#kid dean

[serenescreaming]

Hello does anyone have the link to the post someone had made where they had taken all the canon childhood info of Dean and made it into a timeline? I though I had liked it but cannot find it bow.

Thanks in advance if you can help

[delicateindecisions]

Standout by Kid Dean on Apple Music

Song · 2017 · Duration 2:33

Tell me you aren’t dancing to this!!

[cosmicwavelength]

Ah, I see that we’re talking about Sonny this evening.

Unpopular opinion: he was just as great as Bobby, if not better. He had a calm understanding for a young Dean and knew how to involve him in a life that had absolutely nothing to do with hunting. He wasn’t a pushy bastard like most of the men on spn. He didn’t guilt Dean for not outright telling him about the abuse of his father but he also didn’t ignore it. He had such a delicate way of giving Dean time and space to be himself. No demands no nothing.

[vampirate99]

[found--family]

kid!hunter!Dean in 15.16 Drag Me Away (From You) 

[found--family]

Dean never played the *i'm the oldest so you guys have to do what I say* card. It's such a kid-thing to do, but Dean's no kid and age doesn't hold seniority for him. Yes, he follows his father's orders and John is older than him, and yes, Dean tries to get Sam to do what he says and Dean is older than his little brother. But age isn't the defining factor in hunting, experience is. 

He tells the other kids they can't go with him because they've never been hunting before. He spearheads the case because "Dad would want me taking charge" and even if he was younger than every other kid in the room Dean would still assume the mantle of Hunter/Protector because he has the most experience which means he's the best equipped to deal with the danger - even if he is actually ill-equipped: he has a gun and a knife but no idea what creature he's facing, and that will come back to haunt him in two different ways. 

He didn't just go up against an unknown monster, he was also a kid (because he /was/ a kid, despite John trying to mold him into a soldier) who was unprepared to face the horrors that awaited him when it/he was too late to save someone. He tried to go it alone and without sufficient information and not only did he fail to eliminate the threat he also witnessed something that scarred his psyche and gave him "nightmares for the longest time". 

It was his first solo case and he tried to be a Hunter first and foremost (because he doesn't know how to be anything else) forgetting (or choosing to ignore/believing the conditioning John had done to his young self) that he was also a kid. And being a kid, Hunter or not, means he shouldn't have had to shoulder the burden of trauma OR deal with the fallout of a failed hunt years later since he never should have been in the position to face monsters (alone) at that age in the first place. 

Yes, Dean chose to work the case and go after the monster without more experienced help, but only because he thought he had to. Because there was no one else to do it. Because it was the only way. 

[found--family]

Kid!Dean in 15.14

Dean's narrative in Last Holiday was really well written, and now that I've had time to read some meta and reflect on things I appreciate certain elements of the story that I thought were OOC on first watch. 

It starts out with him in caretaker role - wearing an apron while cooking dinner and fixing clunky pipes - and then as soon as Mrs. Butters enters the scene we see him relegated to *kid Dean* by many visual and textual elements such as his Scoobydoo underthings, being chastised for swearing, and accused of wearing unclean (smelly) clothing, ie. all things you would expect of a child requiring some parental caretaking. 

We go from Dean referencing him and Sam dealing with the Biggest Bads (Hitler and Lucifer) to telling Mrs. Butters it's been *one apocalypse after another* and her response being both understanding and motivated: she knows how busy their work can be, and how self-care can fall by the wayside, and that they deserve all the domestic bliss she can drum up. 

Dean's childlike state-of-being continues throughout the episode as Mrs. Butters assumes responsibility for all domestic duties: his giddiness (and innocence) over his very own Scoobydoo sleeping robe; uncontainable excitement for the Christmas-decorated bunker; the request for rice crispy treats (in place of cake, which when viewed as a bi!dean symbol makes sense for being overlooked by the embodiment of pre-teen-Dean choosing a classic childhood treat instead); joy for homecooked meals with family around the table; smiles at a packed lunch as he heads off to save the world from monsters (minus the investigation/minus the consequences, just like a child at make-believe playtime); playing with his vegetables during Thanksgiving dinner; joy over a grilled cheese sandwich (a perfectly simple but nonetheless wholesome homemade comfort food); the repair of the TV in the Dean Cave™ (a grown man's fort); Dean's plan to free him and Jack from captivity (very *boys will boys*, ie. fun/experimentation often results in injury). 

