#get an excuse to force you all to see me rt my brothers stuff and publicy argue with each other for fun

[electricpurrs]

heya my twitter is @/computerboyish if anyone wants to follow that too. im not moving im just so mad i feel gross to have tumblr as my only social media rn it shouldnt deserve that much. i want to post stuff somewhere that isnt here cause this place a dystopic wasteland at this point

[boycottyashahime]

Hello! Anti-Sessrin person here. You said if this couple becomes canon it will ruin Sesshomaru's character development. I would love it If you could elaborate on that because you're always so eloquent and smart. It's ok if you don't feel like it, though. Have a nice day!

I've actually been looking for an excuse to sit down and write out a cohesive post on my thoughts about this. Contrary to what the shippers want to believe, my interpretation of Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship doesn't have anything to do with my moral objections to child grooming. I happen to think there's plenty of evidence for a filial interpretation in the text.

First, I'd like to preface my little essay here by saying I'm going off the manga alone. I haven't seen the anime in a long time, because I dropped it when I got a little tired of trying to reconcile the inconsistencies between the two mediums. So, if you read this and have an impulse to say, "hey, what about that thing in episode such-and-such...", keep in mind that I probably just don't remember what you're thinking of.

So, let's go back, alllll the way back, to Sesshoumaru's first appearance. Here's a guy who tears off a dude's head for no other reason than to get the attention of his subordinates to demand a boat. Here's a guy who's spent a long time looking just about EVERYWHERE for his father's remains, not to pay respects, but to plunder them. Here's a guy who feels ENTITLED to rob his dad's grave for treasure he deserves simply for being his father's son.

Sesshoumaru begins his journey as a selfish, spoiled, entitled brat. He doesn't fit the usual profile of a kid throwing a tantrum on the street because he wants the expensive toy sitting in the window; he's very posh and very reserved, but fundamentally, his motivation comes down to the simple fact that he wants Tessaiga. It doesn't even really have anything to do with respect and admiration of his father, otherwise he wouldn't have been so eager to rifle through dear old dad's bones to get at a sword when he had another heirloom right there at his hip. Only Tessaiga was representative of the sheer destructive force he wanted to wield, so he ignored the fact that his dad didn't seem to want him to have it.

This is important, because at first, Sesshoumaru doesn't seem to think of his father in terms of the guy's intentions or the steps he takes for the sake of his sons. Like most rich spoiled kids, Sesshoumaru views the Inu no Taishou in terms of his prestige and how that priviledge can be appropriated for selfish ends. Sesshoumaru wants Tessaiga not because he needs it, but because it's a birthright, and reinforces his legitimacy. When it's clear that Tessaiga seals Inuyasha's youkai blood, keeps him from going berserk, Sesshoumaru loses interest in Tessaiga - it's just a crutch for Inuyasha, and there's no prestige in taking it from him or using it for himself.

Sesshoumaru doesn't start to REALLY consider his father's intentions for the swords until later in the manga, when it comes out that Tenseiga was originally part of Tessaiga, and Inuyasha was meant to get the Meidou Zangetsuha attack eventually as well. It's at this point that Sesshoumaru starts to question if daddy actually HATED him, to give him a rather neat power disguised in a lame shell, but only to develop it so Inuyasha can have it instead, even after Inuyasha already got Tessaiga in the first place. It kind of looks to Sesshoumaru that Inuyasha gets all the powerful cool shit their father left behind, and that there might have been some favoritism coming down HARD on Inuyasha's side.

Above, you can see Sesshoumaru has two interlinked but distinct issues that are addressed throughout the story - his lack of compassion and empathy, and how tied his identity is to his father's favor and prestige. These two are somewhat separated in the narrative; there's a kind of pause in Sesshoumaru's development while a bulk of the middle of the story deals more with other characters and their development, but there is a little bit of a thematic connection between the two halves.

