#Destiel shipping knows no bounds

[morphean42]

It is with a heavy heart that I must admit defeat. For Five glorious years I have been apart of the Supernatural fandom without having seen an entire episode. I have seen the edits, the meta, the fanfic and fanart. I was there when Destiel went canon and almost made Putin resign. And yet I’ve held onto my sanity, I committed to the bit— never watch that hell spawn of a show. But, good comrades of Tumblr, I must now declare the bit to be over. It was a good run, but I will be venturing into the dangerous world of Supernatural once and for all. May god save my soul.

[ashmouthbooks]

2022 in books

inspired by everybody else who is also doing 2022 bookbinding end-of-year reviews, here we go!

I made a total of 38 books, containing 52 stories.

A5 sized books

The Astreiant series by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett, 5 books and 6 stories. Point of Knives includes Bonfire Night, a short story Melissa posted to her LJ about how Nico and Philip really got together after the events of Point of Hopes.

Astreiant series

besides the Astreiant series, I also bound a copy of Slow Dancing In A Burning Room (one of my fave 00Q fics), mm whatcha say (Sarkan/Solya, Uprooted) and Indiana Lupin (the first volume in my R/S fics series). All four are different types of bindings! Astreiant is squareback bradel, Slow Dancing is rounded and backed bradel, mm watcha say is a sewn board binding, and Indiana Lupin is a plain old hardback binding, but self-ended.

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room | Slow Dancing In a Burning Room | mm watcha say

A6 sized books

from left to right: vol2 in the R/S fics series; Stargazer and Gravity (Fahye); golden hours, slipping by and oceans above & sky below (grandilloquism); Two Make A Pair and Come When Invited (mousapelli).

I collected all of my Remus/Sirius fics into a 6 volume series, one story per volume with the exception of vol3, which is an anthology of my shorter fics and contains a total of 12 stories. I'm really happy with how well matched the books are and how bright and inviting they look!

The other three A6 hardbacks pictured all contain 2 stories each. Stargazer & Gravity has one after the other as Gravity is a sequel, but the other two books are tête-bêche bindings, meaning that the stories are bound in head to tail and when you flip the book over you can start reading the other story from the other direction. And yes, Come When Invited *is* a sequel to Two Make A Pair and I had intended for them to be bound in two different volumes, but then at the last minute I sewed the two blocks together and oops now it's a tête-bêche book.

R/S fics series | Stargazer and Gravity | golden hours, slipping by and oceans above & sky below | Two Make A Pair & Come When Invited

paperbacks! Hood & Glove (Fahye) on the right is the first paperback I made - an experiment really, I made a text block like for HB and then pasted the first and last page down to the cover, like a self-ended HB. the other two are made in the same way, but the cover is cut from a misprinted running sheet, cardstock, that came wrapped around some decorative paper as protective wrapping. I don't like to waste materials and the misprints were so intriguing and beautiful I just had to use them. These two are Destiel fics, There's Only One Sure Thing That I Know (probably the one SPN fic I reread most often) and The Mostly Accidental Courtship of Dean Winchester.

Hood & Glove | 2 x destiel PBs

NO GLUE PAMPHLETS MY BELOVED. listen, there's a lot of glue in bookbinding and sometimes I just get REALLY SICK OF IT and making these pamphlets was like a balm for the soul. as evidenced I remade Dozens of Ships because I wasn't entirely happy with how the first one came out (and also, the first one lived in my purse for so long it's now all tatty. I took it with me on vacation to Oxford so I could just read it whenever I wanted. it was amazing.) Project Bang doesn't have a cover because I wanted to try French link stitching, but I think I will take out the thread sometime and give it a cover and re-sew it like the other three.

Dozens of Ships and Hundreds of Souls | Izzy's Revenge | Project Bang

A7 sized books

1 hardback, 1 no-glue pamphlet, and 8 paperbacks.

the hardback (the birth of comets takes place on the tip of your lashes) is my first attempt at self-ending a HB and I did it because the book was so small I thought structurally it wouldn't be an issue, and it worked so well I did it again for a bunch of books. the pamphlet I made to see if no-glue pamphlet were comfortable on a smaller scale, and while it was fine I think this one I will also take the the thread out eventually and sew a cover on.

and then more paperbacks! fanbinding seems to favour longer fics in general because having a substantial amount of text means you have enough material to comfortably make an A5 or A6 sized hardback. however I like a lot of short fics too and while I like the idea of anthologies, sometimes I also just want little books to carry in my purse and read on the go, you know? and I've found these A7 paperbacks to be perfect for fics in the 1-5k word count weight class. and since I have an entire running sheet to make covers from, I'm not done making A7 paperbacks either!

the birth of comets | 4 x Ocean's 8 fics | 4 x 00Q fics

Gift books

and finally... the three Renegade Exchange Books I made during the October-December radio silence period:

2 x squareback hardbacks and 1 rounded hardback.

Something Dumb to Do | Inside The River | Sha Ka Ree

That's all folks!

[rottencaniness]

Hey guys maybe SHUT THE FUCK UP. Yeah sorry it’s just that samjess and destiel are not the fucking same and trying to make them the same is setting me off like no other.

Sam was doomed since the time he was a fucking baby, he went to college to be normal, a demon possessed his best friend and then introduced him to the love of his life who then died burning on a ceiling in front of him the same way his mother did, oh yeah and said best friend from earlier also died. The three of them were bound to die from the first time they said hello simply because it was Sam they were talking to, getting close to.

Cas and Dean on the other hand. They weren’t even supposed to be as close as they are in canon, Castiel was supposed to DIE OFF and we were supposed to get Anna (his sister) to be a bigger part of the show but fans liked Castiel so much that they kept him and killed Anna and in turn, fucked the storyline. The thing with Sam’s storyline in the first 5 seasons is that it was all planned out, it was cohesive and they knew wtf they wanted to do with him — then the show gets more seasons and fucking somehow they not only fuck up the characters but they fuck the way things are told — and that quote about Castiel being lost for grabbing Dean from hell isn’t said until seasons later when the writers are playing into the queerbaiting narrative that they know will continue to get them views & ratings — also they gave up on Sam’s character but that’s a rant for another day —

ALSO if you’re going to parallel samjess to any ship it should be johnmary because it’s RIGHT THERE. the entire premise of the first 5 seasons is that sam fell into the same fate his father did twenty years ago and now they’re trying to put an end to all of it because that’s what they were destined to do. Castiel was never a part of that shit

and if that’s not enough then I should mention that technically the scene ss above is Lucifer pretending to be Jess so you destiel girlies are paralleling samifer to destiel. So. Do with that what you will

[gege]

Hello, I see you are campaigning for HuaLian in the Tumblr Top Ships poll. I am here to help. Just as Hua Cheng as a single worshiper lit three thousand lanterns for Xie Lian, so too can you as a single voter cast many votes in their honor! Here's how.

Open the poll post in a private/incognito tab.

In a second private/incognito tab, go to tumblr.com/register

Enter a random email address and password. If your browser has an autofill function, saving these will make the process faster. If not, just make sure you can recall them for later. Using the same email/password every time will help!

Enter a birthdate. Any birthdate will do. For maximum efficiency on desktop, simply type J - Tab - 1 - Tab - 1, to autofill January 1, 1999.

Enter any random username/URL. A keysmash will do. Click "Sign up".

Tumblr will take you to the "Getting to know you page". Ignore this. Instead, switch to the tab with the poll in it. Refresh the page and cast your vote.

Switch back to the other tab that had the "Getting to know you" page. Use it to go to tumblr.com/account/delete

Enter the previously used email and password and delete the account.

Tumblr will give you a "Sign up again" button. Click it, and it will redirect you back to tumblr.com/register

Repeat until satisfied.

