Dean + Food = thinky thoughts & picspam

[ash48]

I often have thinky thoughts about my beloved show, but rarely commit them to paper.... or the interwebs as it were. But after recently spending some time with Dean and his eating habits I made some observations and in fact realised that I had some set ideas why Dean eats the way he does.


One major observation is the way Dean "snags" food. If food is around he's in there, pinching it when he can. He's an opportunist when it comes to getting food:




I particularly like that Dean sees the opportunity for food even when he has a collapsed Bela in his arms. :)

We only have a few examples of Dean with food as a child, but I believe it's no mistake that whenever we get flashbacks of the wee!chesters food is involved:





In both cases Dean is feeding Sam. And in the Something Wicked flashback it shows Dean sacrificing his share of food for Sam:

Sam: I’m sick of Spagettios
Dean: Well, you’re the one who wanted them
Sam: I want Lucky Charms
Dean: There’s no more Lucky Charms
Sam: I saw the box
Dean: Ok. So maybe there is. But there’s only enough for one bowl and I haven’t had any yet.
Sam: PUPPY EYES OF DOOM!
Dean: Caves in and gives Sam the last bowl and Dean misses out. (Big!Bro awesomeness!)

Interestingly, there are also examples of Dean offering food to Sam in their adult life:



I get the impression that Dean probably went hungry during some of his childhood. I can't say much of his childhood (though I would like to), because we have no canon evidence of that but the chances are very high that Dean was not always satisfied when it came to eating.

He probably learned early on that if he needed/wanted food he may have had to either steal it or look for opportunities where he can "snag" if for free.

Sam, on the other hand, probably never went quite as hungry as Dean. Simply because Dean made sure of it. If Dean ever snagged food as a child (which I imagine he often did), then he would offer it to Sam first before he had any. And we see evidence of this when he offers food to Sam as an adult. That's not to say Sam never experienced hunger, but he may have relied on Dean to find food for him so never learned to seek it out the way Dean does.

The other thing that struck me, even more than Dean's snagging habit, is how content and easily satisfied Dean is when he is eating.





Again it's no accident that during one of my fav episodes "What is and What Should Never Be", there is a wonderful scene of Dean devouring a homemade sandwich. This is Dean's idea of heaven. Real food. Made by a real mother. With real love.

I often wonder if he links never going hungry with his memories of having a mother. (?)

Food as comfort is a psychological given in our lives. And for Dean, I believe, it's one of his true (and few) comforts in life. It may be linked to the connection he has with his life with a mother who never let him go hungry or days of being hungry and then the satisfaction that follows from being full and satisfied.

In many ways food is an easy comfort to Dean. Easier than family, easier than women, easier than the satisfaction of a hunt even. Sure, it might mean snagging it every now and then but for Dean I suspect there's a certain amount of satisfaction even in that.

Of course, Dean is not always satisfied by the food in front of him. One stand out example is in Simon Said when he eats his hamburger distainfully. You can see his longly for "real", honest to God homemade food. He's sick of having to eat take away food all the time.

And for me that's the crunch. (damn if that isn't a pun!) He learned to love food because it was scare in his childhood. He'll snag it when he can - particularly the "good stuff". But at the end of the day he's a simple man who would love nothing more than to sit down to a good old fashioned home cooked meal. And if it was made with love.... even better! (Sam, have you cooked Dean a meal lately?)

And now because I couldn't help myself...

Comments

[maichan.livejournal.com]

META + FOOD = WIN

Food as comfort is a psychological given in our lives. And for Dean, I believe, it's one of his true (and few) comforts in life.
This part especially resonated with me. Dean is definitely a scavenger eater and I do agree it's probably due to his childhood and learning to eat whenever the opportunity arises.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

YAY!

This kept eating at my brain so I had to get it down. *g*

Thanks for your screen cap advice. I am starting to get the hang of that.... :)

[callme-k.livejournal.com]

*hugs your mind* Vids or meta, you always hit the nail on the head. Love this!!!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks honey. I've never written meta or made a picspam before. It's kinda scary, but fun to learn some new stuff. :)

Thanks so much for your kind words. :)

[smilla02.livejournal.com]

I love this! I agree. Dean's pleasure for food has always read as bittersweet to me. It's often used for laughs, but you just watch under the surface and there's a load of history behind.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

*hugs* Thank you hun.

