I am seeing some of the WORST takes about tdp season 4. Sweet, sweet tumblr users. This season was a lot of set up, not everything was supposed to be explained or resolved, or even "should" have been. Season 4 had to do the heavy leg work of re-establishing characters and arcs and the plot moving foreword. It just needs a little time to be able to act on everything it's now established. It did a good job building off of arc 1, and now we are fully indoctrinated into arc 2!

So if Dana said she didn't have any original season 3 ideas, why did she also say on Twitter that she wanted 10-20 half hours for season 3?

Now apparently from the transcript and the like, what was said that there were like one sentence pitches for episodes but nothing concrete or the like. That I believe. After all, it's like taking sticky notes and using them to jot down passing thoughts. But... Ideas don't mean anything. You need to have an actual coherent thought as to how you are going to use those ideas as a creator.

So when she says she wanted those episodes, I believe her. But... Instead of it being so she could have coherently finished her story, something you can feel isn't exactly happening during S3, it would have been to explore her ideas and let it be her mouthpiece. Even as far back as S1, you can clearly see this conflict in the show. The First Day lets her take potshots at modern education and saying kids should have more freedom... At the expense of everyone forgetting that multi-tracking is literally illegal. But the idea was more important than the overall story so in it went.

Besides, when asked about your work that you cherish so much, are you going to tell people you wanted LESS time to do whatever you wanted? Or are you going to say you wanted as much time as possible? Especially since without a solid plan, you can't be like Matt Braley who straight up went "Nope. Amphibia wasn't shortened. It was always planned to be three seasons."

I still stand by the idea that Dana actually wanted to just keep going WELL past S3. Even now, she wants to do a spin off and one of her greatest regrets for what was missed was not being allowed to do more teenage Raeda stuff in the show. A second episode in the past. Expanding on what? Who knows but it's more time spent with the ship that Dana clearly loved.

I am not saying Dana was lying or a bad person but the question that is worth asking is if that time would have been spent actually wrapping up plot threads or exploring characters as they are now. Otherwise, it would end up being like the S2B and S3 we got where we are still getting elements added, refusing to wrap up story elements, and having to drag back plot points from almost entire seasons ago (Willow and Amity's friendship), if not MULTIPLE seasons ago (Willow's lack of power control) just to do something with these characters despite it being way too late to treat those elements as relevant. There is a reason why if I hear that Dana is the lead for another cartoon, I'll probably be staying away. Not when I don't want promising statements to never have a plan behind. Not again.

Expected this to be shorter. I'm rambly though. Also just wanted to clear this out. Admittedly, it's stuff like this that makes it so that if anyone ever told me they didn't trust me as a writer, I'd understand. Not because of me wasting time but because my mental health gets in the way and can cause ideas to die as my brain just refuses to write them. How we as writers use our time with the audience is important. It leaves an impression and for me, Dana's impression is incredibly negative because I care about story, even if characters come first to me.

Sigh.

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I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

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'The Crossroads of Destiny'

Aaah, here we go with the epic finale of Book 2, I have been waiting for this.

Azula ordering the Dai Li around like a queen... you know, I'm not even surprised that people watch the entire show and then are shocked to find out that she's 14. Which just makes her that much more amazing, obviously. What really makes this scene for me, though, is Ty Lee just cheerfully making tea for her girls nearby, enjoying Azula's speech and simping hard. And Mai is just loving it.

Aang lying to his friends about mastering the Avatar State... umm no I'm still salty about the previous episode and this ain't helping. 30 more Jerk Points.

Okay, Iroh using his fire breathing trick to escape Azula's trap was very neat. I love how Iroh facepalms when Zuko states that he's going to face Azula. And Azula just plays it so cool. 'You're so dramatic, Zuko.' lmao, he really is. <3 Agni Kai? lol, no thank u. I love this girl. <3

Iroh pleading with Gaang to help him save Zuko... I mean, on one hand I like that he's not proud enough to ask because he cares about Zuko that much. But on the other hand, I am still salty when he claims that there's good in Zuko, while unwilling to see anything but rot and evil in Azula.

