lately I've come across a couple people both here and on tiktok that are now getting into supernatural and basically going "woah you destiel shippers were not kidding, I always thought you were probably exaggerating". And it's like we definetely were not, but I also wonder where this reaction comes from and I think I've got it.
We all know what fandom is, especially if we're talking about non-canon ships. We take the subtext and make it textual, we live in the crevices of stolen glances and romantic paralels. But most of the time there's another (straight) canon ship that the writers can use to queerbait us, being like "see? this is who he really wants". Take BBC Merlin, for example: the devotion and closeness between Merlin and Arthur is obvious, but it's easy to point at Arthur's feelings for Gwen and say "see? this is what's real. you're reading too much into it".
Destiel doesn't have one. The very (mysoginistic) nature of the show means neither Dean nor Cas have any significant relationships the writers could point to and show us the "truth" so there is nothing to distract from what's obviously happening on our screens. There is no great romantic storyline to tell us "this is who he really wants" so they are all that it's left and what's between them becomes undeniable. What's even worse, the other main relationship in the show is as platonic as you can get because Sam and Dean are related (let's ignore the existence of wincest please and thank you), so the difference between Dean's relationship with Sam and his relationship with Cas is so stark, so obvious, that is hard to even begin to compare them and try to paint them both with the same brush.
I know I'm just rambling but would love to hear your thoughts on it.
one of the most hilarious things on supernatural is how they try to convince us that dean knows how to talk to/interact with women. like in heaven can't wait, he's giving cas advice about the date with nora and i can't help but sit there laughing because dean is A LOSER!!!! YOU THINK HE KNOWS DATE ETIQUETTE?????
like literally his entire MO with women is he'll get drunk, look pretty and walk up to women who are also equally drunk and pretty. then he'll say the most ridiculous shit that the straight people on too hot to handle say to each other, and it only works because all parties involved are already on the same page wrt to where this is headed. like man has not been on one date in his entire adult life. i bet the only time he actually went on a date would've been, like, when he was with cassie and he probably did something so weird and insane that she was like omg i have to keep him he'll kill himself otherwise he's a weirdo.
and even the shit he tells cas is like. the most generic crap you hear on soap operas and sitcoms that doesn't actually help anyone so like I guess that insinuation isn't all that strong but it is still hilarious that they treat him as some kind of expert in this kind of interaction when he's probably the worst of them all.