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sir-elyan · 3 years

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Saving Grace (And Staying Put)

destiel december 2020 prompt: presents | wc: ~1.3k

russian translation available thanks to @hereigoagain !!

[READ ON AO3] [RUSSIAN]

"What'd you think?"

Dean's staring at Cas, a glass full of eggnog resting against his lips. Behind the rim of it he’s hiding a smile at Cas' thoughtful squint, as Cas watches the end credits roll on the television.

"I think...I still don't understand. Are you meant to be my George Bailey?"

Dean splutters into his drink at that, sitting up to wipe eggnog from his mouth and set the cup on the coffee table. He shoots Cas a look, but Cas is still frowning, head tilted in question and maybe a little bit of concern at Dean's reaction.

After watching a myriad of Christmas movies that included Gremlins (a classic), Home Alone (another classic) and Krampus (Jack was not a fan), Sam and Jack had disappeared off to bed and Dean had stuck It's A Wonderful Life into the DVD player. His hope had been that Cas would get his Clarence references after watching it, but instead Cas was comparing Dean to the suicidal businessman that the angel saves in the movie.

What had made Dean choke was that he wasn't exactly wrong.

"I—I guess I am, man, yeah. I mean, I'd like to think I'm a little less pathetic, and I'm probably not as nice as he is, but it's...you're not too far off."

Their eyes meet, and Dean reaches between them for the remote.

"But I'm," Cas says, in a tone that makes Dean pause. "I'm not an angel anymore."

Dean sits back on the couch again, shifting once to get comfortable. "So?"

"So..."

He waits for Cas to continue, rubbing a thumb over the buttons on the remote as the silence stretches. The credits on the TV come to a stop.

"So, I'm not...’Clarence’ anymore."

"And...what? Is that supposed to faze me, or something?" Dean looks at him again, and Cas' face expresses his apparent uncertainty.

Dean smooths out his frown, opting instead to get across some of his own sincerity by dropping the deflections for a second.

"Cursed or not, Cas," he says gently, "Angel or not. Doesn't matter, we're...I—I'm better with you. So none of that leeriness, okay? Because you're more than just a set of fluffy wings and a halo."

He thinks Cas might take a crack at him again, indulge him that angels don’t have halos or harps or whatever Dean had said, but he doesn’t. He watches Dean for a long moment, all the while Dean pointedly tries not to notice, flipping channels for something else to watch. The Grinch might be good.

“I have something for you.”

Cas reaches into a pocket, keeping his hand there while he thinks of how to proceed.

“I know it’s Christmas Eve, and that’s not typically when gifts are given... I also know that there’s probably a whole ritual that has rules and I’m sure you’re very picky about them, but I still...I don’t know if this will count as a present. But I still want to give it to you, if you’ll accept it,” Cas says.

Dean feels his heart racing, thrumming against his chest so fast it makes him lightheaded. He simply nods, not trusting himself to speak, and watches as Cas pulls out the chain of a necklace until it reveals a small glowing vial that hangs off of it.

On instinct, Dean reaches out to touch it, hovering his fingers just over the glass. He lifts his gaze to look at Cas.

“Cas...what is this?”

The essence inside the vial swirls, a bright blue almost the shade of Cas’ eyes. Dean’s entranced, watching as it rhythmically shifts and moves against the glass.

“It’s me,” Cas replies. “Well, more accurately...it’s my Grace.”

Dean freezes.

“Come again?”

Cas sighs softly. “My Grace.”

“You—you saved it?” Dean means to ask ‘How?’ next, but his mouth says, “And you’re giving it to me?”

Cas nods.

“Why?”

Cas lets his arm relax, lowering it so that the necklace rests between them on the seat cushion of the couch. “You...gave me my humanity, Dean. You showed me how to care about...about everyone. I know I can never repay you for that, but I thought...I thought the least I could do was give a part of myself in return. I—” he hesitates, biting his bottom lip in thought.

“What?”

“No, nothing. I just...hope that you’ll accept it.”

Cas lifts it again in offering, and Dean moves his hand to fit the vial against his palm. It's warm to the touch. Dean wraps his fingers around it, and Cas lets go of the chain. It falls limply against Dean's knuckles.

"Thank you, Cas," He says, bringing it close to his heart. Cas smiles.

"Actually, I uh...I have something for you, too," Dean adds. With his free hand, he digs into his jean pocket and pulls it out, suddenly feeling that it’s a little dumb in comparison to the gift Cas just gave him.

"It's, ah, not exactly angel Grace, but," he holds out the flat of his palm, showing Cas.

Cas takes it from Dean's hand, holding it as if it’s as precious as the necklace Dean is clutching onto for dear life. He levels Dean with a serious stare.

"Are these...?"

"Keys," Dean says, "One's for Baby, and the other's for the Bunker."

Cas is quiet, so Dean keeps going. "I figured, y'know, without your Grace, you'll be needing to get places and, well, keys...open doors." He mentally curses himself. Keys open doors? He squeezes his eyes shut, shakes his head a little to reset himself.

