Parting Shots - gif spam and a little thinky...

[ash48]

This is for the spn_littlebro hc_bingo challenge. It fills the "parting ways" prompt. I've always been interested in the separations and reunions of the Winchester brothers. That's not to say I like it when they separate, I just think it makes for fascinating tension and dynamics. It also makes for awesome reunion moments. :) This gifspam primarily focuses the parting shots when Sam leaves Dean (I've also added a couple of reaction shots from Dean and one of my fav reunion moments). 1.01 Pilot I know that technically Dean leaves Sam as he's the one that drives off, but as Sam is the one who made the decision to stay I see this as a parting shot. I find Sam's contented sigh interesting. I think this is Sam having everything he wants right now. He's just been hunting with his big brother (and it was awesome!). He has just reconnected with Dean after all these years AND he still have his life in Stanford and a girlfriend to go home to. Possibly the most peaceful we ever see Sam. 1.11 Scarecrow Sam agrees to hunt with Dean after he loses Jessica, but it's not all smooth sailing. His frustration gets the better of him and decides to go his own way to look for their Dad. He soon realises that being separated is not such a good idea and returns to Dean when he knows his brother is in trouble. 2.10 Hunted Sneaky Sam. Sam often sneaks away from Dean (more so in season 4). Once again he lets his impatience get the better of him and runs away to look for answers about himself. And once again, Dean meets trouble when they are separated and Sam returns to save him (you'd think he'd have learnt by now!) 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose I Oh Sammy's eyes! I love the way he looks briefly at Dean before he dies *sobs* 4.01 Lazarus Rising More sneaking. :( Sam sneaks off to meet up with Ruby and thus starts a season of Sam going behind Dean's back. "Good intentions" ending with bad bad consequences. 4.21 When the Levee Breaks I can't even. This is just too painful. I can't say anything except...whaaaaa! :(( 5.02 Good God Y'All I love the way in which Sam leaves in this scene. The hand on the car is one of my most favourite gestures from Sam. It speaks volumes of how he is feeling. It acknowledges everything he knows he is leaving behind. 5.22 Swan Song Ack! No no no. Sacrificial Sam. I love the way he seems to make absolute peace with what he is doing. He's terrified but accepts his fate. 7.06 Slash Fiction After all the separations in the past it seems that Sam still finds leaving as the best way to cope with his frustrations. I think this "taking time out" is such a strong and significant part of Sam's character. In Time For a Wedding Dean mentions that Sam has taken off on a hike to camp by himself for a few days. I realise that was probably a plot point, but I don't think it's out of place for Sam. Having time by himself seems like something Sam would do. I don't think Sam leaves Dean at this point thinking it will be forever. It's just until he's cooled down and accepted what Dean had done. 7.23 Survival of the Fittest I know that technically Dean does the leaving here. But as Sam did not go looking for Dean I am adding it here as Sam leaving Dean. I will make no further comment on that as I seem to be always making comments on that /o\. Let's just say that at this point in the story Sam make a conscious choice not to look for Dean and therefore he leaves him to rot..um...rest in peace, wherever he is. Then there's also these... For every Sam departure there is a Dean reaction. I love how stoic Dean can be when Sam leaves. He is often clearly hurt but he always seems to rally in order to keep his game face on. 6.01 Exile on Main Street One of my favourites is when soulless!Sam leaves at the beginning of season 6. Dean goes through such a range of emotions (Jensen nails this beautifully I think). From heartache, to putting on a game face to thinking - yeah, I've been left again. Nothing new there. 2.21 All Hell Breaks Loose Then of course there are the tears. Oh man, I don't know how many times I have watched this scene. Dean's reaction makes me well up every time. 2.10 Hunted And finally - as it's a h/c prompt we need a little of the "c". So here's one of my favourite reunion moments. As much as I love the hugs, I adore this mutual "I'm Ok, You're Ok", touchy feely moment. Post is also here at tumblr (but without all the blurb and extra gifs..;D).

Comments

[ayane42.livejournal.com]

i love it!!!

all the feels and the reactions!! watching their faces i can feel the clench in my gut from how they feel.

sigh, just love the boys!!

and you do a great job with these gif thingies :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun! :)

(gif making is as addictive and vidding I have discovered...;D)

xx

[callistosh65.livejournal.com]

I saw this on Tumblr and loved it - but I love it even more with the blurb! Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow.. it really is with these two.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun! I can't help writing up my thoughts on stuff. There's always seem to be stuff to say about everything the do (hee...for me anyway). I don't think you can mesh the two on tumblr (though I've not ever tried, so I don't really know).

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

Oh, damn you, woman. That scene from AHBL gets me EVERY TIME. *sobs* aND I had never noticed Sam's hand caressing the Impala's flank as he leaves. Thanks for that! Beautiful gifwork, as always. ♥

[ash48.livejournal.com]

The AHBL scene is a beautiful killer isn't it?!

