#i will continue regurgitating my dead takes into empty space lol

[dumbkiwi]

to clarify: i love blackbonnet as the endgame for the show.

but i really dont like a lot of blackbonnet fanon bc i think so many ppl miss the mark on stede. forget "darling" "my love" etc. what happened to "Ed, do you know this guy? He's being a complete asshole!" <3 let him be a bitch!!

moreover - stede is consistently shown to be so incredibly selfish. as his #1 character trait. swede has scurvy? cake wasnt that good anyways. Mary hates the fucking ocean? wasn't listening. remorse only comes when he's having a ~spooky mormon hell dream~ and he feels bad, more out of a fear of retribution than anything. Ed seems antsy and riled up? time to solve this with an adventure that makes him obviously miserable! even if he's saying he's doing it for someone else, he's doing it to ease his own conscience or bc it's what he would have wanted to do anyways.

basically, i think that stede doen't necessarily have blinding self-confidence, but in spite of his insecurities he remains just. so not self-aware and entitled. he's ridiculously bold in demanding things so people tend to give into what he wants, so he's never really told no. whenever he is, this is viewed as an obstacle to overcome/win. (see: the fuckery) he's truly shocked when he's disliked, never questions his own judgement or ideas, and expects everyone in a space to mold themselves around him. he doesn't listen to what most people say unless it'll have a direct effect on him ("that's a bit advanced for you mate" from his favorite person, or "i think he's more than up to the challenge" from his least favorite person?) and only feels remorse or guilt because he feels bad for himself -- never because of what hes put the other person through. stede bonnet lives in a world where he is the main character and everyone else (the people he loves included) are NPCs; he never once thinks that he affects other people in the way that they affect him.

and that makes him a fantastic pair for ed, because Ed *loves* selfish people. 1) it gives him something to play off of bc he's a social chameleon with adhd cant relate wym ; 2) everyone treats him with such reverence, putting him on a pedestal, and it's gotta be so refreshing to be around people who treat him like Just Some Guy. so then when ed in turn is bitchy or bratty or what have you, theyll treat him like a person and not like Blackbeard Hates Me; 3) Ed wants to be wanted, and selfish people want. it's the praise kink thing lol. being treated as blackbeard is incredibly isolating, and most people view him as a threat or unattainable ((or probably expect ed as pursuer)). but in front of izzy and stede and jack, who make their desires SO clear, ed can show off and preen. he is the object of desire, and that's just fun

not saying that stede jack or izzy dont respect ed, but their self interests will always come before eds well being. izzy expects so much from ed -- and if eds not stacking up, especially if izzy perceives his life hanging in the balance, he'll jump ship! jack doesn't give a shit that ed cares about stede. obvs you can say that he was on a mission, but he doesnt show any remorse for fucking with ed's happiness. and stede is completely unafraid to demand things of ed, too. i'm not even talking about going back to mary. the fuckery, questioning izzy's authority (instead of thinking that there might be a reason this seasoned sailor is taking issue with his judgement), not listening to what ed is saying about wanting to retire/just fold socks.

so idk i think what im trying to say is. the blackbonnet dynamic has so much potential to be bizarre and cool and interesting. but so many ppl only acknowledge this side of stede when izzy's thrown into the mix cause hes so hurtable. even when they want angst, use kraken!ed, which i think is such wasted potential. instead of forgiving stede for his actions, why not take his self-imposed ignorance as a form of malice!! he hurts people because he does not actually care about them! he's weirdly paternalistic and condescending to EVERYONE unless he sees himself as the victim. There are 33 works tagged 'Stede Bonnet has Issues' on AO3. 33!!! there are 300+ fics tagged 'Israel Hands has issues'. there is SO MUCH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL HERE.

some blackbonnet ideas below the cut, both sfw and nsfw, to get the ball rolling (maybe me @ myslf idk)

in general: ed taking on izzy's arm candy with a gun/queen of hell role as stede kinda takes over the captaincy. conflict between stede and kraken!ed when stede returns, but stede is pissed that ed doen't immediately accept his apology. play stede wanting one aspect of ed so fiercely against ed's fear of rejection. possessive stede in general, but also ed not immediately buckling

for nfsw! stede inflicting overstim torture. dubcon with stede not understanding/willfully ignoring boundaries and ed realizing that like izzy his boundaries are also malleable, and stede taking advantage of that. pillow princess or power bottom stede and service top ed. so many mind games. ed and stede both trying to out-dom each other fjeialfj.