"What I mean to say is, now it'll be easier to get home. You can come and go when you'd like, and you don't have to wait for one of us to let you in."

Cas' eyebrows twitch at that. "Home," he repeats, but it’s said like a question.

Dean nods, smiling softly. “Yeah, Cas. Home.” He looks away, startled a little by Cas’ sincere eyes that search his face. “If—If you’ll accept it.”

“Yes,” Cas says quickly. “I accept.”

“Good,” Dean responds. He tries to ignore how the racing of his heart makes his hands shake. He looks down at the necklace. It swings a little, gently touching his chest.

“Um,” Dean holds it out to Cas. He waits a moment too long, though, because he can see Cas’ smile beginning to falter. “Do you think you could help me with this?”

Stunned, Cas takes the necklace and Dean bows his head, feeling his ears go red. It’s a sign of trust, Dean knows, to let your guard down like this in their line of work. It’s like baring your neck to a vampire, or falling asleep next to a djinn.

Cas moves closer on the couch, and their knees touch just barely. Dean watches Cas’ Grace dip underneath his chin as Cas pulls the chain around his neck. He can feel Cas’ arms raised on either side of him as he fastens it, can smell Cas’ scent from how close they are.

Then Cas is done, fingertips brushing the back of Dean’s neck as he rests the cold chain there. His touch lingers, and Dean’s breath catches, and then Dean is lifting his head up.

They’re closer than he thought.

“Thank you,” he whispers. Cas gives a small nod, eyes a little wide. His hands are still at the back of Dean’s neck, fingers brushing gently at the hair on Dean’s nape. Dean shivers, unable to contain it. He brings a hand up to Cas’ tie, holding it a moment, before deciding it could use some adjustment.

Then both hands are fixing the knot, and when Dean is done, he uses the tie as leverage to pull Cas closer. There’s a pause, when both of their noses bump against each other, where Dean gives Cas an out.

He doesn’t take it.

Dean presses forward, fitting their lips together. It’s the satisfaction of two missing puzzle pieces finally sliding into place, after years of being lost and collecting dirt under a couch. It’s clean, and it’s warm, and it feels like Purgatory all over again—like purity.

When they pull away, Dean’s a little out of breath. He places a hand on Cas’ face, running a thumb over his cheek.

“Stay,” Dean says. “Don’t leave my side again. I want—I want you to stay.”

Cas’ eyes glisten. “I will,” he says. “I will.”

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#probably the worst timing but whatevershbdfsdf #rambleoncas writing #destiel #deancas #destiel december 2020 #sorry forrr mistakes lmao #spn #supernatural #destiel fic #roc original #my post

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go-diane-winchester · 5 years

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5 Reasons why Supernatural is not queer baiting you [and is not stuck in the closet]

This is an edited repost.

Interpretation of any piece of art and literature is one of the fun aspects of being human. You use your imagination to analyze a loved work from every angle so as to increase your pleasure of said work. However, if you present your interpretation as if it is a fact, and it results in harassment, bullying and threats for actors involved in a show, then it becomes a problem. Why do some fans accuse Supernatural of queer baiting, whilst others are vehemently opposed? Why is it not a universal argument in fandom? It is because the former don’t admit that their interpretations are just that: interpretation. Bi Dean arguments have no basis in canon, and proponents of Bi Dean in fact refuse to acknowledge canonical oppositions to their interpretations. The vehement opposers of Bi Dean actually respect canon. Truth is universal and canon is truth.

1. Dean was not born from gratuitously bisexual inspiration

As a fiction writer myself, I know that an original character is not easy to put together. You have to do a character analysis [I believe in using a homemade template, myself], character background [because it should shape what the character becomes in the current canon] and formulation of their physical attributes as well as wardrobe. I, in fact, include things like medical history and diet choices in my own template to get a feel for the character that I want. But every writer is different and chooses a different approach. Eric Kripke had a clear idea of what he wanted his characters to be.

For the character personalities

Kripke wanted them to be like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Han Solo was a cavalier renegade who had no respect for authority and fits in with Dean’s overall personality. Dean doesn’t care if he is talking to an FBI agent, a priest or even his own father. If you say something wrong, he will correct you and he has done that in canon. If you have given him a reason to hate you, trust Dean to let you know, right to your face. Dean doesn’t kiss up to authority. He is the quintessential bad boy.

Luke Skywalker is the polar opposite of Han. He does things by the book. He wears his heart on his sleeve and shows more empathy and emotion than his counterpart Han. Sam is all of this and, like Luke, gives off an air of innocence, and sporadically the viewer feels the need to protect him because of said innocence. Despite the fact that Sam has grown up and out of his chocolate boy features, he still remains the quintessential good boy.

There are many tropes at play here that fiction writers cling to. The polar opposite trope is favored because it provides room for friction. Imagine how Supernatural would be, if Dean and Sam just agreed with each other all the time. It would make for bland viewing. Sometimes they are on the same page. Some times they aren’t. Polarizing characters make for more vivid story telling and [particularly in our fandom] forces you to pick a side. In other words, it keeps you invested in the characters. The polar opposite trope can also be used for two enemies who are stuck in the same situation. And in some cases, one of them is the overall baddie in the story. It is not just a friendship trope.

