#definitely not as good as the destiel one i made

[orionsangel86]

Seeing the latest trailer for Dead Boy Detectives I am starting to feel really hyped for this show. It just looks like such good fun and I wanna highlight some things about it which I feel I am quite perfectly placed as a blogger who is mostly followed by A. Sandman fans, B. Good Omens fans, and C. Supernatural fans.

So here is why ALL of these fandoms should be joining forces and watching Dead Boy Detectives:

It's based on works by Neil Gaiman (Sandman and Good Omens creator - as if you didn't already know lol) and Neil has been involved in its TV adaptation.

It's set in the Sandman universe and will likely have Sandman characters guest starring - Death of the Endless is a confirmed guest star now and features briefly in the latest trailer!

It's gonna be very queer. Look I know this isn't 100% confirmed but there is definitely a big tumblr ship to be made out of Edwin and Charles who have been appropriately aged up from the comics (no shipping of 12 year olds here thank goodness). Y'all are gonna go feral for this ship I just know it.

It's a supernatural mystery series that includes two boys investigating supernatural crimes - sound familiar SPN fans?

It's showrunner is our very own beloved ghost of Steve Yockey (no I'm never letting that joke die) and since Steve Yockey was hands down one of the best SPN writers since Ben Edlund you KNOW its gonna be good.

Ruthie Connell - Need I say more?

Alex Calvert - You'll get to see our beloved child of Destiel again in a new form lmao

Basically this is looking to be like someone asked the question "what would Supernatural have looked like if it came from the mind of Neil Gaiman, had a big budget, and was openly queer?" and THAT my friends, is a question I desperately want to know the answer to.

So watch Dead Boy Detectives! It premiers on Netflix on April 25th.

Then come back to tumblr afterwards and scream about it with me!

:D

[angelsdean]

I know it's a bitter pill to swallow in this fandom for many reasons but, the phrase "open to interpretation" IS inherently a positive phrase that good creators use to affirm to their audiences that stories and art belong to the fans, and that every fan is able to find their own meaning through their own interpretive lens. It's not up to creators or actors to tell people what something--especially ambiguous or subtextual moments--mean. Everyone will come to a different understanding, some views might be more supported by canon than others, but it's still within every viewer's right to see things how they see them.

All "open to interpretation" means is: you get to interpret it! And you! And you! This is a key tenant of any creative work. It can be interpreted. And that is what literary analysis is all about. You build a case for your interpretation. You go into the text and find supporting evidence for your view, your thesis. And some interpretations are argued better than others. But everyone's still allowed to have their interpretation. (Also, literary analysis is fun).

I say all this because I've seen posts about Jensen going from "open to interpretation" to "clear text" as if he's now against the fact that things can and will be interpreted by fans. In terms of Cas's declaration of love? Yes, that is "clear text." It's romantic in nature, that's not up for debate, and Dean processed and understood it as romantic on the dungeon floor. But for stuff that is still ambiguous, still subtextual in some ways, like Dean's own feelings? Those are still open to interpretation by all sides, whether we like it or not. Until we get to see more of Dean and Cas's story in the basically guaranteed reboot, Jensen is not going to speculate about Dean's feelings or Destiel's reunion. He's never going to word-of-god confirm anything about this on stage at a convention. We have to wait to see it play out on screen.

As an actor, it's also not his place to confirm or deny these things. He leaves it up to the fans to read into his performance whatever they want. And yes, that sentiment IS affirming to a Destiel interpretation. We can read reciprocation into his performance. We can read romantic love into his words about Dean wishing he'd said "I love you back." We can look back on the years of queercoding and subtext and Jacting Joices and read Dean as being in love with Cas for years. And, well, the other side can read what they want into it, and we don't need to care what they think, tbqh.

This, IMO, is also part of the reason Jensen tends to give "vague" answers or use language that can be perceived in different ways by either side. As an actor, at a fan convention where fans of all sides of the fandom have paid to be there to have a good time, it's not his job to personally validate specific headcanons and interpretations. Jensen may have his own personal beliefs about Dean's feelings, but he's not going to divulge them in full if they close off one side's interpretation. So he will weave his way through answers. He will use terms like "brother in arms" which one side will hear as simply "brother" and think "platonic" and Destiel shippers will hear as the full meaning, a strong bond between men, and see the queer history associated with these warrior bonds.

He does this, IMO, to keep all lanes open for every fan, because first and foremost he's an actor at a convention being paid to entertain. He's also not a writer, he's not someone who can definitively say what was intended. Personally, I feel that his metaphor about being in an art gallery that he gave back in 2020 is incredibly apt. People come to the gallery and look at the art and find their own meaning. And the artist isn't standing there beside them confirming or denying their interpretations. That's not the artist's job. Once it's out there, it's for others to find meaning in what the artist made.

And again, it's not his place to speculate or write fanfiction for anyone on stage and personally confirm or deny headcanons. He's pretty adamant about the reboot, so I think for some things we'll just have to wait and see.

[eisforeidolon]

Destiel has definitely soured my opinion on Misha especially since he continues to feed into it. It would not be so bad if he didn't make everything so sexual in relation to this ship. It seems like out of the entire cast Jensen is definitely the one who is sexualized the most and destiel fans continue to act like that is ok because JA and Misha are friends. Not one of them care how Jensen might feel if he knew they look at him at this sexual fantasy to make their ship cannon. These people are not his fans no matter how much they like to claim they are. The ship only bothers me because the fans seem unhinged. Maybe if they shipped for fun instead of trying to make a statement that none of them even believe in other fans would take them more seriously.

Yeah, the hellers have annoyed me from the start, even way back when I shipped D/C in fandom over their disregard for other fans, the show, the actors, and basically anyone who didn't see their ship as an important cause/inevitable canon rather than just a fanon ship. But there also just came a point where I could no longer give Misha the benefit of the doubt either. Not because he's talking about shipping, or even specifically a non-canon ship? That could be fine! It's because of the specific way he talks about it and how a certain loud, batshit part of the fandom reacts to what he says.

