#other than to state the fact that sam is a natural born psychic

[legacywritten]

again, having thoughts about sam’s psychic powers ...

first, i want to review all the known special children powers.

visions: sam, ava

telekinesis: sam, max

mind control: andy, ansem, jake

super strength: jake

death touch: scott, lily

power over demons: sam, ava

what’s interesting here is that most of the recurring special children, despite starting with a single apparent power, eventually develop multiple abilities. ava and jake both gain the extra powers only after giving in to azazel - but not sam. he has the visions and telekinesis both before he even knows they’re linked to azazel’s blood. even when he starts drinking demon blood, he doesn’t fall into the same “give in to the dark side” mentality that both ava and jake describe. while he does seem to get a power high off it, his goal for drinking and using his powers is always explicitly to save people: the human hosts who would otherwise be killed by ruby’s knife, the countless people who would die if lilith got her way.

even more interesting, sam arguably demonstrates all the other powers in the special children’s repertoire ( except death by touch ). the list above shows him using three of the six powers in canon, but what about the others ?

super strength: sam uses a coil of barbed wire, with nothing but a bit of cloth to protect his hands, to slice off gordon’s head. while it’s hard to find a reliable answer to the question “how much force does it take to cut off someone’s head ?”, discussions on quora and elsewhere indicate that even a razor-sharp sword, with the force of a full two-handed swing behind it, still takes several strokes to cut through flesh and bone. sam would have ripped open his own palms, and the blood would have caused his hands to slide off the wire, before he could come anywhere close to decapitating a friggin’ vampire. unless he was using super-strength.

mind control: we all agree that sam has a killer puppy-dog face. but consider this - while dean regularly asks sam to use that irresistible charm to get witnesses to open up, sam doesn’t usually do the full-on sad eyes when he does. he just … asks.

now, obviously, he’s not aware that he has these other powers; he isn’t using them consciously or deliberately. but most of the special children have little to no control over their powers, at least at first. neither sam nor ava can control their visions; lily can’t control her touch of death. we don’t know as much about how the other special children’s powers started out, but the ones who do have greater control over their powers are the ones who’ve been actively using them the longest. if sam doesn’t realize he has these additional abilities - if they didn’t start out as strong, or as readily accessible, as his visions or his telekinesis, it stands to reason he’d never use them enough to get conscious control over them.

now consider this: sam still has his powers.

my personal belief is that the special children were natural psychics already, like missouri or pamela, before azazel fed them demon blood. all the blood did was shape the nature of their powers and bind them to azazel so that he could keep track of them and exert some measure of control over them. as ruby herself notes, "you didn't need a feather to fly. you had it in you the whole time, dumbo."

[samclownchester]

Supernatural Rewatch 04x03

In The Beginning

(Next Episode | Masterlist | Previous Episode)

Shoooot I want to do an analysis of Cas and Dean’s relationship centered around the concept of lies. Like … Dean usually reacts very strongly to being lied to and we see that later on in the show between these two, but when they first meet like, all Cas does is LIE  … anyway there’s just a lot of lying going around this season. I’ll come back to this thought in a later episode probably.

First of all, Sam is not in this episode at all. He’s in like 5 seconds at the beginning. They’re really doing a lot of work this season to show that the brothers are on totally separate paths.

Then, Cas blasts Dean to the past with no explanation and offers very little help while he’s there. At first it seems like he’s just being your typical unhelpful magical character who pushes the protagonist the way they need to go but lets them figure out the details themselves:

DEAN ...tell me what the hell I'm doing here! CASTIEL I told you, you have to stop it.

DEAN Stop what? Huh? What, is there something nasty after my Dad? [CASTIEL is gone] DEAN Oh, come on! What, are you allergic to straight answers, you son of a bitch?!

but at the end of the episode he admits that he straight up lied to Dean, or at least, he allowed Dean to operate under false pretenses:

DEAN I couldn't stop any of it.…

CASTIEL Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped it. …Destiny can't be changed, Dean

(I suppose it could be argued that the first two times Cas told Dean to “Stop it” he was referring to Sam using his powers, especially given the last line of this episode

CASTIEL You brother is headed down a dangerous road, Dean, and we're not sure where it leads. So stop it. Or we will.

And therefore never technically lied to Dean about the reason he brought him to the past, however, he was fully aware of how Dean had interpreted the command and, although he talked about the consequences of changing the past, he never told Dean that he was wrong.

