#honestly i thought crowley was so silly for that until i remembered that i literally did the Same Thing

[berniewolfes]

i'd like to say i don't understand how crowley could miss a move as obvious as aziraphale's 😉 there must be something i can do for you in return 😉 in the car while they're driving through the blitz, but actually once i was driving a girl home (not through the blitz) and she talked the whole time about how she'd been recently thinking about dating girls but was nervous that she'd never kissed a girl. and then when i parked outside of her house to drop her off she paused for a very long time before even taking off her seat belt and then looked at me real shy and Tucked Her Hair Behind Her Ear, and i was like okay byee! and i was more than half way home before i was like OOHHHHHHH fuck.

anyway all this to say, people may think crowley was dumb for that, and he was (and i was) but he's also just a girlie out here trying his best. im sure on the drive home post candle-lit wine date that night he too was like, 'oh he was COMING ON TO ME'. and then he had to contemplate that for the next 80 or so years.

[destielfanfic]

I don't get why people are so upset. I mean Crowley's character has been stagnant for a while and though I loved him (and Mark more so) where else could his chara go? While Luci ( and his arc) has been wildly OOC and awful, most the eps of 12 have been better than 9-11, and an AU world to explore has SO MANY possibilities! Yeah Cas died, but we all know he's not staying dead. I've not been excited for a premier since 1-5 and I can honestly say I am looking forward to 13

about this post

Some people are excited about S13 and some people are devastated. Both are valid and we can agree to disagree as long as it is done respectfully. That said, your post struck a chord because we are seeing “Yeah Cas died, but” and “SO MANY possibilities [in S13]”, going hand-in-hand with the idea that being negative about S12/13 is somehow wrong or misguided and must be corrected. 

The DFF mods are with the OP and many other Cas fans who have strong negative feelings about the S12 finale. Those feelings are valid. The list of reasons to not trust SPN writers to skillfully deal with the fallout of the S12 finale is as long, if not longer than the list of all the positive possibilities. We know, we’ve kept receipts.  And so we shared OP’s ask, empathized (“Friend, we feel ya”), and provided some links to feel good posts.

We are aware that there are folks like yourself excited about S12/13 and that’s cool. Be Free to Squee on your blog!!! But what we are also seeing in some corners of fandom that is not cool is dismissing the feelings of those who don’t agree with them or schooling them on how they should feel. Through the years Cas fans have had to deal with their feelings and love for this character being dismissed, disregarded and belittled by different fractions of SPN fandom. So when Castiel Angel of Thursday, with the crack in his chassis and too much heart gets stabbed in the back and is left lying in the dirt in the final moments of the finale, listing all the reasons to be happy really doesn’t help. 

Remember, a little compassion goes a long way. 

But since you and so many other fans have said “ Yeah Cas died, but we all know he’s not staying dead.” here’s a short list of some other times when fandom said “Cas/Misha will be fine!” and TPTB answered with “What show are you watching?” 

Heavy spoilers for seasons 7-12 and season 13 speculation under the cut

Unlike Dean and Sam fans, Cas fans get only some 10+ episodes per season and we never know when Cas will be on the show. If you include hiatus breaks, Cas fans can go for a very long time without knowing what’s up with our favorite angel. And very often we want to believe that the show will give Cas exciting story line but well… 

- Remember when after the season 6 finale fans thought that Cas would be fine in season 7 and couldn’t believe that 7x02 was his final scene? It is pretty much acknowledged now that it was supposed to be permanent death.

- Remember when after season 8 finale so many fans hoped that human Cas would settle in the bunker and we would  get our TFW episodes just like 8x08? That post-8.23 hiatus was full of excitement and discussions about human Cas in the bunker. Fic writers and fanartists came together as a group to write The Pillow Verse, reflecting the anticipation for human!cas.  After so many years of being told that angel Cas is too powerful to be around Winchesters all the time, finally he was human! Instead, 9x03 happened and we just had to swallow the “Cas is having meaningless hetero sex” pill followed by the “noncon/dubcon” reveal. Remember thinking, well at least he is now safe in the bunker? That lasted one commercial break. 

- Remember when after the season 9 finale fans speculated about confrontation between angel Cas and demon Dean and how great it would be? It all came down to two short scenes in 10x03 after which Cas left bunker. Again.

- Remember when the show promoted the 200th episode (10x05) and nobody even doubted that Misha will be included? Fans had to ask CW PR person directly to confirm that no, Misha won’t be in this tribute to fandom episode, but “Cas” would. 

- Remember when fans believed that saving Dean from Mark of Cain in season 10 will showcase Cas’ importance? Angel grace was in the title card for crying out loud?! We just have to watch all Cas-less episodes and then, in the finale, Cas will save Dean! Instead we got allusions to Dean and Crowley’s summer of love and Dean beating the crap out of Cas in 10x22. In 10x23, Cas was discarded by both Winchesters and left in a ditch like a mad dog, literally. That hiatus broke a lot of Cas fans.

- Remember when Cas fans were ridiculed for doubting that he would be part of the S11 mid-season finale? Well. He wasn’t. Just as he wasn’t important in myth arc heavy episodes before season 12 finale. 

- Remember when S11 led us to believe that Cas’ depression would be finally addressed, and that Dean and Sam would save him from Lucifer? Yup, didn’t happen, Cas was expendable after all.

- Remember when so many Cas fans were concerned about Cas fate in the S12 finale and yet their concern was dismissed by elements in the destiel fandom itself? Looking back at S12, it is painfully clear how well Cas’ death was foreshadowed. And yet, Cas fans were called silly or scolded about being too negative. 

And now, after the season 12 finale and NINE years on the show, we can’t even celebrate Misha’s 100th episode (12x23) because we just don’t want to think about it. Here’s couple of Cas 100 episodes gif sets without Cas’ final scene (x, x). Yes, that’s an important factor for us when reblogging gif sets.

So, no, as we’re writing this post, June, 2017, we do not know if, when, for how long and in what capacity Cas/Misha will be back on the show. We know that Misha is involved with episode 13x16. That’s it. Will our Cas be back in 13x01 or in 13x17 or only for hot five minutes in 13x23? Will it all be flashbacks? It may not matter to other fans, but to us it makes a tremendous difference. And it makes for a very stressful hiatus.

And even if Cas/Misha will be back sooner rather than later, there’s plenty of ways a TV show can bring back a character and its actor and still screw over fans. Just remember Cordelia Chase from Angel TS, season 4 or how the TV show Fringe handled the doppelganger story of their main character. Heck, ask how Sam fans liked watching the soulless Sam story line in real time.

So, for the last time, please don’t dismiss, shame or make light of Cas fans feelings of distress and devastation because “he surely will be back pfff” or “the show is about Sam and Dean!”, or because “nobody is really dead on SPN” (yeah, lol, tell that to Jo, Ellen, Kevin, Benny and Charlie). Believe us, we KNOW that Cas is not a major character on the show. And that is exactly why we are afraid of his mistreatment. 

Until 13x01 arrives, we have to go on with his final scene etched in our eyes. If you love the show because it evokes strong emotions, then respect those emotions even if you don’t share them.

This is the only post DFF is making about S13 speculations, if you want to talk more, flyingcatstiel’s ask box is open.  We’ll talk in October about S13 and where we go from there.