#bi dean meta

[dotthings]

Since I just rewatched 4x14 "Sex and Violence" let me revisit a few things. I really really like this ep, it's darkly psychological and it's a great ep on Sam and Dean's relationship, as well as having bi Dean subtext.

The first victim murders his wife

The second victim murders his mother

The third victim, Dean, the siren tries to goad into killing his brother

So the siren manipulates some people into harming a romantic partner, or manipulates them into harming a family member, a platonic bond. The siren gets off on the violence, the power, of driving someone to that extreme.

Sam and Dean are on different paths this season. Dean misses his brother and he's lonely. They're drifting apart, mistrust is growing between the brothers. The siren takes a male form, FBI agent Nick, to entice Dean. To give him someone who is like-a-brother. But Nick isn't like Sam. Nick is a lot like Dean. He's excited about the Impala, he's knowledgeable on classic rock, he laughs at Dean's jokes. Nick is the siren purposefully honing in on the loneliness in Dean, but in so doing, creates someone who is sort of like a brother but isn't Dean's brother. They aren't brothers. What the siren is playing upon is Dean's wish for a companion who understands him, who he can connect with, and it doesn't have to be his brother.

"I gave him what he wanted and it wasn't some b*tch in a g-string, it was you" is the text. Textually, Nick is using Dean's loneliness due to his slowly growing estrangement from Sam, and giving him a substitute for that.

Nick, along with being a companion, is a potential romantic and sexual partner, which a brother wouldn't be. Those scenes with Nick and Dean in the car...for one thing the siren innately operates in a seductive way and that actor really seems to be leaning into that, and Dean is...Deaning the way he sometimes does with men he's not related to. The way they're looking at each other in the car scene. This is the subtext.

And it's so weird to me that people get attacked or mocked or have had hate threads made about them on twitter dot com just for analyzing all this (I've been trolled for it, other bi Dean fans could probably tell similar horror stories). Even recently, I know it's still been going on -- a few weeks back, some bitter Sam stan tried to claim that if you let in the subtext on bi Dean, that must mean that you are validating w*ncest and that's just not how this works.

In fact it can be both about the platonic sibling bond, and bi Dean subtext (with Dean/Nick as the unspoken potential). The episode is mainly, and most overtly, about the brothers and their strained bond and how the siren preys on that. And I have a lot of feelings about Sam and Dean in this episode. It hurts. It's poignant. That is a platonic bond on the series and one that I really love. At the same time, the bi Dean subtext, the dynamic he has with Nick, the actual seduction siren Nick is playing on Dean, can co-exist with the brothers and their sibling bond troubles. Sam is not a potential romantic or sexual partner for Dean. Nick is. And yes that can be a layer, it's called subtext, while it is ostensibly about Nick filling that loneliness in Dean because Sam and Dean are drifting apart.

We also need to put this in context of the season. This ep isn't about Dean and Cas, but it is in S4 and falls at a time when Dean is drawn to a male companion--an angel, who is not related to him. Who gets him in ways nobody else Dean knows does. An unexpected kindred spirit where Dean never expected to find that. Cas isn't like Nick, Cas is weird, and he doesn't know pop culture and he doesn't know music and he doesn't care about classic cars like Nick does. Nick is an illusion, a seduction, the siren creates The Perfect Person for Dean to get close to. Cas, otoh, is the real deal. He's authentic. The connection between them isn't a seduction, it's Cas being Cas, Dean being Dean, and Cas goes against his orders from Heaven due to his growing attachment to Dean. Cas is making Dean feel a whole lot less lonely in S4 where Dean and Sam are drifting apart and Sam is wading into dangerous waters and isn't listening to Dean. So Sex and Violence isn't about Destiel, but Sex and Violence, Dean and Nick, exist not only in the context of Sam and Dean's relationship, but what's forming between Dean and Cas as well (even if Sam and Dean are obviously most directly relevant as the context).

Scrubbing all that out, and trolling and mocking anyone for unpacking it and making their case for the bi Dean subtext is really weird and it's anti-art and it's anti-interpretation. There's nothing wrong with saying "huh, that's an interesting take, hadn't thought of that. Not sure I see it, but carry on *shrug*" and move on.

Instead, for years, there are stans who attacked subtext and attack analysis of subtext, who laugh at it and call people insane, and are still doing it recently.

