Dean is careful, taking xyr time with each colorful line xe paints across full lips and high cheekbones, curling xyr long lashes so fiercely burning green eyes pop out, unable to be denied the time of day. It is yet another layer of battle gear, just like the compression shirt xe wears underneath xyr t-shirt.
Staring back at xyr own reflection in the cracking mirror, xe lifts xyr chin up high and at last thinks to xyrself, ‘Now, I’m ready’. Xe leaves the motel, confidence evident with every step, as if daring anyone to take a crack at xyr impenetrable suit of armor. Xe is a warrior and xe is not afraid.
too far north (trans!dean, sam/dean, pg, 1,200 words)
i’d like to note that i’m certainly not the best choice to write this, and i’m not sure how well it turned out. but i did quite enjoy writing it, so i hope someone likes reading it!warning: implied child neglect/abuse
Sammy just loves Dean so much and has always seen him as his big brother :’)
#trans* Dean #Not that Dean couldn’t hold his own in battles but Sammy has kicked the shit outta some people for making fun of Dean #Mostly those who dared to do it behind Dean’s back and thought Sam wouldn’t do anything about it #They were very wrong about that #PROTECTIVE BROTHERLY FEELS ALL OF THEM
Dean Winchester’s mental health status is…really a bit tricky to diagnose. Because if you’re looking at it from a standpoint of not knowing about the supernatural, I’d diagnose him with possible Schizotypal Personality Disorder on top of everything else I have below. From the point of view of knowing about what actually has happened to him, I would diagnose him as having the following:
Alcohol Abuse (Provisional)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (In Partial Remission)
Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Disturbance of Emotions and Conduct, Chronic (Provisional)
Mood Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS)Basically, the biggest issue I see is trying to determine whether he has an adjustment disorder, major depression (recurrent), or possible mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder. So I’m giving him a diagnosis of Mood Disorder NOS, since it’s really difficult to tell. The provisional code for Adjustment Disorder is because it’s hard to pinpoint what’s causing his depressive moods and conduct problems, and if it’s a hazard of his job or if that’s just exacerbating the problem. As for the provisional diagnosis of alcohol abuse, it’s difficult to determine if he actually meets criteria or if he’s just close to meeting criteria. I said he is in partial remission for his PTSD because, while he doesn’t actively show all the symptoms for PTSD, he does still seem to suffer lingering issues that I believe are based in that problem.
As well, on Axis IV (Psychosocial and Environmental Problems), which is the only other category he shows problems on, I’d say he struggles a lot from dealing with or having dealt with the following:
inadequate social support
death of family members
stressful/difficult work conditions
unintended homelessness/lack of stable home environment
inadequate finances
previous arrests/incarceration
Response to themostfeminist’s analysis of Reading is Fundamental’s treatment of Castiel’s mental health
So I’m pretty new to this whole tumblr thing, and I sincerely apologize if I am not following the right etiquette in posting this rant here in this manner. But themostfeminist’s post got me thinking about this topic, which is something that I feel pretty invested in, and I wanted to float some ideas.
Anyways, here’s my response:
“So I thought I’d jump into this conversation. In the last year or so I’ve been diagnosed with and had to deal with multiple mental health conditions. Thus, the portrayal of mental health in pop culture and the media is something I’ve been more sensitive towards recently. Supernatural, furthermore, is one of my favorite shows, so I am even more sensitive to how it deals with this topic. I think I’m in the middle. I do find the episode offensive (no, I don’t think this was intentional, but that of course doesn’t excuse it). Partly, this is because of the stereotypes it portrays, which themostfeminist already very articulately discussed. I do think that aspects of Cas’ portrayal, like the innocent appreciation of beauty and intricacy (the bees, Meg, etc.) and lack of emberrasment about certain things/awareness of social protocol (hugging Dean and Sam and saying he loved them, which harkens in a way, I think, to his not understanding personal space in earlier seasons), actually make sense as part of his character development. I think he is now so far adrift from the role he assigned himself as an angel of the lord and as a warrior fighting alongside the Winchesters, that he is able to express those parts of his personality that I view as previously repressed and yet very Cas. But part of this, I suppose, is simply me loving the idea of Cas as this awe-struck, innocent, yet very wise and loving being. Anyway, that’s tangential. Point is, the problem for me with this episode (and with how Supernatural has portrayed mental health before) is that Cas is very much objectified. The audience is not directed to percieve Cas as Cas, the angel who is struggling with issues of identity, depression, hopelessness, and the relics of whatever Sam’s mental condition was (don’t get me started on that. I’m leaving the dealing with that to themostfeminist). No, we see him as this Broken Object. He’s picking up puzzle pieces on the floor. He’s a child. He’s a nuisance. He’s not dealing with this, we’re not watching and cheering him on as he deals with his struggle (and continues to deal with, because mental health conditions are not plot devices to be conveniently introduced and forgotten, they are entire storylines, they are ongoing). Oh no, we’re sitting here pitying him, and wondering where Cas has gone. But hello! Cas is not lost! I have a mental health condition; that doesn’t mean that I am somehow ‘gone’ or diminished. I am not less of a person because of it, it is simply an aspect of my story. That, in a nutshell, is my problem with Reading is Fundemental, and Supernatural and mental health in general. Because I am fine with some of the aspects of Cas’ characterization in this episode. What I am so very not fine with is that his ENTIRE CHARACTERIZATION is that he is sick. He is broken.”
