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scoobydoodean · 4 months

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what is your opinion on people calling dean a heavy misogynist? i don’t agree personally but i feel like you could put my thoughts into better words

First, I have to chuckle a little at "heavy misogynist". Apparently, some people have begun to realize their fave is also guilty of misogyny crimes therefore they focus on making sure all of us know Sam is a light misogynist and Dean is a heavy misogynist. I just find that amusing.

This is a broad topic in a long show, so I won't endeavor to address every conceivable incidence of misogyny in the show I can think of. Instead, I'm going to create a few headings, at least one of which I think most criticism falls under.

Misogyny through the writing team

How Sam's misogyny gets a pass

Purity culture wank and Dean performing for Sam

How Dean actually treats women

Misogyny Through The Writing Team

First, Supernatural in of itself has issues with misogyny—as in, the writers of the show (including female writers) have issues with misogyny which they are happy to put on display semi-frequently. The show started in 2005, during a period of time where casual sexism was absolutely rampant on TV and no one thought anything about it. Female celebrities were regularly mocked and dragged on cable television in a way men simply weren't. They were called bitches and skanks and whores, and even "progressive" voices were inundated with casual misogyny and a fixation on purity culture (that largely applied to women only). Quite simply, I think fandom tends to be far too generous toward the writers, assuming certain things were "flaws" the writers intentionally wrote for the characters.

Put another way, there are some criticisms I prefer to level at the writing team rather than the characters, because what is written plainly reflects their ignorance in the real world rather than any intent to give Sam or Dean or any other character meaningful flaws—much less outright terrible ones that greatly harm their image. I'll give a few examples:

2.17 "Heart" makes me very uncomfortable as I sit here in 2024 and observe how Sam and Madison's romance develops. Me feeling that way does not mean the authorial intent of 2007 Sera Gamble was that I think to myself, "Man Sam comes off as uncomfortably rapey here." Hopelessly bad with women, perhaps—but not creepy.

In season 2, the writers begin to develop a running “joke” that Sam is afraid of not just clowns but also little people. The latter “joke” is (wisely) dropped fairly quickly. I have never criticized Sam for being afraid of little people, and I never will. It is readily apparent to me that this running "joke" reflects the ignorance of the writing team rather than an intent to give Sam meaningful or interesting flaws. Their intent was to use little people as the butt of a joke. I personally find this "joke" distasteful, and the idea of trying to take that and somehow "dunk" on Sam for the bigotry of the writers is more distasteful to me.

This is also how I feel about the running "joke" of a porn magazine and website (BAB) that solely features Asian women, that is put on display on multiple occasions during the show—first in 2.15 "Tall Tales", where the context is Gabriel infecting Sam's laptop with a virus from the website and making him believe Dean is responsible. BAB continues to make "Easter Egg" appearances in the show afterward. While often associated with Dean by fandom, the writers clearly think of BAB as a general, "funny" (it isn't), running gag with no more depth than "haha men like porn funny". An issue is stolen by a sentient teddy bear in 4.08 "Wishful Thinking". An issue is owned by the teenager who swapped bodies with Sam in 5.12 "Swap Meat". The Men of Letters also collected a considerable number of issues (8.17). I simply do not believe the writers thought for a single moment about BAB being a grossly racist gag. They most certainly did not write it as an intentional criticism of Dean from that perspective. It reflects nothing but their ignorance and racism here in the real world, and absolutely SHOULD be criticized from that REAL WORLD impact.

How Sam's misogyny largely gets a pass

One of the things I have not been able to stop noticing on this rewatch is Sam's issues with misogyny, and how often Sam's misogyny comes out in conflicts with Dean... starting from the very first episode of the show. Pretty much any time you get anything that feels like it might be a misogynist Dean or horn dog Dean moment... Sam either just has or is about to follow that up with some misogyny of his own.

In 1.01, right after entering Sam's apartment and meeting Jess, Dean mentions the Smurfs on Jess's shirt. We think to ourselves "Okay. A little misogynist... a little horn-dog Dean." Sam is happy to 1-Up that in two ways. First, Jess voices her intentions to go get dressed. Dean dismisses this, but while doing so, makes it clear he intends to leave the room with Sam, as he'd like to have a private conversation with Sam anyway. Sam objects, walking over to Jess and putting an arm around her, demanding Dean say whatever he needs to say right then and there. Maybe this would feel supportive if Jess wasn't in her underwear and hadn't just made it clear that now that the panic over a possible break-in is over, she'd really like to not be in her underwear in front of a stranger. But nope. By god she needs to stand there so Sam can prove a point about misogynist Dean! Second, Sam immediately (and I think quite erroneously) jumps to imply Dean is trying to cut Jess out of the conversation because she's... a woman? Or... something? He makes a big show of moving over Jess and standing beside her, saying anything Dean has to say, he can say in front of Jess. However, the moment Sam actually understands that Dean is here because John is missing on a hunting trip, he dismisses Jess to speak to Dean alone... because he's lying to her. By painting Dean erroneously with this "The men are talking" bullshit that had nothing to do with anything, Sam sets himself up to be viewed as a misogynist by his own framing of the situation and what it means to leave Jess out of a discussion. He also reveals his own alleged principles as a performative illusion. Despite being his intended life partner, Sam never intends to tell the woman he loves about his past as a hunter (he makes this clear later on the bridge). However, I think because Sam's actions usually co-occur with what gets called out more directly or more immediately recognized as misogyny from Dean (should have gotten him for the Smurf's comment, Sam!) Sam's misogyny often flies under the radar... and he's really... pretty bad.