This analysis of Sex and Violence is old news, but I hope my revisiting maybe adds something to the discussion of this ep. bi Dean discussion is still going on to this day about it and so is the trolling, and I refuse to be silenced on perfectly reasonable subtextual analysis because some people feel a need to throw immature tantrums. It's utterly unhinged, in a bad way, that some people have been so aggressive about actively trying to silence discussion of bi Dean in Sex and Violence.

[charcubed]

I'm curious, what are the main reasons why Dean is your favorite canon bisexual in media? Love your meta and that video btw

Ooooo, anon, thank you for the kind words and for giving me an excuse to talk about my love for bisexual icon Dean Winchester <3

I'm going to be really annoying (sorry) and quote part of my meta first. It summarizes and articulates many of my thoughts on this. And then to further answer your question I'll add a bit under it!

From the very beginning, Dean Winchester has been a character tied to classic elements of American masculinity. He was introduced with a superficial veneer involving those elements, but almost immediately the early episodes provide a look at the complexity of his character underneath it. Over the years, that complexity was further explored, and he came to embody a study in things society would often have us think should be incompatible contrasts: the gruffness and grit of hunting life and its associated masculine iconography, paired with his open and deep emotional care for the world; unabashed love for classic rock, superheroes, and horror movies, as well as unabashed joy connected to TV dramas, chick flicks, and childhood favorites like Scooby-Doo; life on the road with a muscle car, but the desire for a home base with creature comforts he can make his own; motivation to always help people, but the clear longing for balance with personal domesticity and relaxation so he could save not only others but also himself.

As a whole, his character functions as an effective deconstruction of toxic masculinity and stereotypical American heroism. And while much of Dean’s most masculine traits and interests are said to come from his father’s influence, part of his journey is loving those parts of himself on their own merit not because he ever had to but because he wants to. He is not his father, and he redefines those valued parts of his identity so they are his and his alone. He also crucially learns to recognize and joyfully embody that those masculine traits were never all that he had to be, working through and overcoming shame and hesitancy along the way. The result? He’s “good with who he is.”

He and the audience are encouraged to see that there are no rules his identity and interests must subscribe to, on a micro or a macro level. The message is to disregard predetermined destiny or duty. Free will means his life is his to determine, his family can be what he makes of it and how he defines it, and what he needs and wants do not ever have to be mutually exclusive. Dean’s journey is about freedom from outwardly-imposed limitations–whether those limitations come from his father’s example and the God altering his story, or from the pervasive societal ideals and network/executive interference outside of it. Dean can and should contain multitudes, all at once.

In this way, Dean’s story is a powerfully queer narrative that acts as metacommentary. In the fullness of its execution, it is also specifically a deeply bisexual narrative.

The not-so-hidden truth is that Dean is canonically a bisexual man. His story was afforded something that’s rare for most characters and almost nonexistent for queer ones: fifteen years of lengthy, nuanced development.

[...]

Again: Dean’s identity journey is about how he can and does contain the capacity for multitudes, and it’s part of what makes him such a compelling character. He can like “this” and “that.” He can be attracted to women and men. Or, as writer Ben Edlund and director Phil Sgriccia said in a DVD commentary, Dean has “the potential for love in all places.”

I wanted to include the above verbatim because it spells out something specific: Dean's narrative is bisexual in its bones. Supernatural evolved to become a queer text, but the specific ways the show and Dean as a character evolved are very intertwined with and informed by the fact that Dean is a masculine bisexual man. SPN is a story that was not meant to be about being queer, but as it became about freedom through free will, those themes were then leveraged and emphasized in connection to queerness because of Destiel. And by the end, the free will narrative and Dean's journey as a bi man are utterly inseparable, because Dean's fight for true freedom is tied to his love for a man and their untraditional family in a way that higher forces are trying to hinder.

You cannot cut out or edit or remove Dean's bisexuality from the story, or several narratives and plot lines (not just Destiel) would at minimum be misunderstood or at maximum fall apart. And yet, simultaneously? Dean's bisexuality is also far from being the sole important thing about his character because he is written with such nuanced complexities and across so many years of material.

Of course, add onto this the overall unique situation that surrounds Supernatural as a piece of media. People talk at length about how there will never be anything like it again, including me; that's obviously true from multiple different angles and for multiple different reasons, with Destiel being prime amongst them. But a related yet distinctly significant branch of that topic is there will never be another bisexual character who is written and evolves quite like Dean.