I love the little scene when the Dai Li agent reports to Long Feng in his cell, the agent just can't stop going on about how great Azula is. Okay, guy, we get you, she really is that great.

The crystal catacombs scene with Katara and Zuko was pretty much a starting point for one of my early atla fanfics, so I've done my fair share thinking about this scene already. But it would be silly not to acknowledge how defining it is for a large part of the fanbase. I mean, this is the scene that pretty much kickstarted Zutara. And even if I no longer actively ship them, I have to admit, Katara and Zuko just have strong chemistry. Katara touching Zuko's scar, the looks they exchange when Katara leaves, it's all there if you want to look for it.  

But I have to say... Katara claiming that she was saving the spirit oasis water for 'something important' when offering to heal Zuko's scar now just makes me think back of Lake Laogai and become angry. The writers did Jet dirty, and they also did Katara dirty by implying that she would let Jet die and not consider him important enough to save his life? Screw that. We all know that Katara would have stayed behind and saved Jet. This is a shameful plot hole.

And I do love the twist of Aang dying because Katara is unable to save him because she healed Jet or Zuko prior to Azula's lightning blast. I love it when a character as hopeful and pure is sent spiraling towards full emotional breakdown and descending into darkness, as I believe watching Aang die would do to Katara. It's a tempting scenario for me to explore.

Iroh's conversation with Aang as they make their way to the catacombs... Iroh validating Aang's terrible decision not to unlock the Avatar State, you don't know what you're talking about, old man, so stop flapping your gums. 40 Jerk Points for terrible advice.

I love the scene of Toph and Sokka trying to alert the Earth King. Azula is like... I'm not even going to lower myself to fighting those two. She just ends the fight by threatening Kuei. But I love how she lets the girls have a bit of fun with Toph and Sokka. I still love the Sokka/Ty Lee flirting. Sure Sokka, you're 'involved' with Suki. You've spent less time with Suki than you have with Ty Lee. The triple-cross of Long Feng is perhaps the most iconic Azula moment. I think it's very interesting that Azula invokes the divine right of rule as her political legitimacy, when I don't think that Zuko ever refers to it - even if it IS the only reason why he has any claim on the Fire Nation throne.

Zuko making his choice... I'm trying to see how it could come across as Azula manipulating him into making the 'wrong' choice, but... she really doesn't. This decision is all Zuko. Okay, when Azula promises Zuko that he will have his father's love, she is obviously saying what Zuko wants to hear. But at the same time, Azula has a very warped understanding of what their father's 'love' even is. She thinks she has it, but we know she doesn't, not really. It's all conditional, and Zuko coming back home as a fellow conqueror of Ba Sing Se fulfils these conditions so... it's not that Azula is even lying here. And unlike on my first watch of the show, I'm not even mad at Zuko for his betrayal. It's so understandable to me now that I can't even give him Jerk Points for it.

Okay these are some of the most iconic fight scenes in the show between the four kids. Zuko for once is able to put up a good fight against Aang. Azula fighting Katara means everything to me. <3 I had forgotten how well matched those two are and Katara almost gets the better of Azula. <3 Azula using her blue flame jets to completely destroy Aang. Zuko and Azula teaming up to overpower Katara... just amazing scenes. Zuko and Azula working together are so deadly. <3

The scene of Sokka and Toph liberating Bosco is so sweet and funny. Ty Lee trying to teach the bear how to hand walk <3 Mai not even bothering to put in any effort to defend a stupid bear. Yeah, she's soooo afraid of Azula punishing her, right?

Iroh turning traitor and allowing Katara to escape with Aang was a decision that has always fascinated me, because I think that Iroh is a more complex character with more complex motivations than to just decide 'well I've finally realized who the good guys are and so I'm going to go against my nephew and stand with them'. There are myriad of other explanations. The death of the Avatar would mean the loss of hope and likely collapse of all remaining resistance. Maybe Iroh simply did not wish something like that on Zuko's hands. Or maybe he's playing a long political game.

