deadwood } { well I've been 'fraid of changin' cuz I built my life around you

[hasperkynipples]

Player Information
Name/Nickname: Emily
Current characters in Deadwood: N/A

Character Information
Name: Dean Winchester
Livejournal Username: hasperkynipples
Fandom (if applicable): Supernatural

Age/Appearance: 27 // Dean is tall, about 6’1” with dark blond hair, green eyes, and a medium, well-muscled build. He’s a farmer, so there’s an ease to his movement, as though he’s aware of his body and how it moves. He has calluses and sun worn skin from having worked the land for so many years. He dresses rather plainly, in well worn clothes that are well-taken care of, but by no means fancy, and show the years of wear and tear. He’s an attractive boy, though, with an easy smile and enough charm to get him by.

History:
Dean Winchester was born to John and Mary Winchester on January 24, 1850, in Lawrence, Kansas. His parents, John and Mary, moved to Kansas in 1844 to work the land that had been bought for John through the Preemption Act of 1841. They worked the land for six years before their first son, Dean, was born, and later Sam in 1854. John raised both of his boys to be farmers, and Dean took to the work like he was born to do it. He was never really book smart, not to the extent that his brother was, so it was clear that Dean was going to settle down, tend to the land that his father left him, and be a family man like John was. He did his best to raise his brother to do the same, but Sam was never happy in this kind of life, and Dean knew it. He did his best to look out for his brother, up until 1872, when Sam left on his own to go to school back East, following a giant blow out with his father.

Dean was upset with his brother’s leaving, but he buried it in his work, using it to tend the farm just as things were starting to heat up in Lawrence. Lawrence had always been a center of anti-slavery sentiment, which lead to a lot of bloodshed. The Winchesters were back East visiting Mary’s parents during the Lawrence Massacre in 1863, and managed to escape that fate, however that didn’t make things easier. When the Homestead Act of 1862 was enacted, many freed slaves came out to Kansas in order to work their free land and make a life for themselves, especially after the Civil War. John and Mary taught their boys to at least treat the freed slaves with respect, if nothing else, but Dean’s view point was much less black and white, to put it bluntly.

In 1874, the Robinsons, a former slave family moved to the plot of land near the Winchesters farm. Relations between the two families started out as friendly as necessary, but eventually escalated as Dean got closer to their daughter, Cassie. Interracial relationships were even more taboo back then than they are now, but the heart wants what it wants, and soon the two fell in love. Cassie was Dean’s first love, and they had to keep a majority of their relationship a secret, given race relations at the time, but it’s hard to hide the fact that for the first time since his brother left, Dean’s outlook on life was a lot brighter. The relationship was brief, however, lasting until the next wave of pro-slavery sentiment rolled into town. In the wee hours of the morning on a night in 1875, the Winchesters woke to the smell of smoke coming from the Robinsons farm. Dean and John both ran to the family’s aid, but by the time they get there, it was too late. Most of the farm was lost, as was Cassie, trapped in the barn as it burned down. They managed to pull her out, using blankets to stifle the flames as they did, but she didn’t make it far and died in Dean’s arms. It was rumored that the fire was not an accident, and deliberately set by someone looking to harm the Robinsons, but there was never any way to prove it.

After losing Cassie, Dean threw himself back into the farm again, and slowly became increasingly unhappy with his situation in Lawrence. It wasn’t the farm or the time with his family that he was resenting, but the people outside his family. His mother was aware of this, and when they received a telegram from Sam, saying that he was leaving his life in Boston to go to Deadwood, South Dakota, Mary convinced Dean to go find his brother and see what was going on. Dean agreed, packing up the supplies he would need, along with his favorite horse, Impala, and set off towards Deadwood to find Sam.

Canon point: Pre-series

Personality:
Dean is, above all else, a family man. Never being overly book smart, he knew he was never going to get further than his standing as a farmer, and more to the point, he enjoyed working on the farm. He enjoys the manual labor and having that kind of purpose in his life. It’s a hard life, and he knows that, but he knows that he does it well, so he’s willing to settle for that life and it makes him happy. He’s respectful of his parents, and has a stronger relationship to both them and his brother than he does any other person in his life. If his brother said he needed him, even if he was halfway across the country, he would have dropped everything to go and find his brother. He would kill to protect his family, and he’s got the skills with the rifle to do it.

Outwardly, Dean is a friendly and pleasant individual. He’s an easy guy to get along with, mostly because there’s not a lot about people that he doesn’t like. He’s not an open book, but he’ll have no problem walking up to someone and starting a conversation. He likes people, for the most part, and while he can be a bit cynical, he tends to see the best in people, whether they be black, white, orange, yellow, or blue. He can also be rather charming for a farmer, and while he’s not overtly promiscuous, he’s terrible, terrible flirt. A polite, well-mannered flirt, but a terrible flirt nonetheless.