And yeah - Sam's little caress of the car is sad I think. He not only said goodbye to Dean but to the car as well. :( It made me think that Sam really though the was going for a long time.

[borgmama1of5.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much of the physicality of these scenes are scripted/directed and how much is the boys instinctively being their character. Like in the Impala gesture--it's perfect.

Thank you for a lovely good morning!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I often wonder that too. The impala gesture is so small and subtle - I would say it would depend on the director. Some directors know the show really really well, whereas others wouldn't know it well enough to suggest his. (I'd love to know for sure!)
xx

[galwithglasses.livejournal.com]

So much sad....some of the episodes above are the best ones they did but I just can't go back and watch them again. The fight at the end of When the Levee Breaks just wrecks me.

I always wonder about that sigh in the Pilot. There's a wistfulness about it....my crazy brother, I'm going to miss hanging out with him. There's also a bit of thank goodness we survived another one.

This post got me wondering...it's pretty much part of the show that Sam is the one who leaves or makes the decision to break up the band and we're supposed to know all about Dean's abandonment issues...but looking at these, there are some parallels with Dean too. Other than dying and getting sucked into Purgatory, I wonder how many times Dean is the one to go. I know he sneaks out to go kill Amy. He doesn't want to get back together in The End. He leaves to go say yes to Michael. I'm sure there's more. Seems like Dean leaves but often it's involuntary and he's just gone, dead or sucked through time or something. With Sam, Dean can usually see it coming but seems like Sam gets blindsided by it over and over. There's really nothing that compares to the horror of Mystery Spot. I'm not sure where I was going with that. Just mulling it over, I guess.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh "mulling" is good. I was mulling over Dean's departures as well. Sam certainly isn't the only one who leaves - but it seems that Sam leaves for different reasons to Dean. I think there's more of a pattern for him leaving because he's either pissed off, needs to sort something out by himself (usually knowing Dean won't approve) or dies.

Dean has made decisions not to go back with Sam (Exile and The End) and he has gone behind Sam's back (amy killing). He's also stormed out on Sam a couple of times (Children Shouldn't Play and Time is on My Side) but there's no sense that it's to never come back. I think his biggest departure (other than death) is going off to say yes to Michael - and I see that as something Sam would equally do. Dean also leaves to go on a hunt with Benny in S8.

For two characters who spend so much time together it's not surprising that we have moments of them leaving each other. I suppose when I'm mulling this over I try to see patterns that can give some insight into the characters - though more often than not it's a plot devise rather than them making statements about their characters. But that doesn't stop me trying! Thanks for the thinky. :))

[big-heart-june.livejournal.com]

Sadly Sam also sneaks off in 703: The Girl Next Door while Dean is laid up sleeping with his broken leg. And yeah, not one of Dean's proudest moments at the end of the ep either.

I have never been able to rewatch that scene in When the Levee Breaks...:((

Beautiful gifs ♥ Beautiful boys ♥

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - sam does some more sneaking in 703. :( and then Dean does some of his own. So hard to watch the show when they are so at odds with each other.

thanks!
xx

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

\0/!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

<33

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Oh boys... I love your insight into Sam here though... *bookmarks for later..*

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun. <3

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it Dean deciding not to go with Sam in Exile on Main Street? Though I'm sure he did interpret it as being abandoned, given that he knew Sam had been back for a year without telling him and he was probably already sensing at some level that Sam!Sam wasn't there at all.

I've always had a sneaking sympathy for Sam in Hunted. Creeping out in the dead of night, not good, but I think Dean was in the wrong, for all the poignance of his Grand Canyon wish, in Croatoan. John and then Dean had been concealing things that concerned Sam more than anyone, it was certainly Sam's turn to make the call about whether and how to pursue the question. In some ways, that moment of being proactive about his destiny was healthier for Sam than some of his more fatalist and passive moments in s2.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Wasn't it Dean deciding not to go with Sam in Exile on Main Street?

Yeah it was. I'm not sure why I always think of that moment as Sam leaving Dean - I think it's as you say, Dean feels abandoned by Sam anyway and after he offered Sam the keys to the impala and Sam refused it was another nail so to speak.

In some ways, that moment of being proactive about his destiny was healthier for Sam than some of his more fatalist and passive moments in s2.

Oh yes indeed. Hmmm, it's interesting then that whenever Sam has been proactive (both in going off to look for John, seeking answers about himself and then later after Dean's been to hell) it's ended badly - namely Dean being in danger or the beginning of the end of the world. Maybe Sam's lesson has been - don't do things for yourself as they will always end badly. I'd say he'll go into S9 still feeling that. I wonder if were are meant to be getting that message or if it's just the way those few eps have been written.