Another well known trope that is being used here, is the much-loved buddy formula. The buddy formula is used by a lot by screenwriters, because it is so popular with audiences, and can share similarities with the polar opposite trope. Essentially the buddy formula contains two characters and even though they may be polar opposites, they tend to have a deep affection for each other. Cagney and Lacey, Riggs and Murtaugh, Thelma and Louis and finally, Sam and Dean are example thereof.

At this juncture, I would like to laughingly point out that Bi Dean advocates will cling to Thelma and Louis as proof of bi dean, because of the possible lesbian subtext. Stop right there. I watched Thelma and Louis, and I felt that they were fed up friends, almost sisters who didn’t want to live in the world any more. I didn’t see any subtext. If you did, good for you. It increases your viewing pleasure. However, as a straight woman, I have my own interpretation and it is just as significant as yours. Hilariously, Sam and Dean have referred to themselves as Thelma and Louis. So you cant use that to proof Dean is bi, because essentially you will be proving wincest.

The difference between the buddy formula and the polar opposite trope is the affection that is inherently mixed into the buddy formula. Buddies are more affectionate with each other. In one of the Lethal Weapon movies, Riggs walks into Murtaugh’s kitchen, plants a kiss on Mrs Murtaugh’s cheek, walks up to Murtaugh and nonchalantly plants a kiss on his cheek as well, before going to raid the food storage. Murtaugh doesn’t react negatively. That scene was added for many reasons but there are two important reasons: [1] to show the affection between the two, which is platonic [2] to get a laugh out of the audience by showing how irritatingly unaware Riggs is, that Murtaugh is angry with him.

Murtaugh even “sensed” that Riggs was drowning and saved him, telling Riggs “I heard you, Riggs. I heard you, baby.’‘ Yes, that is an actual line from Lethal Weapon and it proves that they love each other. How you perceive their love is up to you. Affectionate name calling is used in the buddy formula and is also apparent in Sam and Dean’s interaction as well.

Is Cas an affectionate shortening of the name Castiel? Both Dean and Sam call him Cas? Maybe. Or it maybe because the name Castiel doesn’t syllabically roll off the tongue. It’s an ancient name and for modern day Sam and Dean, saying the full name is verbally cumbersome. So they opted for Cas. If the shortening of the name means Dean is in love with Cas, then it easily means Sam is in love with Cas too. Oddly, despite the character name of Samuel being shortened to Sam, by Dean so it will roll of the tongue during a conversation, Dean actually adds a syllable and called him Sammy out of affection. So for Sammy, the ’'name is too long and cumbersome’' excuse flies out the window. Sammy gets used even when Dean is in a hurry, angry or affectionate. It is a part of his personal lexicon.

For the character backdrop

Part of Kripke’s logline for Supernatural and its backdrop included “Star Wars in truck stop America,”. Another trope comes into play here: The fish out of water. In earlier seasons, the studious and preppy Sam clashed with the dustbowl Americana surroundings and its people. Dean fit in. Dean is salt of the earth. Sam is more aware of the world beyond the dustbowl Americana because he is an intellectual. Another part of the logline was ’'X Files meets Route 66”. Route 66 is about two guys [Todd, the Yale graduate good boy and Buz, the street smart fighter bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks] who go on a road trip across North America, encountering and solving social problems along the way, while trying to find a place to settle and find how they themselves fit into their world. Kripke picked very accurate loglines for Supernatural, because Todd and Buz are exactly like Sam and Dean. But they had names that Kripke didn’t like. I don’t blame him.

For the character names

Bi Dean advocates always use the name Dean as being proof of Bi Dean. Kripke chose both the names of his main characters from Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation classic On the road. it is not an LGBT classic. It was a universal classic that just happened to have a bisexual character. The characters were Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise. That is all he took from the work. He didn’t take the road trip idea from On the road. He took it from Route 66. Even the polarizing characters were taken from Route 66. All he took was the names, and even then, he wasn’t happy with Sam’s previous name so he changed one alphabet. He took nothing else. And that is the one thing Bi Dean advocates cling to. There is no unique similarity between On the road and Supernatural. Or between Dean Winchester and Dean Moriarty, for that matter, other than one character sharing a name with another. I can understand why he stuck with Dean. The name just has an All-American ring to it.

Bi Dean advocates argue that the bisexual Dean Moriarity was inspired by a real bisexual man called Neal Cassidy. What they fail to realize is that Moriarity and Cassidy were not only bisexual but also pedophiles. Dean Winchester is not a pedophile.

Don't dig into Kerouac’s character's backstory to try and prove that Dean from Supernatural is bi, whilst ignoring the backstory of Supernatural own formulation. That is called over reaching, and some fans use this unsteady theory to threaten the leads and plant accusations of bigotry. Jensen has received online abuse for this and his reputation is completely tarnished with accusations of homophobia.