Hellers want to pretend, despite everything Jensen has consistently said over the years about not wanting to talk about shipping in general and specifically not seeing D/C as any part of his character's canon story? That it's no big deal to keep dragging him into it. Actually, he's really into D/C and RPF of him and Misha - or it's at least a-okay because they're friends!

We'll ignore the part of that which is obviously deluded self-serving fetishistic bullshit. But it also pointedly ignores that there is a world of difference between joking with someone versus making someone the butt of your jokes. Especially regarding a subject you know they want no part of. Especially when you so specifically do it where they aren't present or active. The way he talks about the ship frequently treats Jensen and/or Dean like a subservient sexual object. It's often pointedly about laughably trying to make himself sound dominant. It's often pointedly crass and vulgar. It's often dishonestly contradictory to what Jensen and others have publicly said about the ship. They want to pretend like it's friendly banter/ribbing between him and Jensen, but it clearly isn't. It doesn't have the right tone, context, or level of interaction for that. It's him performing to his audience at Jensen's (and the show's) expense. As I've said many a time in regards to Misha, with friends like that ...

The thing is, both sides of that coin are about treating Jensen like a blow up doll. Any opinion or feelings he has don't matter, he's just a vehicle to project onto in the hopes it will get them what they want. In the fanatic shippers' case, the ship made canon. In Misha's case, continued money and attention. Funny how right when he needs to re-open Cameo for extra funds, this is how Grifter McQueerbait spent a J2-less con, huh?

Which is why Misha gets no benefit of the doubt from me. He doesn't care about his supposed friend getting called a homophobe for not playing along. He doesn't care about any of his other coworkers or the network who were very good to him getting similar blowback accusations from his lies and sly imprecations. He sure as hell doesn't care about his fans as he keeps setting them up to be disappointed over and over and over again. Hell, he doesn't even care enough about any of it to be consistent from con to con, because he changes his story according to his mood and whoever else is on stage.

Hey, if he keeps getting money and attention for it and someone else always faces the consequences, why change? Friendship? Integrity? Being gainfully employable? Pfft. Who needs it! There's $$$ to be made right now, baby! So I also just think he's a fucking idiot. Although I'll give him this, I didn't think even the hellers were daft enough to keep signing up to be fleeced this transparently with the same recycled material 3+ years post-show.

[canichangemyblogname]

@trans-buckleyy (this is my main), I got into watching 911 ~September 2022 and looking back through some of my old message/posts about it I was talking about how the gifs I'd seen on tumblr made me think buddie were together. So yeah I definitely got 'baited'/misled by the fans (I didn't start watching for buddie specifically, they just came up on my dash the most) - I commented at the time that a lot of the posts on tumblr about 911 felt like they were only through the lens of buddie shippers so I can see how so many people were misled, fortunately for me the illusion shattered as soon as I actually started watching the show. Though there's been a massive shift in attitude, when I first joined the fandom most people were happy shipping buddie and not believing it would ever become canon, now it seems like everyone has convinced themselves it will. Imo they're kind of setting themselves up for disappointment.

I’m sure I’ve said this before on my blog: capitalism combined with the white supremacist suppression, homogenization, or sterilization of cultures & traditions leads people to make consumption and products part of their identity. Fiction and fandom fill a need to belong that often replace real support systems and community (this is why so many in fandom feel lonely). Rather than a hobby, fandom is part of some people’s identity. So, pushback against popular fan interpretations— or fanon— can feel like a personal attack.

It seems to me that the blogs that just do fandom things to do fandom things—like shipping, that are happy to delineate between canon and fanon, and that understand that fanon is fanon and will likely never go canon are also the same blogs that love things like “rare-pairs” and “multi-shipping.” They seem to approach it from a “it’s never that serious” mentality and really just seem to want to have fun with it. It’s a hobby, not part of how they define themselves. Hobbies and interests are welcome to change, whereas people see identity as fixed and deterministic (it’s not, but that’s a whole other discussion).

There’s been a massive shift in attitude because the landscape has changed. Many of the most hard-core fans have staked their group belonging and (fandom) worldview around buddie. It was *the* singular 9-1-1 fanon relationship (the rest are all canon). It brought them together with people, people who they now see celebrating more on-screen queer representation. They feel spurned. Videos are surfacing of some of the most hard-core sobbing over Buck being confirmed as bi, but not getting buddie. They're telling their audience/followers that if buddie never goes canon, their quality of life will decrease, and they’re repeating many of the same things you (and many other fans) mention: they were led to believe this was a done deal, a foregone conclusion. How does one admit they’re likely wrong about “endgame” when they’ve spent the better part of 6 years supporting this and believing in it? They’re having far more difficulty accepting this than you did. Unlike you, actually watching the show did not set their expectations for what canon will likely be.

I also think there has been a massive shift in the way fandoms approach shipping since the end of Supernatural. A good chunk of the SPN fandom simply stopped watching the show, but continued creating for it. The fandom still dominates on fan-driven sites despite the show now being off-air for 4 years. Many SPN fans had largely given up on canon, preferring fanon, and admitted as such. Until “Destiel” went “canon.” (It didn’t, not really and not technically.) People shifted to this idea that they— the fans— could pressure networks and producers to canonize their ship (they can’t) or make decisions the fandom, a very niche part of an audience, would prefer (they can't). After Buck was confirmed bi, some of the most popular takes were, “This is revolutionary! Just 4 years ago, Supernatural was queerbaiting us all to superhell, and now we have 9-1-1 making a character bi 7 seasons in."

Ultimately, this idea they can pressure shows into making fanon a reality reveals that they have no concept of how television shows are made and produced or how decisions are made at the production and network levels. They are not going to persuade a network plus every writer, every producer, and every showrunner involved to agree to do what they want. But we still see fans in fandom believe they can get all these people to make decisions for the sake of fandom. Just look at the Our Flag Means Death fandom and their billboard fiascos.