We'll start with the development of Sesshoumaru's compassion since, well, that's where the story begins working on his character. Right before Rin shows up, Toutousai let's Inuyasha's group in on the sword Sesshoumaru carries around and what it does, indicating that Tenseiga requires a compassionate heart to function. A bit ham-handed, but RT isn't very subtle most of the time, so we'll allow it. This sets up the next few scenes in which Sesshoumaru is unable to move and must play captive audience to a little girl doing the literal opposite of what he's used to. Sesshoumaru's habit is to show up and kill things, with no thought to the years of history, relationships, thoughts, emotions, etc that he's snuffing out. But while he's reclined injured in the woods, Rin demonstrates actual LIFE and the preservation of it, that part Sesshoumaru never gets to see. It's made all the starker by how BAD Rin is at caring for herself, let alone the strange monster she found in the woods. She does exactly nothing to help Sesshoumaru, despite how hard she tries, and is even injured by others in her attempts. She is the very picture of vulnerability, the opposite of the strong and capable Sesshoumaru.

This is a stark contrast, because anything less wouldn't be enough to create the necessary awareness of Rin's struggles that Sesshoumaru needs in order to use Tenseiga on here. And I know I've said this before, but I really cannot stress enough how obvious I think the symbolism is when Sesshoumaru uses Tenseiga for the first time; a phallic object gives life to a child, and the object's owner looks after that life throughout the rest of the story. He's not very good at looking after it, and it's clear that he's not sure about taking responsibility for Rin at first, because she pleaded for him to come back for her when he and Jaken left her behind to requisition a sword from Gaijinbou. To me, it's reminiscent of a teenager who knocked someone up, and ended up having to learn to give a crap about the result.

But, even if you don't accept that symbolism as particularly significant, Rin being a child, and human, and weak, unable to survive on her own, are important characteristics to how Sesshoumaru's compassion develops. Sesshoumaru is one of the strongest characters in the series, and he rarely has to worry about his own safety. And since he's in the habit of just murdering everyone he comes across if they're in his way, he's never had to worry about the safety of anyone else, either. When Rin comes into the picture, though, Sesshoumaru is faced with the uncomfortable reality of vulnerability in general. Through her earnest and incompetent attempts to foster survival in a world that can and does crush her, she's opened his eyes to how the disadvantaged, those without a powerful youkai lineage to rely on, have to struggle.

Rin herself has nothing to offer Sesshoumaru within this context of supreme vulnerability. She's not a friend, because she can't offer mutual support or use a skill to their benefit as a team. She's not a lover, because, well, she's a child and sexual/romantic attraction are conditions that wouldn't allow Sesshoumaru to extend his compassion beyond just her. As a mostly helpless kid, Rin has to rely upon Sesshoumaru and his power to survive, and Sesshoumaru employs his strength to keep her alive, getting nothing but a sweet smile out of it all. She gets all the benefits, he has all the obligations. This is PURE compassion - using one's advantages to another's benefit because you care about them, and not because you derive something from it as well.

This is why making Rin into Sesshoumaru's lover is a REALLY thoughtless take. It puts conditions on the compassion and muddies the message.

Moving onto Sesshoumaru's continued character development in the latter part of the story, the sword drama starts back up with slow, when Toutousai shows up and offers to reforge Tenseiga into a weapon. Sesshoumaru discovers that because he got angry enough to break his primary weapon in defense of Kagura's honor, he's triggered the next evolution of Tenseiga into something that can murder. Which is what he wanted at the beginning, yay! I want to point out here that Toutousai says Tenseiga noticed a change in Sesshoumaru's heart - anger for the first time for the sake of another. This implies that what Jaken said about Sesshoumaru getting tangled up in the fight against Naraku because Naraku kidnapping and using Rin to manipulate Sesshoumaru hurt Sesshoumaru's pride is actually accurate; he just really hated the thought of Naraku trying to use him, even if it was a failed attempt.

After going through HELL to develop the Meidou into a full circle (literally), Sesshoumaru then learns that the Meidou belongs to Tessaiga and Inuyasha, and that it's supposed to be handed over. Now, part of Sesshoumaru's angst over this idea, I think, is not just "did daddy love Inuyasha more?", but also the assumption that Inuyasha would have to KILL him in order to retake the Meidou Zangetsuha into Tessaiga. Thinking that your father meant for your little brother to kill you at some point to take your stuff is a pretty disturbing thought, to be entirely fair to him. This is why, when Sesshoumaru jumps into the meidou to take back control of the Naraku-possessed Tenseiga and breaks it deliberately, he spends the rest of the time in there moodily resigned to disappear. He genuinely believes that his father meant for him to die at this point, and even after they get out of there, he seems genuinely depressed.