I spoke here at length about how Sam tends to look down on women who interact with Dean (often before meeting them). There is absolutely an intersection with purity culture here and there's discussion in that thread about that as well, and whether this is a "2000s writers" issue or intentionally written flaws.

In 1.06, Sam cuts Dean off before Dean can accept an offered beer from Rebecca, but then as soon as Sam needs Rebecca out of the room, Sam asks her to not just bring them those beers... but also fix them sandwiches. Rebecca says, "What do you think this is, Hooters?" and Dean mumbles, "I wish" and we somehow lose sight of the fact that Sam literally just asked a woman to make him sandwiches which is possibly the number one misogynist man trope. Sam vaguely suggests Dean is a misogynist in 1.19 for nudging Sam to go on a date with Sarah Blake and possibly get information on the case, because that would be "using" her, but Sam wants to "use" Meg Masters in 1.22 and he wants to "use" Ruby to get what he wants, and when he said getting information from women was "Dean's job", he was also showing he was perfectly willing to use Dean and Sarah—he just doesn't want to get his hands dirty. It also comes to light in 1.19 that this is more about Sam's belief that he has to protect women from him, and Sarah herself ends up calling Sam antiquated for it.

I mentioned before that Sam doesn't plan to ever tell Jess who he is, and he makes the same plans with Amelia. Dean, meanwhile, confides in Cassie (it's what leads to their breakup) as well as Lisa.

I also have to mention... one of the funniest things I see deancrit samgirls in particular dig at time after time after time is Dean calling women "bitches". Never mind that Sam also calls women like Ruby and Bela bitches and calls a woman a bitch in front of Madison. Apparently none of these occurrences count because... *looks at notes* reasons. "Bitch" only counts as misogyny when it's Dean saying it. Also, let's not mention that Sam exclusively uses the word "bitch" to refer to women, while Dean also calls men and creatures bitches at different points so it isn't a gender specific insult for him.

Dean is definitely the "heavy" misogynist here... right? (I guess Sam is a "tall" misogynist instead).

Purity culture wank and Dean performing for Sam

Dean is commonly treated in fandom as if he's some kind of sex pest, and quite blatantly... he isn't one. Women almost always proposition Dean first (thejabberwock has sets on this here and here), but him asking people out also isn't inherently creepy in any way? Co-occurring with Sam's purity culture inundated judgements, we often see fandom's own as well, where Dean is some kind of sex pest because he... likes women? Or... because he has sex with consenting women who also want to have sex with him? Sometimes it's giving purity culture wank, sometimes it's given big radfem energy... but regardless, I sometimes see people talk about Dean like him so much as making eye contact with a woman is a violent sexual threat, and that's just laughable—as is denying the agency and autonomy of consenting women in general.

Even though it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, I'll also add that Dean... doesn't even actually have sex with the frequency that people talk about it? Dean has sex with Cassie—who was a long term partner of his in 1.13. He has sex with an actress in 2.18, and with Doublemint twins in 3.01. He has sex with a waitress 4.05. He plans to have sex with someone in 3.04, but turns her down when he realizes she's a prostitute who's working. This happens again in 10.07. I'm on season 4 of my rewatch and haven't been formally keeping up... but Dean is not actually having a lot of sex? We get implications he's been out partying a few times, and can maybe infer he scored, but we don't actually know.

I'm not a huge fan of performing Dean, in the sense that I think over the years I have seen it wildly overstated far too many times. But I do think Dean sometimes plays a character for Sam especially. Dean tells us this himself in 2.03 "Bloodlust" when confiding in Gordon. He never says so directly when it comes to the sexy sex guy doing sex persona, but his actions reveal him. One can think of plenty of examples of Dean saying horny stuff about women to Sam... but what about his actions?

How Dean actually treats women

Finally, there's how Dean actually treats women... and one would be very hard pressed to prove to me that Dean is sexist toward the women in his life. He's been close friends with multiple women and worked with women on hunts on multiple occasions and never once batted an eye. Jo in 2.06 is sometimes floated as an example, but it's actually discussed within the episode. Dean makes it very clear that he thinks women can do the job just fine. What he has a problem with is Jo's lack of experience and her romanticization of the job (especially during a period where Dean has fallen deeply out of love with the job himself). Everything we see as the series progresses supports Dean's assertion as truth. He's very good friends with Charlie, Jody, and Donna and doesn't go around excluding them on hunts while favoring men. That is not a thing that happens. While he initially tries to talk Claire out of the life (as he does everybody—this is not unique to women—see Adam for example) when she decides to hunt, he supports her regardless. There is nothing uniquely overprotective about how Dean treats women who hunt. End of. Dean has no illusions about traditional gender roles or any of that nonsense, jumping to clean dishes after dinner at Jody's and cooking breakfast for Lisa and Ben. (Our knowledge of Dean and the chores he does for his family already tell us this—but regardless). Even Demon Dean, an entity with no love for anyone and close to zero principles, targeted men who abuse and threaten women, and when Crowley ordered him to kill Lester's wife to fulfill the terms of Lester's demon deal, Demon Dean instead became so deeply annoyed with Lester's hypocrisy (he cheated on his wife first) and his assertion that it's different when men cheat, that he killed him and smiled while doing it.

