#deans whole thing is family!

[scoobydoodean]

I want to point out something in 1.16 “Shadow” regarding Dean’s resourcefulness and the derision with which his contributions are treated within the writing. In “Shadow”, multiple shots are taken at Dean’s methods of earning money and working cases as well as his intelligence level.

It starts with another small squabble about money that clearly frames Dean as still, at this point, the sole person supporting him and Sam financially through credit card scams, gambling, and hustling pool.

Yet again we have a jab at the ways Dean earns money. I wouldn’t make a big deal about this one at all if not for the outside context—the three previous episodes where Sam (while happy to benefit from Dean’s ill-gotten gains and provide no financial support to their two-man team) criticizes or is dismissive toward the work involved in how Dean earns money for them (1.01, 1.05, 1.08). Dean deserving to have his contributions dismissed is explicit in the text, but Sam's failure to actually assist with finances is implicit.

Next, it's how Dean gets information. He flirts with a cop and a bartender:

In the case of the cop, he gets information that is valuable to the case—unreleased details. In the case of the bartender, he doesn't, but he learns there's nothing to learn. But because Dean was also having fun, his actions are reduced down to him thinking with his dick, when he is actually intentionally using charm and even (see below) offering sexual favors in exchange for information:

Additionally, Sam (despite having seen Dean research just fine on his own multiple times) questions how Dean was able to do research on his own, which—you do you, Kripke, I guess? But we get "Haha name the last book you read" in a similar vein to 1.03 "Dead In the Water" (and just as Sam demands that Dean name one child he knows and Dean can't but it means nothing because Dean actually does like kids, Dean also does read—as established multiple times throughout the series.)

But also—if Dean called Caleb, why does that matter? Is talking to people to get the information you need, somehow inferior to finding some old tome and finding it in there? No. But it's treated that way in the framing of the episode. Weirdly like Dean took a shortcut or something and that's... "bad"...? When a shortcut in this context literally just means you're being efficient and resourceful and yeah—smart.

Then Meg jabs at Dean's intelligence as well:

What's also interesting, is that this is the first (I believe—I don't think I missed one at least) example of Dean's eye for visual patterns within the series.

So Dean, in this episode

Finances the suits Sam wanted to buy so they could sneak into the victim's apartment

Gets valuable information from a cop twice by charming her

Is able to recognize a symbol on the floor from blood spatter and is able to trace that symbol back to discover the monster they are dealing with using his hunting connections.

And all of this is treated in a dismissive way within the writing—like Dean's contributions don't matter or are earned in some way that causes them to deserve to be dismissed and even used as points against him. What's more, Dean doesn't fight back much. He leans into the very thinly-veiled suggestions of him just being dumb and horny and covers with jokes and a light jab about how the only thing valuable EITHER of them have gotten at the bar is the bartender's number (note that this is after he gets secret information from the cop and finds the symbol on the floor, which he could have pointed out but doesn't). He also leans into other narratives about himself suggested by Meg in the episode, but that's a separate post.

#1.16 #this isn't a criticism of sam fyi it's just a writing thing that i think is interesting #i think kripke enjoyed writing dean as a character whose contributions to the family are minimized by everyone #strangers and #even himself. #it fits with his whole weird “give Dean the same birthday as my wife” schtick imo. #pk rewatches spn number ? #my smart bby #dean and the family finances #dean minimizations #season 1 #meg #dean chores

[soullessjack]

idk maybe it’s corny but I think it’s kind of morbidly poetic that the Venture bros symbol/logo is a giant skull…something about a universal symbol of death representing the family that literally defines itself by how it cheats death with scientific manmade horrors beyond comprehension… it’s just so perfect to me sorry

#when you lose a family member what do you do? cry? no! you rebuild him. that is the venture way #mmmmmmm #trying so hard to not make this a parallel to the winchester family but it’s . so hard. #cal.txt #venture bros #rusty venture #dean venture #hank venture #jonas venture sr #malcolm fitzcarraldo #LIKE #THE WHOLE CLONING THING #WHAT JONAS DID TO DON #sweet manmade horrors beyond my comprehension #sorry for finding beauty in an adult swim cartoon it’s just the autism working overtime

[angelsdean]

seeing a post that gets some things right (interesting complex john thoughts) but other parts dead wrong (bad dean takes) has me like *eye twitch*

