So I guess I should watch the most recent ep of SPN?

[norwich36]

Weirdly I found out on the Untamed tag on tumblr (where I'm kind of living these days) that Destiel is now canon? Or something? People still watching SPN, could you elaborate? (I am aware of this tweet: https://twitter.com/khirnari/status/1324531574944210947).

Comments

[serrico]

Keeping in mind that I'm pretty sure my take on this does not align with the rest of fandom's:

Moments from death, Cas told Dean he loves him-loves him. Dean stared back in mostly-silent shock, but did not indicate any particular reciprocation of romantic feelings. Seconds later, because Cas Made A Deal to save someone's life last season, Cas died/was dragged off to the Empty, which is basically a null space where angels and demons go when they die For Good. Dean sat on the floor and buried his face in his hands, too distraught even to answer the phone when Sam tried repeatedly to call him.

So! Cas used his words to finally express to Dean the feelings we the audience already knew he had. Dean's actual response to this revelation (from his perspective--again, we who've seen how Cas's love for Dean has motivated a number of his decisions over the course of the show already knew what kind of love he felt) is currently unknown, as the episode ended before he could get over his shock.

Therefore, what happened in that ep is: we got a plain-spoken confirmation that Cas ships Destiel, but Destiel itself did not "go canon", because the other half of the pairing has yet to confirm that he too ships Destiel.

(Again, fandom-at-large's mileage varies, because apparently I'm just a contrarian killjoy like that. :)

[norwich36]

Thank you! And thanks for explaining the Empty, since it's been 4 or 5 seasons since I watched the show, so I didn't know what that was.

I've actually seen a lot of folks saying this is just a continuation of the "bury your gays" trope, so I guess not all of fandom disagrees with you?

[serrico]

Of all the things a person could conceivably object to about the way this has played out so far, naming Cas a Buried Gay isn't on my own personal list, as I'm 98% certain he isn't dead for good. Are the optics of Cas dying literally seconds after confessing his big gay love not great? They are not! Is it possible that Cas *will* ultimately die For Good so Dean/the writers never have to actually deal with his feelings? Not only possible, but likely! But for now, with two eps to go, it's premature to lump this one in with the Buried Gays, IMO.