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"Damon Lindelof was right"
So Castiel had sex with a lady in the last episode of Supernatural, and the fandom lost its mind, which is predictable ... but it lost its collective mind at at WB exec who had apparently just signed up for Twitter. The Fandom DeBunker (sort of like Snopes for the SPN fandom and widely appreciated as impartial) has some screencaps, unfortunately out of order, but you can get the idea. In short, upon being prodded by fans, Chad Kennedy said that it wasn't their intention for Castiel and Dean Winchester to be bi. Kennedy then valiantly took arms against a sea of troubles before ominously tweeting "Damon Lindelof was right" (which I suppose is a reference to this) and bahleeting his Twitter account.

To be clear, nobody is really certain what this guy's role at WB is, what his involvement in the show is, and nobody knew who the hell he was until like ten days ago.

Another fan has the same Twitter screencaps with helpful commentary: "The writers are fuck cowards right now. They know what they did. And they know what they started."

One tumblr user with the screenname Octoswan is not only a SPN fan, but also a housemate of Osric Chau, a young talented actor who works on Supernatural. She writes, "Haha so it’s pretty clear that Chad Kennedy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Poor guy walked into the belly of the beast and poked the bear with a big pointy stick. He said some dumb, uninformed things about a sensitive subject in a fandom he’s admitted to only just becoming aware of. Methinks he didn’t get the memo. Totally his fault for not doing his homework, but gosh, what a silly gaffe! //sigh" And then suggests that fandom go listen to some nice music or read a good book.

Octoswan texts Osric Chau about the kerfuffle, and he writes a note on Twitlonger trying to help fans feel better, including bits about puppies, kittens, and hot chocolate. It appears to work. Writer Adam Glass also takes to Twitter to remind people that Chad Kennedy doesn't actually write the show, and then he adds a hint: "If u asks @PaulMcCartney what does a song he wrote mean, he'd tell you he had some ideas but would be more interested in what you think. BTW."

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	rosehiptea 2013-10-25 06:09 am UTC (link)
	To be honest I remember getting really upset over a certain manga character, kind of like this woman only I don't drink. Though my marriage was falling apart at the same time so I think that was most of what was going on. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	seiberwing 2013-10-25 05:28 pm UTC (link)
	Nah, I get you. I once had to excuse myself from an RP game because I wound up in a sobbing fit over the other (evil robot) characters being oh so mean to my character, and then realized I probably shouldn't inflict the RP upon myself, or my issues upon the other players. Depression doesn't give you the greatest sense of proportion. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	rosehiptea 2013-10-26 12:00 am UTC (link)
	I stopped RPing altogether for very similar reasons. I just got too emotionally involved in it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

franzen
2013-10-25 05:49 pm UTC (link)

I think a lot of people have been "overly invested" during various points in their lives -- hell, I was attached to Ender's Game while being violently bullied on the grounds that, even though we were all too young to really be dating, I was a lesbian and that's contagious -- but... even when that book seemed to tap into something I was going through, I still knew it wasn't great literature; it was just a book that hit me at a certain point, but that didn't make its flaws invisible.

There's nothing wrong with seeing yourself in a work or being invested in fandom, but it's the soap opera hysterics and inability to admit that, at the end of the day, SPN is not a cultural milestone or anything but a surprising cashcow and that parties involved are freaking out over ... a plot that was spoiled months ago but fandom was in denial about? -- that's what takes this to the absurd.

I was devastated after finishing Persona 3 FES (even though I think that game is perfect) but... there are people who know why that game would hit me like that at this point in my life, plus my life is limited because of a disabling illness and that game kept me going. Over investment? I don't know. Possibly? It's when the "legitimate, if personal, reaction to a work" gets buried under "fandom hysteria at stupid shit" that things cross the line for me and "over investment" is as good a term as any.

The problem, I think, is that while you named an example of being (maybe) "over-invested" in a manga, SPN fandom is over-invested in their fake canon that will never come true and is full of problems, but OMG IT WOULD BE REVOLUTIONARY SJ TV... which is where the cognitive dissonance and "HOW ABOUT NO" sets in, wank-wise.

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	rosehiptea 2013-10-25 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	I loved Persona 3 too, actually, so I hear what you're saying. And yeah, I agree that in this particular case people should know better, because they knew this plot point was going to happen and they also know the writers of the show aren't going to make their ship canon and don't see it the way they do. So it does seem pretty bizarre to act blindsided by this. (Reply to this)(Parent)

ekaterinv
2013-10-26 06:28 am UTC (link)

Also, the ending of Persona 3 is upsetting, and is meant to be. I was also upset by it. It's natural to be sad when sad stuff happens in art -- that's the point of the sad stuff, to create that emotional reaction, and some people will be affected more than others.

Spiraling into depression because a fictional dude stuck his dick in a fictional lady instead of in another fictional dude is an entirely different thing.

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	iczer6 2013-10-28 07:30 am UTC (link)
	Yeah. I mean I get being upset over upsetting stuff, like a favorite character dying, or a long hoped for ship being sunk. But here it's that the story that didn't exist outside of fandom didn't happen, even when they were told it wasn't going to happen. (Reply to this)(Parent)

seiberwing
2013-10-26 03:44 pm UTC (link)

The problem, I think, is that while you named an example of being (maybe) "over-invested" in a manga, SPN fandom is over-invested in their fake canon that will never come true and is full of problems, but OMG IT WOULD BE REVOLUTIONARY SJ TV... which is where the cognitive dissonance and "HOW ABOUT NO" sets in, wank-wise.

Given what I've heard about SPN it wasn't that revolutionarly SJ to begin with. Mainly white dudes with a side order of white chicks, and not the best treatment of the white chicks narratively speaking. Sleepy Hollow beats that record and we're only five episodes in.

I may be wrong, I've never watched it.

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	eleutheria 2013-10-27 12:32 am UTC (link)
	I peaced out at the Christmas episode about evil Pagans, but I watched until then and can say yeah, you're not wrong. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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