Of being a shipper, and writing meta that is not shipping meta
Ok, I am going to write a LONG rebuttal to something I read yesterday, and there’s also the postponed discussion of the soulmate nonsense with misunderstood, so I think this little post was a long time coming because I am a bit tired that my status as a shipper somehow makes all my points invalid to some people.
Yes, I am a shipper. I ship Destiel, I love Destiel and if they were made text, I’d be the first in line for the parade. However, I do not write shipping meta. Because as it stands, Destiel is a subtextual ship, which means it relies on interpretation. And I know that when we’re dealing with subtext, one can make almost anything sound plausible (one day I will finish my Ash/Garth Meta, I swear). So I stay away from the shipping when I write meta, analysis and even recaps (if you do check my first watch, the only mentions to Destiel are in the tags, and are just an acknowledgment that I ship them, for disclaimer purposes). Hell, at some point I actually wrote a defense for Canon Wincest, and I loathe that pairing with a passion.
So when I write that I find the idea of the show (and seriously, this is important, the SHOW) making Amara look like a viable romantic interest for Dean is problematic, it is because I don’t see how a coherced relationship where one side literally brainwash the other can be spun as something positive, because I think that female characters should be more than just romantic interests, because I am a bit tired of Dean being used as a tool for the writers to make side characters appealing, and because seriously, that one dream sequence aside, we saw Dean interact with Amara as a baby, then as a child, then as a teen, and that is, narratively speaking from the visual point of view, more than a bit creepy. NOT because “OMG, she is not Castiel”. (As an aside, I do find all the fics where Castiel “looks after” Dean since Dean was a child incredibly creepy too. Child grooming is not romantic, damn it)
When I write that no, Dean and Sam are not Soulmates, is not because “OMG, Cas is Dean’s soulmate!!!”, it is because the text doesn’t support the idea that Dean has a soulmate at all (Sam could have. I mean, I think it would’ve been nice to see Jess in his heaven, and afraid that if Amelia hadn’t been so hated, she could make an appearance if Sam dies again), because no matter how much I love soulmate and soulbond fics, the mere concept of a soulmate goes against everything that Dean Winchester represents in the narrative.
When I write that Dean can be read as a bisexual character, it is becuase yes, I believe he can be read as one. Not because I want him to end up riding to the sunset with Castiel. Or Benny. Or Sam. Or insert male character that I may be forgetting here. My Dean as bi meta is about Dean, not about who Dean likes the best. There are some meta writers who do that, but not all of them do it and thus I believe that dismissing their meta as “just shipping talk” is a disservice to everyone. (Unless, of course, said meta begins with “I am a shipper and this is why my ship is totally canon! Seriously! And if you disagree go die in a fire! you evil (insert pairing slur here)”)
And when I write about the disfunctional relationship between Dean and Sam, and how Sam is not the wilting little defensless flower that some fans make him to be (Seriously, I will never get over that meta that just hijacked gender violence and started with “Sam is a battered girlfriend and his character is female coded”) is not because I am writing between the lines “Wincest will never be canon”. It is because I care about writing about the relationship between the brothers as it is in the text.
Yes, my meta is Dean-leaning. But the only reason I am making a tallied rewatch is because I don’t want to be Dean-biased. Yes, sometimes the fandom makes it look like if saying “Dean is not a monster” IS Dean-biased, but that’s besides the point. The point would be “If you want to dismiss my meta because of the side of the fandom I am, dismiss it because I am a Dean fan, not because I am a shipper. Because my shipping has nothing to do with my meta”