This is Sesshoumaru's lowest point as a character. He's lost something he thought his father had meant for him, at his father's own wish, and he can't help but question why his dad would give him something just to take it away and give it to Inuyasha. It looks for all the world like favoritism, and since the Inu no Taishou is dead, there's no asking him what the hell the meaning of all this is.

This is all leading to one of the most infuriatingly ridiculous scenes I have ever seen in a manga - when Magatsuhi has crushed Sesshoumaru and everyone thinks he's been killed/absorbed, Magatsuhi is blown apart and rendered unable to reform by the shiny new sword clutched in Sesshoumaru's newly regrown arm. I could talk your ear off about how having Sesshoumaru stop being an amputee is erasure of consequences for his actions, or how being given back an arm is kind of a slap in the face for actual amputees, and where the mother f*ck did that sword come from anyway, but that's not what this essay is about, so I'll just keep all that to myself. The point of this is articulated by Toutousai when he says that Sesshoumaru had to let go of Tessaiga and his father's heirloom to stand on his own as a daiyoukai.

We've already gone over how Sesshoumaru is one of the most powerful characters in the series, who rarely has to worry about his well-being. He's just really strong without having to try. Sesshoumaru had already learned that he didn't need Tessaiga ages ago - he knew this when he learned that Inuyasha needed Tessaiga to keep from tearing himself apart eventually. But when he thought he had been passed down something from his father that was truly meant to be his, only to put all this work into it so that Inuyasha could have it, that embittered him again. It's not that he wanted the sword necessarily, but the thoughts and consideration of his father, who seemed to be putting everything he had into Inuyasha.

But his previous experiences protecting and considering someone (in some cases, multiple someones) weaker than him should have tipped him off. During the very battle in which he got his new arm and sword, he was actively helping those around him avoid Magatsuhi and keeping them close because he had a plan and the strength to carry it out. He was willing to take the extra step to protect Inuyasha and friends before trying to take care of Magatsuhi though, and that was the point. He put everyone else's needs ahead of his own, even Inuyasha's, and he did it without even thinking.

Toutousai just articulated what Sesshoumaru should have already intuitively known by that point. He never needed his father's heirlooms, the swords, his dad's power. They were unnecessary for him from the start. Inuyasha needed a leg up, because his own BODY could kill him after a while. But Sesshoumaru always had the capability of being great on his own. He just needed to finally separate his ego from who his father was and become his own person; stand on his own as a great youkai. While I don't agree with the execution, I can get behind the big lesson - don't rely on your daddy's wealth and influence to prop you up, and do the work to build a personality and identity of your own.

Which is ANOTHER reason why making Rin into a lover would be a thoughtless take. It would walk back Sesshoumaru's final lesson about being his own person apart from his father.

So, there you go. A comprehensive post regarding my take on Sesshoumaru's character development. I could add in a bit about Sesshoumaru coming to understand his father's consideration and the lengths he went to for the sake of protecting Inuyasha by having to give similar consideration to Rin, but I think this post is long enough, and that one statement on that aspect pretty much sums it up. Let me know if you would like me to elaborate on any of this, or if you would like to argue any of the points, I'm up for it. Might take me a minute to respond, mind you, but hopefully it won't take as long as it did to draft this behemoth.

Take care.

[captainextremis]

Tumblr’s fucked up the res on this thing so check the image in full screen if u want the good stuff.

Anyway, a little RTS game came out recently called “Tooth and Tail.” Basically, it boils down to an excuse to make a game about war and cannibalism in a Russian Revolution setting. Is gud gaem.

So naturally, I’m starting a fanfic of it. Kill me.