[winchestersingerautorepair]

A Rift Between

A Brief(-ish) History of Dean, Cas, & Rifts

Let’s talk about rifts for a moment. And when I say rifts, I don’t mean their personal disagreements -- if I were to be discussing that, this post would be less of a brief history and more of a thesis paper. 

No, I’m talking about rift rifts. As in, actual, literal tears in the spacetime continuum. They are littered across the whole run of this show, and we’ve recently had two whole seasons devoted to them. So, the sudden reappearance of rift-adjacent plotlines carries with it a weighty load of textual relevance.

Dean and Castiel’s relationship arc, a fan favorite, began when Leviathans, the notorious fan-unfavorite, came into the picture. 

No, Maeve! Dean and Castiel’s relationship arc began in season 4, not 7! Cas was barely even in season 7! 

Well, let me explain. Season 7, the age of Sera Gamble, was a total show reset. Was it uncomfortable? Yes. Did we all hate it? Yes. But like with muscle, you’ve got to tear through the old before you can develop something new, and Season 7 did this job quite effectively. An identity crisis at that scale means either a massive change of pace or a creative death, and as the show is still on, number one it is. 

So, while we can most reliably chart the beginning of an intentional, substantive romantic undercurrent to Season 8, it is the waiting that allowed it to come to fruition-- Season 7 was a void, an unsustainable period of creative drought, a long cold winter in which seeds fell and laid dormant. And like the winter, it was necessary for rebirth.

This brings me to the first DeanCas rift: 

~~

The Purgatory Spell

Episode: 7x01

This tear in spacetime was the culmination of Castiel’s Season 6 character arc. It was the final, greatest betrayal, the irredeemable course of action which struck his relationship with the Winchesters a fatal blow-- and though his last act was to attempt to right his wrongs, the emergence of this rift meant estrangement and death for the relationship (and for Castiel.)

This incident is established as far more significant for Dean than it is for Sam, so I won’t spend much time justifying my classification of this rift as primarily DeanCas. It’s made pretty damn clear through Dean’s behavior throughout Season 7.

Castiel’s departure catalyzed the emergence of Leviathans. As the lore promised, they brought death and destruction to the whole ecosystem, purging the show and readying it for reincarnation; but I’ve already made this point.

As Destiel 1.0 dies, Destiel 2.0 is born.

~~~

The Purgatory Portal

Episode: 8x07

Let us journey back to "A Little Slice of Kevin"-- the gayest thing to happen to Supernatural up to that point. Suddenly, Dean and Cas’s ambiguity is no longer a joke. It’s no longer flippantly referenced, but Built Into The Narrative In A Noticeable Way. After Season 7, Season 8 shocked the system, earning Purgatory celebrity status as the Destiel fandom exploded back to life. 

But, more important things. The events surrounding this portal not only codified romantic subtext, but reshaped their relationship by putting it in grave peril. Lovers trapped in separate worlds. There’s only like ten thousand examples of this in other fictional, romantic(-ally coded) relationships. Sigh.

As Destiel 2.0 dies, Destiel 3.0 is born.

~~~

Seasons 9, 10, and 11 are filled with near misses. Divisions between worlds/fates test and change their bond -- Heaven and Hell exert tremendous force on both, and the gates of Heaven and the Darkness’s breach of barriers flirt pretty openly with the rift theme -- but there isn’t anything that fits the profile cut and dry, so let us leap to Season 12. Five long years of glacial shifts, five long years of a slow, steady amping up of queer subtext. An argument can be made that it had graduated from subtext in some places, but both fandom and GA were frog-boiled enough in their interpretations for this argument to be an aside.

Destiel 3.0 reaches a transitional stage, and becomes Destiel 3.0+.

