In Response To Mishas Tweet

In response to Misha’s tweet

First of all, I have two things to say, and if you stop reading immediately after that then I don’t care, but please:

Do not attack Misha, any of the other cast, or the writers. 

We don’t (and probably never will) know why Misha posted that video - whether it be ordered by the network or not - but even if you are feeling angry or betrayed, there is no excuse for attacking anyone.

And do not be distracted from the real target!

The network desperately want us to direct all our anger at someone else so that our cause runs out of steam, fails to make any real difference, or can be labelled as ‘crazy fans sending hate mail’.

Okay, now I’m gonna go into a little bit more depth, but they were the most important points to get out of the way.

Before all these shenanigans started, I was writing a paper on queerbaiting and the trope of ‘bury your gays’ using Supernatural as the main example. Then, we got the last three episodes, and I’m pretty sure people are getting sick of me talking about this, but I have been doing my research. I’m just going to go through all the important points of Misha’s video, and deconstruct it a bit.

Okay, first of all, we have the announcement that there ‘never was an alternate ending of 15x18′ but there was a ‘rouge translator’. I know absolutely nothing of how shows are dubbed or translated, but I do think this is one of the funniest things said in a while, because it is either an elaborate cover up OR someone actually did probably sacrifice their job so we could get requited Destiel. Someone buy that translator a drink. Maybe this is true, maybe it isn’t, but I think that people were more suggesting that scenes/lines had been edited out, rather than an entire alternate ending.

Then, Misha says that he is ‘proud’ of Cas’ ending, because it was ‘intentionally inclusive’. Misha absolutely should be proud of Cas’ confession scene, because that is genuinely some of the best acting I have seen in a long time and - as an actor - he really got to prove his skill and ability in arguably one of the most moving scenes in the show. To have Cas come out as queer was amazing, but in my opinion it was not inclusive, because Cas was not included in the ending.

Misha goes on to say that Cas’ confession was ‘done of his own volition with full knowledge of the consequences of his actions’, and this is where I think I start to see the problem. Misha is talking about the scene from the point of view of someone in the Supernatural universe, rather than a scene which has an audience. If no one had been watching that, if it was a real thing that happened, then yes. Castiel’s ‘declaration of love’ was beautiful and he chose self-sacrifice to save his love, and there is nothing ‘insidious’ about it, just a moving and bittersweet end to a phenomenal character. But the problem is that people were watching it. People who loved these characters, people who had been roped in by the possibility of queer representation for years, people who got that representation, only to have it ripped away from them only thirty seconds later.

The definition for the trope ‘bury your gays’ is the ‘presentation of deaths of LGBT characters where these characters are nominally able to be viewed as more expendable than their heterosexual counterparts’. In other words, queer characters are more likely to be killed off, because the writers/ show runners/ network/ audience see them as more expendable. Cas’ death is a prime example of this, and although I know he is mentioned as being out of the Empty in 15x20, he was still more expendable than Dean and Sam, and certainly expendable enough - even though he has been a main character for years - to not appear in the finale at all, other than two very brief mentions of him. Just like Charlie’s death was bury your gays - a lesbian whose death barely served the plot at all, other than to give Dean and Sam some angsty scenes.

Misha ends by saying ‘I wish we could just take a moment to celebrate the good of this show’ and I only have one problem with this. This show (as far as I am aware) has done nothing good. What good has been done has been almost entirely the fans. A prime example of this is The Castiel Project (along with every other fundraiser started after the finale) because the fans have raised over $50,000 dollars for an LGBT charity out of pure spite. Most of hated the finale, and yet we have managed to channel that anger into amazing things. 

Let’s do one last amazing thing as a family. Let’s burn the network down.

good morning to everyone making essay length spn finale conspiracy posts compiling sources and putting timelines together trying to track rewrites and cast story changes based on bits and pieces of information, dean’s rumoured “me too” in episode 18 that was covered by crying in post production, misha collins, the video of the full confession scene that lives on jensen’s phone, the takes of jensen yelling cas’s name in anguish that could be heard from streets over that didn’t make it into the final cut of episode 19, the hammer i’m going to knock jared padalecki over the head with, and jensen’s incredibly loud and very sexy silence

you know what day it is... time for the Black Friday rewatch

idk who lily sunder is but i sure have some regrets

For those of you that think this is just about Destiel, I'm sorry you're wrong.

This is about Lily, who was the first of the special children to die. She was murdered and hung on a tower for shock value.

This is about Corbett, who was the first and only of the ghost facers to die. who's sexuality was used for comic relief (yes, I know we all enjoy the "Gay love can pierce through the veil of death and save the day" line, but let's call a spade a spade.

This is about Demian and Barns, whose relationship was used for comedic shock.

This is about Charlie, our first recurring LGBTQ+ character, whose brutal off screen death was used to "move the story along."

This is about Max Banes, whose story was forgotten about, even though there was obviously more to tell.

This is about Kaia, who was killed after expressing interest in Claire. And claire, for being almost erased from the narrative after the confirmation that she felt the same.

This is about AU Charlie, who lost TWO separate girlfriends and then was killed herself. (And erasing the scene where she awkwardly talks to Sam about her tryst with ROWENA)

And yes, it is about Castiel. The NB Angel in a Male vessel who fell in love with a man, and was killed after confessing said love.

And Dean Winchester, because honestly, who knows, but all signs point a certain way, but it is not our story to tell. it was his. And he was killed before he could. Before he could even explore what it means to be truly free, he was killed.

These aren't the only instances on the show either. There are several throughout ALL of the seasons where LGBTQ+ people have been used for comedy or shock value and then never heard from or seen again.

They could have done so much by just letting three little words, Hell, two fucking words, on screen, but they refused to make a stand and chose to pander to a dying audience.

So yes, we will celebrate the "Y yo a ti, Cas." We will try to figure out what went wrong in translation or editing, because this is so much bigger than Destiel.

For those of you who see these examples and say " see, you've always had rep, you just wanted to see Castiel and Dean together." Let me ask you? Is killing or writing off every LGBTQ+ member on your show really good rep?

For those of you who say " Well, Dean was always straight and changing it this late in the Game would have been pandering!" While, I know alot of people saw him as uber heterosexual, some of us never did, but that's not the point. People do come out later in life you know? Being anything other than strictly heterosexual is terrifying. There are so many risks. It takes years to build up the courage to be yourself, some people never even get the chance.it would not have been pandering, it would have been groundbreaking. It would have let people see that it is never too late to be free. But they didn't want to do that.

For those of you who think it was fetishization of two "hot dudes"..... maybe for some, and those people should be ashamed, because sexuality should never be fetishized. But get this, the story of Destiel was loved by all members of the community, as well as straight people too, and believe me, some of those members have no desire to see two dudes getting it on. It was the story of unconditional love and respect that drew us in.

This isn't just about Destiel. It IS about showing people that it's okay to love who you love and being free to be who you are, regardless of what society thinks.

So yes, we will go feral. We deserve it.

40 Questions — Meme for Fic Writers

Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

Share one of your strengths.

Share one of your weaknesses.

Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Which fic has been the hardest to write?

Which fic has been the easiest to write?

Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?

Describe your perfect writing conditions.

How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).

If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

What do you look for in a beta?

Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

How do you feel about collaborations?

Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

Do you accept prompts?

Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

How do you feel about smut?

How do you feel about crack?

What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?

Would you ever kill off a canon character?

Which is your favorite site to post fic?

Talk about your current wips.

Talk about a review that made your day.

Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).