I think the final exchange between Azula and Zuko is almost wholesome? Azula has absolutely no reason to treat Zuko decently here if she didn't want to. I don't think Ozai ever ordered Azula to capture the Avatar, so she doesn't need Zuko as her fall guy for that, because that wasn't even her task. Wasn't her task to bring back the Fire Nation traitors, Zuko and Iroh? Task achieved. She did not necessarily have to bring them both back in chains. Capture of Ba Sing Se also wasn't Azula's goal. She just saw an opportunistic chance to do it and acted upon it. And now she has a massive success under her belt with which to further endear herself to Ozai. Again, why should she share this success with Zuko, unless she actually wants her brother back?

Anyway, I've rambled long enough. This was a great conclusion to Book 2, and I'm looking forward to Book 3! In the meantime, here are the final Jerk Point standings for Book 2, and we congratulate Iroh with a well deserved victory!

Jerk Points for Book 2:

Iroh - 600 Long Feng - 560 Aang - 320 Azulon - 300 Ursa, General Fong  - 200 Zuko, Toph - 120 Ozai, King Kuei - 100 Sokka - 70 Bumi, Lao Beifong - 50 Pakku - 30

I have a theory about the Doomstar in DSR granting Dethklok their powers. Is this also true for Nita and would she be getting the same power from something similar, or perhaps the Doomstar itself?

Get ready for a marathon question-answer-a-thon because I'm sick and it's helping me pass the time, goofballs!

So, I think in answer to the above, it's a solid maybe. I don't want to come off as knowing more than I know (which is very little to begin with in a lot of respects, hurr) but the theory you've posed, I believe is widely speculated as canon or practically canon. To me at least, it looked like the Doomstar was imbuing Dethklok with... well... something. And if that's going to lead to what most fans commonly refer to as their "god powers" or whatever coming to light, then it won't surprise me.

As for Nita, she isn't a God, if that's the implied question, here. But where she gets her powers from would potentially be the same source (whatever that is). Regardless, I don't think I'll explore that until we get some solid answers from the finale, if we do. For now, though, I'm on the side that assumes your theory is correct as it pertains to Dethklok, at least. Ask anyone -- I'm always on board for supermassive celestial entities going about distributing raw power to metal bands.

And it appears you have two questions in my pile, @hercannonyourface

Yes.

Caja is her legal name before she decided to shorten it to its male form, Caj. Skwisgaar might be doing this because he's known her since she was using her feminine name, or he might be doing it to be a dick.

As a writer, I just think it's great point of interest that she's genderfluid enough to give zero shits when Toki refers to her as 'he/him' with her preference being 'she/her' (and that the script for the very next update will see her apparently referring to herself as 'daddy'), but it drives her batshit insane that Skwis still calls her Caja.

Here again, I don't want to confirm any false assumptions that I know more than I do. I am using the Falconback logo in parts of this story as a sort of branding, and not a real allusion to the project as a whole. I feel it's just easier when it comes to plot devising to utilize it as something easily associated with General Crozier (at least, for the audience... frankly I'm damn impressed Pickles' fuzzy brain was on it enough to put the fact that he saw it on a missile's casing, and again on Cherry's tracking device, together).

tl;dr: We won't see the actual Project Falconback in this story. It's too early for it. But here again, since we know how season 2 ended, I've left it open enough to allow for the conclusion of canon to happen without anything within dethkomic getting in the way. At least, I hope I did. Watch us get a "it was all just a cocaine dream" or something for an ending. okay, I'm gonna shut up and not will that into existence, right now

Oh, for sure. Can't put out fever dream art and leave people hanging.

When it comes to knowing a little bit more about the girls in general, you're going to get a lot of back-stories right out of the gates once I start chapter four, here. I realize I have a lot of ground to cover in what I'm planning to be just 25 pages of 'komic left to go, and I don't want to have all the breadcrumbs I've been leaving lead to nothing.

