#deanstudies

[atw2006]

Dean Winchester autistic theory

I went through DSM with Dean, because of course I did.

Reasons why I think Dean is autistic based on DSM:

I. Social Communication

A. Social reciprocity

1.abnormal social approach

*Dean struggles to get information from others without Sam's help

*he is sucessful at picking up woman, but seams to use a series of scripts and well practiced pick up lines to do so

*does not have friends in early seasons

2. no back in forth conversation

*Dean does not seam to notice when he's lost people in conversations (which he often does with excessive media references)

*when they give him undeniable signs he's confused them he ends to go with something dismissive "whatever" and moves on

3. reduced sharing interests emotions or affect

*he tends not to remember things people say that don't interest him

*mocks his brother and cas for interests that he doesn't share

B. deficits in non verbal communication

1. poorly integrated verbal and non-verbal communication

*excessive media references

*often practices facial expressions, sometimes in the mirror

2.  abnormal eye contact and body language/gestures

*Dean can certainly make eye contact, but he does tend to do better with emotional conversations when he is not making eye contact (often while driving or while sitting on the car, but also when Charlie is in changing room in (Larp and the Real Girl)

*seams uncomfortable with hugs (particularly with Garth). Hugging his brother makes his brother worry about him

3. lack of facial expressions/nonverbal communication

*Dean does have a lot of expressions, but he tends to go a bit blank faced when dealing with big emotions and/or lies

C. Deficits in developing maintaining and understanding relationships

*Dean notably struggles to have long term romantic relationships. He has one relationship that lasts a bit more than a year (Lisa) and his next longest romantic relationship is a few weeks

*Dean does not have many long term friendships, much of this is because of the death of the people that he would be friends with, but this is not often the case. Dean's life is marked by loneliness, and he seams to only be able to maintain friendships with either family members or when they revolve around the job (hunting).

 Dean defines family in a static way. I.e. living with his brother, thinking his brother going to college was abandoning. confused as to why his mother didn't want to stay with her adult sons forever

*He also seams not to have a mental category to put "friends" into. He often uses family language with friends

1. difficulty adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts

*shoving food in his mouth while dressed as a priest at a funeral

*telling Cassie that he loved her after only knowing her for a couple of weeks

*in many ways Dean is better at adjusting to social situations than the average person. When he's in an apocalypse world he relishes the tastes of lizards. Being a PA (Hollywood Boulevard), prison (Flosem Prison Blues) When he's in suburbia he plays that role too. He seams to delight putting on different roles. None of these roles tend to last too long. Sometimes his main role of playboy slacker slips in the same way his minor rolls do

2. difficulties in sharing imaginative play

*He engages in LARP with Charlie and the other LARPers however, when he breaks from it he appears to think that it was ridiculous

*he attempts imaginative play with Lucas's army men

*we never see him engage in imaginative play as a child, the few times that he was not responsible he tended to play video games or movies

3. difficulty making friends

4. absence of interest in peers

*Dean scolds Sam for maintaining contact with his college friends, but this might have been about jealousy

II. Restricted repetitive patterns in behavior, interests, or activities

A. Stereotyped or repetitive motor movement

1. simple motor stereotypes

*Dean stimming when he sees the tree in (Last Holiday)

*auditory stim when Sam tells him that he has a lot of work left to do (Usual Suspects)

*often putting pen in his mouth

*often touches things in the background of scenes

*often drums on the steering wheel or sings along to songs

(some of this might be Jensen's ADHD, and not Dean's autism)

2. lining up toys or lining objects

*does not take toys etc. out of car when rebuilding it from scratch

*organized rooms and bags

3.  echolalia

*he often quotes TV and movies

*he often mutters things to himself

*"Son of a Bitch" seams to be a phrase that calms him

*"Bitch" "Jerk" is grounding to him, and he seems to be distressed the times that Sam does not finish the sequence

*hums Metallica when he is on a plane, and he's stressed

4. idiosyncratic phrases

*all of the media references/ quotes

*lore quotes (having memorized his dad's notebook almost)

B. instances of sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior

1. extreme distress at small changes

*Dean's reaction to not getting pie

*Dean's reaction to any change with his car

*listens to the same music all the time, introducing new music (Taylor Swift) seams to challenge his identify "I listen to the same five records over and over" Yellow Fever

2. difficulties with transitions

*struggles when life changes occur

3. rigid thinking patterns.