So anyway, nope—I don't think Dean is a "heavy" misogynist.

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lambmotifz · 28 days

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thinking about how dean’s monstrosity is about enjoying violence and torturing people (mostly men) & sam’s monstrosity is about being inherently unclean and his body being used as a tool for use and abuse by others

#also thinking about how sam is canonically dean’s moral compass begging him not to kill innocent lives #and how sam always felt like an outcast and a monster and dean was the only one who kept him sane and grounded #and it doesn’t matter what other people think of him as long as dean doesn’t lose faith in him...#“we make each other human” this is what its all about #wincest #samdean #sam winchester #dean winchester #spn

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ardentpoop · 1 month

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every day someone irritates the living shit out of me with a take like this

yes that’s what the show tells us. but is the show right??? (hint: ABSOLUTELY NOT)

#u guys really watched sam sink deeper and deeper into learned helplessness after being ragdolled by everyone in his life for 15 seasons #and said ‘ah yes he finally accepted his status as a subservient object’#and you MUST be joking abt soulless sam lmfao that was your takeaway?#dean was so desperate to get His sam back at the risk of possibly breaking his mind forever #bc sam’s normally DEAN’S moral compass and he was spiraling when sam became someone he couldn’t control (just like in s4)#soulless sam could’ve literally killed dean at any point lmao but some hardwired instinct kept him following the leader #btw this person used terrible examples as evidence of sam’s apparent Inherent Moral Depravity #I can’t trust Anyone abt this character #the only thing they’re inadvertently right abt is sam ‘trusting the wrong people’ bc he trusts DEAN after everything he’s done to him

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my-chemical-cas · 4 months

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please god dont let me be sam coded

#i keep taking u-quizes #and it keeps coming back sam #which to be fair #is acceuate #youngest sibling who ran away #addiction problems and a strong moral compass #BUT I AM A DEAN KINNIE THROUGH AND THROUGH #someone needs to start school again so i can stop thinking about this #supernatural #dean winchester #spn #sam winchester

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monstermoviedean · 2 years

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three things you need to know about dean winchester. 1) raised from age 4 to protect his little brother at all costs. 2) told at age 27 he might have to kill his little brother to protect him. 3) sacrificed his life to bring his little brother back from the dead.

#w*ncesties DNI #i was thinking about that deancrit i saw yesterday and.#look i know morality is not easy black and white. i know there is no accounting for the full measure of a person's life.#i know it's reductive to say x good deeds cancel out x bad deeds #however. this is my fictional character boy and i want to #like. if you are genuinely deancrit. not you think he did some things wrong or you just don't like him.#but genuinely vitriolic hatred because you think he's abusive #i need you to look at these three true and uncontroversial statements again #i know i haven't seen dabb era. i know many people hate dabb dean. i know he mistreats jack and cas and sam.#but i want you to look at these three statements again.#and i want you to think about how these would shape your personality. how these would alter your actions.#how they would encourage you to do awful things.#i'm not saying he should never be held accountable for his actions #but genuinely if you cannot empathize with him at any point. i don't think you can empathize with me.#like. yeah he's fictional but have a little fucking compassion.#i say this as a loud j*hn hater but despite what dabb wants you to think dean is not john.#OH and to the very kind person who advised me to stop hate reading. thank you again.#i wasn't hate reading and i haven't been dwelling on it I was just driving and thinking about Him and listening to his playlist #spn

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spidersmiceandeverythingnice · 1 year

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Learned today that there is apparently (still!?!??!) a segment of the Supernatural fandom which hates Sam Winchester. Shocked, horrified, disgusted but also BRO HOW DID SO MANY PEOPLE WATCH THE SHOW INCORRECTLY!?!?!?!

#sam winchester #supernatural #this is the Sam Show hes the heart and soul of every plot #even the stuff that centers on DEAN is about sam because sam is the center of his brothers entire universe #like deans entire moral compass is skewed because it only involves: I Must Keep Baby Brother Safe #hello!?!?!?! anybody!?!?!? bueller!?!??!?!?!