2. Castiel’s wardrobe choice does not reflect on Dean’s sexual orientation

I remember watching a scene from That’s 70’s Show, where Fez confessed to having an erotic dream about Kelso. Kelso is shocked and declares “Do you know what this means? Its means I’m gay”. This fandom is proof, that Kelso is not unique in his stupidity. Our fandom has a rich supply of ignorance, conveniently shrouded in social justice, so that when you successfully contradict them, they can just call you a bigot and quieten you down.

For Castiel, Kripke only took wardrobe inspiration from John Constantine, a famous bisexual character. That is it. He took nothing else. Trenchcoats are wardrobe items and not a sign of an individual’s sexuality. Constantine was bisexual. Columbo was straight but also wore a trenchcoat. There is no unique similarity between Castiel and Constantine. Constantine is a man, an occult detective, a humanitarian and is best known for his sarcasm. Does that sound like Castiel to you? Castiel is an angel [a very useless one], a killer of many innocent people, a displacer of angels and very rarely says something mildly sarcastic. And if the trench coat makes Castiel bi, how does that reflects on Dean?

3. Castiel’s sexual orientation is not complex, neither is it reflective of Dean’s sexuality

Castiel is not human, and therefore is not shackled by human limitations. He is not even a “he”. He doesn’t have any preferences, nor does he canonically have any sexual desire except for Meg, whom he willingly kissed. But that might be borne out of his love for her and her relentless pursuit of him. His bond with Meg was not sexual. When he became human, sexual desire awoken in him and he slept with a woman merely because she hit on him and he was curious. But he doesn’t do that in his angel state. He doesn’t seek out sex in his angel state because he has no human, physical desire. Canonically, he doesn’t even have a soul, so how he and Dean can be seen as soul mates baffles me. Nobody else has relentlessly pursued Castiel accept Meg. Dean hasn’t. Dean kicked him out of the bunker despite the fact that he was vulnerable because Sam’s host Gadreel had a problem with him. Dean doesn’t love Castiel, nor does Dean pursue him. He looks for Sammy when Sammy is missing, but doesn’t do that for Castiel. Dean doesn’t sympathize with Castiel’s pain, even telling Castiel once “nobody cares that you are broken”.

4. Dean cannot, textually, be interpreted as a bisexual unless you relinquish common sense

Most of the canon examples of bi dean can easily be explained away.

Dean is not giving Charlie flirting pointers because he has hit on men before. He is himself a man, and know what he wants to hear from a woman and what would get him interested or distracted. By the end of the scene, both Dean and Charlie who like women and not men, felt dirty. And Sammy laughed through the whole thing because he knew how uncomfortable his brother was. Because Sammy, who was raised by Dean, knows his brother. Dean wont keep his bisexuality from Sam, because he has no reason to. Sam is not narrow-minded.

In the context of this scene, when Castiel just berated Dean, only a true intellectual maverick is going to think that Dean is inviting Castiel to a impromptu session of fellatio. Because that would make sense for the whole vessel scene, wouldn’t it, geniuses. For people, who are not soaked in delusion, Dean is countering Castiel’s berating with disrespect because he is angry. I cant believe this needs to be explained because “blow me” is a popular colloquial slang, used to insult someone. Have none of the bi dean advocates ever heard that term before? Do they think “scr*w yourself” means “Go and masturbate right now”? Which rock to they live under?

Dean is not flirting with the sheriff here. He is drunk. There is a reason, a drunk person’s testimony doesn’t fly in court. You don’t take a drunk person seriously. The deputy isn’t flirting back either. He is just amused by the compliment which he didn’t earn or deserve. He even asks Sam beforehand if the other “agent” is drunk. He is probably amused by a drunk, anxious agent hanging around the station.

The gif is wrong. He didn’t say hi. He said doctor. I am touchy about this one because Jensen got a death threat over it. The idea that a man can only be a fan of a male celebrity because he wants to sleep with the male celebrity, is completely insulting and a failure to understand male psychology. Dean’s flustered facial expression here is used for two reasons. [1] that is how some fans, both male and female behave, and [2] its hilarious to watch Dean fanboying. This is a humor device and nothing else. Even blushing is not a sign of attraction. If your teacher compliments your work in front of the entire class, and you blush, does it mean that you are in love with Mrs Haggerty from Science Lab?

Ah, the birth of Performing!Dean. Performing!Dean doesn’t exist. He has no reason to. Because Dean has no motivation to stay in the closet and hide his supposedly feminine bisexual self behind a toxic masculine façade. Sam is not giving us clues of Dean’s bisexuality. He is taunting his big brother because that is what obnoxious little brothers do. Remember, the hotelier thought that they both were gay. Sam only picked on Dean here, because only Dean has an issue with it. He isn’t a homophobe but a proud straight man.