*Dean maintains his black and white thinking (monsters bad, humans good) in the face of evidence to the contrary

*Dean's options about his father take years after his dad's death to change

4. greeting rituals

5. need to take the same route

6. eat the same food

*burgers and pie

C. highly restricted fixed interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus

1. strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects

*Baby

*his pretty little pearl handled gun

*grenade launcher

2. excessively circumscribed or perseverance interests

*Dean's special interests include but are not limited to:

*Dr. Sexy (Changing Chanel)

*cowboys (Tombstone)

*wrestling

*Hell Hazers (Mint Condition)

D. hyper or hyproreactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment

1. apparent indifference to pain/temperature

*the boy thinks sleep is optional

*he actually appears to have less of a pain tolerance that other hunters (several times he is mocked for other hunters for making noises as bullets are removed), we never see him give himself stitches like Sam and Charlie do

*he does sleep in jeans, which is ignoring discomfort I certainly couldn't

2. adverse response to specific sounds or textures

*his reaction to getting into a suit the first time

*likes to wear the same clothes all the time

*he enjoys good water pressure and soft robes

3. excessive smelling or touching of objects

*he tends to touch a lot of things in the background of scenes

4. visual fascination with lights or movement

*liking his music, and liking it loud

E.Informal evidence

1. Friends with people much older or younger them him

*Dean bonding with kids

*Dean befriending Mildred (Into the Mystic)

2. struggles with table manners

*he shoves food into his mouth

*talks with his mouth full

3. schooling

*Dean is very intelligent (built his own EMF meter, can remember a lot of obscure lore, read Vonnegut)

*he did not graduate high school, although he was still in school what would have been September of his senior year assuming he didn't repeat any grades (After school special). This could have been from moving frequently, but there seams to be other hints that Dean struggled in school

4. Good at Poker  and hustling pool

*is it counting cards? is it faking facial expressions due to masking? is it reading microaggressions?

5. Him being a germaphobe

*hates witches because them "spewing bodily fluids" is unsanitary (Malleus Maleficarum)

*several times he dramatically wiped his hands

6. Times that Dean went non-verbal

*after his mom died (Dead in the Water)

*after Cas confessed to him (Despair)

[f-t-e]

Happy two year birthday to A Thousand Lives, my very first ever fic in SPN. This is a #DeanStudies fic which holds that Dean loves books and always has and follows his life as a reader. I was so afraid to post this fic and so convinced people would hate and reject as totally OOC. Instead, over the past two years it has unfolded into something very special: thousands of people have read it !! hundreds of people have left comments and kudos and bookmarked it !! the extraordinary @skeens-leap made an amazing 6 hour podfic of the whole thing !! and I turned it into a little series. To say it surpassed every expectation I ever had about a niche SPN fic in the year 2021 is a vast understatement. Very grateful to anyone who ever cared about this fic and to everyone who helped make it happen. I wrote it at a time when everything in my life felt like it was ending, but it reminded me how very much I have to say, even when it feels like no one will listen. I am so glad I wrote this and I am so glad people read it and I am so glad it exists. Here's to writing for yourself until it finds and audience, and loving the ways book save us, and giving our beloved Dean agency and an interior life and a fucking brain in his head. If you want to read it, the series starts here: A Thousand Lives (and yes, I included a reading list and the book-nerd'iest HEA ever.)

[lapseinrecs]

A Thousand Lives

By fairy_tale_echo

On Archive of Our Own

Status: Complete; 44,344 words; podfic; 1st part of read between the lines series

Summary: Dean's always loved books. (OR: You know how Dean Winchester is an autodidact who built an EMF machine out of a Walkman, got his GED just because, knows the difference and nuances in Vonnegut's works, is good at strategy and LARPs, easily references Tolstoy and ancient Greek fables, has a favorite Zeppelin song that's about a book, and has a huge pop culture knowledge base because he soaks up everything like a sponge? Me too. And you know how Supernatural usually wants us to pretend that's not true? Yeah ... how about fuck that? A #DeanStudies fic that proposes Dean has an interior life, a brain in his head, and the urge to do better. Oh and, of course, it fixes the finale!)

My thoughts: I cried at least three times reading this. This story is like a love letter to reading for me. I’ve never been unfortunate to struggle with book access as Dean in this story, but the love he has for books and the way he scavenges for literature is very real. I love how Dean and Jack’s relationship is built up with their little book club (did they end up getting shirts?), and I think the Mary chapter was wonderful. I wish she’d been able to be in the book club too. I love how Sam never pokes at Dean for his books because he knows Dean is insecure about it. I love how Dean loves to tell people about his books. Me too man. It's so well written. It’s a good happily ever after. They deserve it.

