#13.17

[aliusfrater]

DEAN (who was just being silly)

[mpreglukeskywalker]

[spacedean]

DEAN WINCHESTER in one random episode per day ‣ 232/327 13.17 THE THING

[katsidhe]

always worth a laugh when the show tries to emphasize some part of MOC!Dean’s behavior as frightening and dangerous, but then finds itself utterly unable to keep up that tone because the DNA of the show still fundamentally valorizes and condones those behaviors. How can Dean as dictator be wrong when Dean is right, etc.

this feels thematically connected in a backwards sort of way to the uncanny feeling watching Dean’s Michael-mindscape in 14.10: Dean as the underdog hero of an Americana limbo; allies and enemies alike glaringly one-dimensional; no agency but Dean’s, no fight but the Good Fight. This is on the one hand obviously a Wrong world, a fantasy that Dean must defeat and reject, but it’s so clearly also the right world—a world whose values are obviously lionized.

[onespncap]

s13e17 -- "The Thing"

[allthingsfandom735]

Jealous Sam

[scoobydoodean]

I think some of the "Sam thinks Dean is stupid" stuff comes the repeat "joke" of him constantly being surprised when Dean reads or knows literary references lol

Sure. You know what I think this is also a function of though? Dean saying things like, "Dude, could you be any more gay?" in 3.05 because Sam remembers the story of Cinderella. Actively supporting a narrative that he does not like reading or at least certain types of books (I actually think maybe Dean isn't a huge fan of classic fairy tales for various reasons but I digress). Also Dean often frames Sam as the researcher and himself as the do-er. Even in season 1, where Dean's competence at hunting alone (both the researching side and the actual killing part) is very evident, in Scarecrow, he jokes, "I’m actually on my way to a local community college. I’ve got an appointment with a professor. You know, since I don’t have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research." He allows this narrative of himself versus Sam to persist, except when he doesn't and goes, "What? I read" ("Baby" is one example). (Really he just likes keeping Sam on his toes and constantly turning the tables to remind him that there are things he does not know jhvdshggvzhsdvhsa.)

Dean seems to be an avid reader of fiction and he extensively incorporates his consumption of media (watched, read) into pop culture references throughout the series. He loves a good story. He is also an extremely competent researcher when he wants to be... but there are also suggestions that Dean most of the time doesn't particularly enjoy the research grind. Sam? Well—he does seem to have a fondness for fairy tales specifically, but he's that nerd who looks at a call number from the Library of Congress and goes, "This references sciences and probably birds specifically". Also the kind of nerd who would probably work up a whole reference system for the bunker library, which I think Dean would do if he had to--but he wouldn't enjoy doing it and I think Sam is the kind of person who would actively enjoy doing that.

Dean's relationship to research comes across very ADHD to me personally in the mid to late series. Like he can suddenly be sitting for hours doing research if that is what he NEEDS to be doing in that moment and there's some real urgency to that need. But most of the time I think looking through tomes for hours and hours searching for an obscure spell is not what he would like to be doing, and Sam kind of enjoys that shit. I also think perhaps Sam has trouble understanding the difference between the two ways he and Dean relate to books and how both of them like reading but for different reasons, and that not enjoying what he enjoys about research does not mean you don't enjoy reading books generally. But Dean also contributes to this narrative of "Sam is the researcher, and I do not like books", like in 13.17 (because they are about to spend hours and hours researching) saying very sarcastically, "I love books!"

As an aside though also, thinking your brother doesn't like to read also doesn't mean you think he's stupid. There are many reasons not to like reading. Facts about me: I loved to read novels as a child and now I hate reading novels. I can enjoy reading only VERY selectively, have a very short attention span for reading certain types of materials, and haven't picked up a novel in years because I don't want to. But I also have a Masters degree and am working on a PhD. I also don't believe formal education is always a great indicator of intelligence, but neither is not reading books. When Sam gets really scathing and jokes about how "Yes I read books without pictures even", I don't think that is something he would say if he genuinely believed Dean was stupid.

[riverlarking]