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and-stir-the-stars · 2 years

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hi if Cas had a soul I feel like he wouldn't love Dean anymore. He just wants his missing piece

So we need to get him a soul somehow

Or we can teach Cas that who he is, is already an amazing, brilliant, and worthwhile angel, and that he doesn't need a soul (re: to make himself "more human") or to change himself to be worthy of being treated with love and respect

#not saying this to be mean btw! worried that my tone is gonna come across like I'm being mean #plz read it in a matter of fact way lol #however i do think part of the reason cas loves dean so much is he values dean's...#not quite dean's morals (re: dean's morals want jack dead) but dean's ability to have a steadfast moral #compass that dean can rely on quickly efficiently and without fail #whereas for cas all moral decisions are confusing and painful and he has a tendency to want others to tell him what to do #so he inherently feels lesser #but castiel's morals ARE good.#so getting cas to understand he's worthwhile as a person would be a BIG step in getting him to leave his abuser #but of course part of the abuse is that dean makes cas feel that his judgement is terrible and #that he should be relying on dean for all moral judgements bc any choice cas makes on his own is #wrong/doomed to fail/a betrayal.#(also side note: cas loving dean's abilities to make quick and confident decisions according to his own #unwavering sense of right and wrong is ALSO something cas would love about bela talbot bc she's the same way #so if we introduce cas to bela he'll love her and mayyyyybeeeee her anti winchester sentiments would #rub off on cas and he could finally be free. big maybe tho.)#anyway! thanks for the ask! though i understand my response to it is probably not what you were hoping for #i'd tell you god's name if you asked #anti dean winchester #castiel #tw abuse

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luvtheoriez · 1 year

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SPOTIFY WRAPPED ‘22 » #95 acquainted — the weeknd

“ to say that we're in love is dangerous but , girl , i'm so glad we're acquainted . ” / @wasteslands

#dean is the epitome of golden boy #tries hard to keep the family business afloat #tho his moral compass do be getting all kinds of fcked up #cause his dad is involved in a lot of illegal shit that happens in vegas #nothing happens there without the rexroths knowing #4/4

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shallowrambles · 1 year

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Another thing since I’m thinking about #spnwin, PTSD, moral injury, and turning your back on your idealized beliefs…and losing sight of what’s right and wrong…

With Gadreel, Dean became tyrant parent to help his sick child, overriding Sam’s wish to Do Not Resuscitate. He overrides Sam’s autonomy again. If he had not done this, Sam would have died.

With Cas missing, Dean jumped to torture enemies for information, returning to his metaphorical Hell in order to find Cas. If he had not done this, Cas would have died.

So, these outcomes reinforced the illusion of necessity.

#both are moral injuries #both represent the worst self #spnwin #both are colored by dean becoming suicidal (purgatory)#losing his moral compass IN purgatory #then settling on war and serving the fight as the only moral compass #and dragging Sam in the muck with him because of it #in turn Sam becomes suicidal and Cas is also suicidal #they’re all a mess mid seasons #and so have oversized reactions and even worse decision making than usual #cas view hunting and the Winchesters as his runaway fantasy world #same as Sam views Amelia as runaway fantasy world #(hunter heroici implications)

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scoobydoodean · 3 months

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So—Dean is refusing to torture Alistair in the beginning of "On The Head Of A Pin", right? And Uriel is telling him he has to. And you’d think that when Dean asks to speak to Cas alone, it’d be in an effort to bargain or plead (something Uriel isn’t amenable to at all and never has been) or to let Cas give him a more candid and convincing argument on how this is the right thing.

But when Dean gets Cas alone, he just wants to know why Uriel is in charge of Cas now, and then he wants to tell Cas torturing Alistair is going to bring something horrifying out of Dean. Cas doesn’t do any convincing at all. He doesn’t make any further argument for why Dean has to do this—he doesn’t tell Dean it’s for the greater good. Hell—it seems like Cas got demoted because he balked at asking Dean to do this to begin with. Cas doesn’t want Dean to do this and doesn’t try to convince him to! But the scene cuts and Dean is pushing his torture-set-on-wheels into the room where Alistair is being kept! So why? How does that interaction result in Dean suddenly deciding to do something he was refusing to do moments before???

I think it’s because Cas showed Dean sympathy.

The episode opens with Dean trying to tell Sam he’s hurting. He’s grieving Pam (they’re driving from her funeral), he feels like her death is his fault, he feels like they aren’t making any progress on saving the world—they’re just fuck ups who are going to fail.

DEAN I'm tired of burying friends, Sam. SAM Look, we catch a fresh trail— DEAN And we follow it, I know. Like I said, I'm just—I'm just getting tired. SAM Well, get angry!

No sympathy from Sam. Sam wants Dean to nut up—and that's what Sam said last episode too, and it's what he said the episode before that too while under the Siren's spell.

They get into the motel and Uriel and Cas are standing there waiting for them when Dean just wanted to sleep after an awful day, and Uriel says they're needed. Dean says he just got back from needed, and Uriel tells him to mind his tone. Then of course,

CASTIEL Dean, we know this is difficult to understand. URIEL And we— URIEL gives CASTIEL a significant look. URIEL —don't care.

So no one is showing Dean any sympathy, right? Everyone is telling him to shut up and do what needs to be done—except Cas. Cas is sympathizing with him. And when Dean gets Cas alone?