And yeah, I often wonder if they've given him this character trait for the laugh factor - I know they've certainly used it that way a lot, but it seems to me that there are grounds for deeper reasons for why he eats the way he does.

:)

[babycin.livejournal.com]

LOL

Great picspam! You can't separate Dean from food, it's like... sex.
LOL

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hee! It sure is. And in fact I was going to compare the way he snags food with with the way he snags sex... but that's possibly a bit more complex and I really wasn't sure what I wanted to say about that...

Thanks for popping by hun. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_sharvie_/]

The way my screen compresses the images has that third shot of Dean in the "I can't help myself section" looking up at another pic of himself. It's hysterical! I doubt you planned it that way, but if you did, funny as hell!

I love this meta. It's so heart wrenching when you actually peel back the layers of all the humor we associate with Dean eating and really look at what it could actually mean. It's played for laughs on the show but what if this is actually a character trait that the directors and Jensen have decided on?

I've always felt such a strong connection with Dean..that older sibling, giving up everything for the other thing that we both have in common. Whenever Dean really seems to explode in childlike glee over something simple like a good ride in the car...it strikes a cord in me cause I know it's cause his childhood was so truncated. And the food plays directly into that.

Way to go on this meta! :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

*hugs you*

I doubt you planned it that way, but if you did, funny as hell!
Hee! I wish I had planned it like that. In fact I forget that the way I see it (and planned it) may not be the way others do. I have no idea how to lock in the pictures so they stay in the spot I intended them to be. Just figuring out how to do the pictures was challenging enough! :)

I am so glad this stuck a cord with you hun. I always wonder if the creators had thought through Dean's eating habits. For some reason I suspect not. We see it played for humour in Nightmare and then they might have just thought "we could have some fun with this". Though in the pilot Dean buys junk food for the trip (and offers it to Sam I believe!) - so who knows!?

And thanks for giving it the once over for me. This was fun to do, but I had no idea if it was coherent. :)

xx

[stormcloude]

Hrm, so what does your meta brain have to say about Dean possibly changing his eating habits because of aging in the Manwitch episode? ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

LOL "meta brain". :D

You know, I had to go and refresh myself and in some ways I am kicking myself because I completely forgot there was eating in that episode (more for the vid than the meta!)

And I suppose we are yet to see if his experience of aging will change his eating habits. If I'm correct the following episodes don't show us any new examples of Dean eating. Though they are still making fun of it in Changing Channels - with the HUGE sandwich on the table in the sitcom send up. But so far, we don't really know.

But would it? My meta brain says no. I mean, what other comforts does the poor boy have? I mean he drinks I suppose. But I would be surprised if he could pass up a good old fashioned cheese burger for a salad. Though it would be awesome to see a change. "No Sam. I'll have the salad. I remember what it felt like to be old and suffering from reflux". Ha! As if. :)
(and more because I'm pretty sure Dean's aging experience won't ever be referred to again, not because his character isn't able to learn from the experience).

Oooh - I waffled a bit there. Sorry.
xx

[maychorian.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, very much this. Dean's obsession with food has been poignant for me because I do see that history there, the way he can't let anything go to waste. It's a very practical pleasure. And I remember in 4.04 when that older hunter asked the boys if they had ever been really, really hungry, as in starving, and Dean immediately, strongly answered, "Yes."

I think I read somewhere once that this was partly Jensen's decision, that he had made the suggestion to have food be one of Dean's big buttons. I know he's regretted it at times, when he's had to chow down for take after take after take, but it was such a wise choice, too. Easy laughs, but also a trait that points to a history for the character. The best kind! \O/

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oooh - I had forgotten about that moment in 4.04. Some more evidence then. :)

I love that Jensen might have decided that food could be one of Dean's big buttons. It makes good sense and an as actor I'm sure he likes the idea that he has "motivation" behind his eating style. Yay! That's great to know. :)

xx

[rhymephile.livejournal.com]

What a thought-provoking post. He probably did go hungry as a child, which made me think of this:

WHAT KIND OF FATHER LETS THEIR CHILD GO HUNGRY?