Now, Dean can and has done all the everyday things Mrs. Butters does: laundry, cooking, fixing things, and not least of all taking care of Sammy (the brotherly teasing was not new, but it did take on a childish air in light of the episode; and Dean not calling Sam for help because he was with Eileen speaks to him putting Sammy's happiness above his own personal safety, which is the Dean we all know). But taking the time, effort (and if it weren't for the magic, money) to celebrate various holidays isn't something they're used to - and as mentioned this episode, the Hunter's Life™ has never really let them slow down enough to enjoy such things (at least not regularly) but that goes way back to Sam and Dean's childhood being void of such (-what may have been insisted by John as-) trivialities or distractions. Mrs. Butters gives Sam and Dean the chance to live the festive childhood they never experienced, as well as infusing the festive celebrations into Jack's childhood (which feels like papa!Sam and papa!Dean improving John's parenting in that regard but not yet because they didn't actually instigate this happy turn of events..). 

But we're also reminded that Dean is /not/ a child: Mrs. Butters gives him tomato juice and remarks on his cholesterol; Mrs. Butters teases him about his age and want for his own birthday party treats; plus a few other minor instances - one I noticed was Mrs. Butters watching Dean carve his pumpkin with concern (for just a moment) as he uses a big knife to do the deed (we also don't see any pattern in that pumpkin because it's still whole, which may be viewed as a lack of whimsical imagination, ie. no-longer-innocent-Dean, or maybe representing Dean not having opened up/carved his feelings out (yet; ie. to Jack) but that's 100% fun wild musings on my part). But /not/ being a child is still not a bad thing (despite Dean's face falling every time it's mentioned) because he still has someone taking care of him (the juice) and indulging him for his birthday (rice krispy treats) like a parent would a child. 

And let's not overlook the magical aspect: Dean refers to Mrs. Butters as *Mary Poppins*, a classic childhood movie. She uses magic to go about her domestic duties, but that magic is also imbued into the Bunker itself (the Geoscope™, the Monster Radar™) and when she leaves her magic leaves with her, the fantasy home reduced back to the relative banality of reality in the Bunker (same could be said for her absence of caretaking). But she leaves the boys with the lesson learned that they should take time to celebrate each other (as well as a few choice lines to each of the boys, which I meta'd a little in this post). 

By the end, we see Dean resuming his caretaker role (wearing the apron again, and Sam remarks how Dean *loves that apron* which is true: Dean is a natural caregiver and loves taking care of his family) as he presents Jack (his son) with a homemade birthday cake. This is Dean choosing to celebrate the "trivial" domesticity they never did before, ie. it's no longer Mrs. Butters at the helm, therefore this act can be counted as Dean improving on his own upbringing. 

And I know we gawk at Dean's lopsided cake because - as proved at the beginning of the ep where he aces homemade burgers plus countless previous examples: he does have decent cooking skills! - surely he could manage a simple cake? Alas, no. Pie, maybe. But cake is a distinctly celebratory creation and this episode makes it clear they've never taken the time to stop and celebrate - because the world was in danger.. because one or more of them were in near-constant danger or of no mind to celebrate anything.. because they lived on the road.. because John never stopped to celebrate such things with them. 

This is perhaps the first cake Dean has ever baked. It's no Mrs. Butters masterpiece, as he mentions, but the thought counts - it means a helluva lot not just as the start of their own festive celebrations as a family, but also as a reiteration of Dean's words to Jack: he's trying, and Jack smiles! And despite lack of skill, Dean's effort and love and pride (and childlike decorations of icing-words and rainbow sprinkles) are the epitome of a child's creation and therefore should not be viewed in a harsh light. Dean gets points for trying! 

The icing on the cake (heh) is the penultimate closing shot of Dean telling Jack to *make a wish*. Wishes, miracles, unexpected and fortunate magic - they're not exactly commonplace Good™ in their lives. Hard work and sacrifice is what has always gotten them What and Where they need to be, but this moment isn't about Need; a birthday wish is all about Want. It's a little bit of fanciful magic, some wishful thinking reserved for children, not Hunters, yet Dean sincerely wants Jack to embrace his childhood in this moment. 

.. and it may be the last chance he gets to do so! :o

[found--family]

Dean “I-don’t-know-what’s-God-and-what-isn’t” Winchester reverting to childlike comforts from a time before his life took a supernatural turn when he was just a 4yo boy who wore cute comfy pjs and ate cereal out of the box while he watched cartoons at home because that was his last perceived time of safety