DEAN You ask me to open that door and walk through it, you will not like what walks back out. CASTIEL For what it's worth, I would give anything not to have you do this.

And that's all it takes. That's literally all it takes—is just a single shred of sympathy—someone saying that they care that Dean is in pain—that they care what this will do to him and don't wish this on him. Just someone saying that they understand and that they care is enough and Dean agrees.

Don't ever let anyone tell you Dean "needs tough love".

#4.16 #season 4 #and cas is my best friend #in love with humanity #uriel #pk rewatches spn number ?#are you prepared to disobey #castiels moral compass #deans moral compass #castiels motivations

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paellegere · 2 months

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i don't think supernatural is good for my health.

#liveblogging: supernatural #i'm just a teensy bit weak to. to themes and parallels #i kid you not. i have not stopped thinking about the ahbl/dybim parallel in what is it. a full week now? christ alive #the turmoil i'm in over sam sacrificing everything he ever thought he wanted for dean only for dean to immediately become a demon #also sam being a violent freak of nature with no moral compass when dean isn't around.#i'm not okay. this show is ruining my life #i need to sleep but i can't stop thinking about ahbl -> sacrifice -> do you believe in miracles -> soul survivor #i need to be beaten with hammers. or exploded. or something. please put me out of my misery. holy shit #.txt

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according2thelore · 1 month

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oh hey! i’m sam, and this is my father—i mean, my mother—i mean, my best friend—i mean, shit, my lover—i mean, my guard dog—i mean, the man who sold his soul for me—i mean, the man fated to kill me—i mean, haha sorry, my moral compass—whoops, i mean, my stone number one, the last string i have connecting me to reality—i mean, my soulmate—my bad, i mean, my breeder—i mean, the man i modeled myself after—i mean, shit—

this is dean. my brother, dean.

#dean would sweat if he had to fill out government forms bc he doesn't know whether to file sam as a 'dependent'#like...that's his brotherwifesonhusbandvictimlover??#he just panics and checks every box #but 'brother' is the encompassing label--everything everywhere all at once etc #late season sam checks the box next to married and doesn't even notice until a week later he sits up shaking in sweating in bed #and THAT's how they get married #ps i'm genuinely surprised we haven't gotten a “this is dean” w just no qualifications #charlotte’s contribution: breeder #you’re welcome guys

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ardentpoop · 2 months

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“tfw 2.0” summarized bc I can’t sleep

sam: the devil’s (and everyone else’s) favorite punching bag bc he always gets back up. technically able to kill people with his mind but dean violently cut that power off. also technically an ex-vampire. born to fall. dean’s brother-wife and moral compass.

dean: bully cop if we’re being honest. god’s specialest boy and “daddy’s blunt little instrument,” except he turns out more twisted and fearful-wrathful than daddy was at his lowest. born to kill. sam’s brother-husband and overzealous bodyguard.

cas: sentient nuclear weapon powered by celestial jizz… in a trench coat. ancient being who mystifyingly doesn’t act his age most of the time. if he would’ve just talked to sam half the times he wanted to talk to dean he’d be far less of a walking disaster. born to follow. considered the winchesters’ pet by all the cool demons.

jack: the devil’s estranged son. able to bend reality to his will. a literal baby who speedran sam’s trauma arc(s) and cas’s corruption arc(s). born to die. ostensibly samndean and cas’s kid except sam’s in charge of the mom shit and cas’s in charge of the dad shit and dean’s in charge of threatening to murder him when the mood is right. 😇

#i spent a silly amt of time wording this #spn #commentary tag

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huhniebowl · 9 months

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i’ve had this idea of reader meeting dominic fike backstage at coachella and hitting it off for awhile but i never know how to do it justice so i’m hoping maybe you can

first of all, i want to thank you for the sweet and kind sentiment you left on my previous work. it gave me such warmth & i can't express my love & gratitude enough for you. thank you for requesting, i hope i did your idea justice<3

You bounce your leg at a speed you didn’t know was possible. Heart beating a mile per second, breathing controlled, but erratic. You’re in Dominic’s tour bus, sitting next to Reed, as you wait for Dom to come back after his show.

You’re still trying to process how you got here in the first place, clicking your acrylics together in favor of not chewing on your bottom lip and messing up your lip combo. It all happened so fast that it feels like a fever dream.

Dominic’s show wasn’t for another hour, but you knew that if you didn’t start making your way over soon, you wouldn’t get barricade.

So you took your last bathroom break, separated from your friends, and started walking to his stage.

When you were just a few feet away from the front, you spotted a man hauling equipment. Then, of course, he tripped and everything tumbled from his hold.

By then, everyone had started making their way towards the stage, and barricade was filling up fast. The people who saw kept moving, and you really wanted to, too. But thanks to the heavyweight of your moral compass pointing directly at the man, you groaned and stomped in place like a child. Damn it.

You mumbled curses on your way over to him, but quickly straightened up and gave a bright smile when he noticed you approaching.

Carefully, you helped pick up the equipment and placed it neatly back in the man's arms. You didn't try to rush it, knowing your front-row spot is now non-existent.

He smiled at you graciously, a look of relief clear on his face.