The Road to Hell, Part 1

Under thundering skies, the rain poured down on the cold stone of the pathways cutting in between the chapels and apartments of Levacaloo. The water washed down the stone spires, as cold and uncaring as those who feasted and left the rest to starve. But soon, that mindset would be no more. Bellafide would make sure of it.

Although he hated getting his coat wet or otherwise dirty, he hated the clergy more, and couldn’t wait to see their terrified faces as he stormed into their sacred chapels when they had gorged themselves, and were too fat to run away. His scowl became more set into his brow. And then we feast on them.

“Heyyy, uh...boss…?”

Arroyo shot a glance to his right. A ferret marched alongside him, toting his mobile artillery launcher on his back. He pursed his lips and continued, “...You okay…? You look more...angry...than usual.”

Arroyo brought his gaze forward. “No, no, Ardin. Not angry. Just...determined,” he replied. No one else would talk to him; there was nothing to discuss. The Longcoats had entrenched themselves in The Bonepits using the piles of bones left behind by the many feasts as barriers, hidden traps, and even their own warrens. Arroyo knew that after this, there was no returning from the path he set himself and his army down. But he felt no regret, or even uncertainty. He was doing this for Junior. He might not have been able to give his son a proper funeral, but he could certainly give him a proper sendoff.

The army strode up more of the dozens of stone stairways until they found a flatter stretch of land, covered in bullet hives. Above, Arroyo could see the silhouettes of the falcons circling overhead. He stopped and retreated a few steps, just to be sure he and his men weren’t in their range of vision. Arroyo, the Freight Union, the Distillery Brothers, and his own Wing Demons.

He looked around. His troops were crouching down on the steps, some huddled together, some looking up into the sky. A few of the squirrels were taking extra shots from their bottles of orn. Arroyo huffed and motioned for everyone to get as close as possible. “Whatcha need, boss? Whatcha want us to do?” one of the Brothers asked.

“All of you boys,” he said, pointing to the squirrels, “stay back. The Freight Union will fire on the bullet hives the Civilized. You stay behind them and harass the Wing Demons.”

“Thought that was our job, sir,” said one of the falcons, landing on the ground a few feet to Arroyo’s right.

“It is,” he replied, “We need to get into the feasting halls as fast as lightning while taking as few casualties as possible. Once that happens…” Arroyo trailed off.

Another ferret grinned. “Once that happens, we eat,” he cried.

This remark was met with wild cheering, and Arroyo knew that if the Wing Demons didn’t hear it first, his army would get too impatient and charge without him. So with that in mind, Arroyo stood himself up and with steely will, marched forward. His troops followed him happily, and a few of the more inebriated squirrels started firing their revolvers at the opposing falcons while they were still dozens of feet away. And once they had the Civilized’s attention, they kept it.

“It’s the traitor! Don’t let them through! All fighters, fire at will!” One of the falcons issued their orders, and soon, the rain stopped falling on the ground, because it was all being blocked by hundreds of falcons, flying right at the Longcoat army that stood in defiance of them and all they stood for.

Many of the Wing Demons dipped low and the machine guns started firing as they began conducting hit and run tactics. It was successful, at the start, as they killed off a majority of the squirrels who were too drunk to know what was happening, as well as killing a few more ferrets. However, once Arroyo’s Wing Demons came in, the Civilized soldiers were too busy dealing with them to focus fire on the ground forces.

Arroyo looked up at the dogfight, and the few bodies that were falling every so often. He had to slap a few wrists to keep his soldiers from dragging the carcass away immediately and getting distracted of course, but otherwise, he marched forward with the Freight Union and the remaining Distillery Brothers at his side. He outpaced his army and the first line of machine guns began firing at him, but the ferrets all started launching dozens of volleys at the encampments, and one by one, the bullet hives crumbled.

The Longcoats marched forward, through ever thicker machine gun fire. Those who hadn’t died from being riddled with bullets were, at the very least, bleeding profusely from seven or more puncture wounds; not even Arroyo was exempt from this rule.

He clutched at his arm, shot in three places just below the shoulder. He and his soldiers had pushed through most of the lines of machine guns, but he could see, coming over the hill, that their battle wasn’t done yet. The Morning Light Croakers hopped fervently over the hills, croaking a litany of prayers and curses on Arroyo’s name. He looked down at his shoulder and grunted, “I’ve been hit harder,” before running ahead.