Because buddie is part of how this subset of 9-1-1 fans define their sense of belonging, if Buck is in a relationship with anyone other than Eddie, this threatens their community and their relationship with the media itself. Tommy is to these 9-1-1 fans what Eddie was to Buck in 02x01: competition. This is why this same group treated the actresses who played former love interests like shit, too, including death threats and attempts to doxx or "cancel" them. Everything that challenges their (fandom) worldview must be removed. They can't and won't get the network to budge, so maybe they can try to get the actors themselves to quit or the producers to budge. After all, they have "direct" access to these individuals (they don't).

This all seems fantastical just writing about it. The logic doesn't logic, but logic isn't going to logic when social media creates parasocial relationships. Social media makes it seem like we plebians are closer to the patrician class because of how we're exposed to personal aspects of their lives. Repeated exposure to a media persona causes a media user to develop illusions of intimacy, friendship, and identification, and the more prevalent social media is in the media user's life, the more parasocial the online relationship becomes. So if your belonging and part of your sense-of-self identify with being a buddie shipper, then so, too, does the media persona, leading to people like Oliver Stark or Tim Minear being "number one buddie defenders" (they don’t care, y'all, I promise).

Now, add to this the way that m/m shipping has been constructed as inherently subversive (despite the reductive and sometimes regressive tropes that slash-fic uses) and as a form of activism, and you now have people not just identifying with shipping and staking their well-being on a ship, but also believing it is a morally righteous cause to campaign for. To them, they're fighting for representation and the expansion of queer stories. So, when the network and show expand queer representation without them or their ship, they're confronted with the reality that what they're doing doesn't do a damn bit of help. They're forced to ask themselves if their feverish promotion of and support for this ship may not have been about representation. I've seen some of them conclude that 1.) being forced to look critically at shipping is just misogyny because the majority of people in these fandom spaces are women, 2.) they're a queer woman, so, of course, it was about representation, they support and care about queer men and are an m/m ally (yet reblog posts about shooting us if we flirt with men in ways they don't like with the excuse "I'm a woman, I'm allowed to hate men"), 3.) actually, the buddie ship is "superior" representation because it is culturally diverse because Eddie's Latino (yea tokenization!!).

This all plays a large part in why they aren't taking it well when called out for homophobia and the xenophobic hypersexualization of Latino men because, to them, shipping culturally diverse m/m relationships is inherently "progressive" and "subversive" (again, despite the reductive and regressive tropes they use in their writing). They don't need to look critically at what they're saying or how they're hurting marginalized men because they believe they are putting moral pressure on the networks to be more progressive or subversive. Meanwhile, they're drawing rhetoric and ideas from existing queerphobic worldviews and legal structures (like echoing the rhetoric similar to gay panic, a US legal strategy to excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim being queer led the perp to violence - a.k.a shooting a man for the way he flirted with another man) to tear down canon queer representation, just as they previously used misogynistic tropes to tear down Ana or Taylor or Ali or Marisol.

TL;DR— Many factors have contributed to the wide meltdown and "fandom schism" we've witnessed, not just the fact that some people explicitly started watching for buddie and have skipped whole swaths of the show to fit a "buddie interpretation."

[destielfanfic]

from the inbox, #9

From the inbox, #9, special edition - Destiel fic reccing Now and Then

Hi! First of all, your blog is absolutely wonderful! I wish there were a billion more like it for all pairings and fandoms lol. Do you know of any other good supernatural rec blogs?

As long as there were destiel fics, there were also dedicated fic reccers. Some stayed with fandom longer, some moved on faster, so, now we have a mix of active blogs and archived blogs. Here’s small collection of destiel fic rec resources that I’ve come across on tumblr. This is by no means a definite list and you are welcome to add your own resources in the notes! Let’s keep fic reccing craft alive and diverse!

Destiel Fic reccing NOW, currently active blogs in 2023

@profoundbondfanfic - an active and prolific destiel fic rec blog with dedicated mod team. Follow them on tumblr and have a rec every day!

@destielficbasket - a blog that reblogs a wide variety of destiel fic rec posts from other Tumblr blogs. All goods in one place!

@deancasfanficrecs - destiel fic recs and fic rec reblogs, lots of posts to chose from!

@destieltaggedfic - blog full of original themed fic rec posts, sorting destiel fics from different angles.

@mixtapebookclub - a tumblr blog for destiel fic podcast. Thematic podcasts and fic rec lists at the same time. There is also a Mixtape Book Club AO3 collection for your convenience. 

@cocklesdestielfiction - what it says on the tin! They have destiel, but they also have cockles recs and gif sets. Check them out!

@destieltropecollection - a very unique blog that collects themed self recs from the authors. Check out their neatly organized Master List Collection 2017-2022 or follow them to get the latest Destiel Trope Collection 2023 rec lists every day in May.

The Destiel Fan Survey Favs Collection on AO3 contains 2793 fics and 668 bookmarked fics that were chosen by destiel readers in several fic surveys organized by destiel writer @unforth. Check out this vast collection of reader choice fics!

Destiel Fic reccing THEN

@destielmybeatingheart-deactivated - what to say, this was the main blog for destiel fic rec back in the day. Unfortunately, the mod left fandom and later took down the blog and, with it, all their fic rec posts. See this post to appreciate what we used to have. In coming weeks, @destiel-fic-rec-lists will continue to reblog available destielmybeatingheart’s rec lists with updated links to AO3 when possible. You can find them under #creator: destielmybeatingheart tag. 

ask about other spn blogs like ours - this is 10 years old ask and a lot of blogs here are not active anymore or full of dead links, but if they are up, you can still browse them. The list includes some non spn fic rec blogs as well.

@deancasfix - destiel fic rec blog, reviews, rec lists and asks, last update May, 2020.

@deancasfanficnet - a blog to promote destiel fic writers, various posts, last update April, 2020.