#reducing a complicated plot to dean hates all monsters and thinks every monster needs to be killed is um. first of all not even canon #do i need to bring out all the posts abt dean's monster ethics and how he thinks a monster is someone who hurts / kills innocent ppl #and that definition includes humans who do monstrous things too (a theme explored in multiple episodes in s1 !!!!) #but anyways. no he did not think jack should be killed bc he was ~not human~ he thought jack was a Dangerous supernatural being #since ya know. he Was. literally thee most powerful being after god / amara. and they had no idea what he might do. he was not their Baby #or their Kid yet. he was a stranger. a strange new supernatural being that they might have to stop. #s12 finale literally leaves off on a cliffhanger positioning jack to potentially be the new 'Big Bad' #so he's a stranger AND the son of lucifer (they had no idea how that would affect jack yet) AND he seemingly brainwashed cas and kelly #bc remember cas was all about Free Will and Choice and Fuck Heaven / Paradise / Peace #and then suddenly he's going against his core beliefs talking abt paradise on earth and jack needing to fulfill his Destiny like ??? #i'd be sus af too if i were dean #dean had no reason to trust jack right off the bat. 'oh but he should've trusted him bc cas did' ok and cas is dead now so ?? #then there's the soulless jack stuff which is a whole other complicated beast. and dean was not the only one trying to stop jack then eithe #but anyways. no you cannot reduce dean's complex feelings abt jack to simply 'lol dean hates monsters and wants them all dead' #he doesn't. half his family and friends are literally monsters. anyways. #vic.txt

[luzzarm]

CCH ep. 18, 5/31/1953 — ˚◞♡

Noooo Dean! Pls let him finish the story😭😭💕

#he was about to tell sth doity #the wink ♡ #the intense stare at the camera ♡ #dean interally freaking out behind #ironically dean kept the whole thing family friendly lmao #these ad-libs always get me #martin and lewis #dean martin #jerry lewis #50s #1953 #colgate comedy hour #cch #comedy #retro tv #vintage tv #50s tv #old hollywood #vintage hollywood #classic hollywood #hollywood stars #old hollywood stars #old hollywood actors #funny stuff

[girl-bateman]

How does one get assigned as sam coded / dean coded ? Do I need a doctors note ? A psych evaluation perhaps ?

#i keep going back and forth on it #bc i used to identify with dean for the longest time bc i was so repressed and emotionally closed off (+older sister) #and at that point id spent my youth very purposefully protecting my younger sibling from our dad #and i guess in my brain i paralleled that with dean staying behind with john while sam took off for stanford #and dean protecting sam from knowing too much abt the supernatural #BUT having grown up ive now become the one resentful and angry at our father while my sister protects him #and our fights remind me a lot of scenes from the show where im obviously identifying a lot stronger with sam #plus the whole thing abt being the families designated academic or whatever #while also feeling cursed from the minute i was born and crushing at the guilt of everything wrong with me #and trying to be a good person and saving others to make for the fact that i feel an intrinsic evilness about myself #so like... yeah sam is very very relatable too in that sense #bc he also has that hope in him- the belief in god. in angels. in goodness. and i have that too ! #im just also a miserable cynic at the same time :) #so ???? #i havent been in the fandom for long enough to know the full requirements of being a sam or dean girl #(and by that i mean i havent been in the fandom for long AFTER i rejoined from my 10 year hiatus) #i literally would love to read someones page long explanation of what sam coded vs dean coded entails #someone with a spn hyperfixation or special interest needs to provide me with the goods fr 😭 #spn

[azrael08]

Random Take or whatever. But I’m re-watching some supernatural episodes and I was so interested in Magda from S12E4 becoming a reoccurring character??? Like the connection she and Sam have in that episode, the fatherly & daughter bond they share about their psychic powers, that little moment she and Sam have in the ambulance where he says that she can call him for anything at anytime???? Please, it’s giving Sabriel love-child. So sad she got killed by an evil Brit in the end :(

#supernatural #sam winchester #magda peterson #sabriel #supernatural rewatch #Supernatural S12E4 #I wanted more of those cuties #if Dean and Cas can get Jack then I think Uncle Sam needs to get one two #her and Jack would be cousins and they’d move things with their mind and play around #while Cas and Sam sip wine or something in the back #Dean and Gabriel would just argue the whole time #Basically a family bbq #maybe I’m taking this too far?