Dean doesn’t care about the human state of the world. He doesn’t care about human issues like racism, sexism and the lgbt. He will categorize you as a human being and protect you, if you gave him a reason to. He doesn’t care how you look, which way you swing, and how you pray. If you give him a reason to like you, he will like you. If you give him a reason to hate you, he will hate you. Dean will only care if you are useful to him in his hunt. The hunt is his life and his motivation to hunt is Sam and keeping Sam close and safe. Dean is not pro or anti anything. If you are human, you matter. That is why de-graced Castiel is left out of hunts, because without any power, Cas is “basically a baby in a trenchcoat”, in other words, utterly useless to them. But if Sam’s wall breaks, hold the phone.

He doesn’t judge your sexual orientation. He has worked with gay and bi people before, like Charlie and the gay hunting couple. So he is not a bigot. However he isn’t used to men hitting on him. He almost throws up because the Chief from the BDSM club [Criss Angel is a douchebag] describes what he is planning to do to Dean and asks for a safe word, and he is flustered by Aaron because he doesn’t know how to react. He wasn’t expecting Aaron to tell that very clever lie. He didn’t bother telling Aaron he was straight. Of course, bi Dean advocates think that is significant, and how he closed his badge is also significant.

It is. It shows that Dean is compassionate. He was ready to punch Aaron in the face for following him. But when Aaron lies about being attracted to Dean, Dean lets him down easily. What was he supposed to say to a man he thinks he will never meet again: “Look dude, I am not queer. We didn’t have any moment.’' Dean quietly packs away his badge, because he realized that he brandished it at the wrong person. Another reason is that Dean is an arrogant man when it comes to his looks and doesn’t mind a compliment. So he isn’t going to break the heart of the person complimenting him. He is compassionate but he has an ego. That is why he was disappointed that Aaron had successfully fooled him by inflating his ego. Because he did it so easily and Dean must have wanted to kick himself for falling for it.

Dean being born in the Bible Belt of America means nothing. His father was an atheist. He was too, until he came face to face with an angel. He acknowledges the Divine exists, but he believes in free will. He spent most of his life, traipsing around America. Its not like he stuck it out in the Bible belt area. He has no religious reason to be in the closet. He raised Sam and Sam isn’t a bigot, so Sam wont have a problem with him being bisexual. Dean has no motivation to hide himself from Sam because, in many ways, Sam is his child and knows him. If Dean was bi, Sam would have figured it out.

Dean is sexually not a vanilla person when it comes to sex, and despite where he was born, he is a sexually outspoken, kinky, loudmouth who admits to wearing his date’s underwear, not because he is feminine, but because he is a kinky little dirt bag who will do anything the date says, so he can close the deal with her. Wearing her underwear is not proof that he is bisexual, because there are bisexual men who don’t wear women’s clothing and this is insulting to them.

5. Dean and Castiel do not make a better couple than any of their love interests

Castiel had only one genuine love interest. Meg. And this union between two polar opposite characters in human vessels, is certainly more compelling than the blank stares that Dean and Castiel shared until their screen time decreased, much to Jensen’s happiness. Meg took care of Castiel despite being a demon. Dean kicked Castiel out of the bunker for Sam’s benefit. Meg pursued Castiel. Dean let Castiel to swop places mentally with Sam, so Sam could leave the asylum, safe and healthy, whilst Castiel remained in the asylum, broken and damaged. He never pursued Castiel or took care of him.

Dean only had one girlfriend. And she was Cassie. The name Cassie does not foreshadow destiel. Cassie didn’t work out because she was far too involved in worldly things like racism and he cared about the supernatural world. She was an intellectual and he was a high school drop out. She is actually a lot like Sam, and they would actually make sense as a couple. Dean never loved Lisa. Canonically, he only shacked up with her, because Sam forced him. And when Lisa realized that, she let him go.

Castiel and Dean don’t make sense as a couple because Castiel has lied to Dean about many things. There are some things he hasn’t come clean about, to Sam and Dean, e.g. opening up the Panic Room door and letting Sam free. He used the mixed tape to double cross Dean, so the mixed tape is a proof of Castiel’s betrayal. It is not proof of destiel. The whole Leviatian affair is Castiel’s fault. And although Dean does take Castiel like a brother, canonically, he wont sell his soul for Castiel, like he did for Sammy. Using slowed down gifs of Dean and Cas staring blankly at each other, doesn’t proof that Dean is bisexual. Every time Dean stares at a man, its doesn’t mean he is attracted to that person.

The show is not queer baiting you by leaving subtextual easter eggs in the frame. They don’t have time for that. Because they average one episode a week. They are working at a break neck speed. They don’t have the time to indulge fannish nonsense. Everyone associated with the show have said that Dean is not bi. I don’t mind you interpreting, but when you force it on Jensen and threaten him when he doesn’t like it, you are being a vile and disgusting predatory beast. The only person who is reinforcing destiel, claimed at Jaxcon that Dean is bisexual and is queer baiting you is Misha Collins. Go take it up with him.

