pizza slices.

Fortunately, a supervillain they have history with attacks the mall mid-pizza, and they rush off to change in the mall bathrooms and return to thoroughly beat the interloper's ass. Brian apologizes for the mall date going wrong (secretly relieved, also deeply compelled by watching Taylor break a guy's arm with a baton) while Taylor says it's no big deal (even more relieved, mesmerized by Brian's visible sweat on the back of his neck). They may or may not awkwardly touch hands at the fire exit before they flee the scene of the crime.

Krouse and Noelle (Pre-Simurgh): On a quest for limited edition Ransack merch at the Gamestop, which turns out to be all sold out or on reserve. Krouse tries to social engineer it out of the clerk anyway, but Noelle gets so visibly uncomfortable he desists. In the depths of excruciating failure he says something shitty about the guy's haircut after they leave the store and Noelle tells him he's being a dick, which he apologizes excessively for in a way that just makes it more awkward.

In a now desperate effort to turn things around, Krouse tries to lighten the mood by latching onto listing Alternative Mall Activities including one of those photo booth set ups. He makes fun of how cliche they are and how it would be completely lame if they went into one, which transitions into cajoling Noelle to join him in this extremely cringe activity for the bit. She says her hair looks dumb and she doesn't want to, so he gallantly offers her his over-sized hoodie so she can hide her face the entire time, a gesture he does not realize extends the shelf life of their relationship for a solid two weeks. His visible joy when she agrees to the idea adds another week to the tail end of that. They hold hands on the way to the parking lot.

His copy of their photos becomes an instantly precious memento he sticks on the wall above his bed; Noelle puts hers in her picture shoebox in her closet. He spends all night on E-bay overbidding for the merch.

Krouse and Noelle (Post-Simurgh): Twelve Injured One Dead In 'Food Court Nightmare'.

Dean and Victoria: It takes Victoria half an hour to get ready for a mall trip. Dean shows up too early to pick her up and engages Carol Dallon in small talk for twenty minutes, a time span in which Carol manages to list every single one of Victoria's deepest insecurities in the form of barely veiled criticism while Dean smiles like he's being held at gunpoint.

At the mall they get stopped outside the Gap by a gaggle of Glory Girl preteen fans. Dean holds Victoria's bags (many) while she goes through the New Wave Fan Experience Checklist. Victoria says something afterwards to him on the way to the next store that hints at the Dallon Torment Nexus. Dean continues smiling and offers the mildest possible effort at sympathy, which Victoria reacts to with virulent irritation, so he gives up and buys her a mall outlet jewelry store diamond tennis bracelet instead. Thus mollified, she proceeds to allow him to obtain Jamba Juice for the both of them. It's another normal (bad) day in Brockton Bay.

Aisha and Alec: There strictly to cause problems for the sake of causing problems. Alec 'distracts' the staff at Hot Topic by faking a fall into a rack of studded belts and loudly insisting he will sue them for emotional and psychic damages while Aisha shoplifts bracelets. They buy hot pretzels and perch on the edge of the mall fountain marked 'NO LOITERING' to conspicuously loiter while occasionally kicking each other in the ankle. When a security guard tries to get them to move they collaborate on roasting his bloodline back to medieval times, triggering rent-a-cop wrath and a threat to call the Real Cops.

Now officially Wronged By The System, they decamp to breaking into the mall's back corridors (going through an unlocked access door) to vandalize the security office while throwing gummy worms at each other's mouths and missing 70% of the time. In high spirits, they make their cunning exit (leaving through the same door) and sneak into a horror movie at the mall theater halfway through its run time. They heckle the on-screen slasher victims for being idiots until an usher shows up with the original security guard, and then book it for the outside world while laughing like small and charming hyenas.

They agree they should totally rob the mall for real later, preferably while Brian and Taylor are on their make-up mall date, because they are good and kind teammates who only want the best for them.

(This post inspired by the learned discourses of Wormblr character understanders, particularly users lakesbian and simurghed. Any mischaracterizations and errors are my own. These hypotheticals are a non-representative sample of Ways They Could Be At The Mall.)

[vaicomcas]

Break Glass In case of Bitter Cas girl Emergency

Vintage/epic bitter Cas fan posts

Endiness on TMWWBK

Another long but great critique of TMWWBK

Bluejaybug’s “I was promoted” after season 6

Bluejaybug’s “you used to be human”

KoriginalAddict’s post about season 6

bittersamcas on season 6

Discussion on Dean's "love" or incapacity of it

KoriginalAddict's review of "family" according to spn

Endiness summary of Who's "Family" for Dean

bittersamcas on 15x3

Gifsets from Endiness

In defense of S4 Cas

"Jack is just another monster"

bullshit apology

"you don't have to be mean"

I have myself

Hunteri heroici

at best useful

more of whatever Dean already is

"you are broken"

Family only when useful

"we've spent enough on him"

"Castiel learning lessons from being human" (spn gaslighting)