Tragically, this will cease to work after approximately 40 repetitions or so; this is because Tumblr has begun limiting the number of logins per IP address per hour. If you have a VPN that allows you to mask/repeatedly change you IP address, you can bypass this obstacle. If not, simply wait 30-60 minutes before trying again!

天官赐福, 百无禁忌: by the heaven official's blessing, no paths are bound!

Thanks anon this is certainly one way to skew the results. We’re up against destiel though i’m not sure this approach will be enough!

[samcybercat]

Supernatural Characters That I Liked :D

On 2nd April 2023, we finished watching all 15 seasons of Supernatural. My history with this show is that I didn't really know it was a thing while it was popular and then by the time I joined Tumblr it was "that series people on Tumblr like that I don't think would be for me". Up until late 2021, the only things from Supernatural that I'd seen were the Destiel Confession (TM), a short scene of Dean telling Sam & Jack that Castiel was dead and the montage of Sam dying from the final episode. Beyond that, I genuinely knew nothing about the show But in 2021 (I think?) my housemates and I had finished BBC Merlin and were looking for a new long series to try, which ended up being Supernatural. Our set-up was that Gemba had seen up to Season 12 (and thus had to endure us asking many questions about it), but Amber and I had never seen any of it Now, no one needs me to review Supernatural. Enough other people who know more about it than I do have done that. But it's been a long ride and I wanted to do something to celebrate it. So instead of picking apart the good and the bad, I thought I'd simply make a list of the characters I like. This is not an all-inclusive list, as in over 15 seasons there are bound to be a few fun one-off characters who I'll forget. But I tried to include as many characters as possible Starting off with my beloved - everyone's favourite Supernatural character whose name begins with the letter C...

...Crowley! (Don't worry, Castiel is also on the list lol)

I cannot understate how much Crowley kept me going with this show. We'd just come off the back of the Trickster dying and I was bummed about that, but then Crowley came along with all his yelling and his bisexual villainy and I was won over immediately. Everything about Mark Sheppard's performance was a delight and all his interactions with the rest of the main cast were so fun. When Crowley ended up on the path from enemy to frenemy to begrudging ally, it never felt like character-derailment at all. Though having said that, I also fully understand and respect Sheppard's choice to leave because he was disappointed with how Crowley was being written - as much as it was a big miss for me to see Crowley go. Crowley is my blorbo for this show He is also incredibly shippable with Sam

Next up is Sam, Mr. Skrunkly Himself and the greatest shipping bicycle I could ask for Now, some of you who I have talked to about Supernatural might remember me saying that I didn't like Sam, which certainly was true in the earlier seasons. I just feel like in the beginning, Sam's stick-in-the-mud attitude needed a bit longer to bake until he became the absolutely endearing, doe-eyed giant that he would become later on. I also think that Sam becoming a better character ended up lining up quite well with Dean becoming... less of a characters that I could enjoy, so that worked out nicely. I'm sorry that I was a non-believer to start with, Sammy, but I'm 100% a Sam Girl now lol

You're on tumblr, you know who this is I now definitely understand why this website was so obsessed with Castiel. What could've easily been a throw-away character was turned into a series main-stay and I'm sure that a large part of that was due to the clear love that Misha Collins had for the character and poured into his performance. Every time Castiel was around it was always great and, like a lot of people, my biggest problem with Castiel was that they didn't use him enough. They (probably accidentally) wrote one of the best autistic characters I've seen in a while and also, his Dadstiel scenes with Claire and Jack are one of the few times I've really enjoyed seeing a character take on the role of a parent Castiel is also incredibly shippable with Sam (sorry Destiel shippers, I'm Sastiel through and through)

Queen of my heart, Rowena! The treatment of female characters in Supernatural is another topic with not a great reputation, but you've got to believe me when I say that Rowena is a brilliant character, one of the best and most-fun female villains. When she was introduced as Crowley's mum, I knew we were in for a great ride and, sure enough, every episode she was in was charming. Ruth Connell really ran with the concept of "vengeful Scottish witch". My fears for Rowena had been that she would be killed off shortly after Crowley's departure, but I was delighted to see that she continued to be a main-stay for most of the show, ending with her destined death scene with Sam, before being triumphantly crowned Queen of Hell Rowena is also incredibly shippable with Sam, though I've also gotta give a shout-out to my short-lived OTP of Rowena x Gabriel

Speaking of Gabriel, the Trickster was definitely what kept me watching at the start of the series. In the beginning, Supernatural was a bit dry for my taste and he injected that shot of fun into it that it needed to keep me interested. His episodes were few and far between, but just knowing there might be a Trickster episode on the horizon always kept me going until Crowley came along to take the mantle from him. I was glad to see Gabriel return later on, even if I feel like they didn't really use him or play to his strengths quite as much as they did in the early episodes The Trickster is also incredibly shippable with Sam

The best baby boy, Jack! On paper, the concept of Lucifer's son joining the team felt like a desperate attempt by the writers to show a new, younger audience that they were still hip and relevant, but that ended up not being the case. From the moment Jack appeared, he was wonderful, bringing the same energy as Castiel, but with that child-like optimism attached that would lead to him ultimately saving the day and making a better world for everyone. Seeing the trio raising a son was also brilliant and actually the perfect kind of fanfic-fodder the show needed. My biggest regret for Jack is that he came along after most people stopped caring about the show, so he didn't receive the appreciation I think he deserved

I actually feel bad that it's taken me so long to get to Bobby, as he's one of my big faves, but in my defence he wasn't in the later seasons very much. Bobby went from being "Guy who tells the brothers where the monster of the week is" to the actual perfect father-figure they deserved. There was a reason why when Dean gets to heaven it was Bobby waiting for him and not John, and it wasn't just because getting Neegan back was probably expensive. Bobby is another underrated autistic icon imo and excellent boyfriend-material for Crowley. Even though I was sad when his time on the show was cut short, he was one of the few characters who I felt was given the right amount of fanfare for his send-off

Ketch! I love Ketch! He's our fave in this house. After the very dull Darkness season, I had my hopes low and was rolling my eyes when the British Men of Letters were introduced, but then they ended up being so cringe that it cycled back around to being funny again. We would cheer every time Ketch appeared

Yes, I like Bela and think she was fun in her appearances, you're all just mean about her :(

This version of Meg specifically was wonderful and top-tier shippable with Castiel. It's no wonder that she was the one they called back to play The Empty all those years later. Meg's flirty banter was the perfect foil for Castiel's serious cluelessness and I would always look forward to scenes with both of them

I'm gonna be real with you: most of the season-long villains were very hit or miss for me, but Zachariah was one villain who I thought was excellent. It's a shame he was so early on, so I don't remember too much about his specifically, but I do remember enjoying him and how powerful he made the angels feel

Pamela or, as she was known in our house for a long time, The Woman Who Was Fine About Everything. When Pamela first appears she's like "Two brother? Awesome, let's have a threesome!" ...Then she gets her eyes blasted out. When we next see her, Pamela is totally cool with being blind and is even using it to help her work. ...Then she gets killed off. But when we next see her in the afterlife, wouldn't you know it, she's totally cool with being dead. Even when she later appears as a figment of Dean's imagination, she's fine with that, too. So here's to you, Pamela. Wherever you are, I know you're totally cool with it!