CASTIEL You realize, if you do alter the future, your father, you, Sam – you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die.

In my book, that counts as lying.) 

So, Cas, on orders from Heaven, lied to Dean and made him live through this pretty traumatic experience, of believing he could save his family only to watch his grandparents be killed and see his mom make the deal that ruined all their lives, just so he could “know everything [they] know.” It would have been a lot easier to just have a conversation about it, preferably with both Dean and Sam, and try to figure out Azazel’s end game, but instead Heaven decided (because we can’t entirely blame Cas for this, brainwashed as he is) to put Dean in an emotionally vulnerable state before revealing to him what Sam has been up to. We’ll talk about the consequences of that next episode (hint, it involves responding with cruelty).

A couple other thoughts:

Cas says to Dean “Destiny can’t be changed” in this episode which … obviously is a very big theme of this show. Everyone is constantly telling them what their destiny is, Sam was supposed to go dark and kill the other psychic kids, but he didn’t. Sam and Dean are supposed to be the vessels and start the apocalypse, but they don’t. Dean is supposed to lock himself in the box or risk releasing Michael onto the world, but he doesn’t. The end is supposed to be Sam or Dean killing the other but … it isn’t?? (🤞 let’s see). Anyway, I just wanted to point out that what Cas states as fact here is disproven over and over on the show. Destiny can be changed.

Also, when Cas tells Dean what would happen if he altered the future, two thoughts:

1) He says Sam and Dean will never become hunters and all the people they saved will die and Dean says

DEAN Oh, I care. I care a lot, but these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again. I can't. No, not if I can stop it.

This hails back to 2x20 when Dean was living in a dream world where this exact scenario happened, but in that world he wasn’t ok with letting all those people stay dead so he could live in peace. What’s different this time? Well, for one thing he’s been to Hell so maybe that’s changed his approach to life a bit, but also I think it has to do with action. In 2x20 Dean didn’t really do much to “save” his mom, but then he found himself in a position where the action he could take was “save” the people, put the world back right (and then he realized it was fake anyway.) In this episode, the action in front of him is to save his parents.

I don’t know if I’m making sense here but what I’m trying to say is that I think Dean is very action oriented and he wants to attack the problem in front of him, whatever that problem is. The answer to the question : Would you like your family to live in peace if it meant all the people you’ve saved would die? Changes depending on what immediate action he is presented with. He wants to be the hero of the moment, rather than really weigh the two options.

2) We see in S13 a world where Mary didn’t make the deal with Azazel. Naturally, if Dean had been able to stop Azazel earlier maybe he and Sam could’ve grown up in peace, but in Apocalypse World we know that things played out largely how they did here, except Mary chose not to make the deal and John stayed dead. She kept hunting and became jaded and cold, and Sam and Dean weren’t around to stop the apocalypse when Lucifer and Michael came for each other. Now, I’m not saying this is inevitably the only thing that could have happened if Mary didn’t make the deal, but it is one possible world.

Lastly, Dean has an opportunity to see his dad as a young man. There’s obviously lots of complicated feelings happening for him, but the biggest thing is probably how different John’s demeanor is, and Mary tells us clearly

DEAN What's he like? John. ... MARY I don't know. He's sweet, kind. Even after the war, after everything, he still believes in happily ever after, you know? He's everything a hunter isn't

Which ... I can hate John and realize that he’s a complicated character who is a product of his circumstances, right? He wasn’t always a piece of trash, he used represent to Mary the freedom and peace she had been denied her whole life (much how Lisa represents that to Dean imo (see 3x10)) and it’s just so tragic that he became exactly what Mary never wanted to have in her life. (And that her sons became that too). The writers really wanted to kill us with this dramatic irony. 

(We also have references later to him being a trash husband even before he was hardened by grief though, so it’s also possible that Mary is seeing him through rose-colored glasses, that she just sees the man she wants him to be and hasn’t recognized the darker, crueler sides of him). 

Question to ponder (and also please comment/message me if you have an answer)

It’s interesting that Dean is named after their grandmother and Sam is named after their grandfather, especially given the fact that Sam tends to be more associated with feminine things than Dean. It would’ve been easy to just have Mary’s mom be named Samantha and her father be named Dean (it wouldn’t be that weird if she named her first born son after her father who had recently died tbh) so ... why did the writers chose to set it up the way they did? Is there something about their characters we can extrapolate from this? 