Was Dean supposed to be bisexual from the very start, out of the mind of Kripke? Who can know for sure, but probably not. Were certain writers and members of production deliberately putting more queercoding and subtext into Dean's character/story from the very start? Who can know for sure, but potentially yes, and certainly the answer becomes unarguably definitely yes the farther you get into the show. That's part of my love and passion for him too, because all of that is deeply unique and incredibly cool.

Dean's bisexuality evolved in a way that (against all odds) actually feels organic, seamless, and like it's simply a part of his character that's been there all along. The effect when you look at Supernatural as a whole body of work is that Dean's always been bi, and his expressions of and acknowledgements of that part of him ebb and flow depending on situation–which is a very relatable notion for many queer people. And as those writing the show became more committed and certain about that piece of who Dean is, so did he, in nuanced and subtle ways skillfully embedded into his story by design. It's bafflingly, impressively cohesive; gives him an incredibly realistic feel; matches his overall character growth; and rings true to his demographic, age, personality, and experiences.

Dean and his story and the situation(s) surrounding both are simply incomparable, and that will be true forever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

...also. Well. I simply love him, y'know? For even more reasons unconnected to this. How can you not, right? :')

Thank you for asking, and thanks for reading this bi Dean manifesto!

Putting my video that you mentioned here for anyone who's not watched it:

My new magnum opus, please stream, etc.

(or watch on Tumblr here)

[deanwasalwaysbi]

Dean's nothing about our lives is real speech? When he says "everything we are is because of chuck"? He was speaking privately & directly to Castiel when he said that.

Not to Sam. Not everything I am. Everything we are. Dean was having a full on crisis.

"You asked, 'What about all of this is real?' We are." Dean didn't know how right Cas was.

Like no baybee. It'll take 15 episodes, but god himself will tell you Cas defied him and his plan to love you, actually.

[insanesonofabitch]

I’m a firm believer of the idea that the writers had to get Cas and Dean to stay away from each other as much as possible in season 9, especially after everything that happened before, during, and after their time in Purgatory—like Goodbye Stranger, for example—because if they stayed together, destiel would’ve already been canon.

So just imagine if Gadreel wasn’t a dick who was being used to keep them apart, and they let Cas stay inside the bunker. Cas is human, complete with fresh, new, and intensified human desires. Who’s also canonically in love with Dean, by the way. As for Dean, that motherfucker literally almost confessed in season 8. They wrote an entire subplot about Cas being brainwashed with the intention of breaking him out of it by having Dean confess his feelings towards him. By telling him he loves him.

Do you fucking see where this is headed towards?? THE natural progression of these events??? That the writers had set up and trapped themselves in?????

Human Cas safely staying in the bunker with Dean would’ve been such a perfect environment for more intimate moments between them. And they couldn’t risk that. Dean having to guide Cas through mundane, day-to-day human things he never had to deal with before literally sounds like the plot of a cheesy romantic series I’ve seen. Which makes me wonder about what the hell took place between the night Dean stayed with and took care of Cas after their fight against Ephraim, and the morning when he drove Cas back to work. That was one of the few moments in that season where they could be alone together. And also something that they chose to skip over.

[deancasforcutie]

the way spn is positively ENTRENCHED in queer cinema history

(see captions for context)

[gabaghoul-fandom-meme-queen]

THE WINCHESTERS MEME DUMP 💚💙

[calibrationneeded]

The most irrefutable proof there is for the fact that Dean was also queer is the fact that supernatural very clearly pulled a burry your gays at the last minute, so if Dean wasn’t queer, why would they need to bury him hmm? They couldn’t keep him alive because he was queer the fact that they killed him was proof enough

[t00muchheart]

If dean was supposed to be straight why did they have him react to seeing doctor sexy like that, huh?

