People who like or liked Supernatural, who are or would be considered Hellers (a nickname for those who ship Dean/Cas, or Destiel), essentially continue to be considered anathema within a lot of the fandom for not completely trusting Jensen Ackles’ explanation of how all of the retcons will make sense with what we already know of the show’s lore and not tuning in each week — or catching up, which is essentially the equivalent of — to “help boost ratings” and “make sure it doesn’t get canceled”. It’s actually those last two bits I hear more about than anything else… how I “must not be a real fan of Supernatural” and “(clearly) don’t like it enough” because me not tuning in for the reasons that I’ve been candid about since the start somehow equates to my lack of viewership jeopardizing its renewal. Somehow I am to blame for this. People who think the same way I do… are to blame for this. This isn’t to say that we don’t already know how we’re a minority within the fandom — at least for those who participate in that sort of thing and consider themselves members, or would consider themselves members — but it’s worth pointing out the train of thought behind.

Truth be told, even if The Winchesters completely fits within Supernatural lore, John and Mary’s story has never interested me beyond what we already find out about them over the course of Supernatural. There are multiple reasons that I have chosen to hold off on watching it, should I ever even watch it at all. If this means that I am “not a real fan”, or “less of a fan”, well, classify me however you like if that helps you sleep at night.

I’ll keep curating my own media experience tuning in to what I want to tune into, when and for how long.