@destiel-fics-for-you - destiel fic rec blog, reviews, rec lists and asks, last update June 2016.

Last but not least, don’t forget to browse our destiel fic challenge master post Where Is Destiel Fic In 2022 and occasionally check out @destiel-fic-rec-lists​ blog for fic rec lists made by other fans. (hint - all reblogs are tagged with their creator’s urls, so you can easily find their other posts on the blog)

Support and cherish your local fanfic reccer. You never know when you’ll need their help to find your next favorite fic!

Destiel fanworks on AO3 - 111,567 (May 8, 2023)

You can find previous From The Inbox posts here.

[chaoticfandomgirly]

I love Supernatural, but let's acknowledge that it's in no way one of the best shows when it comes in terms of production and writing.

Despite the blatant homophobia shown in the show by killing almost every queer character and giving us destiel breadcrumbs, I did not like Dean's character in the last 2-3 seasons at all.

And I am saying this as someone who stans Dean wholeheartedly.

But, his whole relationship with Jack that had progressed so much really crumbled in s15. His initial wariness of Jack when he was first introduced made sense. However, after the whole Mary being killed off thing and Dean holding a grudge, even though it was sort of established that Dean posed as a father figure for Jack, really monumentally pissed me off. Like COME ON, why do you have to erase all his character arc? It really didn't make sense to me, as I just couldn't see the real Dean being like that. It felt forced and really out of character. And Sam really was the only one acting with some rationality and a semblance.

People would say that the spn finale, ruined the show. I would say it was definitely the whole of s15 that was a disappointment.

Besides this, WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAIRE? She quickly became one of my favourite and most anticipated guest characters. I really enjoyed her episodes. But then, the show never even explored into hers and Castiel's relationship? Like what the actual fuck? I thought it would be gr8 to see two of them together, and all I got was a big pile of nada. It was such a good plot point too! I was totally gone on Cas acting as a protective father for Claire, and then it was it. Nothing else whatsoever between them. Not to mention how Wayward sisters never came to be. 'Cause I sure as hell adored those characters. There was soo much to explore.

There are a lot of other things but these two are what constantly piss me off whenever they cross my mind.

The real villains were the showrunners not Chuck.

Anyways, I felt like ranting and now that it's over, have a lovely day everyone!

[golby-moon]

so I did a thing kind of for @letsdrawcastiel's monthly prompt of Cas doing fall stuff and what's more fall-y than idk pumpkin stuff amirite. also thank @lazarus-rose for getting me to post both of these at once since they are a matching set

uh oh I tried to do some weird sticker thing again, which I haven't done in a while and uh kinda for good reason. but I had the weird idea of using what was originally gonna be a pumpkin as sort of a picture frame and having pieces of Dean and Cas maybe stick out of it in places. the pumpkin looked awful so I tried what's supposed to be a pumpkin pie as the frame and added some fall-flavored colors and made Cas hold a pumpkin and yeah idk somewhere along the line, Dean threw in a bad pick-up line idk how that got there

unofficial continuation I was maybe gonna post after Halloween. the pie is gone and all that's left is an empty crumpled pie tin that's definitely intentionally all lop-sided. this one has a brighter color scheme since it was supposed to be possibly posted on one of thee destiel days (November 5th gkjfdfjf) but yeah have this now instead. I think I made their arms like way too long but ignore that in favor of another horrible pun

think of these things as a before/after where they start out distanced and then become close enough to wear each other's colors and not fill in the 'picture frame' all the way and uh something something symbolism

(10/30/24)

[i-love-dopamine]

hey guys do you wanna have a flash fic of dean doing the Gay Crisis Tango?

of course you do have some destiel highschool au where Dean sees Cas and cannot cope

Italicized stuff is flashbacks, sorry if theirs eyestrain!!

------------------------------------------------------

Dean sat on his bed, starting at a wall across from him. It was his first day of school in this new shitty town and he was already starting to hate it.

The teachers were annoying, the classes were hard, and he was learning things he wasn't ready to know about himself.

"And this is our new student Dane Winchester!"

"Its Dean." Dean corrected, not in the mood to deal with annoying teachers.

"Right, Dean. Sorry." The teacher corrected himself.

Dean grabbed his hair and let himself give into gravity, falling onto his bed in the motel room he'd be staying in with Sam for supposedly only two weeks, but he knows his dad isn't good about that stuff.

"Alrighty Dane, you'll be over there with Mr. Novak."

"Its Dean." He insisted as he walked over to the desk the teacher, whos name he hadn't bothered learning, had gestured to and sat down.

It wasn't their first time staying in a town so small that the middle, elementary, and high school were all in the same building, having to share desks and only moving from class to class maybe three times a day, one of those being to go to lunch, but, this was definitely the most interesting iteration.

He sat down and looked over at his new desk mate for hopefully only two weeks, and immediately took back that last notion.

The man next to him, Novak, was it? Was... hot. Beautiful in ways Dean hadn't seen in anyone before. Messy brown hair stuck up in every direction, a grim look to his already stubbled face. Bright blue eyes, so blue they pierced Deans heart, lay heavy-set into his skull. Chapped, large pink lips that made Deans mind wander.

Dean immediately looked away, his face growing red and his heart pounding.

'What the fuck?' Dean thought to himself.

'No, no no no no no no no. I am NOT gay. I like women! I've had girlfriends! I am NOT into a guy ive never talked to.'

Dean laid now, after a long, tiring day of seeing that handsome guy he now knew as Castiel roam from class to class and going across rooms and sitting and- Dean had been watching him all day.

Walking back to the motel from school Sam had brought up his staring, as he was now also in highschool and noticed his brothers odd behavior.

Dean new better than to push his brother away and decided to open up.

"I think I might be bi."

Dean had always been aware of being gay and bi and such but his dad had made him think that things like that were just as unnatural as the monsters he hunted.