[roxyandelsewhere]

"I'm not a damn thing but this time that lasts between running from finding myself and finding myself while running." (x)

SPN moments but abstract [17/?] - The ouroboros of Carver era Dean, aka "what if Dean's present had been presented as connected to his past"

inprnt.| society6 | ko-fi

#SURPRISE BITCH! BET YOU THOUGHT YOU'D SEEN THE LAST OF ME (i feel like it's not the first time i say this) #spn #spnart #spn art #spnabstract #mine.caro #i keep having art hiatus i'm sorry. but i refuse to make art feel like a chore so sometimes my brain says NO and i say Okay :( #anyways i'm back babeyy #ok so. what do we have here this time #this post has so many links posting it feels like a whole thing. i'm gonna add this one to the stores now uwu #this was motivated by my frustration with carver era dean having all these things happen to him that feel like punchlines to his whole life #but they're not presented that way. he becomes a demon after All That in previous seasons and the connection isn't made #hence the FMI line. i did josémáriobranconatural again but i had to #i wrote a list of bullet points when i was trying to figure this one out and it says: #'Hunting monsters while running away from becoming one and becoming a monster by how he hunts them in purgatory and with the mark of cain' #'Running from becoming a demon until daddy's little girl breaks in thirty and is pulled from the rack by an angel #and then is killed by an angel and becomes a demon' #'Black eyes and branded arms pointing death at the family he's become a monster out of the vow to protect' #and lastly you can't have a visual essay on performanceboy without touching on that part so this is supposed to look #like we're seeing it all through a window. suburban house window even #i thought it'd be more visually interesting if the lines of the window weren't there but you can also see it as the window not being there #and there you have it folks. finally a new one!! #pros: i'm drawing again. cons: i'm still in the spn pit

[adammilligan]

like not only did adam say "we may be blood, but we are not family" which he was absolutely correct for but he also explicitly denied sam and dean forgiveness and grabbed the archangel living in his body and said THIS is my family now. just to kind of prove his point. and it's really funny to me

#adam's whole THING is chosen family. like he denies john as a father he denies sam and dean as his brothers but he chooses his mother and #he chooses michael. and he sticks by those choices! #and he's perfectly willing to GET ALONG with sam and dean is the thing. like he doesn't particularly WANT to be around them but he'll be #friendly he'll be polite etc. but that doesn't mean he considers them his family! #kate rambles #adam milligan

[deanwinchesterpregnant]

I could fix s9 Dean

#you could argue his motivations for the Ezekiel debacle were selfish but I truly think he hates himself too much for that #yes he’s afraid of being alone but my god it’s been beaten into his head since he was a child to never let any harm befall Sammy #and he’s failed so miserably at that lol #and the one time! the ONE TIME that Dean had accepted sam was going to sacrifice himself #he spent upwards of 1000 years trapped with lucifer getting (canonically!) raped! #I’m not saying Dean did THE RIGHT THING especially with the guy who’s bodily autonomy has been violated so many times via possession #I’m just saying IT MAKES SENSE WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID #also since like season 1? 2? dean’s whole thing has been ‘it scares me what I’m willing to do for family’ well! #and he knows he was wrong he is like aware that he was in the wrong #anyway sam said he wouldn’t do the same for Dean and I’m going to be honest. I DON’T BELIEVE HIM #ALSO this was RIGHT after they decided to choose each other instead of boarding up hell #so what was Dean supposed to do LET SAM DIE? FOR NOTHING? it all would’ve been for naught!!!!! #and sam coming back later with ‘you talked me into that’ idk king. that was a 2 way street #SORRY IM SORRY I JUST UNDERSTAND WHY HE DID IT IS ALL #please don’t get mad at me samgirls ilu

[arcanespillo]

hang on i must know your fave merlin ship this is of great importance

(absolutely no judgement btw i ship Everything)

this is funny because i do really believe in every ship ever, my fav is gwen x arthur x merlin i think they should live together in a cottage in the woods and be happy forever. and i think every ship that includes merlin is valid and real (merlin x lancelot, merlin x gawaine, arthur x merlin and so on) and i love, love love love morgana and gwen, a bit less in later seasons

#bbc merlin #i do not really like morgana x morgause #ask #i used to think i didn't really like merthur #i thought ok well they care for each other but do i think they should be together #the answer is still no i like the show the way it is and if i had to have queer princes i think i would prefer a whole different show about #it #but since fandoms are there to be fun i like fanon merthur #and also i do believe in some tension and stuff #the thing is i believe arthur cares deeply for the people around him every single one of them and i also do believe he shares a deeper bond #with merlin i feel like he's his best friend you know #and well human relationships are complex and all so #that's all i have to say ok #it's a bit like destiel i think castiel is in love w dean i really do and i think dean thinks of him as family but again relationships are #complex and i am def making this ask longer than it should be but i felt like talking tonight #so thank you for asking #what about you??