“Thank you so much.” He sighed, digging his shoes in the grass as if to make sure they were on tighter this time.

“Of course, no problem.” You didn't want to look back at the field, but you couldn't help it. As you expected, in those few short minutes, it’s all filled up. You’d be all the way in the back, a far cry from where you would have been had you not stopped.

The man's eyes followed your gaze, then flicked back to you as you breathed out and slumped your shoulders. He puts two and two together and tilts his head. Making a decision quickly.

“Could you grab the orange cord on top of the black one please?” He asked you. “The last thing I want to do is trip over it again when Dominic needs that one the most.”

He watched your eyes widen, and your mouth open and close; fighting for what you should say next. Shit like this doesn’t happen to you.

The man hid his smirk by using his shoulder to rub at his nose. You settled for nodding wordlessly and grabbed the cord, not trusting your brain or your mouth. The man didn't hold back that time and laughed at you, then lead the way backstage.

Cable guy, whose name you now know as Dean, introduced you to Reed, and then filled him in on how you helped him at the cost of losing your barricade.

It was sweet, Reed smiled at you and held out his hand for a high-five. Going on to tell you thank you, and leaving with a promise to meet Dom after the show. Your mind went blank, head spinning around to make sure you weren’t on a reboot episode of Punk’d.

Granted, you shouldn’t have been surprised seeing as you just landed yourself backstage, but meeting him? That hadn’t crossed your mind not once.

“Huh, what? No really, it’s fine I just helped him pick up some cords. I–” You stumbled over your words, brain not quite catching up with what just left Reed’s mouth. He laughed at you, it was warm, but it had you shutting up in embarrassment.

“It’s cool. He won’t mind in the slightest.” With that, he checked his watch and began to walk away.

“You can watch the show from the side. I’ll come grab you before he leaves the stage.” And with that, he was gone.

True to his word, Reed did come back for you just as Dominic finished up Why.

Your eyes were glazed over in admiration as you watched him jump around the stage, his energy liquid hot. Your body thrummed at how perfectly the scene fit him. And in that moment you had forgotten you were going to meet him after this all ended.

Well, until Reed placed his hand on your shoulder and jumped you out of your stupor.

Now here you are, back pressed against the cool leather of the tour bus couch.

“You’ll be fine.” Reed says, swatting your hands away to stop your clicking. “He doesn’t bite.”

You give him a nervous chuckle and shove your hands under your thighs. You know this, but still. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. He’s just another person at the end of the day. Just like you.

A human. A human who just so happens to be tall, talented, has tattoos, pretty eyes–

“Here he comes,” Reed whispers, and it’s then you hear his voice muffled behind the door, filtering in clearly when it yanks open. You see his leg first, then he’s fully coming up the stairs. Your heart stops, then drops to your stomach, he’s fucking beautiful.

Reed hops up and goes to greet him, going in for a dap that turns into a hug. You watch as he talks, curls pressed down and poking out from his crochet hat with floppy ears. They swing around with him, and you watch them move.

Scared that if you stare at Dom for a second too long, he’ll notice you before you have a chance to ground yourself. You stay seated, he hasn’t seen you yet and you’re grateful for it. Using that small window of time to take deep breaths.

You only get through one before you hear,

“Who’s this?”

Fuck.

You pick your head up and give him what you hope looks like a smile.

You introduce yourself, mentally patting yourself on the back for not stuttering your way through it. His head tilts to the side, eyebrows furrowed. Floppy ears fall with him.

“She’s the one who risked her spot at your barricade to help Dean.” Reed chips in.

Dom’s eyes go wide in realization and he smiles a smile that has your body run hot.

“Oh yeah! That was sick of you!” Your body goes lax.

“Thank you for that.” He continues.

You wave your hand up as if to brush off the sentiment. Cheeks starting to hurt from how hard you're smiling.

“Oh, no problem. My moral compass wouldn't have let me live it down.” He laughs and moves from around Reed. Arms out for a hug.

You don’t have time to think about it, your body moving on its own as reflex to not embarrass yourself more than you already have.

You stand up and reach to wrap your arms around his neck. His arms circle around your waist and squeeze. It feels routine like it’s something you’ve done many times with him. He’s warm, smells spicy but sweet, and he’s solid.

You feel his knuckles dig into your skin, then feel him spread his fingers open, palm now flat against the sides of your back. He squeezes you with more intent that way, you can almost feel the skin under your shirt, protruding from between his fingers.

It’s comforting, and you have to hide the sound of contentment you almost let out at the proximity. It rumbles deep in your chest, like a cat purring at a head scratch. It feels too natural.

Dominic’s pulling away before you can process it. The hug leaves you dopey and relaxed. You can breathe a bit better now, heartbeat reduced back to its normal beat. You miss the way Reed gives you a once over, a knowing grin stretched on his lips.

You feel as if you can speak regularly again, your brain no longer muddled and erratic. Conversation flows through you with ease.

“Your set was by far the best one I’ve seen today. You were insane.” You praise, hands moving wildly with your words. Dom laughs and brings a hand to rub at the nape of his neck.