Sam, of course, immediately told him he was cool with it and asked him why he'd decided to tell him now.

Dean had told him the truth.

And now he's here. Wondering what the fuck changed to make him suddenly bi.

He thought back all the way to his first memories, as far as he could go. In his digging, he remembered the fourth grade, where his dad told him liking men as a man was as wrong as sucking blood. Why had his dad said that?

Then, it clicked.

He'd told his dad he had a crush on a boy in his class. He remembered now. How his dad had freaked out and beat him. Kicked him out of the house for a night. He couldn't believe he could forget something like that.

"Uh, hi?" Dean had said to the man next to him.

"hello." Jesus, even his voice was hot. Rough and deep with a twinge of sincerity.

"Fuck."

[hekate1308]

There Was Winter’s Cold

A Destiel Advent Calendar December 5

Masterpost

Now, once he had fed Castiel, he immediately offered him the proper use of his bathroom and some fresh clothes, because even though he looked like he didn’t even notice that anything was amiss, that stuff must be uncomfortable by now. He very gently took the pants and t-shirt Dean offered him, then looked at him and quietly said “Thank you” in a way that sort of made it hard to leave but Dean reminded himself that no matter how pretty some blue eyes were, some of them genuinely needed help, and Castiel was definitely one of those who had to be looked after, for now.

After all, how many people were there how believed they were a water wraith? Hell, even in the scheme of supernatural beings, it was not a normal thing to believe to be. Weren’t vampires all the range with the kids these days?

But well, if this was what Castiel’s mind had come up with, he better respect it, lest he react not so good to him trying to make him see sense. Frits and foremost, always make sure everyone was safe, then you could decide what to do next. It was a rule that had always made things easier for him.

He heard the water run and almost subconsciously relaxed. He hadn’t even known that he was  worried but really, what was there to be worried about – the guy was just taking a shower. Yeah, so he was a bit confused. Lots of people were a bit confused that didn’t have to mean a thing.

Dean did the dishes and made a list of the next few steps they’d have to undertake. Now, first and foremost, he’d done the most important stuff – Cas was fed and soon to be dry and comfortable; he appeared to be healthy; but then…

Well… first of all, it would be difficult to get him to a psychologist or anything similar because he was reasonably sure the guy had no insurance. But there were ways around this too. Dean didn’t have friends who were more than happy to look the other way for nothing.

Castiel would need papers too, but there he also knew a guy…

Speaking of, he got a text. And, how are you this fine evening? I cannot help but notice that you failed to check in.

He rolled his eyes. That was Crowley, the local factotum, for you – he would never admit that he was worried because you’d made some half-formed plans to hang out later, but if you didn’t happen to call him then, you bet there’d either be hell to pay or a police car, an ambulance and a fire truck in your street by the time you made it home.

He quickly sent a reply. Found a guy in the river and took him home with me. Most people would have had a heart attack at that, but this was Crowley they were talking about, so he just –

Yes, he called because, again, this was Crowley and most people just didn’t understand him. “I am sorry, but would you repeat that, Squirrel?”

“Well, so I found a guy in the river and took him home with me.”

“Yes, I had gotten this far, but I have to admit that your logic behind it eludes me.”

As Dean knew, and as Crowley did too, there was no logic behind him doing things like this. There never had been. He just saw someone in need and acted, which any of those people who liked to believe they could read others would have pointed out came from his childhood, not that he was in any way interested in admitting that.

Then, the reason he way friends with Crowley and one Sam would never believe – his voice dropped as he said, “Dean if you need help –“

“I know, but I’m fine. For now. Got your number in case anything goes wrong.”

“That you do, and you better remember it.”

They hung up without saying goodbye, as they often did.

Dean was left to clean up and wonder what exactly he had been thinking when he had taken Castiel home with him. But that was easy enough – he had not been thinking at all, because why should he? He’d seen someone in pain, and he knew that feeling so he’d acted and now he could only make the best of the situation.

But in that, he was well-versed, so all should be fine. He knew of course that he would eventually have to get Castiel help if he persisted in –

Speaking of – he really did have the water running, didn’t he? Better check on it.

Dean knocked on the bathroom door, but there was no answer, so he called out and entered.

Only to find Cas – well –

If he had been forced to describe it, it would have been bending the water, Avatar-style.

[bucks-daddy-issues]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @neverevan @made-ofmemories and @diazsdimples thank you!

How many works do you have on ao3?

6! I only started writing a little over a year ago and I am a very, very slow writer.

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

68,008

3. What fandoms do you write for?

9-1-1 only at the moment.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos:

I got a bed but I’d rather be in ours tonight (6.7k, Buddie, Explicit) Thighs and Eyes (3.7k, Buddie, Explicit) Kiss your lips blue (7k, Buddie, Explicit) I'll Be Your Gift, Give You Something Good To Celebrate (6.4k, Buddie, Explicit) Sweet Nothing (37.8k, Buddie, Teen and up)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes!!! Every time, comments absolutely make my day and I don't feel like my responses ever do justice to just how giddy I am when I get a nice comment!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't think any of my fics are even remotely angsty (though maybe some in the near future might be idk idk) but I don't think I could ever write something with an angsty ending. Happy endings only over here.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think all of my fics have very happy endings but I'll go with Sweet Nothing maybe, as it's super happy with also hints at even more happiness in their future too. :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

So far no, thank god.

9. Do you write smut?

Most definitely, four of the six fics I have up are smut but I always like to put a lot of plot in there too!

10. Craziest crossover?

I don't write crossovers, it's just not my thing personally.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, I really hope not.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, put people are welcome to as long as they link my fic :)

13. Have you co-written a fic before?

No but I hope to soon!