“Forward…!”

Bellafide’s rallying cry called his troops of squirrel pistoliers and ferret artillery back to his side, instilling the resolve that only the leader of the Longcoats could give. In a wave of shouting, they surged forward through the unrelenting hail of bullets, a glint of hunger in each and every one of their eyes. The Longcoats met the Civilized forces and while the initial clash allowed some of the toads to blow themselves up safely, most after that were no more than bloody paste on the ground before the fuse could even hit powder.

Archimedes stood on the steps of one of the ancient buildings that surrounded the Monastic Gardens, gazing out solemnly at the darkened sky, lit periodically by the dull orange of muzzle flashes and black-powder explosions in the distance. He sighed deeply.

He had warned them, all of them. The lower clergy had simply waved him off and continued feasting. Archimedes snorted, wiped his brow, and marched down the steps with the few pigeons, skunks, and toads he could muster. “Follow,” he commanded in his aging, raspy voice.

“Great Missionary,” a toad by his side croaked as he hopped in stride with Archimedes, “you haven’t told us your plan to drive the traitors out.”

Archimedes sighed as he kept marching. “Ah, my child...my plan was not to drive the Longcoats away in the first place,” he explained. “We are simply going to try and kill as many of them as possible, so that we may still feast in the desert.”

“Wffr mmgkin uffghtn rtruht?” a skunk mumbled.

“Take your mask off, my son, no one can understand what’s coming out of your mouth.”

The AFB soldier promptly lifted his mask up and restated his question. “We’re making a fighting retreat?”

Archimedes turned his head and deadpanned. “Not a retreat. A debilitating skirmish.” They marched forward along the stone paths until they came to an area on the main roads that still needed some defenses. Archimedes immediately set about planting Tremormines at the foremost chokepoints, two narrow pathways between the piles of bones.

He returned to his followers, still standing at attention and alert. All that was left to do was wait, and the Longcoats made sure they didn’t wait long. They heard the numerous boots hitting the pavement before they even saw any blue peek the sightlines, but once they so much as saw the bushy tail of one of the Distillery Brothers, Archimedes cried out, “Strike!”

Dozens of skunks began launching gas directly on top of them, and Archimedes instructed his troops to move forward and fire back. They did so, lobbing gas volleys over and over. As to be expected from the traitors, they pushed forward and into Archimedes’ territory, and were hit with both the explosions of four Tremormines, two on each chokepoint, and multiple suicide runs from the Morning Light Croakers. Their sacrifices yielded large chunks of meat that the pigeons and skunks would try to drag away as quickly as they could while still firing their weapons; some of them died that way.

Archimedes had little, if any, time to strategize. He had to focus on killing as many of the Longcoats as possible. In theory, it would be simple, considering Arroyo had so many troops on his bankroll. However, that was also the problem, as hundreds more ferrets and squirrels came streaming into the narrow entrance to the Civilized section of the Bonepits, supported by hit-and-runs by dozens of falcons left over from the initial attack. They swooped in from the darkened skies, firing their guns as brazenly as possible, bullets riddling the ground just as much as their targets.

The toads continued throwing themselves at the Longcoats’ front lines, detonating and sending dozens of conscripted soldiers to black-powder graves while The AFB troops shot gas bombs into the chokepoints. The Longcoats marched through, and some ended up choking to death.

This didn’t stop the tide, however. The Longcoats simply kept coming, and it became obvious to Archimedes that he would have to retreat sooner, rather than later. “Hold!” he called as he marched out. He directed the toads to stand in position at the forefront, allowing them to run a shorter distance before detonating themselves, and built several backup warrens to allow The AFB and the Volunteers to resupply as needed. Under the constant hail of gunfire, it was a difficult task, but it was done. Archimedes stood outside the last warren he could make as the Operators swiftly built it up from the ground. “Excellent,” he muttered to himself, “This will buy me time…”

“Great Missionary!” Archimedes brought his head up and nearly jumped out of his skin. A pigeon fluttered down and perched on the warren, which was being reinforced at this point. “The Longcoats just...just keep pouring in! What are your orders?”