“Thank you. It was my first show since tour, and I performed some new music. I was hella nervous.”

“Yes! I noticed. Mama’s boy was sick!” By now, your nerves were reduced to nothing. The realization that he’s a person just like you finally making the forefront of your brain.

You move back a little and take a seat on the couch, tucking one of your legs underneath you. Dom follows, and sits across, leaving some distance in between.

“How long have you been a fan?” You tilt your head up in thought, wondering how you should word it.

“Um, since 2020? I actually remember seeing a picture of you on Tumblr back in like 2018 and was like ‘Wow he’s hot.’” Dominic snickers behind his hand. “But I had no idea you made music until I heard Vampire.”

“Oh shit, I performed that during tour.” You nod excitedly, “Yes, I remember! I was at one of the shows. It’s one of my favorites, so hearing it live was godsend.” Dominic’s cheeks turn a hue of red, his dimples poking.

“Yeah, it’s a favorite of mine to perform. Were there any that you wanted to make the setlist?”

“Yeah, actually.” You clear your throat and sit more upright in your seat. Your personality doesn’t take long to show out once you deem yourself comfortable. Your next move of action is an example of that.

“Wonder if she fuck dis 'cause she think we gon’ be…rich!” You move your arms up in a dramatic manner and shake your head as if you’re in a rap video. “Hol’ on hol’ on–”

Just as you had hoped, Dominic lets out a laugh so loud it vibrates through you, causing you to break character to laugh with him.

“I don’t see what’s so funny. Your rap career was a cultural reset.” You point, shrugging your shoulders, and raising an eyebrow.

Dominic’s laugh is nasal, deep, and boyish. It has your stomach swirling and you swear bright pink hearts are in your eyes. His hat falls off when he tilts his head back, and you barely catch it before it can hit the floor.

Dominic straightens up, a hand on his stomach as if it would help keep his laughs in. Eventually, they fade into giggles, and he’s breathing out a “God.”

“I honestly wasn’t expecting that. That shit was funny. You're funny.” You tuck the hat under your arm to free your hands and bow.

“Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all night folks.” You send a wink.

Dom shakes his head, then he notices his hat. You jump up.

“Oh yeah, here. It slipped off. It’s really nice, where’d you get it?” You go to give it back to him, but he holds his hands up.

“You can try it on if you want, it was a gift from my brother.”

“Oh, he crotches? I actually just picked up on that myself” You say, flipping the hat around to find the opening and tug it on your head.

You move the ears back so they’re laying on their respective sides and look up at him, smiling and tilting your head to the left in a vogue-like pose.

“So, what do you think? Am I giving Dominic Fike 2.0?” He doesn’t say anything for a second too long, and it’s enough to have your bit of confidence pit in your stomach. You suddenly feel sick. Before you can spill out an apology, scared you’d gotten too comfortable, he speaks.

“You look beautiful in it.” Your eyebrows raise and you squeeze your hands in your lap, lips slightly parted open. The pit in your stomach worsens, but not for the same reason.

He stares at you, his eyes follow the shape of your eyebrows, to the point of your nose, down to the plumpness of your lips. His gaze is unnerving in the best way possible and you find yourself wanting to always be under it.

“Oh, thank you.” You pull at the ears on Dom’s hat, “Your silence scared the hell out of me though, don’t do that again.” You reach over and lightly punch his knee. He’s about to say something else when Reed makes his presence known. Both you and Dominic jump at his voice.

“As much as I hate to cut this short, Dom we have to get going.” Dominic whips his head back at Reed.

“Damn, you scared the shit out of me man, I forgot you were here.”

“Me too.” You breathe, hand on your heart. As much as you’d love to drag this out, you know when to not push your luck. So you stand up and fake a pout.

“It was really nice meeting you. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to talk with me.” Dominic stand up too, “Of course, thanks to you I was able to perform on time.”

He mimics your pout and opens his arms out for another hug, which you gladly accept. This one was a bit longer, and you aren’t afraid to squeeze him back now. You wrap your arms around his middle this time and rest your head on his shoulder. Dom’s face nuzzles into the hat and you can’t help but giggle in his arms at the cat-like gesture.

The chances of this happening again are slim to nothing, so you make sure to bask in it. Taking a deep breath, and humming. You’re the first to pull away, arms lingering on his side for one more squeeze before pulling away completely.

He’s looking at you with the same dopey smile you had given him earlier, and it would have caught you off guard if it werent for the fact that you’re giving him the same look.

“Oh!” You start, fishing for your phone in your back pocket. “Can we take a picture?” Dom nods, “Of course, I’m surprised you didn’t ask sooner.”

You look at Reed in silent question, and he hold his hand out gladly accepting your phone.

A total of seven pictures are taken. And the one that you end up loving the most is the picture of Dom hugging you from behind, his arms wrapped around your neck and your hands coming up to hold them. His face is smushed against yours, both of you in the middle of laughing as you start to tilt over. One of the ears from the hat that’s still on your head wrapped around his head.

It’s looks domestic, familiar. A warmth nestles in your chest.