14. All time favorite ship?

Buddie buddie buddie buddie buddie

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I have a few I started when I first got into 911 that would need some crazy reworking to still make sense but I'm still hopeful lol. The hangover au is really hanging on by a thread because the 911 writers blatantly stole my idea to steal the hangover movie's idea (jk) I'll definitely still write it but it's kinda been put on hold.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at writing descriptively? I also get some lovely comments on how I write emotions which makes me very happy :)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I think my pacing could use a lot of work. Sometimes things feel a little too fast and other times I go on for too long. My dialogue can also be hit or miss depending on the character.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I can't speak any language other than English and like super basic Irish so I just don't trust myself to write in another language well. If I had someone's help I would be open to it though.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

I think I wrote one direction fics back when I was like 12-15 but I only actually posted one fic before I started writing for 911 and that was destiel about a decade ago (and it was deleted like 6 months later)

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Ahhhh I'm not sure, I have things I both love and hate about all of them, but I think I have to pick Sweet Nothing because I put my heart and soul into that fic for months and it inspired me to keep writing longer fics.

I feel like most people have already been tagged so sorry if you've already done this, but tagging: @wikiangela @watchyourbuck @spagheddiediaz @thewolvesof1998 @rogerzsteven

@jesuisici33 @sunshinediaz @daffi-990 @rainbow-nerdss @theotherbuckley

+ whoever else wants to do it!

[some-stars]

so my sister is visiting this week and ofc with all four of us here there are a lot of Feelings in the air, and apparently the way i cope with that is to dive deep into my #1 comfort fandom & pairing of all time, which is, of course, dark angel and max/alec, who i will be shipping on my deathbed. the show isn't streaming anywhere and it's never going to be, it's buried in the disney vaults (it was on fox originally) and they're never ever ever going to let it out, but it was SO good and if there were any justice in the world i'd be allowed to see 2024 fandom's take on the greatest and most important OTP of all time ever.

if you have not watched the show and are wondering how a 2 season science fiction/action show from 2000 can possibly have given us the greatest pairing of All Time, you need to think about all the ~energy that jensen ackles brought to supernatural that made destiel the force that it became, and then picture him (8 years younger than s4 of spn) pouring all that energy into depicting how his secondary character was deeply, deeply in love with the heroine of the show, and TPTB had a clear mandate to keep her with her assigned love interest but several of the writers just as clearly shipped her with alec, who was demonstrably more interesting and better to and for her. and then in the middle of all that throw an early cancellation RIGHT after setting up max and alec as the leader & lieutenant of a mutant resistance movement, in a location where the assigned love interest literally couldn't go without dying (also he and max can't touch for sci-fi macguffin reasons and have just spent a miserable season pining after never even getting to fuck once). and alec is just doing that ackles-style Quiet Self-Abnegating Devotion the entire time. it's fucking LETHAL. i never stood a chance.

(also young jessica alba was not half bad as an actor herself! but she's definitely not the driving force behind the Energy between them in every single scene, although her and jensen do have fantastic chemistry)

anyway this is i think the saddest thing in my life, that there's never going to be a second dark angel renaissance (the first was after spn got big, ofc). and since it originally aired in 2000-2001, and then had a second burst of fandom popularity from like 2007-2010, there's not a lot on ao3 either. it's basically just my one fic, a whole blessed bunch of good stuff from victoria_p, and 4-5 other stories that are decent to good. and that's it. for the most beautiful important meaningful in love pairing of all time ever forever. life is not fair. anyway it is available on various illegal streaming sites and also secondhand DVDs and you should REALLY check it out, bc there are many other things to recommend it besides the world's best ship that i did not get into here. season one is objectively better but alec shows up in season two, so i recommend watching both. and then PLEASE come talk to me, i have ONE (1) friend who's into it and i'm dying.

[angelsdean]

i'll be honest, i truly do not understand when people get all up in arms whenever anyone involved with spn describes cas's love for dean as beyond the human understanding of love, as if there haven't been posts made on here for years by fans literally describing cas's love for dean / destiel's love as akin to worship, a powerful force greater than god, cosmic, all encompassing, profound, etc etc. i thought the outrage was silly when jensen expressed the idea of cas's love being more than romantic back in denver con 2021 and i think it's silly now with these bedlund tweets. not to mention being more than and beyond something imo means it encompasses the romantic AND more. it's romantic, it's platonic, it's cosmic, it's worship, it's everything. and i think that's beautiful. and yes, it's exactly what their love is. a huge profound force that changed the narrative, that wasn't meant to be there, that kept breaking through anyway.

and i understand what people are saying about this language being used for a queer ship etc etc, but like, there's nothing inherently wrong or negating their love in saying that it's a greater love. if anything i think it's saying, hey, see these two? yea their love is bigger than what we can even comprehend. idk i'm just going to continue to take these statements in good faith. and also, until the reboot happens, they can't really say more about destiel beyond the bounds of the confession. jensen, bedlund, misha, etc can't speak to dean's feelings, for instance, or confirm anything one way or another, because if those feelings are a major plot point to be explored and acknowledged in the continuation then to speak about them now with any kind of definitive statement would be spoiling / jumping the gun, and it's not their place to make those statements yet, if we are indeed going to see more of dean and cas's story in the future (which i mean, at this point based on their statements about the reboot it's really a When not If situation).

[tiktaalic]

see if you lived in the midwest that list it would be respectable. destiel probably, voltron maybe. dan and phil for goodness sake .that cassandra clare book series, maybe something tongue in cheek from my little pony or steven universe. hannibal. god maybe even something marvel. to be clear im not saying these are good ships but at least theyre not made up like naruto and whoever that woman is. unfortunately u live in buttfuck, salish coast. kate and william transcend region i think regrettably.