He was silent for a moment, but spoke with whatever wisdom he could muster in a pitched battle. “Child, you must hold as long as you can. Pass these words along to the rest of the Civilized forces,” he articulated.

As he turned around to plan a fast escape route, the pigeon asked again, “What about you, Great Missionary? What will you be doing?”

“Ah…” He paused, then quickly explained, “I will venture out to see if there are any other Civilized who yet live, and I will return to reinforce our numbers.” The pigeon nodded intensely and then flew back to the front lines with a retreating call of “Come back quickly, sir!”

Archimedes watched her go and sighed in relief. Then, he ran. He ran in the opposite direction as fast as he could. After all, a few hundred soldiers could be replaced easily; loyalty was relatively cheap these days, going for three meals a day and a roof over one’s head. His own life, however, was the only thing keeping the Civilized together. Him, and Sage Marro. He tore through The Bonepits, the thunder of distant gunfire still ringing out across the city. Archimedes was only thankful that the Longcoats hadn’t pushed further in, as getting into the countryside would be easy, even without the use of the Warrens. He just had to run a bit further…

He rounded a corner, and saw only a pole swing out to meet him. Archimedes felt it hit him in the face before it actually landed, and he was sent backward, and sprawled out on the ground. There was no time to even come to grips with the pain, as Bellafide himself, who had been waiting for the Great Missionary to show his crooked face, proceeded to roar with a fury long-repressed, and swung his own flag again in an overhead strike, determined to break Archimedes’ skull open. Archimedes countered as fast as he could, holding up his own flag to block the blow.

Arroyo was so dead set on choking the life out of Archimedes that he didn’t expect the old coot to kick him in the stomach, sending him stumbling back when the wind got knocked out of him. It allowed Archimedes to struggle to his feet, coughing and trying to numb the throbbing pain in his temples by sheer force of will as he jogged away as fast as he could.

Naturally, when Arroyo saw that, he wasn’t having any of it. “You’ll pay for what you did to my son, you hypocrite!” he yelled after Archimedes. He charged forward, still screaming, but his hatred blinded him to the fact that Archimedes might not be done. Despite the beatdown, Archimedes turned around and used that momentum to swing his banner in a wide arc. It smashed into Bellafide, sending him careening to his left and smashing into a pile of bones. They came down like an avalanche.

Arroyo was far from dead, or even out cold, but his vision was blurry, the world was spinning, and he could feel his nose bleeding. All he knew for certain was that Archimedes, from where he was standing was smiling. It wasn’t the smile of a kind minister either; it was the condescending smile that the Civilized wore whenever a new course was chosen for the Harvest. “I have seen what you have become,” he said, “and it is delicious. I can’t wait to savor it one day.”

Before Arroyo could stammer out a counter, Archimedes had run off. He couldn’t say he was surprised; the Civilized might have a garrison under their jurisdiction, but the clergy would never fight for themselves. He eventually regained the strength to stand up, brush his coat off, and look back into the horizon, filled with smoke and dimming fires rising up over the piles of bones. He grinned mirthlessly.

They had a garrison, at least.

As he stared back at the chaos unfolding behind him, he felt nothing inside but a burning determination to end the war before it could even gain momentum. He pivoted and marched out of Levacaloo, leaving the Longcoats to feast on what remained of his army. He knew, however, they wouldn’t set foot in the Gardens yet. The rest of the clergy would keep them full long enough for him to regrow his follower count.

[formerdestielshipper-blog]

Rant of a Recent Former Destiel Shipper

I am destiel shipper...a moderate one. I always enjoyed my ship through fanarts and fanfics on my own, without disturbing anyone with it. I always enjoyed SPN for what the show is: a story about two brothers, one angel and now a (former, maybe) nephilim fighting supernatural evil to save the world with the help of their family, blood-related or not. I always stayed out of fandom drama in general, especially the ones related to ships, because I refused to let that ruin the fun for me regarding my ship and SPN in general. But – even so – it was hard not to see a lot of them, since they always kept popping up on my TL because some of my followers – also destiel shippers – RT them, answered them or caused them. But I always did my best to just ignore them. I ship destiel, but I never wanted it to become canon because romance – heterosexual or LGBTQ + - isn’t what the show is about. I know destiel will never be canon and I’m cool with that.