[the--blackdahlia]

Natural Born Killers Chapter 11 (Sam x Dean)

Title: Natural Born Killers Chapter 11

Summary:  It started as an accident. That’s what it was. But things escalated from there and now the law wants Dean Winchester, one way or another

Warnings: Language

Present

Victor had left the room a bit ago to think about some of the things Sam had told him. There was no way that it could be true what he was saying. It all seemed a little too perfect, a little too rehearsed.

“Everything okay?” Diana asked. Victor sighed.

“He’s hiding something. I know he is. I just can’t get him to crack.” Victor told her.

“Maybe he’s telling the truth. Maybe he doesn’t know anything.” Diana suggested. Victor shook his head.

“I’ve seen his brother’s and dad’s files. I know what the Winchester’s are capable of. There’s no way that Sam is innocent.”

“Well, you’ve only got a few more hours to keep him.” Diana pointed out. Victor sighed.

“I know, I know.” He headed back to the interrogation room. He decided to sit outside and observe for a little bit. Because Sam was going to do something to slip up. He just knew it.

****

2006

Sam’s head hurt. He wasn’t sure if it was from being in the car the whole time, or if there was another vision/dream thing coming on. All he knew was he wanted to sleep and get rid of the headache. Dean had even turned on the soft rock station. Currently, a Bryan Adams song was playing lowly from the speakers and Sam had his eyes closed.

“Love makes monsters of us all.” A voice said in his head. Sam groaned a little moved, getting Dean’s attention. Sam hadn’t been sleeping very well the past few nights. Dean had hoped that being in Baby with the soft rock playing would help.

“De?” Sam asked, opening his eyes some.

“We’re almost there baby boy.” Dean said, playing with his hair for a bit. “How’s your head feel?”

“Hurts a little.” Sam said, sitting up more to stretch his back some. “I hope this Missouri has some answers for us.”

“Me too.” Dean mumbled.

They arrived in Lawrence and parked at a motel. Dean made to get out, but Sam snagged his hand, stopping him.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Get two queens.” Sam said. Dean looked like his heart had been broken.

“Is it something I did?” He asked.

“No. I just...we’re brothers here, right? I’m still going to curl up in the same bed as you. I just don’t want the weird looks that go with it.” Sam said.

“Like anyone’s going to remember us. I was four and you were six months when we left.” Dean said.

“Missouri might.” Sam said. Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll get us two queens.” Dean went up to get their room for their Lawrence stay. He came back a bit later and parked the car in front of their room. It made him think of all the times when they were younger and they were sharing a room with John. Two seperate queen beds and one of the three would usually end up sleeping on the couch.

Sam immediately sat at the small table and started to look into Missouri as Dean set about making the room safe. He heard the familiar clicks of the keyboard and mouse as Sam navigated the browser. Dean found a phone book in the nightstand between the two beds.

“Found it.” Dean and Sam said at the same time. They looked up at each other. Sam had a list of psychics in the area. Dean had an advertisement for Missouri Moseley: Psychic.

“Well, guess we’re on the right path then.” Dean said. “Do you want to go now or…”

“Let’s go.” Sam said. “The sooner we can get some answers, the better.” Sam got up, ready to go. Dean grabbed him and pulled him to him, kissing him deeply. He could feel the way Sam melted.

“What was that for?” Sam asked when they broke apart.

“I don’t know when I’m going to get to kiss you again.” Dean said. Sam blushed a little but managed to gain himself as they left to go talk to Missouri.

****

Missouri was not what Sam and Dean had expected. She was probably a foot shorter than them, but firey as hell. They watched as she talked to one of her clients and looked at her as he left.

“Poor fool. His wife is cheating on him.” She sighed. “Well, Sam and Dean, come on.” The boys looked at each other before following her to her office. She smiled at the both of them. “Boys, you grew up so handsome!” Dean glanced over at Sam. He didn’t miss the look on Missouri’s face though. But she didn’t say anything. She had seen a lot worse from hunter children over the years. Instead, she closed her eyes for a second to focus.

“So, you know us.” Dean said. Missouri nodded.

“Your daddy brought you with him when he came to visit me.” She said. “I heard…”

“He died?” Sam said. “Werewolf.”

“Tragic.” She said. “At least you boys have each other, right?”

“Yeah.” Dean said, nodding. “But, we came here for some questions.”