You might be able to discern a few things from just the questions I've answered here, in fact, but I promise there's a lot more on the table, and I do have a script laid out that takes it somewhere. That goes for all corners of this question and what it could mean: The girls themselves, their mission and what it really is, as well as their connection to Dethklok on the prophecy front.

That's all I've got the brain power for, for now., gang Thanks for your questions as always, and remember... Dethkomic loves you!

Hi! I hope you don't mind me using flattery to get you to post the next chapter of It was just red, but I'm dying here lol I'm not good with reviews (and writing in english is not one of my strengths) but I just wanted to say that you're one of my favorite authors in the fandom, the first fic of yours I read was PONR, I was just looking for farah fics, preferably silrah, I was ready to skip the parts that didn't include her to be honest (it was late and I just wanted some farah content) but

ended up reading the whole thing in one night (it was almost finished at the time) and even tho I didn't care much for the teens when watching the show, I loved every chapter of your fic. I've read and reread almost everything you wrote for the show (yes, even if it didn't feature farah) ;) I think you understand the characters really well and the relationships between them. I particularly love your saul, farah and andreas (luna too). The scenes with the golden trio were my favorites on the

show but farah was the one character that stood out to me; your fics made me take a closer look at other characters, especially saul. I can't explain it but the way you write makes me so engaged with characters and even ships like rivusa, saul/andreas that I wasn't interested in before (I still don't ship them but I like exploring them in your fics, if that makes sense). Anyway, IWJR is probably my favorite fic right now, the characters and their dynamics, the flashbacks, present day, your

writing style, every bit of it, so hopefully you can update soon :D Stay safe!

Well knock me down with a feather, this message is just. Wow. I am so exceedingly grateful for this, you have no idea. Thank you so much for the praise of "Red" and PoNR and the rest of my stuff; it's such a high compliment as a writer to hear that readers are invested in pairings they don't ship in canon but like reading in my fics. I really can't ask for more and I'm so glad you took a chance on my works!

GEEZ okay I'm sorry it's taken me half a business day to respond but I just... this message is so kind. Thank you. After I watched the show I couldn't NOT write about the humungous gaps in the story, in Rivusa but also the golden trio/Andreas/Luna because ??? It's such a fun sandbox. I wrote for myself initially but found an amazing community to share it with and also amazing anons like yourself and that makes it so, so, SO much better to be able to talk and be talked to people about this. So. Thank you.

Re: IWJR- I'll be real, I burned myself out writing IWJR as quickly as I did, plus a couple of other things all posted in December and earlier this month, so I am having a bit of a mental block when it comes to putting one word in front of the other right now. I have 90% the beats of the remainder of the story plotted out, I just know it's going to be a bit of an uphill climb until it's ready to keep posting. The next part in particular is on the heavier side so I want the rest of it to be in tip-top shape and ready to go so I don't leave readers hanging on some dark stuff.

BUT it really means a lot that you like it and thank you so so much for pointing out the bits in particular that grabbed you. It goes so far to helping my motiviation, I promise I haven't abandoned it! To give a realistic timeline I am hoping to be done with it at the end of February (got a big cross-country move coming up, yay me). I hope you'll stay patient with me and enjoy the remainder as I finish up whumping Saul and let the poor man alone to be with his family. :) Hope you have a wonderful weekend anon and thank you again.

Sylvie's Love Movie Review

Hey Romantics,

I just got finished watching Sylvie's Love, which is available to watch on Amazon Prime and it's free if you have a subscription.

The movie is starring Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, who also produces the movie.

The movie sets place in Harlem during the 1950's, where Sylvie meets a sultry saxophone player by the name of Robert. They have a sweet, passionate summer romance until he finds out that he'll be touring Paris with his bandmates. Sylvie goes back to her bourgeois engagement but her love for Robert remains within, after finding out she is pregnant.

They go years without seeing each other until one faithful night.