Inwardly, Dean is a complicated individual. He’s seen some of the worse things that people can have to offer, but he still has a lot of inbred faith in humanity. His mother taught him to trust the good in people. He doesn’t see people as black or white, he sees them as people first, and that conflicts with the views of a lot of the people around him, especially given the anti-black sentiments of the time period. It’s also due to those anti-black sentiments that Dean has seen the worst of what humanity can do, and he has a lot of anger because of that. They took something that he loved from him for a reason that he didn’t understand and he can’t forgive them for that. There’s a lot of anger there, and while he does his best to continue to see the good in people, there is also something about the vigilante lawlessness of Deadwood that will appeal to him. People who do terrible things should be punished for them, even if the law can’t play it’s part. It would be slow coming, but there is a part of him that still wants the people who killed Cassie to pay, by whatever means necessary.

Dean has a rather large soft spot for animals, in particular his horse, Impala. While he took care of all the animals on his father’s farm equally, he raised Impala from the time she was a colt. She’s his best friend, and she’ll be who he’s riding into town on when he actually arrives in Deadwood. He cares for that horse more than he does his own life, and if anyone harmed her, they would get hunted down by a very angry Winchester.

You all have been warned.

Reason for playing: Aside from my love of a good AU, Dean Winchester is probably one of my favorite characters I’ve ever. He’s such a complex person, and I feel like this game is giving me an opportunity to play Dean differently, to show how he might be if he hadn’t had all the complete loss in his life that he has in canon. Also, cowboys—Dean practically is one.

I really think that Dean will do well in this game, because aside from the fact that he is a natural-born badass, there are a lot of shades of gray that he can learn to explore and it could be really interesting for the type of person Dean is, and lead him to an interesting place that canon hasn’t let him go.

Writing Samples
First-person sample: [Written in response to the prompt “Who would win in a fight, astronauts or cavemen?”]

First of all, this question sucks. There should at least be a ninja in there somewhere.

Second of all, it’d so be the caveman. Astronauts are great and all, but when it comes to a person that had to fight to survive their whole life, and someone who grew up in the modern world? It’s going to go to the fighter. Every time. The astronaut would start playing with their gadgets or whatever, but by the time they actually get something up and running, the caveman would have already whacked him over the head with a club, and he would be down for the count, end of story. Sometimes, the simplest option is the best one—believe it or not.

Besides, astronauts spend all their time in zero gravity. Where the hell would they learn to throw a decent punch? You need body weight in order to do that. Again, as I said, the fight would totally go to the caveman. Or the ninja. Should a ninja arrive.

As I said—stupid question.

***

Also, if you need further supplement, here is Dean arriving in another game, and here is a voice post Dean made for a plot in a different game. If you need more than that, let me know.

Third-person sample:

When Dean Winchester rides into Deadwood, he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting.

He hadn’t really thought this trip out there through beyond find Sam. Sure, he had brought enough supplies for the journey, and the proper clothing for the weather, but actually thinking through what he was going to do when he arrived in the town, how he was going to get Sam to come home with him … that was a whole other story. He hadn’t seen his younger brother in six years, and Sam hadn’t exactly left on the best of terms. There was a telegram here and there, but nothing concrete. Nothing that would give an inclination one way or another as to how Sam was, other than the fact that he was safe. Mary got letters, but he still saw the way that having Sam gone weighed on her. Letters weren’t the same as having Sam there, and Dean knew it. He did his best to put the pieces back together, but there was only so much he could do. He couldn’t recreate Sam for her, and have him be happy with being home. That wasn’t something in his control.

What he could do, however, is do as his mother asked, so when they received the telegram from Sam saying that he was going to Deadwood, he couldn’t tell her no when she asked him to go find Sam. Deadwood wasn’t a place for his brother. Sam was all books and rules, or at least the Sam he remembered was. He wasn’t meant for a place like this. He was meant for Harvard, as much as it pained Dean to admit it. He was meant for bigger things.

Yet, he was here. And now, so was Dean.

Dean wasn’t going to deny that there was a part of him that wanted to be away from Lawrence, at least for a little while. It was a week’s journey from Lawrence to Deadwood, so that meant at least two weeks when he didn’t have to feel the eyes of the town on him. Two weeks where Cassie wasn’t the forefront in his mind. Two weeks where he didn’t have to feel the pitying eyes of his father who had no idea what to say to give this perspective. Going after Sam was a much easier task than trying to forget what was taken from him. Going after Sam was possibly something that he could fix.

He tugged back gently on Impala’s reins as he came to a stop in front of the local saloon, glancing around for a sign of life. A town was a town, and there were always people, but there was no saying that these people were going to be friendly. Dean could hope, but hope really only got a person so far. He also knew, however, that his horse was tired, so it was time to tend to that as oppose to worrying about the rest of the town. He swung off the horse in a fluid motion, guiding her over to one of the empty troughs and fastening her to the hitching post. It didn’t take him much longer to find her some water to drink, and he let her dip her head into the trough to drink. One hand strays against the side of her neck, rubbing gently as he looks around to try and get the lay of the land.

“Alright, girl,” he murmured. “Where do you think we should start?”