Now, It’s season 12. And like goddamned CLOCKWORK, six years after Season 6, another unstable tear in spacetime appears, and terminates Castiel’s character arc.

Rift? Check. Cas dead? Check. We’ve seen this pattern. Time for shit to CHANGE. And boy, did it.

~~~

The Rift

Episode: 12x23

Oh, boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Castiel’s death in the Season 12 finale was a magnum opus of SPN’s romantically coded imagery. I could elaborate, but if you’ve read this far into this post you likely already know what I’m talking about. My point is, a hall of mirrors is the chosen space in which Destiel 3.0+ is killed. 

The relationship death lasts only a short while; their estrangement in separate realms is a five episode-long period of detachment and review. Our characters, as well as the viewers, stride through a hall of mirrors. In solitude, this DeanCas winter becomes a chance to reflect, because there is no better way to get a feel for the importance of something than to eliminate it. The crucial elements of Dean and Cas’s relationship, what they mean to each other, becomes clearer than ever before because, look! This is Dean without Cas! This is the show without Cas! Don’t you hate it?

I mean, guys. Mirrors. Cas spoke to a reflection of himself in the Empty. Literally. He addressed his greatest fears about relationships with himself. He was forced to rewatch his greatest mistakes, and what gets featured? Our first two DeanCas rifts. F*ck this show.

DreamHunter parallel! 13x10 reenacted this scene for us with Claire and Kaia. 

Then, 13x05 changes the whole game once more. You know, the episode titled Thanatology. The study of Death. Fuck this show.

As Destiel 3.0+ dies, Destiel 4.0 is born.

~~~

The intensity of the queer narrative amps up continually. Things are getting harder to write off.

Rifts between worlds, crossover and confinement, and estrangement, and the blurring of lines, and the breaking of old taboos/breach of old barriers dominates the remainder of Season 13 and Season 14. We hold this broad focus for a long time, and Dean and Castiel become the emotional equivalent of the plot arc, always there, brewing, but taking a backseat to the Big Stuff. A wall rises, and solidifies. Silver Pole of Communication Barriers, anyone?

Then? Season 15 kicks us in the Destiel balls.

Full disclosure: I didn’t see this next part coming. I dared not ask season 15 for anything this significant, so the last scene of 15x08 just about took my life. 

~~~

The Purgatory Rift

Episode(s): 15x08, 15x09

Dun dun DUN!!

This twist was my favorite Christmas present, because it communicated to me that the writers have an understanding of Dean and Cas’s history to match our own. Not only are they actively writing them utilizing the Destiel playbook, they obviously care immensely about the destiny of their relationship. I am speaking too soon to say this definitively, but this mission has all the hallmarks of a plot device designed to serve many purposes in respect to Dean and Castiel. They’ve got ALL the ingredients. There are so many things tied in here that it gets pretty damn near fanfiction territory.

Please read my reaction to the purgatory twist if you need context, as I don’t feel much like regurgitating it. This post is long enough, lol. (A bloom that grows only in one place? Fuck you, writers. You’re going to KILL me.)

~~~

So, to recap: In a universe defined by barriers and guidelines, a relationship that refuses to be defined will be under constant siege. Dean and Castiel suffer from the sheer reality of walking lines between two designated states of being-- friends and lovers, angel and human, take your pick. The current order isn’t friendly to beings who don’t fit a category. Until the barriers are stripped away, they cannot exist as they are, and rifts will continue to rip them apart. 

The Purgatory Rift of 15x08 is such a big deal because it fuses themes. The rifts of the Dabb era have merged with the gateways of the Carver era. Not only are our long-standing almost-lovers returning to their relationship’s place of origin, they are doing so by breaching physical barriers designed to keep them apart; and all the while, the most dangerous, important rift is not the one in the fabric of reality, but the one in their relationship. 

I expect this major rift to end no differently than it has in the past. Dean and Cas will be separated, and Cas will be out of reach. And then, they’ll be reunited. But, where will that take us? What will the next reincarnation look like? 

As Destiel 4.0 dies, something will be born.