Note from the mods: This was submitted by fallingupwardsghosts.
Supernatural’s depiction of Castiel’s mental health condition in Reading is Fundamental
So, in the dramatic climax of The Born-Again Identity, Castiel took on Sam’s mental health condition to save Sam from it.
To the question of: why are you in the spn fandom then
this is mainly about the jibcon fiasco but relates wholly to the ask i responded to earlier today on why we just “don’t watch the show”
wintermoons asked: Can i just say i feel like this entire blog is holding SPN up onto an extremely high social pedestal and tearing it to bits up on that pedestal that it was not created or purposed to be on? If someone is offended by it then don't watch the show, don't make an entire blog about how it's wrong and needs to be this morally and socially perfect show. To be honest it makes me feel bad for loving this show as much as i do.
i think i can speak on the part of the main runners of this blog in that we don’t want to make you feel bad for loving the show, per se, but what’s wrong with holding a show up on a high social pedestal?
no show is designed to be a social justice show. if it did - honestly it’d be kind of boring! (can you imagine? accurate representation is actually just a bunch of people going about their daily lives. totally boring imo!) but the fact is that trends in a show can still be problematic and disturbing and tbh a show’s first duty is to its viewers. the viewers are the ones who watch it and talk about it and get other people into it and a subset of those viewers make the graphics, dissect it, write meta, get attached to dean winchester in an unhealthy way… who has more right than us, the viewers, this mass of people invested in this show, to criticize it?
i could say on the same note that if you have a problem with how this blog critiques supernatural that you don’t have to follow it or look at it, but ignoring us won’t make the blog go away, just like ignoring the problems in spn won’t make them go away. we have a voice. we’re allowed to watch whatever shows we want, and talk about them, and most importantly:
we are allowed to hope for good representation! women who *gasp* survive and folks under the gsm umbrella… we exist and we love this show - so why shouldn’t we want to appear on this show as more than a punch line?
final note: fandom is a microcosm. tv is a microcosm. if you’re uncomfortable with critique of a tv show because it makes you feel bad, it might be worth examining how you react to critiques of real life situations involving marginalized people.
-micaela
ps. other runners of this blog feel free to edit anything or w/e idk if there’s ask etiquette i didn’t follow
Anonymous asked: Hi, I read your post about Jensen and Misha at jibcon and I just wanted to say that I thought you expressed everything that's not right with this show, the fandom, everything, really well. So yeah, thanks for writing it, it needed to be said. :)
You’re welcome. :)
~ crowleyshouseplant
Can’t This Patriarch Just Crash Already? How much better Ellen and Jo Harvelle deserved.
Okay, so I’ve been afraid of writing this meta for quite a long time because I am going to do something here that is probably a taboo, even in this fandom. I know some have done it before, I know this episode doesn’t get, like, universal acclaim. But I’m going to go and critique it in a way that’s not talking about what came after, at least not with emphasis.
I am going to talk about Swan Song and how certain parts of it emphasize the sexism of this show in ways that are utterly horrifying.
Here we go.
I (the author of the meta) am reblogging this with the note that I received this reply stating the ending of season 5 was originally written differently, however I have not found a source for this. Regardless of this information, the who lives and who dies game — and who has been kept in the show, who’s narrative is more important — has been repeated in season 7 once more, validating the basic principle of this: The narrative has more interest in the story arc of the males, and beyond that it respects them more and has for a very long time.