“Well, take a seat.” Missouri said, motioning for them to sit down. “What can I help with?” Dean and Sam looked at each other. Dean started to put his feet up on the coffee table in front of him. “Boy, you put your feet on my table and I’m going to beat you with a spoon.”

“I didn’t…”

“You were thinking about it. And your little muscle twitches said otherwise.” She told him. Dean sighed and kept his feet planted on the ground. Sam’s heart was racing. This was his vision. Missouri, the coffee table, everything.

“Sam?” Dean asked, getting Sam’s attention.

“Sam.” Missouri said, taking his hands in hers. He looked up at her. “Tell me.”

“The...the thing that killed my mom, it killed one of my best friends.” Sam told her. “And I’ve heard it’s after me. And I don’t know why.” Missouri could see the tears in his eyes at what he had told her. She glanced over at Dean, who was sitting closer to Sam know and rubbing his back in small, soothing circles.

“Sam, he’s after you and me. Well, not so much me anymore.” Missouri explained to Sam. “We are a rare breed. We’re natural born psychics.”

“What?” Dean asked. “Sammy’s not psychic.”

“I’m afraid he is.” Missouri said. “The question is, what kind of psychic are you Sam? Me? I can read thoughts. It was so hard when I was younger and it made my head feel like it was going to explode. But I learned to control it and now I can listen in if I want, but I don’t have to.”

“I have these dreams and sometimes they come true.” Sam told her. “And one of them happened when I was awake a few nights ago. In fact, I saw you and Dean was about to put his feet up on the table.”

“You can see the future.” Missouri said with a smile.

“So, why does this demon or whatever want natural born psychics?” Dean asked.

“They’re rare.” Missouri said. “And it’s hard to predict them unless you have some insider secrets. A psychic child can be born to non-psychic parents, and vice versa. Say if Sam was to have a child, there would be no guarantee that he or she would be psychic.” She paused for a second. “My son isn’t psychic. Or if he is, he’s keeping it from me.”

“So this demon wants natural born psychics? For what?” Dean asked. Missouri shrugged.

“I don’t know.” She said. “He seems to have given up on us older ones and are going after the younger generation.” She got up and went to a desk. “I have talked to some hunters who have told me there seem to be a surge of twenty-two year olds with psychic abilities. Normally, in the United States, there are one or two a year. According to what some hunters have shared with me, and now including Sam, in 1983, there were at least 8.”

Sam and Dean sat there, thinking about it all. There were 7 other people out there like Sam that didn’t have their knowledge. For all they knew, the demon could’ve gotten them already.

“Sam.” Missouri said, pulling Sam from his thoughts. “It’s going to be hard at first, but with some training and meditation, you’ll realize you’ve been given a gift.” She offered Sam a small smile. “And I can help you. Of course, I don’t see the future, but I can teach you ways to ease the pain. It will get better with time.”

“Thank you Missouri.” Sam said. “We really should be going though.”

“You don’t have to rush off.” She said.

“We haven’t really slept in like forty-eight hours.” Sam said with a bit of a laugh. Missouri nodded.

“Well, don’t be strangers.” She told them. “I expect to see you again.”

“Thanks for everything.” Dean said as the two rushed out. Dean knew she had read some of the stuff in his mind. He just wasn’t sure what she had read. He followed Sam out to the Impala, and neither of them spoke until they were safe back inside the confines of their motel room.

“Why me?” Sam asked as he sat on one of the beds, his head in his hands. Dean shed his jacket and knelt on the floor in front of Sam. “Why did it have to be me?”

“Sweetheart, look at me.” Dean said. Sam looked at Dean and he could see the fear in his little brother’s eyes. “You’re still the boy I fell in love with. You’re still the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, that will change that. Not this, not anything else.”

“But…” Sam started to say. Dean shook his head.

“We’re going to work through this, just like we always do.” Dean told him. “Some little psychic crap isn’t changing anything. I mean, you’re Sam Fucking Winchester after all.” He smiled when he saw the little smirk on Sam’s face.

“I guess you’re right.” Sam laughed a little.

“Of course I’m right. I’m older and wiser.” Sam rolled his eyes a little. Dean moved to sit by Sam. “Come here.” He pulled him to him and kissed him gently. “We will deal with these visions or whatever as they come. But for now, we have each other. And I’ve missed you.” He placed gentle kisses on Sam’s collarbone. Sam let himself relax. Dean was good at that. Getting the tension out of Sam’s muscles.

Dean was great at therapy.

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