It actually makes me angry, in a way, thinking that John is off on his revenge-soaked quest and the two most precious things he has in the world are in some smelly motel room with only Lucky Charms and Spaghettios left to eat. Grrr.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

"Though-provoking" = yay! :)

And yes, poor John did have major draw backs as a father. I suspect that making sure his children didn't go hungry didn't feature highly in his day to day life. :(

[varkelton]

John was such an f'ed up parent. I think it's pretty cannon that Dean went without a lot of things that he needed growing up. And it's equally clear to me that Dean protected Sam from it as much as he could. Yeah, I'm not John's biggest fan... But he sure raised some pretty boys... ;)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Poor ole John was just too obsessed with his own needs to be thinking clearly about what his boys need might have been. I actually love John as a character; he's one that doesn't appear much but has had an enormous impact.

And yep! His sons sure are pretty! :)

xx

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

Tasty, crunchy meta. I like your take on why the food, and that Dean gave up food so Sam could have enough. It also seems part of Dean's approach on balancing the darkness of their lives -- enjoy what you can when you have it as much as possible.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thanks darlin'. :)

It also seems part of Dean's approach on balancing the darkness of their lives -- enjoy what you can when you have it as much as possible.

I love this idea. He takes pleasure in the simple things in life because the rest is so damn complicated and dark.

Thanks for popping in hun. :D

[rivers-bend.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you posted this! And it's got me wondering if it's one of those things that was intended on the part of the writers and Jensen for Dean's actions to say that, or if it's one of those things that organically made its way into the show that says so much about character. I so rarely see the why of a character's actions when I'm writing, and only see it later, or only after someone points it out to me, so that is a constant curiosity of mine. I think our subconscious minds are more powerful than we give them credit for.

and now I'm blathering. But yay for this post!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thanks hun. :)

I often wonder if it's been organic or planned from the start. When I was searching for clips for the vid I had clipped the scenes of Dean with the junk food from the Pilot. I didn't end up using them 'cause they didn't fit, but it made me think that they had connected food and Dean as early as the pilot. I would make a bet that they hadn't intended, at that stage, to make it a "thing" for Dean, but as maychorian mentioned to me above, apparently Jensen decided to make it one of his "big buttons".

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. :D <3

[yourlibrarian]

I often wonder if he links never going hungry with his memories of having a mother.

What an interesting thought, yes. Although I always thought it was funny that it's a sandwich they portray in that scene, I mean, even I can make a sandwich, how different are they? Why not something complicated not found on diner menus?

[ash48.livejournal.com]

It's interesting to me that I hadn't even considered the link between food and mum while I was planning this. It only occurred to me at that very point in writing. It makes some sense to me though and more so because we have that scene of Mary feeding him and Dean being so damn happy.

Although I always thought it was funny that it's a sandwich they portray in that scene

Ah, but I see that as the whole point. I think Mary could have put a cup of instant soup in front of him and Dean would have thought it was amazing - just because his mother had made it for him. Though I always imaged that by the very nature of it being homemade made it so much tastier than a take away sandwich.

I also found it interesting that in the same episode he is offered something complicated from a fancy restaurant, but would rather have a good old fashioned hamburger. For me that just emphasises his enjoyment for the simple things in life. Or something like that *g*.

<3

[quovadimus83.livejournal.com]

I totally agree w/ this. I suppose I'd taken its meaning for granted, but it seems quite obvious--now that I think about it--that Dean's enjoyment of the simple things isn't as enlightened as it might seem. the fact that John wasn't around & that Dean had to become an adult by like 8 years old means he completely & irrevocably learned the lesson of sacrifice.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you. And yes, Dean making sacrifices is a pretty much given I think - certainly from all the references The Show makes to it, so him sacrificing his food seems to fit that type also.

Thanks for popping by. :)

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

This is marvelous. And makes total sense! Bravo, you.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you hun! You know, I was really worried about it making sense. Just because it makes sense in my head, doesn't mean it will translate on paper. :D

Thanks again sweetie.
<3

[missyjack.livejournal.com]

om nom nom. I like how you combine Dean's opportunistic eating which arose from necessity and the way he uses food for comfort and pleasure. I think its also one of the few things now in his life he can control.

And i would love to see Sammy cook him a meal.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yay thanks MJ! Writing stuff kinda freaks me out, but I had a pretty clear idea in my head about this so it was fun to commit it to, um, paper.

