constantly, constantly thinking about how there has never been anything like destiel before and there never will be again. that this, by all means, should not have happened. that this show, in 2005 when there was no queer rep except for the taboo, stereotyped content that existed on premium channels like HBO, set out to create this all-american masculine straight character to such an extent that it read as compensation for a hidden truth - and then!! 3 years later, enter another male-presenting character who was only supposed to be there for a handful of episodes. but then the producers and audience saw this weird, interesting chemistry between these two characters which steadily grew into something that made people goĀ āoh?? maybe thereās something here??ā and then!!!! it was met with resistance at every turn. it was cut off by the writers, the network, the production company, even a subset of fans. they tried to give dean a love interest and then cas a couple love interests that fell flat. they tried to kill cas off and watched their ratings tank. they tried to put these two into two totally separate plotlines to keep them apart by all means necessary, which only led to their moments on screen being rife with such potent chemistry that it was almost too much to bear. and it just kept organically building and building despite all possible intention until it became abundantly clear that this was a part of the narrative now. it was baked into the story. and these characters suddenly built a home and a life and family together. and it became such an intrinsic part of the story that they simply had no other choice than to lean into it and bring it to culmination. and then!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in order to have some semblance of plausible deniability, they had to kill off both these characters in the most shocking and blindsiding ways possible and ensure they were never seen on screen together ever again because, if they were or if they were allowed to live separately, there would be no natural way to end their stories without addressing the elephant in the room. but in doing so, it created the most soulless and unsatisfying ending of all time for the show as a whole. and then!!!!!!!!! after the show itself ended, it proceeded to canon more times than any other ship ever. in a show about defying the authorās intent, this ship was the absolute antithesis of everything this show originally set out to do - and we will never see that again in the age of representation when queer and slowburn love stories are intended in every piece of media where they exist. but!!!!!!! while weāve also never seen anything like this before, itās important to note that destiel was built off generations of storytelling and societal norms that have existed since the dawn of time. and like, ok. ok. did we get everything we wanted at the end of this show? hell no. but something was achieved here, and its something that will never have to be achieved again. and it wasnāt just for dean and cas. it was for kirk and spock. it was for sherlock holmes and john watson. it was for patroclus and achilles. hell, it was for gilgamesh and enkidu! i need to lay down