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go-diane-winchester · 5 years

Text

5 Reasons why Supernatural is not queer baiting [and is not stuck in the closet]

Interpretation of any piece of art and literature is one of the fun aspects of being human. You use your imagination to analyze a loved work from every angle so as to increase your pleasure of said work. However, if you present your interpretation as if it is a fact, and it results in harassment, bullying and threats for actors involved in a show, then it becomes a problem. Why do some fans accuse Supernatural of queer baiting, whilst others are vehemently opposed? Why is it not a universal argument in fandom? It is because the former don't admit that their interpretations are just that: interpretation. Bi Dean arguments have no basis in canon, and proponents of Bi Dean in fact refuse to acknowledge canonical oppositions to their interpretations. The vehement opposers of Bi Dean actually respect canon. Truth is universal and canon is truth.

1. Dean was not born from gratuitously bisexual inspiration

For the character personalities

Kripke wanted them to be like Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Han Solo was a cavalier renegade who had no respect for authority and fits in with Dean's overall personality. Dean doesn't care if he is talking to an FBI agent, a priest or even his own father. If you say something wrong, he will correct you and he has done that in canon. If you have given him a reason to hate you, trust Dean to let you know, right to your face. Dean doesn't kiss up to authority. He is the quintessential bad boy.

There are many tropes at play here that fiction writers cling to. The polar opposite trope is favored because it provides room for friction. Imagine how Supernatural would be, if Dean and Sam just agreed with each other all the time. It would make for bland viewing. Sometimes they are on the same page. Some times they aren't. Polarizing characters make for more vivid story telling and [particularly in our fandom] forces you to pick a side. In other words, it keeps you invested in the characters. The polar opposite trope can also be used for two enemies who are stuck in the same situation. And in some cases, one of them is the overall baddie in the story. It is not just a friendship trope.

At this juncture, I would like to laughingly point out that Bi Dean advocates will cling to Thelma and Louis as proof of bi dean, because of the possible lesbian subtext. Stop right there. I watched Thelma and Louis, and I felt that they were fed up friends, almost sisters who didn't want to live in the world any more. I didn't see any subtext. If you did, good for you. It increases your viewing pleasure. However, as a straight woman, I have my own interpretation and it is just as significant as yours. Hilariously, Sam and Dean have referred to themselves as Thelma and Louis. So you cant use that to proof Dean is bi, because essentially you will be proving wincest.

The difference between the buddy formula and the polar opposite trope is the affection that is inherently mixed into the buddy formula. Buddies are more affectionate with each other. In one of the Lethal Weapon movies, Riggs walks into Murtaugh's kitchen, plants a kiss on Mrs Murtaugh's cheek, walks up to Murtaugh and nonchalantly plants a kiss on his cheek as well, before going to raid the food storage. Murtaugh doesn't react negatively. That scene was added for many reasons but there are two important reasons: [1] to show the affection between the two, which is platonic [2] to get a laugh out of the audience by showing how irritatingly unaware Riggs is, that Murtaugh is angry with him.

Murtaugh even ''sensed'' that Riggs was drowning and saved him, telling Riggs ''I heard you, Riggs. I heard you, baby.'' Yes, that is an actual line from Lethal Weapon and it proves that they love each other. How you perceive their love is up to you. Affectionate name calling is used in the buddy formula and is also apparent in Sam and Dean's interaction as well.

Is Cas an affectionate shortening of the name Castiel? Both Dean and Sam call him Cas? Maybe. Or it maybe because the name Castiel doesn't syllabically roll off the tongue. It's an ancient name and for modern day Sam and Dean, saying the full name is verbally cumbersome. So they opted for Cas. If the shortening of the name means Dean is in love with Cas, then it easily means Sam is in love with Cas too. Oddly, despite the character name of Samuel being shortened to Sam, by Dean so it will roll of the tongue during a conversation, Dean actually adds a syllable and called him Sammy out of affection. So for Sammy, the ''name is too long and cumbersome'' excuse flies out the window. Sammy gets used even when Dean is in a hurry, angry or affectionate. It is a part of his personal lexicon.

For the character backdrop

Part of Kripke's logline for Supernatural and its backdrop included “Star Wars in truck stop America,”. Another trope comes into play here: the fish out of water. In earlier seasons, the studious and preppy Sam clashed with the dustbowl Americana surroundings and its people. Dean fit in. Dean is salt of the earth. Sam is more aware of the world beyond the dustbowl Americana because he is an intellectual. Another part of the logline was ''X Files meets Route 66''. Route 66 is about two guys [Todd, the Yale graduate good boy and Buz, the street smart fighter bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks] who go on a road trip across North America, encountering and solving social problems along the way, while trying to find a place to settle and find how they themselves fit into their world. Kripke picked very accurate loglines for Supernatural, because Todd and Buz are exactly like Sam and Dean. But they had names that Kripke didn't like. I don't blame him.