With the recent events, I realized keeping silence about it was being conivent  with the harassment, blame shifting, hate (tagged and untagged) against the SPN cast and crew and fans of the show who ship a different ship or that don’t ship anyone, pushing that ship on the cast and crew on conventions and on SM. I realized it would be very hypocritical of me disagreeing with that kind of behavior coming from shippers of other ships, but not having the same reaction when said behavior comes from the same segment of the fandom I’m part of.

I’m not comparing the level of abhorrent behavior of some destiel shippers (the hardcore ones) with the abhorrent behavior of bronlies/tinhats or even defending them, because the attitudes of the latter are borderline psychotic/psychopathic that truly makes me worry about the safety of the cast, their families, friends and coworkers and some professional help would be really beneficial for them if they didn’t think they weren’t doing anything wrong…but I digress.

I saw some accounts – some of them really popular among the fandom and with a considerable amount of followers – calling out on the awful behavior of bronlies/tinhats and asking for those who are fans of J2, to regulate them and expose them, report them when they see bronlies/tinhats sending hate against the cast, crew, their families and friends instead of turning the blind eye. But this request of them will fall on deaf years, since they don’t do the same thing.

Lead by example. Practice what you preach. There’s no use you asking other people that if you don’t do the same thing yourself. You obviously know that some destiel shippers do harass and send hate against the cast and crew, tagged or not.  And yet, you’re not vocal about it. The same way bronlies/tinhats attack even the actors’ charities (RA and YANA), I’ve seen plenty of destiel shippers attacking Jared’s AKF campaign over the years.

Tweeting a very superficial message when that happens or ignoring it completely doesn’t help anyone, just validate their awful behavior and they will never realize what they’re doing is wrong. Do with them the same thing you do with the bronlies/tinhats: expose them, ask them to stop because what they’re doing isn’t cool, and report them if necessary. Make them accountable just like you make bronlies/tinhats accountable.

It would be like if I called out the Star Wars fandom for being toxic against the SW cast and directors and ignoring the exact same behavior in SPN Family, by sweeping all the dirt under the rug, just because I’m part of the fandom.

Many of destiel shippers still falsely accuse Jensen of being homophobic/biphobic based on a bad edited video that was posted 5 years ago, that was taken out of context and many still believe Jensen meant to offend the fan even when said fan broke her silence once she found out her name was being used to foment those accusations against Jensen, by telling the fandom what truly happened at that panel. I could see those false accusations and attacks against Jensen again after that click bait article that was full of inaccuracies and lies against some SPN actors came to the surface.

And don’t even get me started on the hate and false accusations of being homophobic/biphobic Jensen got from a lot of destiel shippers just because he said destiel doesn’t exist on the show…which is true, since the ship isn’t canon.

I saw hate – tagged and untagged – being sent against Jared from some destiel shippers (some of them weren’t even at the con, I might add) because he “crashed” the JenMish panel at JIBCon. After all, how dare Jared participate in a panel that he was probably invited to by Jensen and Misha themselves, right? (insert sarcasm here, please).They sent hate against Daniela too, for that same reason among others aka prohibiting shipping questions and ship fanarts, specially the NSFW ones in order to avoid fandom drama in an event that’s supposed to be fun for everyone and to avoid the cast being uncomfortable by such things. You don’t have to agree with Daniela’s rules about the con she organizes, but the moment you buy the ticket, you have to follow them instead of acting like a petulant child to the point of attacking her and one of the three leads of SPN.

Over the years, I saw watching the con panels at YouTube, destiel shippers asking shipping questions to Jensen, Jared, Misha, Samantha Smith, etc., which is considered pushing your ship on the cast. I saw destiel shippers accusing the showrunners, producers, writers, actors, even Kripke of homophobia and queerbaiting just because destiel wasn’t canon.  This has been going on for almost a decade.