Both characters are lovers of the arts, Robert a lover of jazz, and Sylvie a lover of TV

What I learned from the film is that pride will kill your relationship. This goes for any relationship but romantic ones especially. We are so scared to be our authentic selves that we are willing to settle for people, places, and situations that don't truly make us happy. We find Sylvie in a superficial marriage that meets the standards of her former debutant lifestyle. I can't really say that she was in a loveless marriage but her husband Lacy, made her promise that her career wouldn't get in the way of her homemaking duties. He continues to boast about his own success claiming that she won't even have to work despite the fact that Sylvie is working on her career in production.

Now everyone has their own definition of what a good relationship is but a relationship where a person's ambitions and desires aren't respected is a loveless relationship to me

Another time we see pride take it's toll is when SPOILER ALERT!!

Robert leaves to check out a job for Motown Records. He was tricked out of his luck his first visit and came back with nothing. Right before he gives her the news we get a glimpse into his memories and it's revealed how much he really admires her for the woman that she is not just someone he's fallen in love with.

He says 'I just wanted you to be happy even if I couldn't be a part of your life' and honestly that's the greatest love of all.

Unfortunately, Robert felt the pressures of being a Black man who's unable to provide for his family so he decided that it would be best for him to leave so he wouldn't hold her back even after meeting his daughter. That scene was sad to watch for a number of reasons. Robert didn't value himself nor his relationship enough to see that being a stay-at-home dad/husband was and is a beautiful thing. This is the 50's so I know but it was still sad to watch

Storyline aside, the cinematography was freakin' gorgeous. The color schemes and the lighting looked amazing on all the actors and really transported me back to 1950's Harlem. Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha had beautiful chemistry and I could feel how kind and genuine their relationship was. The movie was an hour and a half long but the dynamic between the characters made me wish the writers explored their relationship on a deeper level. I was captivated through and through.

I also loved that the movie showcased the relationship between African American jazz and French culture and how they intertwined during those times.

10/10 would recommend

I wanted this review to be simple since it's my first one so I just pointed out the storylines and plot points that stood out the most to me I hope you've enjoyed it and don't forget to listen to my Spotify playlist, Coming Of Age Movie

Stay lovely, stay hopeful, stay romantic

Love, The Hopeful Romantics Club

HELLO! guess who it issss! (your weekly yelling-about-fic anon)

very much loved the new chapter as always! i want to start off by saying that it makes me horribly nervous about what's to come in the best way possible. all the recent chapters have kind of been building up to the main event, the big and important plot point and i really hope we get to it in the next chapter because i'm super excited for it.

as for the happenings of this chapter, PROGRESS! my favorite couple is doing good and exploring their relationship at nolan's pace and trav is being kind and respectful and it's so nice and tooth-rottingly sweet just as nolan deserves. also! he believes travis loves him YEAH BABEEEEY!!! my boys <3 also trav's mom and the cardigan! i cried at that scene, that bit was super well written and one of my favorites this week. what i also love is that part about double standards about food and looks and how people are perceived based on their looks. *chef's kiss* also WHAT'S TODAY??? what a way to end the chapter on a little cliffhanger!

one more thing i have to say is i am impressed with the fact that you release chapters weekly, and it's absolutely quality work. i don't know if it's fully written or you write as you go, but either way thank you for taking the time out of your day to share this lovely story with us. i know you have a lot going on in your personal life and it's very admirable that you still keep up with an update schedule and all.

as always, sending you love and positivity. have a nice rest of the week <3

oh you're so lovely. Every week it makes me happy to see yoour answer and every week i hope i do your ask justice. Thank you so so much :) Progress is indeed happening! Slowly but surely and I hope that the pay off for it all (the cliffhanger too) is going to be satisfying for you to read. I'm honestly so excited. There'll be more Travis being sweet, that I can promise, but so many more emotions too. Things are about to change. I've finished the first draft of this story before I started publishing (I wouldn't want to leave anyone hanging when writer's block hits) so it's pretty much written it just needs to be betaed. I'm editing as I go, so to say. I'm def. trying my best and all the nice comments and messages like this help me get through the week. So once again: thank you

With how things are going, I have to wonder - did TPTB give us the Huevas as a 'there, we don't hate gay people' token and were we wrong in reading it as a subtext-to-Destiel thing? Lizbob, I'm getting desperate. The 'so introduce me' line was so - it's what you say to kids, right? And the UST is completely gone... :(

Hi there! 