See this list is shockibn to me BECAUSE I live in the woke capital of the world. Nurses plural have blue hair and pronouns here. I’ve seen no less than 3 sets of pride figs scrubs around the lab. The break room is awash with water bottles covered in pride stickers. I thought we were gonna get REALLY weird with it really fast. I thought we were gonna pull at least ONE person who has definitely reblogged a post with the words proshippers and antis in it. Not. 90% heterosexual anime pairings? Mostly I’m agog at the intersect between people who know what shipping is / people who ship those things / people who have the lack of shame required to announce that. All intersecting in the exact same way. I would be less shocked if bridgerton was on there. I did not think a single one of these things had real shooters that existed in enough frequency to be represented in SPADES. Certainly not in. Blue hair pronouns world

[saywhatjessie]

coarse and rough and irritating

Day three of the Advent calendar! Using this list. Day 3: Beach Trip Fandom: Supernatural - Pairing: Destiel .6k[Ao3]

“Does this suck?” Dean asked, carefully holding his arms away from his body. “I feel like this sucks.”

Cas hummed, doing his best to wipe the sand off of Dean with a towel.

“Couple of beers, toes in the sand. Sounded great! And the toes in the sand is good but then it gets everywhere.”

“We could always get back in the water,”Cas suggested.

Deans snorted. “Easy for you to say, sun spot. My shoulders are already blistering. How was I supposed to knowI’d burn?”

“I would guess your freckles should have been some clue as to how your fair skin is susceptible to pigmentation.”

Dean grumbled again.

Cas stood up, draping the sandy towel around his neck, and pulled Dean into a kiss. Dean melted immediately, his hands coming up to grip at Cas’s hips, his fingers meeting the tacky sunscreen against Cas’s bare skin.

He whined, pulling away. “Why didn’t anyone tell me the beach was gross?”

“I’m not sure what about the beach is grosser than the normal human experience,” Cas offers, fairly, his thumbs brushing over Dean’s ribs. “But I imagine that everyone else was just happy to see you excited about something.”

Dean pouted, dropping his head against Cas’s shoulder. Cas hummed, bringing one of his hands up to cradle the back of Dean’s head.

It was the first time they’d made it to the beach after everything. First there was Cas being dead and then making Cas not dead, and figuring their shit out – both trauma shit and relationship shit – and then deciding what came next.

Was Dean going to leave hunting? Yes. (Mostly.)

Was Cas human now? Yes. (Mostly.)

Were they moving out? Was Dean going to live somewhere full time without Sam for the first time in his life? Yes. Definitely.

So they bought a house. They got married in the most official way they could in front of all of their family and friends. They started a life.

And they went on vacation to the beach: something Dean had been dreaming about his whole life.

And it sucked.

“I’ve sat in Baby covered in monster guts for a full fourteen hours and been more comfortable than this.” Dean complained, mouth brushing Cas’s coconut smelling skin.

Cas hummed again, kissing his hair. “We could always go home, Dean. Or we could see about renting a boat. Get the sea without the sand.”

“Still have the stupid sunscreen, though.” Dean sighed. “I’m hot. And it’s sticky. And my skin fucking hurts. And my beer tastes like salt.”

Cas rubbed his stubbly chin against Dean’s temple, squeezing him a bit more around the middle. “Dean, I think it might be time to accept that you are a creature of comfort habits who does not like the outside.”

“You calling me a bitch?”

“If you’re asking if I think you’re tough enough to deal with things that are unpleasant, I would say of course you are, you’ve been dealing with unpleasantness your entire life. But this is supposed to be a vacation. We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves. Are you happy, Dean?”

“Here with you? Always, babe.”

Cas huffed his quiet laugh, rubbing his broad hand over Dean’s back. “Yes, you’re very sweet. But would you be happier with me on a couch watching a movie?”

Dean made a sound in his throat. “Can we order sandwiches?”

“We can order whatever you want.”

Dean sighed, pulling away.

“Yeah, okay. We can stay at the B&B, though. I don’t want to drive back until I’ve tried every all you can eat crab place on the strip.”

“Deal.” Cas smiled. “And when Sam and Jody ask about our trip at Christmas, I’ll tell them you were very tough and slept in the sand for days.”

Dean grinned, pulling Cas in for one more kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too. But you’re carrying the cooler: you said it would be lighter when we carried it back but you’ve only drunk two beers so it is not.”

[spnfanficpond]

New Member Spotlight - March 2024

The Pond is always growing and we want to make our new members feel welcome! Here’s a list of recent additions to our fishy family, along with a little info about them!

Guppies, Jellies, and Mutuals, oh, my!

@samanddean76 -

Other SM names? - Same name on AO3 and Discord

OTP? - Wincest and/or J2.

Looking for in the Pond? - To be around other open-minded and creative people so that I can see how far I can be inspired to go with this writing thing.

Pairings you read? - All of it. I love Wincest, Wincestiel, Sabriel, Destiel, Jammy, and J2.

Genres you read? - Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Smut, True Mates, Soul Mates, Unrequited Love, and A/B/O is my favorite way to combine all of the above.

Favorite writer(s)? - nyxocity. She started on LiveJournal with the first episodes to air and transfered a lot to Ao3. Her work in both SPN and SPN RPF is some of the best I've ever read.

What do you like to write? - A/B/O, AU's, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, True Mates, Soul Mates, Revenge, and All The Feels

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Joyous Memories Amongst The Sorrow

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - A full on, hard-core revenge story where nothing is softened, the focus doesn't shift away, and there is no doubt as to what was done. Haven't tried it yet as I'm not sure I'm ready to embrace the darkness required to write it. Also, I don't want to scare off my readers. How you can help? Encourage me to finally tackle that next seemingly impossible challenge.

@kayleighwinchester -

Other SM names? - KayleighWinchester (AO3)

OTP? - Awful as it sounds, Dean and my OC! Beyond that, absolutely Destiel.

Other fandoms? - I'm pretty active in the band Ghost's TikTok fandom! I used to be *huge* into Harry Potter, but that's definitely faded in the last few years. As it stands, Supernatural has definitely become the main obsession.

Looking for in the Pond? - I'm mostly here for the community! My fanfic writing has mostly been just for me and shared with a few close friends in the last few years - publishing it anywhere, especially in the really rough state it's in at present, is super daunting! I'm always looking for more people to bounce ideas off of, chat with, and generally obsess over the show with, as well as finding new stuff to read!

