Sam/Dean
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Sam Winchester/Dean Winchester |
| Alternative name(s): | Wincest, Dean/Sam, Weecest (if the incest happens while they are underage) |
| Gender category: | M/M, Slash |
| Fandom: | Supernatural |
| Canonical?: | No |
| Prevalence: | High |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Sam/Dean is the original OTP in Supernatural fandom. It is one of the most popular pairings within Supernatural fandom. Sam and Dean are brothers, which makes the pairing incest, or "Wincest", as many of the fans like to call it.
Sam/Dean fic ranges from deeply angsty and intense on the part of one or both brothers about their relationship being incestuous and thus "wrong", to cheerfully accepting with romantic fluff (with their on-the-road hunter childhood, they were raised different from other kids anyway, so what's one more thing?) of the incest factor.
A subgenre of Sam/Dean fic involves the raised-apart trope, where the brothers were separated when Sam was very young, and on meeting as adults without knowing who the other is, are intensely attracted to each other.
Because some Supernatural slash fans don't want to write, draw, or vid incestuous pairings, there is also a J2 or Jared/Jensen fandom within SPN based on the two actors rather than the two characters. J2 is a highly popular pairing within RPS fiction and within the SPN fandom. This is why Supernatural is sometimes called the fandom where RPS has the moral high ground.
Ship Appeal
- "You know Sam and Dean Winchester are psychotically, irrationally, erotically codependent on each other, right?" -- canon quote by the angel Zachariah in the episode Point of No Return.[1]
The main appeal of the Sam/Dean pairing is the incredibly intense, chaotic, consuming and emotional connection and indescribable love between Sam and Dean as depicted on the show itself. (They are each other's world, would die for each other and actually do so; then they come back because you don't leave your brother behind!). The relationship between the two brothers is the emotional center of the show; showrunner Sera Gamble has referred to Supernatural as “The Epic Love Story of Sam and Dean”.[2] Some fans are drawn to the idea of Sam/Dean as tragic romance and have even argued that Sam/Dean are the M/M version of Romeo/Juliet.[3] (It also doesn't hurt that both characters are played by attractive young men.)
In response to a 2007 meta post by a non-Wincest shipper, a few fans explained that while the incest was a kink for some Wincest shippers, for others, the fact that Sam and Dean were brothers was not a factor in their interest.
On the show, there have been many references about Wincest, including many outsiders thinking they are a gay couple to the activities in which Sam/Dean engage in having romantic undertones (chick flick moments, emotional bonding, star-gazing together), to being declared as metaphysical soul mates bonded for life that also share Heaven together. Many fans also feel that Sam/Dean's love for each other is much more then that of a brotherly, platonic or friendship love and that their connection and bond is more along the lines of a romantic love. This is because Sam/Dean's love for each other has been seen to be extremely emotional, intense, passionate, all encompassing, highly co-dependent and consuming.
History
The first episode aired on September 13, 2005[4], and Sam/Dean slash kicked off immediately. The Supernatural slash community sn_slash (Supernatural Slash - For all your brotherly needs) was founded the very next day and the first story posted was a short 350-word snippet called "Reunion" by janedavitt.[5] Other stories that implied incest such as "Burdens In The Dark" by wistful_fever (16th September)[6] soon followed.
Fanfiction
- Leader of the Pack by astolat. Sam and Dean adopt some Hellhounds.
- Old Country by astolat. Crossover with Harry Potter - Sam and Dean go to Hogwarts.
- The Incestuous Courtship of the Antichrist's Bride by fleshflutter. To rule Hell, reluctant antichrist!Sam must woo and win Dean as his Beloved Consort.
- Last Outpost Of All That Is by gekizetsu. Apocafic.
- Two Queens by belyste.
- Life As We Know It by sevenfists. Curtainfic.
- Green and Gamboge by sevenfists. Dean and Sam adopt some Gremlins.
- Room and Board by Maygra
- Out of Focus by Shadow-shimmer
- The Reason For Living Is To Get Ready To Stay Dead a Long Time by Ethrosdemon
- Man, I Feel Like A Woman by Lyra Wing
- The First Cut Is the Deepest by Angyl
- Res Gestae by dreamlittleyo. Genderswap fic.
- Blue Skies From Rain by lovesrain44. Sam has amnesia, Dean doesn't, but being locked up in a mental facility doesn't make anything easy.
- Brothers Shouldn't by Algedonic
- See also Category:Supernatural Zines
Fanart
- Art by daunt for fic The Last Outpost Of All That Is (02 January 2010)
- What's a little rain? by nargynargy
- You wanna...? by nargynargy
- Wincest by Luluxa
- Red Hot....steam..... by seymourspn
- original manip by nyaubaby (06 December 2008)
- See also Category: Supernatural Doujinshi
Additional Art Gallery
Daunt's Last Outpost Of All That Is, created for the influential fic of the same name
Impala '67 by loonylucifer
The Lovers tarot card created by marciaelena for the Supernatural and J-Squared Big Bang Challenge!/2008
Fan art by wanttobeatree, created for the the fic The Incestuous Courtship of the Antichrist's Bride
Art by petite madame created for the fic A Bleak Understanding in Reverse
Vids
- Climbing Up The Walls by obsessive24 takes a hard look at the real "dead end" of a possible Sam/Dean relationship
- Falling For The First Time by sisabet
- Supernatural (In My Pants) by deirdre_c (Sam/Dean crackvid)
- Sam & Dean | At A Glance by SecretlyToDream
Further Reading/Meta
- untitled livejournal meta post, Archived version by setissma, explaining why they like Sam/Dean even though they don't like incest ships (2007-08-14)
- Erotically Co-Dependent: A Dean/Sam manifesto; archive link by slytherinblack at Ship Manifesto, covers seasons 1-5 (2011)
- Brothers As Lovers: Shipping Wincest in Supernatural; WebCite (2015)
- The Supernatural Appeal of Wincest; archive link (2017)
References
- ↑ From the Sam/Dean essay by slytherinblack at Ship Manifesto
- ↑ Super Women: Supernatural's Executive Story Editor Sera Gamble at Sequential Tart, 01 December 2006.
- ↑ For example, the TV Tropes page on Dean contains several references to Romeo & Juliet. His relationship with Sam is basically Romeo and Juliet on steroids. When it comes to Dean's devotion to Sam, love doesn't just make him crazy, it makes Dean extremely co-dependent, depressed, self-destructive, and suicidal.
- ↑ epguides.com/Supernatural
- ↑ janedavitt. Reunion, 14 September 2005. (Accessed 02 March 2010)
- ↑ wistful_fever. Burdens In The Dark, 16 September 2005. (Accessed 02 March 2010)