[mrcowboydeanwinchester]

like genuinely dean winchester slips through every gap. every facet of his identity is characterised by being too much and not enough at the same time. patron saint of the lost and lonely

[found--family]

💖💜💙

i hope the folks planning on resurrecting Supernatural [re:jackles] are taking notes on what's happening in the 9-1-1 fandom and with this Buck character right now. i know next to nothing about this show, but i do know that 'Buddie' is a major mlm ship between two guy friends and that this guy Buck - a strong macho man in his 30s - has just been canonised as BISEXUAL! with a MLM kiss! after SIX seasons! the subtext was there all along but the network was not on board, by the sounds of it; a change of network saw this queercoded middle-aged male character finally set free. no more subtext, no insinuations that could be interpreted one way or another, just undeniable beautiful text. 

i'm thrilled for everyone in the 9-1-1 fandom and for this positive queer rep in media! here’s hoping other shows will take note - namely Supernatural. Dean has 15 seasons of queer subtext under his belt and he would now be in his mid 40s. it’s never too late to canonise a queer character. characters are never too old to realise they’re queer. this is such an important message, and while i can’t speak for the buckgirls i can say that queer deangirls have been relating to his queercoding for almost 2 decades, including 15 seasons of bi!Dean and 12 seasons of Destiel. seeing a character like Buck come out as queer after SIX seasons (i’ll keep saying it, it’s fucking amazing) is such a win not just for queer folk but for good storytelling; i know there were likely obstacles in finally getting here, and it would be great if queer characters could come out whenever they want instead of struggling against tptb, but six seasons has given the show a wonderful amount of time to delve into Buck’s character and journey with him through various plotlines. as a fan of the slow burn for romance, and a good amount of time for character development to play out, i love that there’s six whole seasons of Buck backstory to delve into for the leadup to his bisexual canonisation.

happy bi day Buck, may you inspire more creative control to cater to the characters instead of some suit in an office who’s never even seen your show and doesn’t care about your journey and narrative freedom. today is a great day.

(the first gif is Buck’s first mlm kiss. the second gif is a moment from a gay comedy called Looking that many people have pointed out perfectly encapulates how a Destiel kiss might play out on screen.) 

💖💜💙

[sammygender]

something about john winchester mischaracterisation just needles me inexplicably. i can deal with it if a fic is good otherwise but cmon. you have to Get Him. he loves the boys and he ruins their lives like come on….. if you don’t get that he loves them then how r u even getting dean’s character considering that dean is The Same in this manner. love can be bad love doesn’t change abuse it just complicates it etc etc.

unrelatedly but also relatedly, i don’t think he’d be actually homophobic because i don’t think he has time to care. i do however think dean would be absolutely convinced he is incredibly homophobic for unknown reasons. john probably makes like an offhanded comment about something being gay once and 15 year old dean (very attracted to men. genuinely no idea whatsoever. still feels intense rush of panic at the word) decides it must mean john desperately and intensely HATES gay people and proceeds to become world’s best baby homophobe for like a year before he starts to think Maybe Sammy’s gay (sam likes to read books) and cools down on the homophobia. also his heart was never really in it. but he still thinks john is homophobic and has also decided sam’s probably gay (sam is more attracted to women than dean is) so he worries about this a lot.

then one day john says extremely casually about sam Sometimes I wonder if he’s not a little queer, you know, and dean’s heart stops and he’s like What no of course not what and john’s like If it means he doesn’t get into as much trouble with girls as you seem to, I honestly don’t mind and dean’s just like. What. but by this point it’s far too late and all fragments of homosexuality have been far buried beneath the surface by his subconscious. Also it’s important that john WOULD be kind of annoyed by dean being gay. he already thinks sam is weird and has decided to love him anyway (although i’m not sure sam got the memo about being loved anyway so the effort was useless) so it’s ok if sam is gay (privilege of being the family freak!) but dean is meant to be mini him. #picking up girls. see that journal entry. he’d get over it though.

[deanwasalwaysbi]

S15 Dean & Castiel moments added (or edited) after the initial scripts were drafted

"I'm Dead to You" - 15x03 The Rupture Seemingly Added or Edited in Pink Draft, 37 days after production draft (x)

Texts from Sam to Castiel - 15x05 Proverbs 17:3 Added in Yellow Draft - 48 Days after Production Draft (x)

"... and each other" - 15x06 Golden Time Not in Pink or Yellow Drafts (x) (x)

Ass Slap & Lighting Choices - 15x07 Last Call Likely worked out by Christian Kane & Jensen Ackles, and Lighting Dept.