[bongosblorbos]

ratings and reviews for my supernatural rewatch: season 1 compiling this has been tedious for no good reason, so season 2-5 coming tomorrowish.

in the kripke era, this is my #4 season by ratings. this is mostly because while the good episodes are GOOD there were quite a few duds mixed in. least favorite, to nobody's surprise: bugs. most favorite, to nobody's surprise, faith. bugs is also my rating with the biggest discrepancy from imdb's rating. i gave it a 3 and imdb gave it a 6.8. average rating across the whole season was a 7.09!

anyways, my episode by episode review and rating:

01 Pilot I’m twenty six, dude. —9

02 Wendigo Season 1 Dean is hot. He likes peanut MNMs. He doesn’t do shorts, sweetheart. —7

03 Dead in the Water Classic. Zeppelin rules! —8

04 Phantom Traveler Dean’s scared of planes! Sam and Dean's first demon. Scary! —7

05 Bloody Mary I slept with the lights on for 3 nights after I first watched this when I was 13. Scary then and scary now. —9

06 Skin Dean kills his clone part 1. Points given: Dean is hot. Shifterdean is hot AND reveals all of Dean’s deep dark emo secrets. Dean makes a joke about seeing his own funeral. I like that we see evidence of Sam’s life at Stanford. Points taken: The internal cringe I get when characters are framed for crimes they didn’t commit………………. it is PHYSICALLY PAINFUL. Really takes away from my viewing experience. —7

07 Hook Man Kind of boring episode. Sam focused. Points for being very genre. —5

08 Bugs It might have been a good episode but I hate bugs. However, point for real bees (not featured). —3

09 Home Missouri is an amazing character, I wish she comes back later. Lots of potential in this episode but lived up to almost none of it. —7

10 Asylum Idk I think this one is boring. —5

11 Scarecrow Dude, you’re fugly. —7

12 Faith Dean in a hoodie!!!! Cheating death!!!! Implications!!! Dean in a hoodie!!! —10

13 Route 666 Racist truck episode. Reference in my head every time I see a truck. Dean lore. Implications! DeanCassie spit string you will always be famous. Dean has an entire emotional journey while Sam is just being insane. Love to see it. —6

14 Nightmare Honestly wasn’t expecting to like this one but the JACTING JOICES MAN! “We’re lucky we had Dad” -Sam, then Dean makes an insanely haunted face ok!!! I see you actor man! —8

15 The Benders A little boring tbh. Classic “Monsters I get. People are crazy.” Point for being set in MN. —6

16 Shadow Cool monster. Dad appearance!!!!! Dean with claw marks all over his face. Why didn’t he get scars??? —7

17 Hell House Ghostfacers my kings. Your best work is yet to come —7

18 Something Wicked VERY good for Deanstudies. Even Samstudies. Enjoyed. —8

19 Provenance I’m sorry it was just boring. Why are we doing this right before the big finale? —5

20 Dead Man’s Blood You get some live Dean Sam John interaction and fighting! Also Dean being excited about vampires. Vampires are very cool. —8

21 Salvation Sam Dean John moments! Angst! Classic classic supernatural. Love the small scale stakes. Intense. —7

22 Devil’s Trap You’re not my dad. —10

[byunbaekhyunie]

A Study of DEANTRBL 4/? ✧ In My DNA ✧

[cassiesboy]

[hannahburley]

‘you wanna be bait??’ says man who was made to be bait on every hunt that needed bait growing up and hated it immensely

[slashercastiel]

widower arc dean thoughts dean was raised on a revenge fantasy, from the ages of like four to twenty-eight it was drilled into him to kill the thing that killed his mother under the orders of a widower with a revenge fantasy...what is a widower raised on a revenge fantasy going to turn into if not a widower with a revenge fantasy, it’s another way to echo his father but it’s not performance like the car and the jacket and the music and the masculinity, but it is the only thing he knows. you kill the things that kill those you love so what do you do when that ‘thing’ is an innocent and a newborn and a teenager and your lovers son and the antichrist there is no playbook for this and who is dean if he is not someone else except anger and loss and broken parts

[chocolatecakecas]

what do you mean i have to go back to school? i was literally taking deanstudies courses at destiel university all summ-wait what do you mean they dont transfer as credit course equivalency to my BA in political science???

[dreamgirledward]

are you becoming a taika blog now or are you still gonna post about dean because </3

oh not to worry sweet summer child i still major in deanstudies i just also have a massive crush on taika and it appears to come up when im under immense stress <3

[googledocsdyke]

[me when i get misgendered by my professors bosses friends and family] Omg i’m so woman-coded rn 😳#deankin #deanstudies #imitationandgenderinsubordination

[atw2006]

I think sometimes we make subtext=romance in the Supernatural fandom, but the truth is there is so much else going on. Like, the whole story is subtext.

I am a particular sucker for mark of Cain=alcoholism. That bit where Dean is like it’s fine I’ll just eat kale an sleep 8 hours a night and stop drinking, and this thing will never take me over and make me violent again. Then 5 min. later he’s in a bar having eye sex with whiskey while his arm shakes.