The recent episode about the destiel stickers proves exactly that. They aren’t just stickers, they represent a ship and distributing that around is exactly pushing destiel on the fans and even on the cast, since the person in question isn’t going to even bother asking if the people she’s going to give those stickers to at Denver are shippers, let alone destiel shippers too. That attitude is similar - in a way - to fanatic religious people that shove their religion on other people by giving them pamphlets without having the decency to ask those people if they are interested in the first place. By doing so, that person is creating more drama and divide in a fandom that is already divided. Not to mention she’s violating a Creation rule about not bringing shipping related stuff to their cons. It’s the same thing that I said about Daniela and JIBCon: if you buy a ticket to a Creation con, you have to follow their rules, even when not agreeing with them. Just because you paid hundreds of dollars for their ticket, it doesn’t give you the right to do whatever you want at the event at the expense of others. Respect is mutual and it isn’t unconditional.

About the queerbaiting, destiel shippers are queerbaiting themselves by demanding a fanon ship to become canon and then being disappointed when that doesn’t happen one season after the other.

I’m LGBTQ+ myself and shipping destiel helped me a lot at being comfortable with my sexual orientation. I consider LGBTQ+ representation to be very important, but I also believe that representation can’t be pushed or used as prop to force a LGBTQ+ ship on a show, especially when the characters of that ship aren’t LGBTQ+, canonically speaking.

LGBTQ+ representation has to happen naturally in order to be convincing, in order to have good and convincing LGBTQ+ characters. And SPN had plenty of good and convincing LGBTQ+ characters over 13 seasons and I don’t mean by that only Charlie and Chuck. SPN had almost 30 LGBTQ+ characters in 13 seasons and destiel shippers ignore those characters or dismiss them just because the canonically heterosexual two characters they ship aren’t amongst them. Maybe those destiel shippers should revaluate if their worry about LGBTQ+ representation on SPN is legit or it’s just something they use as an excuse/blackmail to demand destiel becomes canon.

Other thing that bothers about some destiel shippers. One thing is – outside the show – having the interpretation that two heterosexual characters are LGBTQ+ in order to enjoy fanfics and fanarts, it’s okay. What’s not okay is distorting lines, scenes and even answers of actors whose characters they play for a decade or more (therefore knowing said character better than you ever will) just to fit your destiel agenda. Or worse, ignoring the answers of the actors and even Kripke himself when their answers refute your arguments about destiel. Kripke created those characters. Jensen and Misha play Dean and Cas for years…the three of them know those characters well and way better than you. None of your mental gymnastics, twisting and the incorrect use of the meanings of subtext and archetypes and appeal to fanmade theories will change that. You are basically letting your destiel shipper brains cloud your judgment.

Keep it in your minds that subtext is in the eye of the beholder and your personal interpretation of the characters and how you perceive them will not always coincide with the official view and plans the showrunners, writers and creator of the show have for the characters and their stories. That’s why fanfics exist: so you can read and/or write your own personal interpretation of those characters and how you want their story to be. If you’re going to use subtext as evidence for “my ship is canon” argument, the same thing goes for all the other ships this fandom has, including that one that makes you cringe (believe me, that ship makes me cringe too).

That being said, something that used to bring me joy and helped me in so many ways lost all the fun for me. You won. You managed to turn something beautiful into something ugly and that makes some people hate the character or even the actors who play them due to your very insisting, annoying and hypocritical behavior.

I’ll still continue to enjoy SPN for what the show really is: a story about two brothers, one angel and now a (former, maybe) nephilim fighting supernatural evil to save the world with the help of their family, blood-related or not. I will still continue to love and support the cast and the crew. I will always be thankful for them to making such an amazing and magical show. I will always be thankful for the actors for bringing to life the characters I love and cherish since I watched the show for the first time years ago. I will always be thankful to all of them for sharing the BTS and even a small part of their personal lives with us. I’m thankful for the amazing and positive fans – shippers and non-shippers - I met both online and on IRL and for them being part of my life. But I’ll no longer be a destiel shipper. Thanks for reading and please, be kind…always.

A Former Destiel Shipper.