And if Sammy ever cooked for a meal for Dean I think I would melt into a big pile of goo! :D

<3

[vikki.livejournal.com]

*concurs!*

When I saw this link on spn_heavymeta I kind of squee'd. I try to explain to people not in the SPN fandom what I like about this fandom and they stop listening when they hear 'Supernatural' because they're already thinking BATSHIT FANDOM! NOTHING TO LIKE! But the truth is? Meta about Dean's eating habits? You are like the shining example of one of my favorite things ever about this fandom. And this meta was very delicious (pun totally intended)!

Anyway! Based off the 'Something Wicked' episode (and the comment in 4.04), I've believed for a while that sometimes John was gone longer than expected, got laid up in a hospital, ran out of money, etc etc and the boys - particularly Dean - went hungry. D= (I wonder how many times John went hungry trying to keep his boys fed as well.) Your meta just confirmed that to me with some canonical evidence, and that makes me quite happy. Snagging food, yes! Dean isn't picky with his food choices - I can't think, off the top of my head, of a time when Dean has looked at food with disgust. It's not a surprise that his favorite (outside home-cooked meals, gaaaaah this poor guy) is the cheap fastfood. On the other hand, Sam is much more picky with his food, probably because he can and could afford to be most of the time.

And food as an 'easy' comfort? A big resounding yes to that. Food doesn't make you hunt it, it doesn't make you say sweet nothings to it before consuming it, and it doesn't make you talk about your feelings first. Yeah, I'd say it's an easy comfort.

In other words, excellent, interesting meta! Thanks for posting it! =D

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Thank you SO much for your wonderful response. This is the first time I've committed meta (I usually bury my meta in vids) so hearing this has made me feel very happy indeed.

And what's that? Batshit fandom??!! Hee! Have they seen the stuff that SPN fans produce and the things that they say and think about? Let alone the amazing support of each other. Though I have no experience of other fandoms so I can't really compare. But I love this one I have to say... :)

And I like your observation that John probably went hungry more often then his boys. I actually don't believe that he would ever had deliberately let his sons go hungry - it just wasn't always on the top of his list of things to think about. And in fact, I always imagine that if he had neglected them for a few days because he was caught up on a hunt, when he got back he probably treated them to take away food and as much as they could eat. Again giving Dean reason to love not only the food but hamburgers (and possibly pie!) to boot. :D

Thanks again for your comment. *twirls our fandom*

xx

[strangeallure.livejournal.com]

This was a very interesting take on Dean's eating habits, and I really liked the pictures you chose, too.

The flashback scene with the Spaghetti-Os/Lucky Charms always struck a cord with me, especially. It shows so well how much Dean equals food and love.

The ep also hints at what someone else in the comments said, that John probably didn't always make it back to the boys as quickly as he had planned, and that that was why they had to go hungry sometimes.

I imagine that would also mean that when John got back, he always made sure to bring food to make up for it. So that could play a role, too: Dean equaling food and their dad coming back safely from a hunt. Food as a sign of I'm here with you, I'm not leaving.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. :)

I imagine that would also mean that when John got back, he always made sure to bring food to make up for it.

Yes. I agree and in fact I made a similar comment to the one above this one. I have no doubt that John would have felt bad if he had returned to starving children, so possibly made up for it by asking what they'd like to eat. Children usually opt for take away and I suspect that they would have thought having that was brilliant. Their dad really did love them! He would fillthem up with food they loved and everything was ok again. (Only it really wasn't). But for that wonderful moment in time Dean and probably Sam were happy and satisfied. Again giving Dean more reason to love and find comfort in food.

Thank you so much for popping in and sharing your thoughts. :D

[fannishliss.livejournal.com]

I have so many comments to this that there's no way I will remember them all.

First off, great job! this is a really great meta, and I totally agree with you (like everyone else).

I seem to remember a fic about this issue-- maybe focusing on why Dean loves Pie so much, but I am stupid about remembering what it was... it was from a couple years ago. (Was it by not_refined?) I also found that when I was writing a series of fics about the women of spn (I did the whole first two seasons!) the women characters always wanted to cook for them. :P

I love the scene with the spagghetios, and you made me realize why Dean poured them out... I always thought it was really strange that he would waste food that way... but I see now that it was Sammy who liked them and not Dean... but I also think that he would not pour them out if he were literally going hungry, even if he didn't like them.

I think you are absolutely right about Dean always snagging food... I think it is an opportunistic instinct with him, and I love how you pointed out that he always offers it to Sammy.