[sendmyresignation]

truly nothing on this earth is more foul than supernatural familial abuse discourse but specifically the discourse people have about if sam or dean "had it worse" like ok cool you have already missed the point of this show very hard.

#the things ive seen in those trenches..... #its like actually their circumstances were based on their positionality in the family and the expectations each had #but on another level the discourse never truly explores what sams life was like as a child. hes either a spoiled brat or a martyr #in ways that make him one dimensional in ways fanon child dean just. isnt. #sam isnt just isolated. hes also controlled and surveilled. any wrong move (unbeknownst to him) proves to john hes irredeemable #like the center of john telling dean he might have to kill sam. is always dean like i feel crazy with how little consideration there is #toward the mental headspace of a guy whose whole childhood is suddenly warped by the realization his father suspected he was evil #and might need to be put down like a dog. and then. sam accepts this!!!! he truly believes is he Crosses A Line dictated by deans judgement #then oops oh well! because fundamentally sam has been conditioned to believe in his own inability to make decisions about himself #so the 'dean protects sam! dean keeps sam innocent and gave him a childhood' becomes much more insidious when u realize #that is one side of the coin wherein sam is under the complete authority of another person #and obv dean is not evil for that. its learned behavior!! #but instead of teasing out this reality when we learn what john told dean... it becomes aww poor dean :(( instead of a horrific glimpse int #the hierarchy of information and control fundamental to their relationship. guys its a cult. #my posts #spn

[wraithlafitte]

13.02. the way dean is SO insistent on jack needing to die, but when he sees jack stabbing himself, he can’t help it- big brotherdad mode kicks in and he has to stop jack from hurting himself 🥹

#and then he says if you have to die i’ll be the one to do it #which kinda reinforces the whole dean winchester thing of ‘only i am allowed to hurt my family’ #even if he hates jack’s guts rn #wraith watches spn #supernatural #spn #spn 13x02 #jack kline #dean winchester #wraith.txt

[soullessjack]

not a samgirl not a deangirl not a casgirl but a fourth secret and far more sinister thing

#I lie. I am all the girls. I am girl encompassing #cal.txt #spn #supernatural #spn fandom #sam winchester #dean winchester #castiel #jack kline #samgirls #dean girls #casgirl #jackgirl #another thing I’ll forever hate is how much of an accessory jack has become to the point that he doesn’t even have a subset of —girls #to go along with the rest of the fandom alignment . we literally can’t have shit here it’s so terrible #we don’t exist to anyone else !!!! yay!!!!! always on the outside looking in !!!!!!! the never ending experience of being autistic!!!!!! #heavy Heavy HEAVY sigh. it doesnt fuckinf end #it’s the little things. we aren’t an option on a uquiz. jack isn’t in an edit for the whole team. his entire big bad arc is wholly discarded #etc etc just constant erasure constant No You Don’t Go Here constant This Isn’t For You . #so cool and awesome and fun . so family. #sorry i get inexplicably struck with hatred every so often it’s like lightning

[angelsdean]

no but really azazel possessing john was just a convenient little metaphor, just another way for dean to reconcile with the conflicting image of his father-god who can do no wrong and the cruel man who has hurt dean, used dean, mocks him for his devotion and loyalty to his family, for his role as caretaker, despite benefiting from dean’s labor. anyways. looking at the scene and imagining there is no azazel....imagining the demon as metaphor is just. oh my god. like so heartbreaking and so compelling. the demon is alcohol, the demon is grief. john lashes out at dean, pins him to the wall, hurts him in his haze. and dean’s crying, begging him, not to let the demon inside him get the upper hand, fight this dad! please please don’t kill me. and then sam gets free, and he gets the gun. and he has a chance to end it. he has a chance to kill the monster that’s been haunting them for 22 years. but dean. dean still loves his dad. despite everything. he doesn’t know how not to love him. so he begs again, please please don’t kill him. and he thinks things might be different now. he always thinks things will be different after one of these fights. but dad doesn’t apologize for hurting dean. he sobers up, the metaphoric demon gone dormant for now, but everything is the same. they get in the car and drive and john is pissed and he tells them nothing matters but the job. dean bleeds out in the backseat of the only real home he’s even known and he hears his dad say “this demon comes before everything.” hears him say, this demon comes before YOU, dean. their lives are still ruled by the demon. the demon has always been there, will always be there. his dad is beyond saving but dean can’t kill him. 