Kevin Tran and his mum. These two characters are the absolute example of deserving much better from the writing, especially Kevin. At least his mum got some cool scenes when she tried to rescue him, but poor Kevin was basically the Wincester's hostage who then died to give Dean more man pain. Which is a shame, because Kevin was great and I really wish we'd been given more fun scenes with him

Hannah (Agent Stone version) ...Look, it's Lee Majdoub, the guy who plays Agent Stone in the Sonic Movies! Turns out he had a brief role in Supernatural as one of Hannah's vessels. I wish he'd stuck around, but as a big Sonic fan I'm glad he moved onto other things :')

Claire Novak - I never expected the kid from Castiel's vessel's old life to come back as a full character later on, but Claire filled the role of the vengeful daughter who grew to respect Castiel so well and I definitely wish we'd seen more of both Claire and her short-lived relationship with Kaia. I also had the exact same Grumpy Cat plushie that Castiel gave to Claire, so I was very endeared by that

Both the original Death and Billie who came after him were excellent! Both very different and strong personalities who filled every scene they were in - when these two appeared, you really knew Dean had to sit up and pay attention, because shit was about to get real

Another one of my top faves, Eileen! Imagine my surprise when Supernatural of all series introduces one of the very few portrayals of a deaf character I've seen and she ends up becoming a recurring character and love interest to one of the main characters. Eileen was annoyingly killed off-screen, but then they made up for it by having Sam go to such lengths to bring her back. She had an adorable relationship with Sam. ...Then they killed her off again and left us to only assume that she must've been returned to life by Jack, but never actually showed that. Oh well, I will choose to believe that the blurry woman they showed with Sam in his montage in the last episode was Eileen and they got the happy ending they deserved

Rufus went from having a somewhat subdued first appearance to being Bobby's partner in crime and that was when he really shined. Another character who was killed off far too early, wasting his potential, but I enjoyed the few Bobby & Rufus episodes that we did get

Garth was just a nice guy and I wanted good things for him. After his short, but successful, role as The New Bobby, I'm glad that Garth was able to retire and live with his werewolf family without becoming yet another victim of characters dying by association with the Winchesters

Becky went from being a very fun nod-to-the-fandom character to having that... one very uncomfortable episode with Sam... to disappearing for a long time and finally coming back to be shown living her best life with her family and thriving. Screw Chuck for killing her off, but I choose to believe that she came back

Crowley having a son who was brought to modern day from ye olde Scotland and then let loose into a park somewhere will never not be funny to me. I liked Gavin for the few episodes he was in

...And I'm bored of looking for screenshots now, so I'll cap this off by also giving a shout-out to fan-fave, Charlie, who they once again killed off before they should've done but at least had some good episodes, Balthazar, who was the idea friend for Castiel and gave me big Dionysus Hades Game vibes, Metatron, who really grew on my from his initial introduction as villain to reluctant frenemy, and to Chuck, who was a character who really annoyed me for most of the series, but then once they started playing him as a straight up villain it felt like he was the perfect way to sing the series out. Amara also got a lot better in later seasons from her unfortunate first appearance and it was a shame about her hand-wave ending I have mixed feelings about Dean. Goodnight

[thecouchsofa]

Getting to know you tag game!

Shout out to @littlewinnow for the tag!

-Three Ships-: Drarry, Sterek, Destiel. My brain is a rotating hell of these three.

-First Ship-: my first proper one was Larry Stylinson (lmao)

-Last Song-: Spotify says it was All Summer Long by Kid Rock

-Last Movie-: Fired Up! (me and my mates are slowly going through all our favourite movies from high school, Clueless is up next)

-Currently Reading-: Nothing irl, although I'm waiting for Song of Achilles to come in the post. I finish Release by hsvh last night and I'm going to start The Discreet Gentleman's Connection by pluto tonight!

-Last Thing I Wrote-: My entry for the Rarepair Fest which I finished the draft for last night (shout out to the discord sprints)

-Currently Writing-: Making the final edits on my fics for Suds and Rarepairs

-Are you named after anyone?-: I'm named after my mum's childhood doll! It came with an assigned name already (first and middle) and both she and my auntie loved it and wanted to use it. I was born before my female cousin, so I got the name!

-Favorite Subject in School-: English, History, Geography

-Do you have kids?-: Nope!

-When was the last time you cried?-: I cried laughing over this photo of a cat the other day. Don't ask me why, it just really hit the spot.

-Do you use sarcasm a lot?-: A fair bit, but I'm much more of a dry humor kind of person!

-What sports do you play/have played?-: I played Netball for like a year in primary school and absolutely hated it. Team sports are definitely not my thing, I much prefer to cheer from the sidelines!

-What’s the first thing you notice about people?-: Hair colour and the eye area e.g. eye and eyebrow shape and colour. Apparently it's weird to remember people's eye colour? Whenever I describe someone I always use that detail and people are like "how do you know that" but it's like the most basic information?? Someone tell me I'm not crazy

-Any special talents?-: Is pattern recognition a talent? If not than I'm fairly good at adlibbing. My ability to bullshit on cue knows no bounds

-Where we’re you born?-: Australia

-What are your hobbies?-: Reading, writing, buying books, going for lil walks

-How tall are you?-: 5'10

-Dream Job-: I do not dream of working lol but otherwise a travel writer. I'd love to be able to get paid to go to a bunch of different places and record my thoughts on them and have people want to hear them!

Tagging (if you want!): @stationintern @jtimu and anyone else who wants to!

[jyndor]

If people want real queerbaiting they should have been part of the teen wolf fandom. Or speak to any one of the millions of people who ship destiel.

Anthony Mackie who plays Sam Wilson made a good point that men (especially POCs) are overly sexualized and, that we should allow male friendships to be represented without it being anything beyond that.

I think fandom is dangerously approaching a very strange place of wanting writers to be like fans. We should learn to suspend disbelief and also allow male friendships to be showcased.

If we want Melshcass, we gotta write it.

or bbc sherlock or doctor who or really any show with two guys as besties, especially from that time frame.

I'm gonna give what anthony mackie said more context because he's not wrong and I know he was viciously attacked by fans because they're racists - although i do think there's something kinda :/ about presenting mm relationships as overly sexualized and I do think it probably didn't come out in the best way possible, but I don't want to pile on him because I think he was coming from the right place. and yes undoubtedly men of color, in particular Black men, are fetishized. and diego luna, despite being a white latino is racialized differently in the us, is definitely fetishized and stereotyped in the broader star wars fandom along with pedro pascal and oscar isaac.

he was talking specifically about shippers, not mlm who might want representation. in fact he says "the exploitation of homosexuality" and it's pretty clear that means slash shippers who get off to stereotypes of gay men and then get mad when men end up being close friends without a romance involved.

these shippers, usually straight women tbh, then attack anyone who criticizes them or doesn't ship their mm ships and call those people homophobic for (gasp) shipping men and women, even if those people are LITERAL QUEER PEOPLE lol.

so he's definitely right in that regard.

that being said I'm gonna push back a bit. I do not think it is out of bounds for fans to demand better representation, and I think writers should listen to queer fans (not weird fetishizers) because they should listen to queer people on how to represent queer people. it is important to represent men's friendships with people of all genders. we can do all of these things - have healthy, intimate and supportive friendships that are platonic represented while also doing the same for queer relationships, and hell even platonic relationships between queer people.

it isn't taking away representation to have two men be friends. but it isn't disrespecting men to headcanon two men who are friends as romantic. the disrespect comes in when the headcanon is just fetishizing bullshit, stereotypes - and when people think that it's like idk doing something for queer people to attack literal queer people and actors and writers for not shipping their ships LOL that's ridiculous and toxic.

i don't think melshi and cass will get together because i don't think that's the dynamic they've set up but it wouldn't be taking representation away from men's platonic friendships if they did LOL

[scripted-downfall]

Love, Need, and Reciprocation

I don’t know how well (or badly) received this is going to be, but I feel the need to comment on that scene from s08e17 “Goodbye Stranger” where Dean breaks Cas out of Naomi’s spell with the whole “I need you” thing.  I know it’s a pretty popularly cited fact that the initial line was “I love you”, and I’ve heard a surprising (to me) number of people lately saying that the latter phrasing would have been better, and I just… don’t agree.  This scene has probably already been analyzed a bunch, so I’m left hoping this isn’t repetitive/annoying; it’s partly a way of composing my own thoughts on the issue.  (To be clear, before I get into it, I very much do ship Destiel.)

