#i've been seeing people jump through hoops to make these characters straight and not head over heels for each other

[gh-0-stcup]

Continuing on with my slight fandom throwback theme, I think it's time to properly discuss a delicate topic. One that never fails to fill me with a burning rage, the sting of betrayal, and a tinge of arousal not unlike finding your boyfriend sleeping with another girl in your bed.

It's the big one, folks. Destiel.

(Yes, I realize I'm giving some people war flashbacks already.)

In particular, I'd like to take a moment to file a grievance with a section of the Supernatural fandom. The ones out there who argue confidently (and often rudely) that while Castiel might have been in love with Dean, Dean was not in love with Castiel.

It really amazes me that the Destiel fans are still out here getting gaslit 😆. Now, I missed the last 6 seasons of Supernatural. Something could have drastically changed in their relationship. What I do know is that Dean fell in love with Cas by season 5. And I can't say I got the impression that had changed four seasons later.

Tied into this is the idea that Castiel's confession was a gay man opening up about his long held, unrequited love to his tragically straight friend.

The problem I see with these interpretations is that Castiel's confession forces a context shift for seasons 4-15. All those "jokes" and "fanservice" moments that Destiel truthers were scorned for "taking too seriously"? Well, they've now become completely serious.

Dean and Castiel do share a more profound bond than Sam and Castiel. Castiel is the angel in a dirty trenchcoat who's in love with Dean. Castiel was lost the moment he first laid a hand on Dean in Hell. And all of it is very much meant like that.

They're not silly jokes about how close friends the two are. They're not simply mockery of the fandom. They are serious character moments that can (and should, for narrative consistency) be taken at face value.

And if that is so for Castiel - what does that mean for Dean? If pokes at one character's sexuality is legitimate textual indications of their true feelings, why is this not also true for another?

If we are looking simply at what is written and shown on screen, Dean Winchester is not straight. From at least as far back as season 4, we see Dean flirt with men. We see multiple occasions of Dean being pleasantly flustered by attractive men or men flirting with him.

My perfect example of one of these "joke" scenes is Dean guiding Charlie through flirting with a security guard. You see, Charlie's a lesbian so she can't flirt with him because she's exclusively into girls. But Dean can flirt with him because...he is also exclusively into girls? The math here's not mathing.

Dean Winchester is not straight. He is attracted to men and not particularly comfortable with it.

And he met the same fate as all of Supernatural's beloved queer characters - an untimely, gruesome death that added nothing to his character and made the story worse.

#if cas is in love with dean then dean is in love with cas #i'm sorry i don't make the rules #i've been seeing people jump through hoops to make these characters straight and not head over heels for each other #since i was 15 years old #and once a confirmation of cas being in love with dean happened of course people gotta jump through more hoops #to say it's unrequited #i am very tired #cas can't have the one thing he wants #not because dean is straight or dean doesn't feel the same way #but because dean is too repressed and full of self hatred to let himself be happy #to the point where the man has to die to find peace #destiel #spn #fandom throwback rants #btw if you're curious it's 5x03 #that's the episode where dean fell in love #there will be no questions comments or concerns #facts are just facts