I have two very unpopular (and controversial) opinions. The first one is, Dean didn't just become an abusive jerk in Dabb era, he's always been one, it was just more subtle in the earlier seasons. The second one is, I don't think Dean cares all that much about Sam and Cas, he's just afraid of being alone
Yeah, unfortunately you can see the patterns of Deanâs toxic behavior in the early seasons as well. I do think he does genuinely love Sam and Cas though, but that doesnât excuse his behavior or preclude him from also being motivated by wanting to keep them close so he doesnât have to be alone.
I think Dean really does love Sam... like more than anything else in existence. To the point where he would tell all his other friends and the whole rest of the world to go burn if it meant he could keep Sam alive and with him (read: selfishness). But that doesnât stop him from treating him terribly, because Deanâs narcissism is the only thing stronger than his love for Sam.
As far as Cas goes... Dean really truly thinks he loves Cas... but he doesnât. Not really. He might like the idea of having a best friend and a surrogate brother who also happens to be an angel, but he doesnât like the reality of it. On a typical day, he seems more annoyed with Casâs personality than anything else. He obviously thinks heâs incompetent (evidence: every comment dean has ever made) and despite what he might say, he never did forgive Cas for âbetrayingâ them in season 6. Thatâs the root of this. All of Casâs subsequent mistakes were just proof- in Deanâs mind- that he couldnât be trusted. And thatâs not surprising at all seeing as how Cas isnât human and we know how Dean feels about anything that isnât human.
What Dean âlovesâ is having an angel on a leash. He likes having one of the bamf-y celestials on his side so that he can utilise his powers whenever he needs them, and he likes that he was apparently so damn important that an angel would develop a sense of loyalty to him. It feeds his ego, if only subconsciously. Plus he practically worships the idea of âFamily donât end in bloodâ and having someone of a different species so close to them feeds into that whole complex. But he doesnât love Cas, not really. Dean treats both Cas and Sam like crap when they make even small mistakes, but Dean takes it a step further with Cas. Cas doesnât even have to do anything wrong, all he has to do is be less than useful at any given time and suddenly itâs like a switch is flipped and all that âYouâre family, Casâ bs goes straight out the window.
THIS THIS THISSSS it also deeds into dean's ideology that anything that isn't human is automatically evil. he loves the idea of cas, but not actually cas, and this is also partially bc cas isn't human. except here's where the issue is: when cas is so obviously not human, dean hates it. "no zapping around" "don't sniff the dead body" "if you don't help me now, we're done" dean HATES the fact that cas is an angel, not only because of the power difference (although dean has the power in that relationship since he's the abuser) but because dean hates anything that's not human. but when cas is low on grace and powerless, dean hates that too. then cas is: "without your mojo you're just a baby in a trench coat" and "you can't stay" (yes ik it was to protect sam, that doesn't mean shit because it only enforces that dean doesn't care who he hurts as long as sam is okay not to mention dean didn't even give him clothes or money or literally any advice on how to Human) and "be sure not to do anything stupid". dean, despite all cas has done, thinks he's incompetent.
i don't know where I'm going with this lol. but the point is you're absolutely right. cas doesn't even have to do anything wrong, dean will MAKE him do something wrong. by that i mean he'll either bring up cas's past mistakes ("all the while you were killing angels and humans and lying to me and Sam about it the whole damn time") or flat out guilt trip or insult him.
dean uses the "you're family" line when he wants something from cas. it's never just "hey, we love you" it's always when he needs cas for his own benefit, or after a near death situation where cas saves their asses. "you're family" is just code for "you're useful" when it comes to dean's view on cas.
i read a fanfic once, a poem really, i think it was called genesis:22 and there was a line like "you prefer your prefer your pet freaks/tethered to a short leash/with clipped wings" and this is a very accurate description of how dean treats cas i think.
Your comments are always so valid!!
And this absolutely true! I would also add that Sam, on the other hand, does love Cas. Heâs the one that always calls to check on him (âSamâs been trying to call youâ) and doesnât give up on him (praying to godstiel and offering to help) and is generally so much sweeter and friendlier and more brotherly toward Cas.
His problem, though, is that heâs so painfully, permanently, unfailingly codependent on Dean that whenever Dean insists on shunning/abandoning/vilifying Cas, Sam goes along with it just to keep the peace between he and Dean, because much like Dean, Samâs one point of selfishness is that he would sacrifice anyone or anything to maintain his relationship with his brother.
The best thing Sam and Castiel could do is get away from him, but thatâll never happen.
Look at all this truth. Like, damn-- *slaps post and replies* You can fit so much truth in this bad boy.