Because the thing is.  Obviously, Dean is very, very bad with emotional communication; we know this from the very beginning, what with the “no chick-flick moments” line and all.  But there’s also the fact that I’m willing to bet a lot that he has next to no experience with actual spoken love.  I mean, yeah, maybe Mary said it when she was alive, but that was only four years (at most, since, technically, his memory was bound to be near-nonexistent for at least some of that time).  After she died, John Winchester — whether you side on the hate-him side or on the he-did-his-best side — definitely wasn’t saying it.  Dean’s exchange of endearments with Sam basically consists of the bitch-jerk call-and-response, so I highly doubt there were “I love you”s exchanged there unless things were going really wrong (and that’s Dean’s closest relationship, since his entire life is built around his brother, so the lack of verbally-expressed love in that relationship is telling).  And then, finally, Dean’s romantic pursuits have mostly been the results of dispassionate one-night stands, with three possible exceptions, and most of those lasted under two weeks (judging by his answers to the therapist in “Sam Interrupted.”)

On the other hand, you’ve got “I need you.”  And, to break things down for this the same way I did above, you’ve got the same rough stages.  Before Mary died, he was called upon because Mary needed support to deal with her and John’s fighting.  Once she died, John needed Dean to look after Sam because Sam needed his brother (read: brother, father, mother, etc, etc).  Dean had to go into hunting because there were civilians who needed help.  Hell, Dean’s love language is, in large part, acts of service, principally because responding to being needed has always been an important part of his character.

And, adding on to this by going back to the very-bad-with-emotional-communication thing, Dean never admits weakness if he can help it.  He doesn’t even tell Sam about that stuff most of the time; he needs a ton of pressure for him to even let his “game face” slip.  So to admit to needing someone is basically the most vulnerable Dean Winchester ever gets (with a few very notable, usually end-of-the-world level exceptions… which also brings up the point that the fact that Dean is getting to this level of emotional vulnerability means that something is threatening his world… I’ll leave it there.)

Anyway… I kinda get where people are coming from with confirmation-of-reciprocation-would-be-nice, but I feel like the decision to replace “I love you” with “I need you” was both a lot more in character and a lot more meaningful given the character saying it than the reciprocal would be.

[impostoradult]

So I've got to ask, because I stopped watching SPN at the end of season 4 (because Kripke said it'd end at the end of season 5 and I didn't want it to end, but then it didn't and a friend of mine just said that it turned into crap and I wanted to keep it good in my mind so... Well I didn't watch the seasons after that) but I'm kind of wondering if I should watch it? Is it... Good? I'm thinking about character developpement mostly, the story in general... And the finale: will I want to forget about it or... ?

Second ask which is totally non related: as for Jensen Ackles, what is it about people saying he is homophobic? Every interview I've seen... The guy seems pretty charming ? But I haven't been following him much so maybe I'm mistaking ?

Whew! You have asked 2 questions about which whole books could be written.

Q1

Here's what I'll say re: is Supernatural Good/Worth Watching all the way through. Seasons 4 & 5 are the peak of the show in terms of general story-telling quality. The entire show post season 5 is VERY hit or miss from episode to episode, and from season to season.

However, there's also a TON of great stuff that comes after season 5, particularly interesting character development stuff with all the leads at various points. And there are some awesome side characters that get introduced like Charlie and Rowena and Kevin, who are really fun and add a lot in their occasional appearances. Also there are some truly stand-out episodes and arcs in those later seasons. The problem is, you have to wade through a fair amount of eye-rolling, repetitive, and sometimes just plain lazy or ill-conceived nonsense to get to the good stuff. You DO have to slog. And you have to be willing to put up with some TRULY stupid writing choices along the way. Do I think it's worth it?

Ultimately, my answer is yes. But BARELY. Just barely.

I'll also say, while the incorporation of Castiel varies a lot in both amount and quality from season to season after S5, overall the Dean/Castiel storyline within the show is incredibly compelling. As a long-form slow-burn romance, it is one of the most gripping pieces of romantic storytelling I've ever seen (and I'm including hetero pairings in that statement as well). So if that is something you are invested in (or think you might be), Supernatural becomes A LOT more worth watching.

Which leads me to the ending, which in truth, I never watched. I stopped watching at 15x19. I know enough about what happened in 15x20 to know I don't need to see it. At this point, I'm also fairly certain they are gonna do a sequel/reboot and retcon it, so it doesn't really matter anyway. Jensen Ackles is bound and determined to bring it back at some point, so I'm 95% sure that ending isn't going to stand, no matter what. (Which I am more than fine with. Although I don't enjoy beating dead-horse media franchises in general, he is right to want to retcon it, IMO, and I support him in this endeavor).

And speaking of Jensen Ackles...

Q2

The question around his homophobia (or lack thereof) is also super complex. In my personal opinion, no, I don't think he is (though I understand why that idea persists among some fans)

He did demonstrate resistance to the idea of Destiel or queer interpretations of Dean in earlier eras of Supernatural's run, often in the context of Supernatural Fan Conventions when he was speaking off the cuff to questions directly posed to him by fans. And sometimes he wasn't super tactful in how he expressed himself.

But I get the feeling a lot of those incidences were a product of a variety of different things that aren't reducible to personal homophobia on his part:

In the context of those conventions, the actors are acting as PR extensions of the show. And The CW company line for basically ALL of Supernatural's run has been Dean's straight and Destiel is just fan shipping. Jensen Ackles, as a representative of the show, wasn't in a position to disagree publicly with the company line, regardless of how he felt privately. It would have caused a huge shit-storm of blow back if he'd done that. One of my big frustrations with the SPN fandom is the lack of awareness that actors are not allowed to just freely share their thoughts and feelings about the show's content, particularly when they might disagree or disapprove of it. It makes you look unprofessional, as an actor, when you do that. Its like going in front of an audience to announce publicly that you disagree with your boss and think they should have handled something very differently. That's OBVIOUSLY unprofessional, even if/when you are right. These actors have never been in a position to share how they really feel or think about this publicly because of the nature of entertainment PR. Again, I think Jensen hasn't always been tactful in how he handled those situations, but I also don't take ANY of those statements all that seriously because in those moments Jensen was acting primarily as a spokesperson for the "brand"/entity of Supernatural, regardless of his actual thoughts/feelings about anything.

I also think he's probably evolved a lot on this issue over the years, both in terms of his personal politics AND his attitudes about the content of Supernatural. Now this gets into sticky territory because I am now 'reading' Jensen and his life as a public figure. And there is so much more that is hidden versus what is visible. So what follows is HIGHLY speculative on my part and should be understood as such. But, my personal interpretation of his queer politics is he grew up in Texas in the 80s & 90s in a fairly conservative and overtly Christian household (which he has spoken about publicly more than once). And while I doubt he was ever overtly hateful towards queer people, I do suspect he was raised with a lot of the general biases that come with that kind of background. I also think as a result of working in Hollywood for so many years, becoming such deeply close friends with Misha Collins (who, for all his whatever around this, is a polyamorous ultra-lefty hippie), and having the fandom that Supernatural has (which is at a conservative guess 80% queer people), he has probably come a long way from where he started about this. I ALSO think his ideas about queer Dean and Destiel have evolved a lot, though he's never said it explicitly in so many words (because again, I don't think he's ever really been at liberty to). BUT, it was incredibly clear in his very loud silence on the SPN 'finale' he really disliked what they chose to do in 15x20. It was also incredibly clear he was very emotional about 15x18. He had a cast member shoot a private video of the Castiel confession scene for him to keep on his phone. We also know they conducted formal market research on the idea of making the romance between Dean and Cas even more explicitly canon in final seasons. That didn't happen, for reasons we may never know. But it's pretty clear to me that at the start of season 13, they seemed to be setting up that romantic arc pretty heavily. And I think Jensen knew that and maybe even got attached to the idea before the powers that be shut it down for whatever reasons they did.