I usually talk with my husband about fun metas and he pointed out that big appetites have always been associated with teenagers -- so in a way it is also coding Dean's arrested adolescence... and it plays that way in the ep about aging too. It's also a part of the way Dean's masculinity is coded -- men are thought to be Big Eaters (as opposed to Sammy who is "picky like a girl"). Remember when Campbells Chunky soups were called the Man Handlers? Or the sloppy joe that was not just a sandwich, it was a Manwich! :)

I strongly agree with your point that Dean seeks out simple comforts -- I think that goes for food and female company equally.

I was thinking recently about whether Dean and Sam ever had the paperwork to qualify for free lunch, which gives so many hungry kids at least one meal a day... it probably would have seemed to John like too much of a red flag, don't you think?n (Off topic, I read this great article about how Scarlett Johannson was a free lunch kid and now she does tons of charity work with hunger. So impressive.)

There is one really poignant moment when Dean refuses food-- in the ep under the bridge where he tells Sam the worst part of hell. he's pretty much on a "liquid diet" throughout s4, right?

Poor John. I bet he was kept ignorant of the boys' food situation. I bet he fed them well when he was around and laid it all on Dean when he was gone. -- Don't you think? and I don't think it's a coincidence that Sam is taller (sign of superior nutrition) and has a better diet than Dean, who took taking care of Sammy very seriously and made sure he drank his milk. Remember how Sammy was "a chubby teenager" according to Sam? --ie not a starving one.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Whee! Thanks for your response.

I love the link you make about Dean's arrested adolescence and his major appetite. It makes so much sense to me that he is still living in that teenage mode when it comes to food, because in everything else in his life he's had to basically had to skip that. Become an adult very quickly.

I think that goes for food and female company equally.

Oh yes indeed. In fact I was musing about just that in a comment above. He kinda snags food a little like he does women. There is no doubt that sex is equally a comfort to Dean, but (as someone mentioned in a comment) you don't have to sweet talk food before you consume it. :)

I think it's quite telling that S4 saw quite a different style of eating by Dean. As you say - a liquid diet. I think it was a good way to demonstrate just how screwed up he was after returning from hell. If he's off his food, something is really wrong!

And I absolutely agree with your last paragraph. I don't for a moment think John kept his boys hungry deliberately. He just had other, more important things on his mind. And I'm sure he made up for it whenever he could. Feeding them to their hearts' content. Giving Dean even more of a connection with food. John's love.

Thanks so much for popping by and sharing your thoughts. :D

[electricalgwen.livejournal.com]

Great points. I used to work with a bunch of inner-city kids and near the end of the year we took them camping for a weekend. Halfway through Saturday morning, I noticed this one kid was making crunchy noises as he ran around playing a game. He had filled his pockets with cereal we'd had for breakfast. We had huge meals, multiple snacks, cocoa at bedtime planned - and the kids theoretically knew that, they'd been in on some of the planning. It made me heartsick that this kid had learned he had to grab food when he could, because there might not be any later.

Oddly, I was just rewatching "What Is and What Should Never Be" last night, with husband who was seeing it for the first time, and his comment was: there's a sort of reverse identification going on, too. We all know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; the way to Dean's heart is most definitely through his stomach; ergo Dean is very definitely a real man. Reinforcing his manliness, as it were. (Not that it needs much, imo *g*.)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hi there.

I love your first example. I mean it's very sad to think a child needs to store food in case there isn't any later, but I like the way it relates to Dean's probable experience.

Oh and I just adore that episode - so telling and just so much going on. I like the connection you made between the way to a man's heart being through his stomach and how it shows us that Dean is a "real" man. I think that episode was all about showing us what kind of man Dean would be without the hunting life.

I think it might also show us that at the heart of it all Dean really isn't that complicated when it comes to his needs. Sure, his life is extremely complicated, but his needs aren't. :)

Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing your thoughts. :D

[etoile444.livejournal.com]

Quite an excellent picspam + meta. What stuck me as I read is that food for Dean is a mother substitute. It's a wonder he isn't fat. If Dean wasn't a TV character who had to stay lean and handsome, he's likely be big like the LARPer Dean in 5.09.

