(no subject)

[ash48]

I am considering (considering) opening a topic for discussion on whether destiel will become canon in the show sometime soon.

What do you think?

[Poll #1913053]

Comments

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

We saw it in the episode with the convention 5.09 (Demian and Barnes) as well as the Ghostfacers one (3.13). And then there's Charlie, of course.

But there hasn't been romantic homosexual canon with any of the leads. Why? Who knows. Wasn't the way Cas and Dean were actually intended, probably.

[niennah.livejournal.com]

Well, I would hardly call either of those episodes explorations of romantic bonds between men. Not in the same way as we've seen all the other kinds of relationships, anyway, stretched over seasons and literally through hell and back. Likewise Charlie/Gilda (though, in relation to my comment below, that was an encounter between a human and a supernatural being with wings who was being controlled by an evil force...).

As for intent, Castiel was obviously not intended to be Dean's love interest, no. Anna was. And then, because he was so popular, Anna's storyline and her role in Dean's storyline through seasons 4 and 5 was given to Cas. Which kind of puts him in the place, narratively at least, of Dean's love interest.

I'm not arguing that it's going to happen or it's not, or that there's a right or a wrong way to interpret the text as it is. Obviously I don't know. But I do think that canon Destiel is at least possible, possibly a little more possible than many commenters here seem to believe. But who knows? We won't know for sure until a) it happens or b) the final credits roll on the last episode and it hasn't happened.

I do enjoy debating it, though, so please don't think me argumentative. I'm just putting ideas out there as food for thought. And it's good to get perspectives from outside the Destiel fandom. I don't often come across such perspectives on Tumblr.

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

"As for intent, Castiel was obviously not intended to be Dean's love interest, no. Anna was..."

Oh, you're right! That definitely does put the Dean and Cas relationship in a slightly different light. And I don't think you're being argumentative at all. (Ditto for me; I hope I'm not coming off as crotchety.)

I often question my own cringing when I stumble across a really strong D/C agenda, to be honest. I'm not squeamish about same-sex relationships AT ALL; I think it has more to do with how some in fandom are behaving. On both sides of the fence.

We see fans trying to repeatedly get the actors to admit to romantic love between the two. It isn't something the actors can confirm or deny, frankly. Misha continues to tease the "profound bond" and Jensen doesn't want to comment. It's really in the writers' lap.

SPN may not be the right vehicle to deeply explore a romance between two men; it hasn't been particularly successful in exploring ANY sort of romance, frankly. Even the heteronormative ones! (Which are similarly shot down by fans.) I'm not sure we can make anyone happy, heh.

[growyourwings.livejournal.com]

This is a very good point --> "As for intent, Castiel was obviously not intended to be Dean's love interest, no. Anna was..." It does put a different slant there. I'm curious, was Anna introduced back when Dawn What'sHerName was still trying to introduce female love interests into the show (i.e., the whole Jo-Bela-Ruby fiasco)? I think one of the Js and perhaps other BTS folks have commented after she left about attempts to introduce that dynamic. (But yet, us fans foiled her again, and went ga-ga over Cas instead.)

I do agree with the rest of your comments. As well.

[growyourwings.livejournal.com]

I think I may have not responded at the correct comment thread. A lot of very good discussion. :)

I just wanted to observe that this --> "Castiel was obviously not intended to be Dean's love interest, no. Anna was." Is a good, interesting point.

While I'm not a D/C shipper, it is interesting that the character of Cas did take over and more or less "replace" Anna in the writer's original storyline. It is interesting. I made a comment below wondering if "Anna as a love interest" (not sure I'd heard that before, perhaps I had, not sure), may have been a small part of the whole Dawn campaign to get some "normal" female love interests for the brothers. Lol. If so, did that ever backfire on her. In a way I like. :)

I like hearing other points of view. Thanks for all your observations.

[niennah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is a great conversation! It's really interesting for me to get perspectives I don't usually come across.

Finding out that Castiel took Anna's intended storyline was like a lightbulb moment for me. It explained certain things about Dean and Castiel, like the intensity of Castiel's disappointment in Dean when Dean intended to say yes to Michael, and the extent really of what he was willing to do for Dean ("I killed two angels this week, I rebelled, and I did it, all of it, for you" - powerful stuff).

I think it's quite a shame that Anna's character was not given more scope to develop. Though, when I rewatched seasons 4 and 5 recently, it was really obvious that Dean and Anna (and/or Jensen and Julie) had little to no chemistry. It worked as a one night stand but it was difficult to see how they might have made more of it. Whereas Dean's chemistry with Cas, however you read it, is pretty palpable.

Dawn Ostroff (I think??) had some weird ideas about what Supernatural needed. I like how it backfired too! While I do wish we could have more female characters, we don't need love interests. FYI, CW.