Again, all of this is my personal understanding which is based on real events and statements and such, but is still an inference based on all of those disparate pieces of data.

But in sum, no I don't think Jensen Ackles is homophobic. Yes, I think he has said a few insensitive things in the past, but I think there was a PR aspect to a lot of it, and I also think he's shown a lot of growth in the right direction over time.

I also think there's like a solid 35% chance he'll retcon the ending of SPN and give Dean and Cas a proper (romantic) ending, out of spite if nothing else. I think there's like a 95% chance he's gonna reboot it. He cannot shut up about it. Whether or not the reboot will do right by the Destiel storyline is far less certain for me. I'm not CONVINCED of the so-called "Jackles long-con" conspiracy theory. But I think there's a solid 1 in 3 chance its real, which is enough possibility that I'm not willing to wash my hands of this yet.

So many other insane fan conspiracy theories about Supernatural have turned out to be right. And this one has more evidence than a decent number of the others.

I hope this insanely long response helps!

[kitkatwinchester]

I am going to say this, and I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for it, but I'm so sick of this, so I don't care.

Guys.

I get that you're upset, but in that speech, when did Jared ever actively say that queer love wasn't okay?

I am in the LGBTQ community, and I didn't hate that answer.

And here's the thing.

He didn't specify anything about queer love specifically. He was talking about romantic love. He was specifically discussing the idea of romance and that Supernatural was never supposed to be about romance.

In that speech, fine, yes, he said that the confession was not a romantic confession, but it had way less to do with gay love specifically and MUCH more to do with romantic and sexual love in general, and that's actually a point I agree with.

WAY too much of media these days is focused on romance and sex. We ship these characters, these two are in love, these two totally wanna bang: do you know how hard it is to find movies/tv shows/books that are just about FRIENDS or about FAMILY and have NO romance (or, at the very least, very little of it)?!

Why do you think I like Supernatural so much??!! I get so, SO sick of the emphasis on romantic and sexual love in media, and re-watching Supernatural is such a breath of fresh air every freaking time.

So frankly, I think Jared has a point.

And if you love romantic and sexual relationships in media, then that's fine. Go for it. Watch that all you want. There is plenty of it out there, and you can insert it into whatever media you want however you want.

But as a result, don't get pissed at the amazing human beings that are the Supernatural cast just because they thought of the relationship differently.

And yeah, I get it. I do agree that Jensen's answer was a little more well-mannered and well thought-out, and he handled with a lot more ease. Jared's response was definitely a little more emotionally charged.

But can you blame him?! These actors aren't blind. They're not idiots. They know the drama the last few episodes have brought. They know all of the Destiel drama. They've seen it. And with the amount of hate (most of which is pretty unnecessary and unfair) that Jared has been getting about topics like this, I can't say I blame him for being a little peeved off that they got a question about it.

Obviously, a question like that was bound to happen, and Jared probably should've been expecting it, but he's also HUMAN, and he had just been talking about how emotional saying goodbye to the show was for him.

To suddenly be reminded of such a currently very toxic conversation in the fandom was probably a little emotionally jarring, even if he had mentally prepared himself.

And he did settle himself down a little bit after his speech. After Jensen talked, his next words were much calmer and much more understanding and supportive sounding. I really do think he was just already in an emotional place and put in a bad situation with a difficult question to handle.

But his answer wasn't bad. If you take out the emotional delivery, what he said makes perfect sense, and it's actually something I 100% agree with, and is honestly my favorite thing about the show.

So come on. Please stop this. These types of emotionally charged responses from you are part of the reason we as a community get reactions like that. When we lash out at people, they lash back, whether they mean to or not.

Please be reasonable. Please handle this responsibly. Please, please, please, stop hurting and pushing away one of the few communities and one of the few groups of people that is without a doubt accepting.

I don't want to lose this fandom, but you guys are really starting to scare me.

Please don't tear this fandom apart even more than it already is.

I can't handle it.

[unfortunate-brat]

Ummm... I read your rules, and I have two questions: 1-So you don't do male x male at all, like Dean x Male? 2-I didn't see it in your rules, so I hope it's OK to ask: do you do OR not do incest? Like Dean x Sam? Hope I haven't disgusted you, I'm just seeking clarification on your OK kinks and NOT OK kinks. I have loads of ideas for those, and non-those, that I'd love for someone to write, and I just wanted to check via anon, before trying non-anon. Have a great day/evening/whatever. :)

Here’s the thing, I can do Dean x Male!Reader but I choose not to. I’m not confident that if I wrote for Male!Reader the readers who are part of the targeted audience will enjoy it. I feel like someone who’s an actual guy would be able to tell the story better. @superfanficnatural has some great male!reader fics, and I used to use his as a guideline back when I did do male!reader. But there is so much I don’t know about guys, so I’m bound to get something wrong.

As for Wincest, it’s a touchy subject for me. The Hive, created by the lovely @negans-lucille-tblr has helped me understand why that ship exists and has shown me certain fics that might help me get into it. I’m not 100% a fan, I can see the appeal though. It’s just something I can’t really get invested too much at once, sometimes yeah I will. Ask @writethelifeyouwant I do occasionally read some Wincest and go wowza.

If anything, I’m way more open for a Wincest!Reader, it’s easier for me to read about and I don’t know why. I prefer step!siblings with the Winchesters the most, or even step!dad etc.

You haven’t disgusted me, as someone with an open mind I try not to judge and kinkshame.

If they are your comfort ship, that’s great. I’m glad you have something that’s special to you. And I do like how you’re not upset at how I’m not a Wincest fan, but a Destiel one. As long as you’re respectful, we’re good.

If you wanna reach out via non anon feel free too dm me. And we can chat more about your idea.

As of right now, I am only doing commissions. Any non commission related fics I do are requests from a year ago.

[atlantis-scribe]

Mcshep as Destiel

first thing's first: this ask is evil. cursed. this is the kind of text that even Dr. Daniel Jackson, successor of the great Evelyn 'I-don't-believe-in-cursed-texts' Carnahan-O'Connell, who canonically possesses 0.1% self-preservation instincts, will not touch with a ten-foot pole.

no fandom archivist / enthusiast worth their salt would want to wake up in the morning & immediately sustain massive psychic damage upon seeing a notification like this:

understood? cool.

now that we have those disclaimers out of the way, dear anon, we can play ball.

let me preface my actual response by saying that my experience with Supernatural & Tumblr’s Golden Ship has been unorthodox, at best.

when spn first came out, I was a child, but a child with an indulgent father who cultivated my love for cinema & urban fantasy. we got into Supernatural wayy before Castiel was a thing. we watched it diligently as soon as the newest episode became available in my country. my dad would quiz me on the case’s salient points, and we’d talk about the monster-of-the-week & how it compares to the creatures in our own folklore. Supernatural was, to some extent, educational. heh. (yes, i was very much a minor. yes, my parents were pretty lax on the exposure to blood & gore. I grew up fine, all things considered.)

we stopped our religious following of the show around the time the Leviathan storyline was unfolding. my father & I loved Bobby, and we were also starting to notice a lack of focus in terms of plot & direction. the rest of my exposure then to SPN was courtesy of Tumblr, which I managed to compartmentalize thanks to my other hyperfixations with high fantasy & sci-fi shows.