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

When you think of it, they've both gotten into trouble following their hardwire prime directives: Dean's "protect Sam" led him to sell his soul and break the first seal, and, on a less disastrous scale, to lie to Sam and restrict his autonomy in an effort to protect him, while Sam's need to forge his own destiny and defend his own identity has led to him making some pretty major mistakes. It seemed like they reached a balance with Swan Song, where Sam had a strong sense of what he had to do but only did it with consultation and Dean and Bobby's knowledge and consent, while Dean let Sam make his own choice and deal with his own consequences. Their situation at the end of s8 was a lot more tangled, and spoilers suggest that Dean may be doing more well intentioned concealing of stuff about Sam from Sam. Which, on the one hand, can seem annoyingly repetitive and regressive, but, on the other hand, it is incredibly hard to break patterns that are that ingrained -- I suspect whether it comes across as sympathetic or maddening will depend on who gets to write which episode and how well they do it. I think Sam ended s8 too far tilted towards internalizing Dean's reactions as his standard, just as he's gone too far in the opposite direction at some points in the past and not taken into account how his (often legitimate) goal pursuit will affect others and especially Dean. One can only hope that they will get into some kind of balance. But I don't think Sam being wrong every time he has struck out on his own is meant to be the message, except maybe in the sense that most things the Winchesters do end in disaster or at least collateral damage.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm very curious to see what becomes of this new "secret" Dean is carrying. If Carver stays true to form I suspect it's probably something like we saw in S2. Carver seems to be playing on past character moments and bringing them into the current stories (if S8 is an indication). I suspect Dean is very well intentioned, but may well be a repeat of keeping Sam in the dark about his own situation. We'll see (I am really looking forward to finding out what this secret is though. Jared seems pretty bouncy about it and everyone is extremely tight lipped about it).

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

Maybe the secret transformation is that Sam will be healed by his connection to FM!Jared in the AU, because there aren't any supernatural illnesses there so it acts as a counteragent, and then the personalities will start blending and Sam will grow increasingly smiley and bouncey and Jared-like and eat a lot of candy.

You heard it here first.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

It will be so!! \o/

Wow!

[rince1wind.livejournal.com]

This was great!

Re: Wow!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

♥ ♥ ♥

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hee...one prompt done. :) I'm determined to to the scars vid (even if it's after the prompting has closed..;D)

xx

[frelling-tralk.livejournal.com]

Aww, lovely post :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you. <3

[cordelia-gray.livejournal.com]

Lovely post!

The one from Levee is hard, isn't it? I've always had a head-canon that one of the things going on there was Sam thinking that he might not be able to control the power (I think he's already pretty out of control here), that he has an idea that enough power to gank Lilith may also be enough to turn him permanently. So part of this fight is about insurance: about making sure he's burned his bridges with Dean, that if Dean comes after him he'll be angry enough to follow through on the 'kill you' part of the 'save you or kill you' thing they've had going since John's death.

(Do you think you might be inspired to do a companion piece, on times when Dean leaves Sam? I'd love to see a comparison.)

Love that last gif from Hunted - speaks so much about their relationship right there.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Oh that's an interesting idea on that fight scene. I never thought of it like that, but it makes sense. I remember thinking that Sam really did know what he was doing (no idea why I thought that when the sheer fact that he was drinking demon blood should have been a big red flag) and all he wanted was for Dean to trust and believe him (similar to what we often see from Sam). I was duped along with Sam about Ruby (oh man, I can't believe that now. Maybe that's why I've become such a big Sam sympathiser over the years...;D)

And yeah - I would like to attempt one for Dean. Hmmm...might play with that today. I'll see how it goes.

xx

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

What an emotional trip down memory lane that was!

There were some moments that I really enjoyed revisiting (the comfort in Hunted), some that I completely forgot about (that hand on the Impala!) and some that kill me every time (WTLB - season 4 is such a strong season but I really struggle to re-watch the episodes!)

I guess this is just a snapshot of all the ups and downs that we've gone through over the seasons as fans. And I agree, the only great thing about the boys parting ways is that we get reunions (and hugs!)

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed this muchly. Take care, :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hi!

Thank you so much. They really do have a lot of ups and downs don't they. As long as they always find their way back to each other I don't mind it when they separate (as long as it's not too often).

[jackien1968.livejournal.com]

This is awesome! The gifs, your analysis of what we're seeing, and there are some great comments on here too.

Awww, AHBL pt. 1 always makes me cry. You picked the perfect 2 snippets for maximum heartbreak.

Just fyi, Slash Fiction is 7.06 and Survival of the Fittest is 7.23. No biggie.

Off to check out the Dean one...

Hugs!
Jackie

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

and there are some great comments on here too.

Yeah, my flist is made of win. Such thinky, awesome people. :))

Oh and thanks for the pick up! My proof reading skills suck big time - so I appreciate the heads up. <3

[reggie11.livejournal.com]

Such poignant moments. Makes me tear up a little seeing them all like this. Just lovely.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you! <33