Dean didn't want to be a hunter till he was 16?

[citrus_java]

Rewatched part of Bloodlust. In it, Dean says he "embraced the life" at 16.

I wonder what Dean was like before the hunt that changed his attitude toward hunting. Did he have doubts but didn't share them? Didn't want to do it but stayed quiet? Did John take him on the hunt that changed his mind because he noticed something?

Perhaps Dean wasn't always the good kid, perhaps he ever said no to John, yelled at him? Perhaps it wasn't just Sammy? Perhaps Sam was too young to be as confrontational and rebellious as later, perhaps he was the good kid for a while.

DEAN
... So. I pick up this crossbow. And I hit that ugly sucker with a silver-tipped arrow right in his heart. Sammy's waiting in the car, and uh, me and my dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp. I'm sitting there and looking into the fire, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm sixteen years old. Most kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of. So right then, I just sort of -

GORDON
Embraced the life?

DEAN
Yeah.

Thanks, Superwiki!

Comments

[jacyevans.livejournal.com]

I always interpreted it as until that point, he was somewhat hesitant to be a hunter - his dad went away and left him and his brother alone, probably often came back injured - and he was also wrapped up in taking care of Sam. Whatever happened on this hunt was kind of the "AHA!" moment that made him realize "Hey, maybe this is something good after all."

As an aside, I agree with being annoyed with all the Sam is a snot that fandom produces. I'm currently working on a pre-series fic that is turning into something pretty epic, and getting into Sam's headspace is really, really interesting to me, because it's forcing me to analyze not just his motivations for leaving, but everyone else's for letting him walk out the door.

[citrusjava.livejournal.com]

That makes a lot of sense.
Your fic sounds like it's gonna be awesome! Curious to find out how you see everyone's motivations.