Hand Healing - 15x08 Our Father Who Aren’t in Heaven Not in Production Draft or Blue Draft (x)

Dean and Lamp in Tribute to Gene Kelly and Mop in "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" - 15x10 The Heroes Journey Choreography by Gordon Hart (x)

Castiel lets Jack win at Connect Four - 15x12 Galaxy Brain Added by Richard Speight and Misha Collins (x)

The Handprint - 15x18, 15x19, 15x20 Added by some combination of Richard Speight, Misha Collins, Jensen Ackles and Bobo Berens. None of them take credit. Painted by Moira Fentum off image provided by Jensen Ackles

Huge shoutout to @spnscripthunt who have absolutely been KILLING it creating this archive for us.

[insanesonofabitch]

“And when you finally turn…”

“…and you will turn. Everyone you know, everyone you love, they could be long dead.”

“Everyone except me.”

S10EP22 “The Prisoner”

This line makes me so insane not only because of the idea of it happening, but precisely because it’s not happening. He’s wrong and Dean knows he’s wrong. Because Cain already told him his destiny:

“Have you ever mused upon the fact that you’re living my life in reverse?” “…and then you’d kill the Angel Castiel now THAT ONE. That, I suspect, would hurt something awful.”

He’s living Cain’s life in reverse. And he’d kill Cas, like Cain killed Colette. Not only was Cas (supposedly) not going to live, he’s going to die by Dean’s hands and Dean knew this. As he grabs Cas by the tie and points the blade towards him, Dean knew this. As Cas holds on to his arm and asks him to stop the same way he was told Colette asked Cain, Dean knew this. And he tries to deny it and he tries to ignore it but his guilt reminds him even in his dreams.

“Looks like you’ve got an admirer.”

“You sure it ain’t you?”

S10E23 “Brother’s Keeper” (deleted scene)

Cas was supposed to die just like that and Chuck would’ve probably skimmed over it like it was nothing so he could focus on his favorite part of the story, the brothers. And he couldn’t achieve it this time but ultimately, it’s what happens at the end of the story.

[deancasforcutie]

Supernatural’s deep-cut references to other queer media and icons continued (multimedia mlm meta madness edition)

(see captions for context)

[gabaghoul-fandom-meme-queen]

[dotthings]

Now I want to talk about what antis do on bi Dean.

One type of thing is accounts who continue to devotedly denounce the idea of Dean being queer. Who deny subtext and queer coding exists. Who show a low level of media literacy and a high level of denialism towards the canon content that has led many fans to interpret Dean as bi.

Some people are so devoted to straight Dean that they can’t stand the idea that anyone sees Dean as bi to the point where they keep wankbaiting about this. It’s instigation of shaming and othering and queer erasure, designed to target bi Dean fans, queer fans, and designed to silence and shame fans with queer readings on Dean.

It’s one thing to see Dean through whatever their interpretation is, it’s another to fervently devote to defending the honor of straight Dean. Some of them have for years pushed the idea it would “ruin Dean” or “ruin the show” if he’s bi. They treat it as a dishonor and an insult to Dean to interpret him as bi (or anywhere on the queer spectrum) and then can’t figure out why people find that homophobic.

Also, fervent devotion to defending the honor of straight Dean often comes from accounts who ship him with his little brother. They treat Dean’s queerness in canon as something shameful, a fantasy or a delusion. While shipping him with his little brother.

I do not gaf about “straight Dean rights” or your right to be bigoted, narrow-minded, or shaming towards queer fans and bi Dean readings.

Dean is fictional. It is not homophobic to interpret Dean as queer. It is not an attack on Dean’s autonomy to interpret Dean as queer. It is in fact homophobic to make the argument that interpreting Dean as queer is equivalent to a violation of consent.

Then there’s “Jensen/Kripke/the writers/the producers have all said Dean is straight so you aren’t allowed to see him as bi”

Actually…no. That did not happen.

What I do have is receipts on writers supporting the idea of queer Dean and Destiel. What I do have is a receipt of high level producers talking about the possiblity of Dean being bi. What I do have is the absence of spn creatives telling queer fans how to interpret Dean. And Jensen himself supports and respects queer readings, and maybe these bigoted narrow minded stans should stop using him as a shield for their own narrow minded absolutism and their hate.

I’ve also noticed that the anti bi-Dean crowd takes “open to interpretation” and weaponizes and warps it into a cudgel to claim that therefore, bi Dean fans are wrong and can’t say that bi Dean is canon. When it means…the opposite of that. Open to interpretation is there to protect queer readings, not shut them down.