For the character names

Bi Dean advocates always use the name Dean as being proof of Bi Dean. Kripke chose both the names of his main characters from Jack Kerouac's Beat Generation classic On the road. it is not an LGBT classic. It was a universal classic that just happened to have a bisexual character. The characters were Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise. That is all he took from the work. He didn't take the road trip idea from On the road. He took it from Route 66. Even the polarizing characters were taken from Route 66. All he took was the names, and even then, he wasn't happy with Sam's previous name so he changed one alphabet. He took nothing else. And that is the one thing Bi Dean advocates cling to. There is no unique similarity between On the road and Supernatural. Or between Dean Winchester and Dean Moriarty, for that matter, other than one character sharing a name with another.

Don't dig into Kerouac's character's backstory to try and prove that Dean from Supernatural is bi, whilst ignoring the backstory of Supernatural own formulation. That is called over reaching, and some fans use this unsteady theory to threaten the leads and plant accusations of bigotry. Jensen has received online abuse for this and his reputation is completely tarnished with accusations of homophobia.

2. Castiel's wardrobe choice does not reflect on Dean's sexual orientation

I remember watching a scene from That's 70's Show, where Fez confessed to having an erotic dream about Kelso. Kelso is shocked and declares ''Do you know what this means? Its means I'm gay''. This fandom is proof, that Kelso is not unique in his stupidity. Our fandom has a rich supply of ignorance, conveniently shrouded in social justice, so that when you successfully contradict them, they can just call you a bigot and quieten you down.

For Castiel, Kripke only took wardrobe inspiration from John Constantine, a famous bisexual character. That is it. He took nothing else. Trenchcoats are wardrobe items and not a sign of an individual's sexuality. Constantine was bisexual. Columbo was straight but also wore a trenchcoat. There is no unique similarity between Castiel and Constantine. Constantine is a man, an occult detective, a humanitarian and is best known for his sarcasm. Does that sound like Castiel to you? Castiel is an angel [a very useless one], a killer of many innocent people, a displacer of angels and very rarely says something mildly sarcastic. And if the trench coat makes Castiel bi, how does that reflects on Dean?

3. Castiel's sexual orientation is not complex, neither is it reflective of Dean's sexuality

Castiel is not human, and therefore is not shackled by human limitations. He is not even a ''he''. He doesn't have any preferences, nor does he canonically have any sexual desire except for Meg, whom he willingly kissed. But that might be borne out of his love for her and her relentless pursuit of him. His bond with Meg was not sexual. When he became human, sexual desire awoken in him and he slept with a woman merely because she hit on him and he was curious. But he doesn't do that in his angel state. He doesn't seek out sex in his angel state because he has no human, physical desire. Canonically, he doesn't even have a soul, so how he and Dean can be seen as soul mates baffles me. Nobody else has relentlessly pursued Castiel accept Meg. Dean hasn't. Dean kicked him out of the bunker despite the fact that he was vulnerable because Sam's host Gadreel had a problem with him. Dean doesn't love Castiel, nor does Dean pursue him. He looks for Sammy when Sammy is missing, but doesn't do that for Castiel. Dean doesn't sympathize with Castiel's pain, even telling Castiel once ''nobody cares that you are broken''.

4. Dean cannot, textually, be interpreted as a bisexual unless you relinquish common sense

Most of the canon examples of bi dean can easily be explained away.

In the context of this scene, when Castiel just berated Dean, only a true intellectual maverick is going to think that Dean is inviting Castiel to a impromptu session of fellatio. Because that would make sense for the whole vessel scene, wouldn't it, geniuses. For people, who are not soaked in delusion, Dean is countering Castiel's berating with disrespect because he is angry. I cant believe this needs to be explained because ''blow me'' is a popular colloquial slang, used to insult someone. Have none of the bi dean advocates ever heard that term before? Do they think ''scr*w yourself'' means ''Go and masturbate right now''? Which rock to they live under?

Dean is not flirting with the sheriff here. He is drunk. There is a reason, a drunk person's testimony doesn't fly in court. You don't take a drunk person seriously. The deputy isn't flirting back either. He is just amused by the compliment which he didn't earn or deserve. He even asks Sam beforehand if the other ''agent'' is drunk. He is probably amused by a drunk, anxious agent hanging around the station.

The gif is wrong. He didn't say hi. He said doctor. I am touchy about this one because Jensen got a death threat over it. The idea that a man can only be a fan of a male celebrity because he wants to sleep with the male celebrity, is completely insulting and a failure to understand male psychology. Dean's flustered facial expression here is used for two reasons. [1] that is how some fans, both male and female behave, and [2] its hilarious to watch Dean fanboying. This is a humor device and nothing else. Even blushing is not a sign of attraction. If your teacher compliments your work in front of the entire class, and you blush, does it mean that you are in love with Mrs Haggerty from Science Lab?

Ah, the birth of Performing!Dean. Performing!Dean doesn't exist. He has no reason to. Because Dean has no motivation to stay in the closet and hide his supposedly feminine bisexual self behind a toxic masculine façade. Sam is not giving us clues of Dean's bisexuality. He is taunting his big brother because that is what obnoxious little brothers do. Remember, the hotelier thought that they both were gay. Sam only picked on Dean here, because only Dean has an issue with it. He isn't a homophobe but a proud straight man.