Dominic’s looking over your shoulder as you scroll through them, and at the same time you favorite the image, he’s speaking.

“Could you send me those? Especially that one.” Your heart just can’t catch a break today.

“Sir, yes sir.” You open Instagram and find his profile, messaging him the pictures.

Reed checks his watch, and you know your times truly up. You begin walking towards the door, and Dom reaches around you to push it open.

“Thank you again!” You smile, looking from Reed to Dom. Your head feels hotter now that sun is beating down on you, and you realize you still have the hat on. You let out a sound of surprise and hurriedly pat your head to take it off.

“No, keep it. It looks prettier on you.” You roll your eyes and put your hands down.

“You better stop sweet talking me before you fall in love with me.” You point a finger at him, starting to walk backwards. He laughs out, and leans against the door.

“Maybe I already am, who knows?” He tilts his head up in challenge and raises his eyebrows. He’s going to be the death of you.

“Bye Dom.” You grin, waving goodbye. He yells out a farewell, saying your name in a medieval tone. You gave him one more giggle before turning around, and walking off. Looking to meet up with your friends and leave the festival.

It’s not till you’re showered, and back home in bed that you check your socials again. You open Instagram and see a slew of notifications. One that says Dominic has followed you, and another that he posted on his story.

You click his story first, and it’s one of the pictures you sent. This one is the selfie you took. You’re holding up the phone, one of your arms wrapped around Dominic’s neck and your hand cupping the side of his face, while he’s leaning into your neck.

Your head lays on top of his, hat ears falling to the side. You both share a closed-eye smile. You feel your heart flutter, then you look at the words in the top corner.

“I’ve been convinced to play Jada Pinkett next show.” A laugh of disbelief comes out and you heart the story. It’s then your phone vibrates with a DM.

dominicfike: You free right now?

dominicfike: Facetime?

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queerstudiesnatural · 1 year

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i find it so interesting to look at sam and dean's respective views of society and people vs monsters, especially in early seasons, and then how that shifts and evolves throughout the show. like when we first meet them dean is very anti establishment whereas sam is literally studying law at an ivy league college. dean is very vocally anti police, and you're like wow for someone who was raised by an authoritarian father and is trying his hardest to please him this guy sure hates authority. he is aware of and cares about issues like racism and classism. but then when it comes to anyone non human he pretty much has no grey area, he sees them all as monsters to be put down. they are Things and they all killed his mum. whereas sam is pretty neutral about people, he doesn't even seem to be aware of systemic inequalities, he has a more individualistic approach to society. but this means he also sees monsters as individuals, just as capable of being good or redeemed.

This has everything to do with the way they grew up and the challenges they faced that affected them the most. dean's biggest challenge was putting food on the table. dean grew up poor and hungry. he was arrested for stealing, he had to use his body to get by, and he had to starve to try and feed sammy. and sam also grew up poor, but he was somewhat shielded from the reality of it. he wasn't the one who had to get food and pay for the extra week in a motel john left them in. his issues were much more personal. because sam knew he was a freak by all standards, he felt impure, and he knew in his heart that the monsters they hunted weren't too different from him. so his hope was in believing that anyone could be saved. anyone could choose to be good. where dean saw a system, with people in power and people who suffered because of them, sam saw grey individuals, and he was drawn in particular to the ones that had something "wrong" with them (max, madison, the kid from bugs, etc)

dean grew up so isolated that he couldn't be individualistic. he could only look at people from afar and that's why he sees the systems. and the violence he faced wasn't targeted at him personally, it was targeted at people like him. poor people, drifters, queer (or queer-looking) people. sam grew up trying to make connections. he made friends, he wanted an education. he tried so hard to belong.

and it's interesting to me that dean ended up being the one who formed the most personal bonds with people who were different, or ostracised, or monsters. see crowley, benny, charlie, claire.

sam tried to build communities (see his s14 arc) but every time he tried to get close to someone it ended in disaster so he ended up keeping his distance. and building a system. throughout the show he takes on leadership roles, and as time progresses he keeps his relationships more and more goal-oriented. whereas dean ends up forming personal bonds with a lot of people, and focusing less on helping oppressed people in general, and more on saving the individuals he cares about. i'm not saying they switched roles, they both kept their original views of the world, but they shifted towards a more confused and confusing moral compass that pointed somewhere in the middle and made it harder for them to understand each other. and ain't that just what growing up is like. dean cared about the whole world as a teen and young adult, but then that became too much to bear, and he had to focus his energy on his circle of loved ones. still caring about the world, but he had individual connections now and had to prioritise them. and sam still saw the potential for redemption and goodness in everyone, but he grew weary of people too, afraid of them or afraid of losing them, and he built walls. tried to help by giving himself missions rather than getting personally and emotionally involved.

psychologically speaking this show is so rich, the characters don't feel one dimensional (despite some of the writers' best efforts), and following their journey for 15 years means we saw them change and evolve, they don't remain the same people they were in season 1, but they keep some of that, and they just grow organically. sometimes i just love spn

#rain posts #dean and sam

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