BASICALLY, what I’m saying is that I know Supernatural like a kid knows their local urban legends. and that, plus my current hyperfixation on All Things Stargate, has been a cause of many a crossover & fusion ideas.

but there’s a reason I’ve been dragging my feet when it comes to actually making content for these plotbunnies (and why I have yet to include spn for my McShep AU series). it’s because the whole thing is bound to be chaotic.

(by the way, dearest anon, what the actual heck made you send me this cursed ask? exactly which blog posts made you go, “ah. this Kit person loves Stargate & McShep, and would absolutely know something about Heller stuff.” WHERE did i go so wrong??)

ACTUAL RESPONSE:

it’s sooo easy to have Rodney as Castiel + Sheppard as Dean. (bitchy, sanctimonious fandom favorite? self-loathing, repressed, & too-pretty-for-his-own-good green-eyed action hero? practically cardboard cut-outs)

but here’s the thing, my lovelies: Kit thinks otherwise (and yes, I just referred to myself in third person. “mentally unstable as a fox“ and all that jazz)

1. Rodney is Dean because while Sheppard’s Daddy Issues are more overt & present in-text, Rodney’s are closer to the Winchester Kind of Daddy Issues (in that there’s pressure-from-beyond-the-grave to carry on with the ‘family business’. in this hypothetical AU, it could be hunting, it could be science, take your pick, but Rodney-as-Dean has taken it upon himself to be the Good Son, and it’s 99.9% because of Dad McKay.)

“This is not what dad would've wanted.”

"Shared credit, huh? We'll do this together? Dad'll be so proud."

- 3x08, McKay & Mrs Miller

2. Rodney & Dean both have a kid sibling who wants out (who wants a normal life outside the family business, dammit.) really no need to elaborate on that. Jeannie is Sammy. I dont make the rules.

3. Rodney & Dean both have that one-track-mind drive to do what they think they do best, their only purpose for existence, to the point that they cannot see anything beyond that One Thing (science, hunting/protecting their younger sibling) because that’s how they were raised. their perceived Only Talent becomes their whole identity, and when that is taken away from them, there’s (at least according to them) virtually nothing left.

4. Sheppard is Castiel because of the gay coding. c’mon.

5. Sheppard is Castiel because grace & ATA gene can be metaphors for each other, and I think that’s pretty cool.

6. Sheppard is Castiel because they’re both Soldiers who rebelled & disobeyed shitty orders because it went against everything they are & have ever believed in. there was a fundamental disconnect between what they’d been asked to do & what makes them them, so they went up against The Man, and said, No.

7. Rodney is Dean because they refuse to believe in a higher power that governs everything they do. they tell the universe what’s what, not the other way around.

8. Rodney is also Dean because the only exception to this is Sheppard & Castiel. if the higher power (God / Ancients) had a hand in the creation of this Being, then maybe it’s good for something, after all.

9. Sheppard is Castiel because they share an inability to say no to this one person they keep having to save over and over again, even when said person’s ideas are shitty and risks everyone & everything in this plane of existence.

10. McShep as Destiel will have Rodney McKay as a stubborn & competent man who embodies everything good and bad about humanity, and whose misguided views on family & masculinity are forever changed when someone who is Definitely A Little More than Human chooses him as their favorite person ever; it’ll have John Sheppard as the Prodigal Son Extraordinaire, who damns himself & all that is holy because he just wants to save his best friend, this flawed human he’s come to treasure beyond reason, from himself.

[orionsangel86]

Where have all these wonderful and seemingly new (to me anyway) UK based meta writers been hiding all this time?!?

Here me thinking that I am alone in the UK based SPN meta community (except you Lizzy of course) and suddenly everyone seems to be from around here!

Hello all UK based supernatural meta writers! I don’t know where you all cropped up from but I am very very happy to see you all floating around my dash. 

:D

[elizabethrobertajones]

Hello there. I have a question (more like a thesis): What would have happened if Cas told the Truth anywhere between season 7 and 15? Do you think it would have had the same impact on Dean? Logically speaking Cas could have told him anytime.

Oh gosh, yes. I mean Dean’s reaction in season 15 is still the best it could have been really :P He was in the best place and most accepting of himself and he still had a BSOD for a moment and then Cas had to shove him away so he could go die... (Assuming you take the on screen boring presentation of what happened as canon and not throw in the reciprocation, tears, pull in for a kiss, etc that we know exists either in our hearts or on Jackles’ phone.)

I’ve been thinking about this and the parameters we’d have to apply if we were gonna get something like the show being self-healing back to its self as we know it but we were allowed a confession. Also the show has to be as punishing as ever. So these are my personal theses on each season... 

Season 7 the confession would have to be after Cas comes back, and everything in 7x17 that looked like Dean was jealous of Daphne and Meg textually was meant to be read that way in the set up for the confession. To make it the most painful obviously we still get Cas exactly as he was all through to the end of the season and he never really says anything too different but then right when they’re having the “cursed or not” discussion he’d bust out of nowhere that he supposes it is inevitable Dean would talk him into going on this dangerous mission to get Dick because obviously Cas loves him. And Dean, who is in a weirdly zen sort of place in the remaining minutes of season 7 after Bobby’s send off and final words that helped him go make up with Cas, is in a similarly season 15 oddly okay spot, mental health wise. At least. COMPARED TO ALL THE REST OF SEASON 7. But I still personally have always read it as a genuinely good place for him that could have endured much longer if not for *gestures everything that happened after stabbing Dick* and obviously making up with Cas was step one and a huge part of his process. 

(idk if you’ve noticed but 7x23 pretty much has no Sam and Dean interaction after Bobby’s send off, and their last good broments are really scarce; it feels sort of natural for abrupt calamity and no time for teary farewells in a season with a strong commentary on grief, which also hyperfocuses the attention on Dean n Cas there.)

So I think Dean would maybe be stunned but maybe quirk a sceptical smile like “He can’t mean it like that and anyway he’s currently coo-coo, this doesn’t mean anything hahaha oh Cas :)))” and then idk shake his head and move the story on and Cas just turns one longing look after him like “dammit that didn’t work out like planned” 

Anyway then the exact plot beats of 7x23 follow, exactly as seen on your screens, but we’re left going into season 8 and Carver era with Dean far far more messed up about Cas and it can force clarification in 8x02 in Purgatory where Cas is entirely adamant he meant what he meant and furious at Dean for being mad at him and Dean’s mad at Cas for all the season 8 reasons so they continue angsting at each other but Benny’s reaction shots are just 10x funnier. This is followed by Dean’s reciprocation of “I love you” instead of “I need you” in the crypt scene in 8x17 and from there honestly it’s been built up into canon in such a way that the emotional arc of the show has to go off the wheels and I can’t keep to the self-healing model to continue following the “real” plot and contain this much raw power.

Coincidentally, if the first confession is in season 8, it would be “what broke the connection” after a season 8 where nothing was different up until that point. Cas flaps off while Dean is still processing that the answer was “You. I love you.” and Dean is left yelling at the empty crypt like “What the hell, Cas?!” 

Then he’s as mad at him as he was in canon except instead of being borderline a really bad overreaction into his anger phase which we have to weather as miserable fans tethered to this ship who know sometimes Dean gets mad and yells at Cas for no reason, he’s reacting proportionately. It’s always seemed like 8x22 only makes sense if Dean is furious at Cas for confessing and fleeing except, obviously, in our “”real”” canon, it can only be like Cas confessed and Dean took it that way and also felt embarrassed how far he went with his own feelings only for Cas to run. 

This would make the bar scene with the cupids in 8x23 make a lot more sense too, and after they get the cupid bow Dean’s going to turn to Cas and give him a nervous smile, and then - Naomi flaps in like she does and distracts them away from reciprocation. 