Dean doesn't care about the human state of the world. He doesn't care about human issues like racism, sexism and the lgbt. He will categorize you as a human being and protect you, if you gave him a reason to. Exactly like Jensen. He doesn't care how you look, which way you swing, and how you pray. If you give him a reason to like you, he will like you. If you give him a reason to hate you, he will hate you. Dean will only care if you are useful to him in his hunt. The hunt is his life and his motivation to hunt is Sam and keeping Sam close and safe. Dean is not pro or anti anything. If you are human, you matter. That is why de-graced is left out of hunts, because without any power, Cas is ''basically a baby in a trenchcoat'', in other words, utterly useless to them. But if Sam's wall breaks, hold the phone.

He doesn't judge your sexual orientation. He has worked with gay and bi people before, like Charlie and the gay hunting couple. So he is not a bigot. However he isn't used to men hitting on him. He almost throws up because the Chief from the BDSM club [Criss Angel is a douchebag] described what he is planning to do to Dean and asks for a safe word, and he is flustered by Aaron because he doesn't know how to react. He wasn't expecting Aaron to tell that very clever lie. He didn't bother telling Aaron he was straight. Of course, bi Dean advocates think that is significant, and how he closed his badge is also significant.

It is. It shows that Dean is compassionate. He was ready to punch Aaron in the face for following him. But when Aaron lies about being attracted to Dean, Dean lets him down easily. What was he supposed to say to a man he thinks he will never meet again: ''Look dude, I am not queer. We didn't have any moment.'' Dean quietly packs away his badge, because he realized that he brandished it at the wrong person. Another reason is that Dean is an arrogant man when it comes to his looks and doesn't mind a compliment. So he isn't going to break the heart of the person complimenting him. He is compassionate but he has an ego. That is why he was disappointed that Aaron had successfully fooled him by inflating his ego. Because he did it so easily and Dean must have wanted to kick himself for falling for it.

Dean being born in the Bible Belt of America means nothing. His father was an atheist. He was too, until he came face to face with an angel. He acknowledges the Divine exists, but he believes in free will. He spent most of his life, traipsing around America. Its not like he stuck it out in the Bible belt area. He has no religious reason to be in the closet. He raised Sam and Sam isn't a bigot, so Sam wont have a problem with him being bisexual. Dean has no motivation to hide himself from Sam because, in many ways, Sam is his child and knows him. If Dean was bi, Sam would have figured it out.

Dean is sexually not a vanilla person when it comes to sex, and despite where he was born, he is a sexually outspoken, kinky, loudmouth who admits to wearing his date's underwear, not because he is feminine, but because he is a kinky little dirt bag who will do anything the date says, so he can close the deal with her. Wearing her underwear is not proof that he is bisexual, because there are bisexual men who don't wear women's clothing and this is insulting to them.

5. Dean and Castiel do not make a better couple than any of their love interests

Castiel had only one genuine love interest. Meg. And this union between two polar opposite characters in human vessels, is certainly more compelling than the blank stares that Dean and Castiel shared until their screen time decreased, much to Jensen's happiness. Meg took care of Castiel despite being a demon. Dean kicked Castiel out of the bunker for Sam's benefit. Meg pursued Castiel. Dean let Castiel to swop places mentally with Sam, so Sam could leave the asylum, safe and healthy, whilst Castiel remained in the asylum, broken and damaged. He never pursued Castiel or took care of him.

Dean only had one girlfriend. And she was Cassie. The name Cassie does not foreshadow destiel. Cassie didn't work out because she was far too involved in worldly things like racism and he cared about the supernatural world. She was an intellectual and he was a high school drop out. She is actually a lot like Sam, and they would actually make sense as a couple. Dean never loved Lisa. Canonically, he only shacked up with her, because Sam forced him. And when Lisa realized that, she let him go.

Castiel and Dean don't make sense as a couple because Castiel has lied to Dean about many things. There are some things he hasn't come clean about, to Sam and Dean, e.g. opening up the Panic Room door and letting Sam free. He used the mixed tape to double cross Dean, so the mixed tape is a proof of Castiel's betrayal. It is not proof of destiel. The whole Leviatian affair is Castiel's fault. And although Dean does take Castiel like a brother, canonically, he wont sell his soul for Castiel, like he did for Sammy. Using slowed down gifs of Dean and Cas staring blankly at each other, doesn't proof that Dean is bisexual. Every time Dean stares at a man, its doesn't mean he is attracted to that person.

The show is not queer baiting you by leaving subtextual easter eggs in the frame. They don't have time for that. Because they average one episode a week. They are working at a break neck speed. They don't have the time to indulge fannish nonsense. Everyone associated with the show have said that Dean is not bi. I don't mind you interpreting, but when you force it on Jensen and threaten him when he doesn't like it, you are being a vile and disgusting predatory beast. The only person who is reinforcing destiel [and by extension Bi dean] and queer baiting you is Misha Collins. Go take it up with him.

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