Pairings you read? - I'm especially fond of reader inserts, and they were my first big step into fanfic! When it comes to ships, I tend to stick specifically to Destiel, since it's my OTP, but I'm always willing to branch out!

Genres you read? - I love angst! Writing was, for a long time, my free version of therapy, so reading and writing angst was always a huge thing for me. I also love smut and fluff. ...Essentially, everything. Depends on the mood!

Favorite writer(s)? - I always have to boost TinkerbellBleu on Ao3, even though she isn't active anymore. She wrote an amazing DeanxOC fic, essentially turning episodes 1, 2, and part of 3 into full-length novels. I adore her writing and hope she comes back soon!

What do you like to write? - Most are CharacterxOC, and I have absolutely no self-control, so they are almost always ridiculously long. As it stands, I've been incapable of not just writing a fic that is supposed to span the entire show, because there's just *so many* good moments, good scenes, good storylines, etc. There's never one specific 'theme'; I write everything! I do enjoy writing angst, though.

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - Smut! I've made an *attempt*, but never one that I actually kept. Generally, it comes down to a lack of confidence; I'd love some critiques if I ever get around to it!

@whiskeyjuniper -

Other SM names? - Whiskeyjuniper (AO3)

OTP? - DeanCas, Midam, crackship DeanChuck

Looking for in the Pond? - Sprint buddies!

Pairings you read? - DeanCas, Midam, crackship DeanChuck

Genres you read? - Horror

What do you like to write? - Horror, Weird

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - a happy place to dream about

@bloodydeanwinchester -

Other SM names? - Same name on Discord, alovelyhorror (AO3)

OTP? - Destiel

Looking for in the Pond? - Looking for a place to talk to other writers and participate in sprints.

Pairings you read? - Almost exclusively Destiel

Genres you read? - Angst with a happy ending is my favorite but I also love some good horror. my favorite trope is probably time travel.

Favorite writer(s)? - sobsicles and komodobits on ao3

What do you like to write? - mostly into writing longer destiel canon/canon divergent fics (although i do have an idea or two for aus)

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - When the Night Is Over

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - The thing I'm most focused on wanting to do now is to finish the longer fic that I’m currently working on. I'm struggling with keeping up motivation now that I'm right in the middle of the fic!

@notanotherthembo -

Other SM names? - Same name on Discord

OTP? - Dean/Cassie

Other fandoms? - TWD, TOWL

Looking for in the Pond? - Beta readers, homies, amazing writers to talk shop with

Pairings you read? - Sam/Femme!Reader, DeanCassie, Sam/Dean/Femme!Reader, Wincest

Genres you read? - Smut, Rivals or Enemies to Lovers,

Favorite writer(s)? - @uncouth-the-fifth is the GOAT

What do you like to write? - Crossovers, specifically ones that feature Black femme characters as the romantic lead

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Clap Your Hands If You Believe

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - Reader inserts! I'm working on one right now that I need a beta reader for. I'm also considering finishing up/rewriting an old Spn/True Blood crossover series that I haven't touched in years.

@bigmouthlass -

Other SM names? - darali_starscream (AO3) & Darali (Discord)

OTP? - I write Dean/You, and Dean/Donna should've lived happily ever after.

Looking for in the Pond? - Get a better handle on fandom stuff, meet some other like-minded obsessives.

Pairings you read? - Dean/anyone. He fascinates me.

Genres you read? - Smut to start, anything interesting and well-written.

Favorite writer(s)? - @thoughtslikeaminefield, @sam-is-my-safe-word , @talltalesandbedtimestories, Edge_of_Clairvoyance (AO3), and @rizlowwritessortof

What do you like to write? - They start as smut, and insist on growing plots.

Masterlist!

Most underappreciated fic? - Stairwell Drums

Something you haven't written but would like to try? Why not? How can we help? - I'm trying to get comfortable writing Sam; he's harder for me to feel at ease with. Also slash generally, it doesn't come naturally to me.

That's all for this month, folks! (If we're missing anyone, let us know and we'll add them to next month's list!) Make sure to say hi to the newbies and make them feel welcome! Thanks to all from @manawhaat, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @mariekoukie6661, @thoughtslikeaminefield, @spencereliotwinchester and @heavenssexiestangel!

[castiels-trenchcoat1234]

The more i think about the SPN finale the more i think about Orpheus and Eurydice, and Destiel is a lot like their story in a sense. Two lovers, separated by death and one makes a deal with a higher being to try and rescue/bring back the other, but there's a catch and something goes wrong and they end up separated again

When has that NOT been their dynamic?!

Look at him, this sad depressed sad man, this is directly after Castiel got booted to superhell or like absorbed into the goo. Which honestly I know this post is about Orpheus and Eurydice parallels, I just remembered when Dick or whoever the fuck told Dean that his future was covered in black ooze, that black ooze was definitely the Empty imo, idgas if it was said on the edge of the Leviathan arc. That line was directed at the love confession scene IMO

Anyway...I can't find the exact clip but I actually don't think they follow the story in complete parallel instead I think it's switched or like upside down. Where, at least in this example, the one that dies was the one that made the deal with a higher being. And the one alive is the one that stays and waits to be rescued or beg for their lover back.

They're relationship is complex and that's what I love about it, This relationship is real-er and deeply emotional, Cass is family and a good friend and he saved Dean's life more than once. They've learned things from each other and bonded over the human condition. It's probably deeper than anything dean has ever had (even with Benny). And it's because they come back to each other even when if it would be better for them to stay apart or they're separated by death or a couple state boarders. They come back. And when they don't the one that stayed alive searches for a way to bring them back, or gives up all hope and tries to join them through suicide or suicide missions, because living without the other is worse than death yknow. And honestly I wish i could relate lol.

Having a Greek mythology/mythology in general Hyperfixation that eclipses my Supernatural Hyperfixation is actually going to kill me.