#like actually. the metaphoric demon as the manifestation of john's grief and increased substance abuse and the angry man he becomes #is sooo compelling to me #and the demon as a figurative persona that dean places on his dad to distance him when he's like this from the good dad in his mind #makes me insaaane like super unwell emotions #re-imagining the first few seasons as there not actually being a yellow eyed demon it was just john the whole time is. i want to eat that #want to gobble that up #like there's still other demons and the supernatural and everything but JOHN. john is the one who broke his family #john is the one who killed them #i think again framing it as a consequence of his drinking..of that internal demon is wow so good #like imagine he got drunk the night of the fire and maybe idk left a cig lit when he passed out downstairs or something #and his carelessness his altered state led to mary's death #and the whole blood thing with sam...metaphor for addiction being passed down #sam IS an addict the whole blood storyline was framed as an addiction so it makes sense #azazel corrupting sam with his blood is litcherally just. john passing down his demons to his son #(yes i know dean is also an addict. literally an alcoholic but it's 8 AM i'm not thinking thru every detail of the metaphor rn) #dean's always been mary's mirror anyway and sam is johns so for now i'm satisfied w the metaphor #i'll think more abt how dean fits in later #maybe it's like. yeah he has that part in him too but it's never been allowed to take over and consume him really #not the way sam lets his addiction take over #bc dean's always always had to put everything before himself always had to carry the family be the caretaker AND the soldier #so when the hell does he have time to go full addict and let it run his life like john and sam do? he doesn't. #yes it's there and it's a bad coping mechanism and a crutch but he rarely rarely lets it consume him #except for when. when cas dies. but y'know. that's a whole other thing i could write abt forever #dean studies #vic.txt #WAIT WAIT #JOHN MAKING THE DEAL W AZAZEL BASICALLY LETTING THE DEMON 'WIN' BASICALLY KILLING HIMSELF BC HE THINKS IT WILL PROTECT HIS SONS #thinks they will be better off without the alcoholic angry man but he doesn't think abt how his death will really affect them #and he still tells dean. hey. if sam's addiction takes over if that demon inside him like the one in me wins....you wont be able to save him #you'll have to kill him

[enbysiriusblack]

just realised i have a habit of headcanoning characters leaving the wizarding world and magic behind them...

mary macdonald, lydia pettigrew, draco malfoy, remus lupin, andromeda tonks, etc.

#why is that a pattern of mine?? its a strange pattern to have but i have no clue why the idea is just so appealing #mary macdonald leaving due to the war and not wanting to be involved she fully leaves magic behind until she has dean thomas #so she comes back for his benefit only to take him to get school supplies and the train and make sure he's not too overwhelmed with magic #lydia pettigrew getting pregnant during her time at hogwarts and dropping out since she wasn't having a good time anyway #she misses having a muggle life and although not fully leaving the wizarding world and coming back for peters sake but again not that much #draco malfoy leaving after the war is over and his family is ruined. he leaves everything behind and starts going to uni #only remaining in contact with his mother from the wizarding world. (ive got a whole thing about this by the way. #i dont like draco but i like gay ppl and redemption arcs so gave him t (he's gay with his uni flatmate not harry if thats what you thought #remus lupin briefly leaving after halloween 81. he sorta just stops going to the wizarding world or using magic and doesn't even realise #andromedas is also briefly just after getting disowned. starting her new life with ted both of them living in the muggle world #but she is still in contact with sirius and just doesn't feel safe going to places in the wizarding world at first #but after a while she regains confidence to do and starts rejoining that world (while still primarily living in the muggle world) #marauders era #marauders #harry potter #wizarding world

[bisaster-energy]

ik canonically cas' only interaction with a cat was an interrogation but i literally don't care everyone can benefit from a cat. he cared about the whole world because of dean he can care about a cat somewhere in there let me have my tfw cat au. go in peace

#my proof that he can learn to like a cat? re: you changed me dean #he can change he has the range alright open ur mind to the possibilities #tfw gets a cat and everyone thinks cas and the cat just ignore each other little do they know the conversations going on #they dont have a pet owner relationship i feel like cas doesnt really get the whole ''pet'' thing they're just buddies or wtv #whenever cas does talk to the cat out loud he talks to it the same way he talks to everybody else he doesn't really see the distinction #my reasoning ? it's how i talk to cats #just know that when im like ''cas has a cat'' i dont mean ''oh soft uwu baby has a wittle kitty awww'' no #i mean he has discussions with a fellow beast on their mutual assimilation into a human family and #what they lost and gained by accepting said assimilation #ignore this im just thinking about my fic and cas would have conversations with that cat ok..