Oh, and I need to add that I love how show never allows Dean to eat his pie. He asks for it, longs for it, but always is denied!!!! I think the message is that he can never be totally satisifed, totally at peace. The day Dean gets to eat his pie, might just be the last moment before the end of the world! :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. :)

What stuck me as I read is that food for Dean is a mother substitute.

Yeah, just something about this that strikes me as a possibility. Life would have changed so dramatically when his mother died and I'm sure the way he ate changed dramatically too. I think it was no mistake that they chose to show us Dean being feed by his mother in WIAWSNB.

Hee! And Dean can have his pie but he can't eat it! Poor boy. And wouldn't it be awesome if he does get to eat his pie after they've saved the world (which I have no doubt they will! *nods*).

I'm not one for pimping my vids, but the vid I made prior to this (and in fact inspired this post) makes reference to Dean and pie! :D :D

Thanks so much for popping in and sharing your thoughts. :D

[prncssflutterby.livejournal.com]

You know now that I think about it, I think you're right. I noticed if there was food- Dean was eating it but this totally makes sense!

Also I love your choices on these pics! I would've add the Taco from Mystery Spot but then it's like one of my favorite scenes! But mega awesomeness for this!

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Thanks so much. I agree Taco shoot would have been great!. (I did include it in my video if that's any consolation! *g*)

Thanks for popping in. :)

[geckoholic]

This guy . . . Even his eating habits, or the reasons for them, are tragic. *cuddles him*

I get the impression that Dean probably went hungry during some of his childhood. I can't say much of his childhood (though I would like to), because we have no canon evidence of that but the chances are very high that Dean was not always satisfied when it came to eating.
I have the same impression, and I think it's kinda confirmed by that particular line in "Metamorphosis", when that-other-hunter (forgot his name) asked the boys if they've ever been "not eaten in days-hungry", and they confirm. *sighs*

[ash48.livejournal.com]

I know. Poor Dean. Even something simple as eating has to have some hidden angsty reason! Hee!

And yes, someone else mentioned that line from Metamorphosis and I am kicking myself that I didn't remember it. Though it probably seeped into my self conscious because I definitely had a feeling that they knew what it was like to be really hungry.

*hugs hungry boys*

<3

[cryptonomicon63.livejournal.com]

Loved this post. Totally relate to it. I read every comment beforehand 'cause I wanted to point out Metamorphosis, but I see people got there before me.Just a little point, though about that epi: when the guy asks the question, Dean immediately answers "Yes" while Sam is answering "No"! - just to give more strength to your arguments. To me, the reason Dean enjoys the simple pleasures is a typical trait of his personality:he does not think too much about himself, does not believe to deserve "more" or "better" hence he thanks his good stars whenever something good comes his way. It's an endearing trait, it let us see the thankful nature of his soul. Even if simple or given for granted by others, to him, every time it's a blessing.
sorry, blabbing here.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Yay. Thanks. Hee! And blab away.... it's something I've so totally enjoyed about posting this. And being my first time meta post it's been wonderful. :)

Dean immediately answers "Yes" while Sam is answering "No"! - just to give more strength to your arguments.

YAY! That is so awesome. I still can't believe I missed that bit. And wow, Sam says no?!! I love that this supports my arguments here. Thanks so much for pointing that out. :)

And yes....I agree it does show an endearing personality trait. Though sad that he doesn't think he deserves it. But that is very much what Dean is all about.

Thanks for popping by and sharing that with me. :)

[cryptonomicon63.livejournal.com]

The pleasure was entirely mine :)- yes it is a very sad trait- sometimes he just breaks my heart- but it is also one of the Heavenly Virtues: Humility, which together with Courage, our guy has in spades.

[labseraph.livejournal.com]

I think you're pretty spot on, here. A young boy oftentimes could eat his own weight in food, so they will always want more. I don't think he went hungry much or that often; he has no signs of malnourishment and had grown up to be a strapping male specimen.

But I do agree that his instincts to first make sure Sam had food would lead him to getting smaller portions and also to have to stop earlier before he was fully satisfied.

And hunger is a basic drive for humans and is often linked to ideas of home, comfort and safety. So, YES to everything you posit above!

And those lovely, lovely pictures.

[ash48.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. :)

And no, he certainly wasn't undernourished. Some people had mentioned above that John probably felt bad after leaving them for lengths of time and might have made it up with lots of food upon his return.
Thanks so much for popping by. :)