Is this because of this post from the other day where the line about “twice the worries about being ganked” was put under some destiel stuff to show that Dean had in fact doubled his worries about getting ganked? And also explains why he keeps telling Cas not to do anything stupid, because he’s worried, and not because he thinks Cas is actually stupid… Buckleming dialogue or not it’s calling back to 12x10 where Dean had to clarify this for Cas and admit he can say stuff like that when he’s worried. I’m not saying it’s very nice to keep on heckling Cas instead of just saying he’s worried, although I do feel the choice of writer really waters down the nuance in how that scene could have gone which would show Dean actually learned anything from 12x10. And while Cas shouldn’t have to expect to deal with Dean caring about him this way, at least we’ve already covered this in the text :P

But anyway, to me personally I just don’t write about Destiel that I see in the show with expectations that it will go canon, not because I’m negative or wanky about it (although, usual disclaimer, of course I’m very opinionated on if it SHOULD and the obligation the show has to do what they are constantly teasing, I just separate out these two things to write about the present moment of the show and the future, one of which takes a lot of explaining and one of which is extremely one note obvious of “make it gay, you cowards”), but just that I don’t want to engage in the cycle of optimism/despair that having Destiel hopes causes, specifically because I’m a popular meta blog that writes about Destiel in the text, and also because of people like you who get their hopes up and then get hurt.

I will probably merge expectations with demands when the show is actually definitively heading towards the end and we all know it is and it’s out there on the table. In the mean time, I’m happy to let this all carry on as it’s carrying on without feeling like there is a deadline or set moment for any one thing to pay off for us. The show takes its sweet time to address things which seem OBVIOUS, for example looking at the way side characters disappear and return sometimes like 3 or 9 or 13 years after we last saw them to get some closure on something or other. And it takes them years to chase down a main arc idea and pin it successfully. And some of the reason character development stuff links so well back to season 1 is because the progress Sam or Dean has made on it since season 1 has been in a series of recursive loops which seem to get somewhere only to be pulled back without reaching actualisation and either start again immediately or crop back up in the text much later as a character arc, starting over again as if it never really reached its conclusion. 

Dabb era has been good about excavating some of these more ridiculous concepts and putting them on some no-going-back type arcs, for example for better or worse the issues they have with Mary have *utterly* shifted ground and can never go back to the same background noise they used to be. Mary is no longer a childhood memory and enshrined as the family martyr, and as I talked about a lot over the last hiatus doing rewatches, the attempts to make her deeper/tie her into the mythology, never actually addressed a change in the way they felt about her, maybe not even realising it wasn’t healthy for them to feel that way about her for the rest of their lives in the difference between normal mourning and revenge quests etc and how that meant they could never leave her behind and move on. I mean there’s a LOT of work to be doing with them if there’s any sort of happy ending to come, but since Carver era the writing has spent so much time trying to understand why they feel bad and putting them through hell for it, and especially in Dabb era now doing work to make them recover and to explore ways they can change, that it seems really depressing to waste the good work by killing them off. So that’s a sort of broad optimism about what they’re doing :P

But that broad optimism is really as far as I’ll dare to venture about endgame, so talking about Destiel is mostly about what I see in the text and how it relates to their character arcs and how I see that informing them and therefore hopefully if there is a happy ending, the intrinsic way this relationship matters to Dean and Cas will get happy pay off as well, because of all the aspects being explored in their character arcs, their relationship ties is all together so nicely and what they would benefit from each other would cement a happy ending for them.