I think this one could go long - maybe even season 13 Cas being dead and Dean being like “FUCK I never got a chance to work things out with him” and 13x06 onwards is where we get any actual work on the ship, because Carver era was so determined to be emotionally gruelling and unsatisfying and relentless from one issue to the next. And the confessions are so bound up specifically in the moments of miscommunication or failed attempts, cut off conversations etc that whether Destiel is canon or not, they’re never gonna get to talk it out under those conditions. Cas is only explicitly the grieving wife and jealous ex to Crowley’s smug take over of Dean’s affections rather than subtextually. 

The season 9 confession... I feel like we’d come perilously close to the Monkey Paw curse we once envisioned of Buckleming making it canon because they love jumping the gun on plot points and making them too obvious. So the end of 9x03, Cas is really blatantly angling to come in with a big “Hey I’m human can I live in the Bunker look at me I learned to do The Sex can we do it now” kind of vibe. All the enthusiasm he was giving to eating that burrito in the background while “Zeke” was trying to get him kicked out, but with lusting over Dean :P 

If we avoid that we can leap to Mr Bobo Berens and his first episode, and have this thing handled by a pro, as it’s already very much about Cas as a homeless queer man with a bad ex he still loves rolling into town where he’s just trying to make a new life and play straight - I mean human - for his own survival. I suspect the confrontation with Iphraim would make it really obvious that Cas didn’t just want to live as a human but had an eye for living as a human with Dean, and then he’d attempt a confession right before Dean would accidentally talk over, like, the L in “love” honestly, to tell him that sorry things do still stand that you can’t come back with me. Leaves Cas utterly devastated but Dean is none the wiser and he drives off and Cas pines piningly at the pine trees in his Gas n Sip. 

Again the end of season probably would force the real confession, since there’s a ready made moment in 9x22 where Hannah tries to force Cas to kill Dean and he gives it all up for one man. Cas can just lower that knife and be like, “No, I love him,” talking to his shoes and Hannah rather than meeting Dean’s eyes. Mark of Cain Dean is fuuuucked up at that point but we still get the moment where Dean carries Cas’s bag into the bunker and sits down with him and tries to care about his health and now also this confession. Sussing out what the heck is up with Cas, and maybe he looks like he’s playing it cool and is still so messed up but Cas is vulnerable, and finally Dean starts to reach across the library table for his hand, and it’s a moment where maybe things could have started to go better for them...... Cue Gadreel walking into the library, Dean going feral, blah blah demon!Dean, blah blah explicitly stated Drowley, blah blah muuuch healing and Cas giving Dean a wide berth for a lil while. Though, in this scenario, 10x22 is far worse but has the reverse crypt scene moment, so Dean can be more obviously unable to kill Cas because he loves him, and then he walks out, followed by season 11 and Cas being returned to them. Unfortunately. Yep. Another finger curls on the Monkey Paw... 11x03 by Buckleming would absolutely be where Destiel goes undeniably canon as it is their first real interactions post Mark of Cain. Our only consolation - directed by Jensen Ackles.

Season 10 confession, hm. Poor Cas. He has the option of 10x03, of confessing and then immediately apologising and walking off to handle stuff with Hannah (thanks Buckleming!) or the Burger Date, where Dean may be slightly less stunned stupid but still likely to laugh it off and not believe it. There’s not much heavy tension between them most of the season so it’s possible that the only time Cas would really get is to confess in 10x22 while telling Dean that he would have to watch him murder the world, and that would suck because I love you. At which point the story dictates that Dean beats Cas to paste so it’s a very bad look. Season 10 destiel confession is the worst. 

Season 11 may be better because Cas has options to be jealous of Crowley and Dean’s connection to Amara multiple times and then Casifer happens and that can really play up things in a season where a confession is coming. 

I think the Beer Run in 11x23 might be the only viable place, where Dean grabs Cas and takes him out for that drive for last drinks before the end of the world. Cas gets the “you’re our brother” thing and just lays into Dean with the certainty of someone who knows this is it - now or nothing - with “You know that’s crap, Dean. You wait until the end of the world and you can’t even say it. Well I can; I love you.” 

Cue awkward tension, well-placed interrupting Moose, and then the world very much not ending so that when Dean n Cas hug and kiss in front of Mary in 12x01. Well. There’s even more explaining to do to her. Since we’ve made it to Dabb era, I believe any confessions from this point onwards can just slot into the show as we got it from there since it’s entirely compatible to start season 12 assuming Dean n Cas are literally married and never be contradicted by the text in their behaviour. But since we’ve had canon Destiel since whenever, obviously the final episodes are good instead of. That.

Season 12... Going to have to go with the first sniff of true canon coming in Lily Sunder with just a few lines leaning even further in the Cas’s Angel Family Are Homophobic Assholes metaphor, leaving Cas’s relationship with Dean even more live wire exposed. Followed by The Mixtape Scene where Cas is going to confess to Dean and get him startled up out of his seat, accidentally knocking the mixtape to the floor and for a moment it’s like, did he throw it is he mad? but then he’s smooching Cas, fade to black, return to scheduled programming but the whole line about Cas stealing the Colt from under Dean’s pillow makes fuckin sense, as well as the fall out argument and how mad Dean was at Cas followed by how devastated he was at Cas’s death. This just means Dabb era continues as planned except we get a kiss in 13x06 under that big glowy cross, and some more smooching here and there when things are good from then on. 

Season 13... Hm. Cas has to do the confessing and I don’t think he’d throw that at Dean on return from death so unlike if Dean was the one who was being made to confess obviously the aforementioned glowy cross scene obviously would be it for him... Cas could keep that bottled up much longer, especially as he has so much to do with Jack this season. It’s entirely possible we go through the whole season and then Cas lobs it at Dean as a final card when he’s making his Michael decision and we actually see the scene that we didn’t get, where Cas has to watch Dean getting possessed. Except Dean is like, tearful and furious like why would you tell me that now, and anyway i’m doing this for you as well dumbass but fuck you but also how dare you anyway I need to be an archangel now and save our - your - son, bye. Cue Cas sitting there not just in total horror at what happened but also kicking himself for fucking up the moment :P I guess this way at least we can have that moment where Dean is un-Michaeled and tells Cas he’s going to shower and finger guns at him, and now we can have Cas wordlessly and furiously follow him. 

Season 14, we get Cas at Rocky’s bar confessing to Dean while figment!Pamela cheers the whole thing on. If there was EVER a time to use the power of love to snap Dean out of it, Cas upsetting his cosy routine with “this isn’t real, I’M NOT HERE IN YOUR FANTASY” is absolutely the time to pull a reverse crypt scene which has such low stakes in terms of neither of them needing to punch each other when Michael is an external aggressor.

My ONLY issue with this is that Sam has to witness the whole thing and we would get reaction shots and I am a weak mortal who will start cackling at them when I’m supposed to be having the transcendent moment of canon and the whole thing would be ruined just because of the way Jared gurns when doing reactions to dean n cas interacting. Wow thanks. Thanks a lot. 