And then when he does let it take him over? He’s just hanging out in bars singing all day. It’s not just about violence. It’s about the company he keeps.

It’s about how he wouldn’t have a little summer of love if he wasn’t drunk, but he is all the time, because he’s an alcoholic, so here he is with a demon.

Like he suppressed all of that stuff, and the mark made it all come backup, violence and love as one.

[s11e17]

omg in writing a #DeanStudies fic about Dean as a lifelong reader and it was very inspired by SINNERMAN (my beloved) and I also have Dean reading ON THE ROAD and Momaday (HOUSE MADE OF DAWN) and I was going to send it you when it was done omg I'm so nervous now because yours is gonna be amazing because you're so fucking talented!!! Can't wait to read yours, thanks for all your awesome fic!!!

omggggg that is amazing!! i would LOVE to read your fic that is incredible! 💖💕💖💕

[charlestrask]

kripke era supremacist but also someone who doesn't really care about salmondean codependency unless its just in the context of sad deanstudies (see: bad boys)

[byunbaekhyunie]

A Study of DEANTRBL 11/? ✧ AWA ✧

[self-loathing-angel-of-thursday2]

Beautiful Spouse’s Rewatch Thoughts SPN 01x13

Route 666

🎶he’s been gone a few days🎶

“Some X-Files garbages? What’s gonna happen?” “Of course you get the racists running down the black guy.” “that car does not have ABS brakes” “you dead. Probably” “Isn’t the car possessed? This one is so weird.” This one is important for deanstudies “really? Goddammit”

“Why aren’t they going to Pennsylvania?”

“Do we ever know where they were going before Cassie called?” “So they went out for a couple weeks?” “That’s not very characteristic of Dean to tell girls the family business.” “Why is Sam smiling like that?” “See? Sam normally would make some smartass comment, but I don’t think he did since Cassie is black.” Cassie Robinson <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 “the fuck is that supposed to mean?” “I don’t get what Sam is trying to point out.” “Why the fuck would you say anything about visions to an insurance company?” “They were engaged or some shit, right? They don’t ever really tie this story arc, do they?” “Can’t be datin’ monster-hunters. Fuck. Them bitches crazy.” “Just leanin’ on a pole. Look at that stupid shit. Look at The Lean.” “She dumped him, because she thought that’s what he wanted? That’s so stupid.” “We see more of Dean’s back than we do anything else.” “He looked like a cat trying to rub their pheromones all over Cassie.” During sex scene “Oh yeah. They all killed some guy when they were younger, right?” NIPPLE

“You’re Dean fucking Winchester - you can lie about anything.” Spouse is singing along to the guitar music over the heartfelt conversation between Dean and Cassie. 

“What’s up with the epic guitar solo in the background? I need to replay this twice because I’m too distracted by the music” “Dean says that comment like he does want Cassie in his life when he’s 90” “That’s a belt buckle. That’s a Dean-sized belt buckle. It’s as big as his personality. Mmmmmm” “these hallways are fkn huge man” “that’s totally normal” “I love how sometimes there isn’t any exhaust coming out when they’re revving the engine. For the first scene just now they only added the audio.” “Don’t call 911. Call Dean.” 🎶here’s to you Mrs Robinson🎶

“A tiny church like that and you couldn’t get 8 people out? Without filing the place with gas, idk how the church could have burned that quick.” “They have to dig up the truck and torch it right?” “I think the first time they establish that the thing leaves the item you’re lighting on fire.” “Sam is calling that college life simple?” “thanks for telling the class, Sam.” “Sam is being a boner killer” “It’s completely unrealistic that the truck would have come up that easily out of the swamp with a tractor that size so easily” “Alright - you know you need to torch it, but you ask your brother what he’s getting?” “I guess Dean has the lighter.” “They took it out of the truck and laid it out of the bench. Why? The thought of moving that body is more disgusting that actually moving the body.” 🎶torch the fkn truck🎶

“How am I supposed to burn a truck? Are you serious? I guess it’s waterlogged but still” “I love how Dean narrowly escapes this one but always is doing stupid shit.” “That was fkn helpful. Thanks, Sam.” “the truck is spanking that ass” “Sure.” “As if that odometer is exact. It’s close enough, but he has to factor in the braking distance.” “I guess Dean drove back a little bit so he did factor the braking distance in” “Using Dean for bait? That’s a ballsy move, Sam. Are you really going to sacrifice your brother like that? You literally just saved his life last episode and now you’re using him for bait.” “Sometimes. Maybe. Nice” 🎶you’re a fkn dick🎶 “I would have hung up, too” “Stranger Things. Haha”