I can’t be completely responsible for the impression people get about what I want from canon in the stuff I reblog but I’m really hesitant to go past lines like nervously laughing and doubting what’s going on in canon as a joke about how Destiel it all looks, while trying to avoid posts that talk about how inevitable it is without some very good reasoned discussion that I agree with. I try very very hard to make this blog always toe a line of enjoying what I enjoy without trying to sell too much or sound like I’m promising something. I like a lot of stuff like re-exploring old seasons or what I did this summer over my rewatch, looking back on old canon and looking at how it has all the unwitting groundwork for the story that ended up being told, and where all the character arcs start and how they’re used in later canon etc.

I agree a theme the last few years has been digging up this character stuff and making it extremely clear or textually stating things for the first time, and especially this year coupled with themes of misinterpretation or not reading the picture correctly or working on misinformed intel. Dramatic irony has never had that much importance in telling the story either. This season has been really intelligent about these themes and last season did a LOT of stuff with characterisation to show how they understood them and old character stuff they were resolving or exploring for the sake of improving the characters. Cas got a final build up for his depression arc to lead him to the worst possible point, and he’s now on the other side of that so the only way is up. Performing!Dean got completely dragged in some episodes, especially 12x11 which did it kindly and gently, and 12x22 which just used a grenade launcher to do it :P 

There’s a lot going on but I don’t really like saying it all inevitably ends up pointing to canon reveals about Destiel, especially when that’s the most contentious thing and really hurts a lot of people to build up expectations like that, and it makes people angry or makes them fall out of love with the story because they lose objectivity and start making angry demands about when they get their emotional pay off, even though the story is still unfolding. Stuff which is happening along the way for later character pay off is seen as trashing the character and everything they previously stood for, and it becomes miserable for everyone. I’ve seen this happen in every single faction of the fandom and it’s nothing to do with the quality of the writing or actual treatment of the character/relationship, and an awful lot to do with poorly managed emotional investment and said investment being a finite resource. It’s UTTERLY depressing to watch a fandom friend melt down and begin to hate everything you once loved and I think watching that process has a lot of toxic fall out for everyone else around them who also loves the thing, because we sympathise and we’ve been watching it in slow mo and probably agreeing with a lot of the initial problems they have before it escalates. I HATE watching that happen. I will try as hard as I can to never be responsible for causing it in other Destiel shippers, so I try to make my jokes and comments stay as much as possible on the side of not trying to imply the show has any huge Destiel plan that we’re seeing the early stages of and patience will make it bear out. Because that’s not even how I see the show anyway but sometimes things like Dean giving Cas a mixtape create a *lot* of hyperbole and I’m not emotionally responsible for you all, technically, so I am allowed to have some fun :P 

All this is to say, I’m really sorry you’re feeling desperate and have been reading everything as signs we’re definitely getting Destiel, because there are no signs we’re definitely getting it, but there’s also no signs we’re definitely NOT getting it, and a whole bunch of murky grey area including an entire show worth of supportive subtext, character interaction, main text and plot arcs which back up the *existence* of Dean and Cas being madly in love with each other. The wank comes when you spend all your time harping on one or the other extreme, assuming everything is signs or proof/not proof.

I think the recent storytelling has been extremely positive towards Destiel and put an awful lot of it into the text, to extremes which have never really happened before: season 7 with dead Cas used that to get some understandable angst out of Dean, but it constantly emphasised how everything sucked, Cas had of course betrayed Dean and caused all their problems, both personal and mytharc, and so resentment and anger were mixed with grief, and for the most part as much as stuff was happening to them emotionally, the episodes weren’t intrinsically structured around showing what the grief had done to Dean, or that he stopped functioning without it. Compare the kid gloves about what Dean does in 7x03 killing Amy, and how it tentatively links back to Cas but only when Dean admits that he’s had a hard time trusting anyone after Cas, to Dean vs Jack culminating in Dean screaming in Sam’s face about how Cas’s death has hurt him and he can’t unsee it on Jack. 