[heroes-etc]

insane hot take time: loki/mobius = dean/castiel

nobody @ me for bringing this up because i was strongly encouraged to post by @forevercloudnine so the blame isnt 100% on me

but watching the first two episodes of loki last night had me pondering about the weird number of structural parallels between loki/mobius (lokius? is that the ship name?) and destiel. i know i know but just listen ok

so lets just reframe the narrative so far in terms of supernatural (sigh. again im very sorry)

weve got loki, who thinks he understands the stakes and the limitations of his universe, being a pretty powerful individual within it himself. suddenly he is made aware of a vast bureaucracy that is dictating his and everyone elses free will, who are above the prior stakes

the mere existence of the tva paralleling the reveal of heaven and the angels in supernatural, seeing as before the big objectives (obtaining infinity stones or killing demons) are suddenly simple (infinity stones as paperweights, angels killing demons with ease)

the reaction of the protagonists being to immediately assume they personally can take down this big structure themselves, and to reassert their personal control over their own free will. loki, and lady loki, (as well as numerous other loki variants from other points in the timeline) are equipped with the tenacity and irritation at being controlled to rebel against this order the second they become aware of it (dangerously deancore)

contrast the entirety of ‘team free will’ fighting heaven and its plan for the winchester brothers, vs lokis obvious unease at becoming a timeline-dangerous variant due to an accident out of his control, and his monologue to mobius about how maybe tva is the only place where people have free will, since theoretically that location is outside the timeline

its pretty obvious though that none of the tva agents are actually agents of their own destiny any more than your run of the mill resident of the normal flow of time is - the only difference is that tva is self-aware. theyre strictly working within the confines of their orders and their mission, and encouraged to think within those bounds. casey hasnt ever left his desk, mobius has a bit more freedom but is obviously still very much confined by the chain of command. whats that castiel quote— “explaining freedom to angels is a bit like teaching poetry to fish.”

this brings us to mobius. hes a believer in the mission, but clearly has his own ideas about how to achieve that. hes willing to take risks, and forge a connection with a loki variant in order to use him to bring the timeline back into alignment

dont even get me started on how BOTH of these shows play the sympathetic white character off of a dark skinned black character who is unwilling to extend the same olive branches to our protag, that's an issue for another post

at first i was thinking to myself, “well, mobius is pretty clearly adept at manipulating loki, so theres one difference!” but no. castiel literally lied to the winchesters for a whole season about his true motivations, so despite his guilelessness hes obviously capable of manipulation and deception. goddamn it all

theres also the unfortunate truth that both loki and the winchesters have primarily been slash-shipped in incest ships prior to the introductions of these characters. honestly that parallel on its own is already a little bit damning? 

obviously we are only on episode two but mobius is probably going to end up working with loki in some capacity. if he defects from the bureaucratic hegemony that is heaven the tva im going to lose my fucking mind, the baseline parallels are already too much for me to handle without going a little cuckoo

[cassiecasyl]

don’t bother looking down (we’re not going that way)

My fic for Day 1 of @starrynightdeancas‘s 2k follower celebration! Congrats, Sophie!!!! <3 

prompts: 2k follower celebration Day 1: Beach + Suptober 2020 Day 17 “Autumn Invading”  ship: destiel  read on ao3 

Cold wind swirled through the trees’s crowns, ruffling their hair and taking some leaves. They rose in momentary cheer, dancing and spinning through the air, but eventually, they all fell down. Soon enough, grey feathers joined them on the dancefloor, adding a contrast to chaos of mostly red and orange. 

Castiel rustled his wings to get more into the mix, hoping the wonder of their play would spark some emotion. A sad smile adorned his features, slowly dying. He didn’t feel it. Ever since he regained his grace, he missed those little things that made him him. It was numbed to humanity, trapped under the freezing power of his mojo. 

A feather took a red leaf as its partner and they circled each other as they danced, always reaching out yet never quite touching. It would be heart-breaking to watch, if Castiel still needed his empty vessel’s heart. The plume was the first to fall, ashes from a fire, never to be the same again. The angel felt a tinge in his heart, still humanly beating. The leaf rose once more in an angry outcry before crumbling to the floor. 

Castiel looked away, out onto the water that was nibbling at the little sliver of sand that’s barely a beach anymore. He had neglected to realize that this strange melancholy was a feeling in of itself, something to lead him home. His smile awoke a little. 

Dean had taken the case in the nearby town because of its proximity to the coastline. They’d never been at the beach, he said in rare excitement. It was almost addicting to see Dean this happy. He deserved it. Cas looked up as the sun waved its goodbye in the background, painting the sky in blazing colors. He smiled as his eyes found a hunch of green in it. Dean. 

The sun’s rays screamed wordlessly like the arms overblown by the most peculiar soul he’s ever encountered, and Castiel laced his fingers into theirs, pulling them away from hellfire, holding them tightly as they fled and flew, and he was filled with something new. The angel had screamed it out, the warmth too grand to be kept inside. 

Dean Winchester is saved. The words still rang on his tongue after all these years. It was the one thing he would never regret. The warmth it had spawned within him melted the effects of his icy grace, burning him with something that was so inherently human. His eyes could’ve spilled warm sparks rather than light blue ones as the first stars greeted him.

Dean. The human to break through heavenly control and wreck his already cracked reputation. Dean. The righteous man filled with so much love, but it came out in anger, guilt, rejected sadness. Dean. Happiness crawled up Cas’s cheeks, an uncommon sight. Dean, he thought, unspoken words heavy on his tongue. 

I love you. 

Crash.

At the same time as the waves attacked a nearby bolder, a branch cracked behind him. Castiel turned around, muscles tense and blade ready to drop if needed. His eyes darkened as he checked the nearby trees. Only when he recognized a familiar silhouette did he relax. 

“Cas?” Dean asked, stepping closer. “What are you doing here?”

Cas shrugged and gazed back at the sea. “Watching the sunset,” he replied. The sky’s last flames caught in Dean’s eyes, and the angel couldn’t help but stare and admire how much more beautiful the firmament would be if it were green instead of blue. 

“You just up and disappeared, man.” A nervous chuckle failed at concealing his concern. “I was worried,” Dean admitted. 

“I…,” Cas started, “I just needed some time to think.” 

Dean measured him in a glare that only softened as their eyes met. “Are you alright?”

Cas returned his stare and considered his answer. The sun had risen again in front of him, and he bathed in his warmth, letting hesitant emotion be his guiding light. Wanting to take it all in, he stepped closer, almost reaching out to touch him - Cas, we’ve talked about this - and Dean remained still throughout all of it. Then, in a heartbeat, he looked down, the lively green suddenly hidden. The fire latched out at him, burning and scorching the angel with unbelievably human wounds. 

“I’m okay,” he confirmed, ignoring the way Dean had left countless scars all over him. Here, standing next to the human who was his downfall, he felt complete. I love you. 

“Good,” Dean answered with a lopsided grin and took off his shoes. Castiel questioned him by tilting his head. “Because now that we’re here, we’re not gonna leave without feeling the sand between our toes. Come on!” He ran the short distance to what was more of a sorry excuse for a beach and Cas followed, entranced. 

They buried their feet in the sand, leaving Castiel to wonder. The tiny rocks scraped at his skin, carrying dead cells away to their graves. Maybe, they’d begin a journey through the wide sea now that they were done serving his vessel. 

Next to him, Dean bowed down towards the water only to be surprised by an oncoming wave. He almost jumped away but was caught by the sand. Cas raised his eyebrows. “Cold?” he teased. Dean retaliated by splashing water his way. 

“Icy.” 

Cas slowly let his hand wander to Dean, who was shivering, hoping to provide some warmth. “We should go back,” he said. “You’re gonna catch a cold.” 

Dean shook his head without looking at him. “I’ve got you. Let’s stay just a little longer.” He pleaded with a hopeful smile and Cas knew he was smitten. 

They sat under the stars, looking up at heroes, beasts and lovers long gone, but none of them were quite as star-crossed as they were. Cas carefully wrapped his arm around Dean, followed by his wings. Grace sparked on his fingertips, swirling out into the air to keep his love warm. For a while, all was well. 

Then, Dean shook Cas’s arm off his shoulder and it followed gravity, hanging down uselessly. Cold hurt washed off into numbness and Cas glanced at Dean out of the corner of his eyes. He was looking down, slightly shaking his head, forcefully leaning away from him. Castiel looked the opposite way as a flaming dagger twisted in his heart. He was back to being a star orbiting its sun, never quite sure whether it returned the favor, but doomed to one day collide. Whether it would leave them in dust or together as one, it was the way they were  bound to take. 

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