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There are people in this fandom that keep and keep spreading misinformation  that has no basis in reality which a lot of people seem to take for the truth just because it has been repeated often enough.

The series creator Eric Kripke has never called Dean Winchester straight. In a round table interview in Comic Con in 2013, in just one of many, he spoke of his thematic of unstated homoerotic subtext in his work, paralleling the brothers Sam and Dean to the characters Sebastian and Miles from his new show Revolution, which was the topic of the interview, and he called Sebastian and Miles straight guys. He did not call Dean Winchester a straight guy. At no point did he call Dean Winchester a straight guy. He has never called Dean Winchester a straight guy in any recorded interview in the last eleven years. Eric Kripke has, however, confessed on his own twitter account that he used Hellblazer, Good Omens, American Gods, and Sandman as his inspiration for The Pilot episode. These influences have something in common.

The two other show runners have never commented on Dean Winchester’s sexuality at all. Sera Gamble described the show as the epic lovestory of Sam and Dean.

It also falsely claimed that all the writers either think Dean Winchester is straight (which is naturally unverifiable but extremely unlikely), or that all the writers have in fact said that Dean Winchester is straight.

The only writer that is quoted on having described Dean Winchester as heterosexual is Ben Edlund – according to Jensen Ackles’ 2013 Jus in Bello convention appearance. This claim was made in reference to the same scene (8.13) that Ben Edlund himself, in his own words, describes on the DVD commentary of being a romantic comedy kind of fluster and that Dean and Aaron could come together, agreeing with the director Phil Scriggia that there’s potential for love in all places for him.

Robert Berens approves of fans thinking that Dean likes both dick and vag in French.

Robbie Thompson once tweeted “Destiel isn’t canon? ;)” and has since deleted the tweet.

Cathryn Humphris thought Nick the Siren was based on “Dean’s perfect mate”.

Adam Glass is of the opinion that you’re free to interpret the story as you damn well like.

That is all we know about the opinions of the writers even tangentially related to Dean Winchester’s sexuality. And this is only a small handful of writers. Not one of the writers currently writing for the show has ever called Dean Winchester straight, not once, not anywhere that can be verified.

In the interest of not falsely presenting the evidence, I will also add that the director Guy Norman Bee has stated on twitter that Destiel is not the story. He was, however, not commenting on Dean Winchester’s sexuality.

Even the ending feels like an omission. A dream where the line between reality and death is blurred.

On the subject of AI, I have a confession to make: I use it. Not to write for me, but to help me check for inconsistencies, to brainstorm ideas, to write outlines, to give me a couple of lines when I've been stuck for hours, to be my beta reader, if you will. Generative AI is bad? Yes, but it also a useful tool if one isn't lazy. I don't ask: write me a story. I go with my story and ask: help me with continuity. Look, this paragraph is clunky, how do I make it better? The demonization of generative AI is fair, but to be honest, I also understand people who use it. Maybe they're afraid of writing themselves, maybe they're insecure and don't trust their prose. Maybe they have brilliannt ideas but they need help to make them become fics.

To me, this is very much connected to my last ask where I was talking about how we don't have enough mentors in fandom to support the influx of people entering it.

All of the things that you're asking AI to do used to be done by a beta reader (or more than one!). A fandom friend (or even a random stranger who volunteered) would read through your work and help you with those issues.

Betas are amazing. They can help with grammar and spelling. They can regionalize language. They can provide sensitivity reading if they're from a marginalized community that you're writing about and aren't a member of. They can track canon, help with research, even just be a sounding board to discuss ideas with.

And sometimes, they're just a cheer reader - someone reading your story and telling you how awesome it is because they love it just as much as you do.

I understand turning to AI if you 1) don't know beta readers exist or 2) don't know how to obtain one. The need for that kind of support doesn't go away just because you can't access it.

But for anyone out there who needs this kind of help and wants to avoid Gen AI, you can write a post on your blog, add it to an author's note, check out resources like @needabeta or - if the time of year is right and you have the funds - place a bid on beta reading services during @fandomtrumpshate

Beta readers are often involved in fandom events like big bangs and exchanges, and if anyone is looking to host such an event, it's a great way to get people involved who aren't writers or artists but would love to help out.

don't argue with them, starve them.

don't respond to their shit. don't give them air. don't argue with them, even when their arguments are infuriating bullshit. ignore them, block them. if they send you hate or send their friends to attack you, delete the messages and comments and block them. free blocklist. they don't "win" if they get you to block them, they win if you engage.

don't feed the trolls.

trolling like that is not a thing that, like, okay people do. it's either someone who is genuinely just an asshole looking to hurt people or someone who is going through some shit and making it everyone else's problem, and either way, arguing with them accomplishes nothing. just ignore them. block them. delete the comments, the asks. block the people who reblog the post with their shit. it's not your problem. they're the ones being the assholes here, but engaging with them - even when you're making good points - just gives them more air to set fire to.

i remember entering his office with my tape recorder, sitting in a chair that was too big, and asking him questions about war, and his life after war, while swinging my legs over the edge of the chair. i remember being very, very quiet as he spoke of pulling the car over on the highway for fear of crashing when his hands would shake uncontrollably in response to song on the radio or a smell that he couldn’t be sure was real or sense-memory. and of ruined relationships and anger and american hypocrisy. 

and i also remember that was the day i learned what “valor” meant. he used “valor” in a sentence and i didn’t know that word, and when i asked him to explain “valor” he became very quiet. and i can’t remember precisely what he said, if he ever offered me the dictionary definition or not, but i do remember him looking very sad, and saying something about our country’s idea of “valor”, and also something about a broken promise. and there was an edge to his words that i couldn’t parse at the time that i would later come to understand was bitterness, that he sounded bitter.