Posts Tagged ‘Supernatural’

15
Aug
2021

I know I mentioned some of this already, but still.

categories: television shows; word count: 405 words

Based on Genevieve Padalecki’s Instagram stories, we’ve come to learn that she caught COVID-19.

Her husband and her spent the better part of how long jetsetting maskless in Italy, though? They behaved as though there was absolutely no pandemic going on. We also know that Jared himself has not been wearing a mask when he should have been, when he was in close contact with various fans of his work, and to a point in Texas of all places where the Delta variant is absolutely raging. As much as I wish Gen well and hope that she does not spread it to her husband or other members of their family, such as their children who are all too young to be vaccinated, I feel like a lot of this could have been avoided if they had waited to go to Italy until the pandemic was well and truly over, or even if they had consistently worn masks, especially while in Italy. I feel like a lot of things that could have been avoided — or, at the very least, mitigated — by adhering to advice given from reputable agencies and following proper safety protocols, but the ball seemed to be dropped on absolutely all ends. It really does seem like some people think that getting vaccinated (and being in comparatively good health) will completely prevent you from coming down with COVID-19, and this is definitely not the case, especially with the Delta variant as contagious as it is. It seems to be virulent, too.

As someone for whom COVID-19 infection could potentially be tragic, reading about all of this from the vantage point that I have has been incredibly frustrating, to say the least. I avoid crowds. I shop online when I can, migraines from extended electronic use being damned since COVID-19 infection would be a lot worse for me. I wear a face mask as needed. My oldest son consistently wears a face mask now as needed, and my youngest son has made progress keeping one on his face for longer periods. We all use hand sanitizer as needed, and we don’t take trips outside of the house unless we have to. Have so many people really forgotten that we are in the midst of a pandemic, or is it only the chronically ill and/or disabled people and their families who remember? Because given recent events in general, I would really, really like to know…

14
Aug
2021

The curious case of the Jarpad stans, y’all.

categories: television shows; word count: 384 words

Over my course of… being active in the Supernatural fandom, I’ve come to notice a bit of a division — namely the extremely enthusiastic fans of Jared Padalecki (Sam), or as some people like to call them, Jarpad fans/stans. They are a lot more enthusiastic over anything and everything Jared does as compared to fans of Jensen (the “Ackles Army”) or even fans of Misha Collins. As far as they are concerned, Jared Padalecki can do no wrong, especially when he has done wrong… there’s always another explanation for it. They ignore the fact that Jared has doxxed people going on the benders that he started to become known for in 2015, giving enough specific information about businesses and companies that he felt (or feels) has wronged him that the identities of individual employees have been divulged, even if it came with a bit of detective work. They ignore the fact that Jared goes on these benders to begin with, never apologizes, and has gone on these benders for years. The most recent one is the “et tu, brute?” one when he was not in the loop about the Supernatural prequel, galvanized his army of stans and had them raging at anyone and everyone even remotely involved in the fact that he — as someone who currently has nothing at all to do with the show — was not “kept in the loop”. He only “apologizes”, which is once in a blue moon to begin with, after his army has done substantial damage… and he knows exactly what he is doing. He is a grown adult. It is obvious that he knows exactly what effect his words, and galvanization, have on people. It bothers me quite a bit.

And, I mean, there’s the public intoxication bit and the drunken bar brawl Jared had, although we still don’t know if his drink was spiked and this caused him to behave in the manner he did (although he literally tried to evade arrest by flashing cash at the cops, I will mention that much, because that is 100% Jared there).

Don’t even get me started on the maskless jetsetting that he and his wife did to Italy, either.

There is clearly a problem within our fandom, and it is the behavior of the J1/Jarpad stans. I rest my case.

12
Aug
2021

I’ve never mentioned this in here, so here goes…

categories: personal, television shows; word count: 576 words

Almost all fandoms have their “dark ships”, which are characters paired together in a romantic context that… aren’t really spoken about. Fans of these ships relegate themselves to the various corners of the Internet where they can more freely talk about them with like-minded fans, but they’re not something that is brazenly waved around like a flag. You don’t trip and fall into them. It takes sometimes significant effort to find them.

However… in the Supernatural fandom, people actually ship Sam and Dean Winchester — brothers — and they are brazen about it. This represents a significant difference in how dark ships are normally treated. People put it in their biographies on Twitter (calling it w*ncest, and for personal reasons I refuse to write that any other way), in some other social media biographies or about pages as well, and they are proud of it.

Without getting into the genetic and moral implications of that (“ship and let ship”, even if you grit your teeth doing it), a lot of the respect that Hellers — people who ship Castiel and Dean Winchester — attempt to give w*ncest shippers is completely lost on them. It’s flouted. Sometimes it’s shoved in people’s faces. Hellers are sometimes repeatedly, loudly told that they are “shipping necrophilia” because Castiel originally, consensually inhabits the vessel of Jimmy Novak before Lucifer makes his vessel explode and Chuck just plain resurrects him as that vessel. (But what about Dean, who Castiel literally raised from the dead at the start of season four? This is almost never brought up in the context of shipping Dean with… well, anyone else.) We’re also sometimes repeatedly, loudly reminded that there is a significant age gap between Dean and Castiel — suspending some belief here, because this is a supernatural television show that we’re talking about, Castiel is an angel who has been around since nearly the dawn of time, that is to be expected, and both of them are adults. I always failed to understand that attack on the Heller ship, though, to be honest…

One of the things that I also dislike about dealing with those who ship w*ncest are their proclivities to drag people’s personal lives into it. During a debate, I mentioned that I had sent my autistic son (Bub) to his room because he was beginning to melt down. This is literally part of his care plan. I was accused of “sending my child away so (that) I could talk on Twitter”, which was literally the furthest thing from the truth. Not too long ago, because I was not physically able to distance myself from him in time, he bit the top of my right breast so hard that he took out a small chunk of skin and it began to bleed through my shirt. Within forty-eight hours, it turned into severe cellulitis because I am immunocompromised, which prompted a visit to urgent care to eventually find out that my bite wound had been infected with MRSA. Yes, human bites can do that.

Given the… injury as it was, the doctor that treated me at urgent care was surprised that I didn’t pass out.

I’ve been working with Bub’s occupational therapist on ethical restraints to prevent injury during meltdowns.

But seriously, I do the things I do — especially with my children — for reasons, instructed by their care teams.

On another “but seriously”, though, if you want us to respect your ship… please actually respect our ship.

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