And then of course the whiplash on getting Cas back, which Dean never had in season 7, and at best 8x08 was that episode - like a year after Cas was alive again and a whole fresh round of death and guilt and Cas coming back later so in a completely different context. And still nowhere near as good as what happened in 13x06 because there was still a lot of tentative TFW rebuilding to do in 8x08, while by now it’s completely accepted they’re a family unit and it’s been textually stated several times and 12x12 especially was tuned to showing how absolutely final that statement is. There’s no need to be tentative when Cas comes back now - Dean can just let go and enjoy himself for as long as that lasts.

I’ve been answering asks about the UST being gone since I’ve been in fandom, like, season 10, and I do kinda think that the heyday is ONLY seasons 4-6, after which Cas and Dean actually like each other and their relationship moves to more comfortable ground, and romantic tension and coding is way more the order of the day from Carver era onwards. There’s a few things like the boner scene or Dean in the car in 9x06. TBH 13x06 was the first time in ages I thought we’d actually had a scene where the two of them were having sexual chemistry, in the obvious mirror scene to the car in 9x06 bit, but also the entire underlying joke about Dean’s ‘cowboy fetish’ that Cas knew about from season 6, his entire reaction to it, including complaining that Dean made him wear the hat but then voluntarily playing along *for Dean* on their way into the crime scene, his FACE while doing that, and Dean’s reactions to Cas through all this. For the most part they’re considerably softer and more hesitant with each other and that involves much less interaction right up in each others’ faces and much less frustration which then translates to UST quite easily as well as being regular old tension. 

In addition to that, the “i do” and that hug scene apparently convinced people in living rooms across the world that Dean and Cas had been about to kiss and that it was horrifically romantic, and a fake out which genuinely shook people into seeing something going on there who had not previously seen it and even actively disbelieved their shipper friends and family. Of course that’s all down to how Dean and Cas look at each other as they come in for the hug, so their magnetic attraction to each others’ faces is still an ongoing issue :P 

Their interactions are being told in a pretty different way these days, which includes a lot of romantic stuff which is far more overt, and in making their relationship intrinsic to the plot and to each others’ own feelings, all of which I’ve written about so much lately because, well, it’s the main thing going on around here :P I actually feel like this is an extremely good time for if you care about their relationship, to get it in the story as a powerful force and important piece of the story. Things like the issue of clarification - I vs we, and need vs want - are coming back around as themes and that means the issues they’ve caused between Dean and Cas are being addressed or examined again, hopefully to some permanent end. And if not, at least so there’s a fresh examination in recent canon, although as I was saying Dabb era has been changing things in ways it’s hard to back off from later, like that Dean has repeatedly clarified to Sam that his feelings about Cas are the cause of his behavioural changes, even if he doesn’t say what those feelings are, it’s clear that they are affecting him. I mean there’s a part of me that has to read it that Dean hasn’t even realised exactly why he feels differently about Cas than Sam does, he just does… :P

Anyway I really just didn’t want to reassure you without addressing the fact I hate reassuring people things without trying to avoid causing more problems later. I don’t want people to feel strung along either by the show or by ~meta writer promises~ … which, aside from a few people who really were doing it for attention, generally seem to be from people actually just reading the text and being hopeful themselves, not trying to make a cult gathering or get attention or even just try to hurt people. I really urgently would like people to be more credible about where their hopes are coming from and how to feel about it. 

Not to say that you should stop believing everything you hear meta writers say, by a long shot, but to evaluate how likely you feel the speculation that comes from that can be, and how much you do and don’t agree with the analysis they make. And if you agree with the analysis and do see that all the Destiel stuff people point out IS in the show, then you can see that it’s there or not, and decide how you feel about what the show is doing with it as a separate thought. I’d rather not get caught up in pt.2 of it because it’s just frustrating and depressing at this stage of the game, but pt.1 is fascinating to me, it doesn’t detract for me personally to have it not unambiguously stated, and whether Destiel does become unambiguously stated or not I don’t think *any* of the Destiel analysis I agree with/have made is *wrong* because that reading is freely available to make, in large print text and accompanying audiobook >.>