Although keep in mind that all these overland averages assume flat land. If you’re carrying a pack over a mountain range, you’re gonna go slower than if you’re carrying it across the plains. Then again, they also assume moderate rather than exemplary fitness levels–for instance, someone who’s spent the last four months through-hiking the Appalachian Trail with a 30-pound pack on their backs can do 40 mountainous miles on a hard-push day and average 18 to 20 miles on regular days, but they’re endurance athletes by then, and not your average merry-traveling-band stock (unless your merry traveling band has been traveling merrily over the mountains for a few months now :-p). Point is, while these numbers are incredibly useful for writers, you need to consider a number of factors that can affect them, and not just take the averages as gospel when you write.
Sometimes it scares me to think about this, but I’m going to share it with you.
I’m not just talking about Destiel and queerbaiting, nor any ship we have developed throughout the years. I’m talking about couples in general.
How come the writers of Supernatural haven’t written ANY kind of romantic relationship that developed in the show? Sure, there were couples. We had Mary and John, we had two couples of hunters, we even had a “peek” of what Bobby and Ellen could have been, and a few more.
But aside from that last one (which was an alternative universe you could say), all these couples were INTRODUCED in the show as such. We haven’t had any revelation, any first kiss, not even an “I love you” between two characters that might lead to something else.
The only example I got is Dean and Lisa, and Sam and Amelia. And what the fuck. They threw it all away, of course, as it had to be???????
Sometimes it turns into something sexual and then a part of the pairing disappears, or we have an example like the one with Bobby and Jody; something that could have been SO MUCH MORE, if the writers hadn’t killed him off.
And I’m like ???? what the actual fuck, writers.
And I also think they do it for money and viewers, of course. Why are they so afraid people will drop watching the show if they do something like this?
I know we’re a family in this fandom, but it’s also true that there’s a lot of hate, and people threatening to stop watching the show if something they didn’t want, happens. So, please, can we drop it? We’re making them not only queerbait, but they’re so fucking afraid of doing some kind of romantic step that they KILL OF THE POTENTIAL COUPLE.
“This is a show about family”, “this is not romance", I know, I KNOW. But a bit of romance wouldn’t kill anyone, would it?
It’s not like it would turn into fucking “He’s Just Not That Into You”. Seriously. There can be couples and not turn into a romance story. They don’t need an “applepie life”, like they did with Lisa and Amelia. Those couples didn’t last because they didn’t fit the show. WHY? COULDN’T? THEY? WRITE? IT? RIGHT?
Imagine the powercouples, the angst. They wouldn’t be whining everywhere, they wouldn’t be torn between their “family” and the hunting. They would be protecting each other, fighting it, being awesome.
And I think, either the writers are afraid of fucking up, or they just have no fucking idea how to write a great romance in the middle of the action.
I think that what you’re overlooking is that the lack of focus on romantic relationships is one of the things that makes Supernatural so special and so unique. I can’t think of a single other show that doesn’t spend time on (frequently superfluous) romantic subplots, maybe barring shows that are aimed at a younger audience. You ask why there aren’t any lasting, major romances, but here’s my question to you: why do you think there has to be? Couples exist in passing in the show, so it’s not like they’ve been completely stripped from the Supernatural universe (what would make the inclusion of couples “good enough” if not just the fact that they’re there? I don’t get where you’re drawing the line between “couples exist” and “it’s ABOUT romance”, because it seems to me that we’re already on the side of it that you’re trying to suggest). As do queer couples/characters, since you touched on that. I genuinely don’t understand why you see it as a negative thing that romantic relationships aren’t a major part of the show. Like @ross-faer said, if you want to see romance, there are plenty of other shows that’ll give you what you’re looking for. If you want to see romance specifically with the Supernatural characters, then you’re in luck: there are tens of thousands of fan fictions out there that’ll give you exactly that.
As another aro-leaning person, I love that Supernatural doesn’t focus on romance. I love that it’s all about familial relationships, because they’re severely underrated and underrepresented in most media. Anything non-romantic is seen as “lesser-than”; they’re “just” friends. Why can’t friendship be good enough? Why does it have to be something “more”- i.e., something romantic- to be meaningful? Somebody doesn’t have to be in a romantic relationship, at all, period, and Supernatural does a beautiful job of validating that and showing that you can still have plenty of meaningful relationships without crossing into that territory.
Further- insisting that romantic relationships should exist overlooks some major themes and character arcs that have cropped up throughout the course of the show, specifically regarding Sam and Dean. As you mentioned, both have been in relationships, and none of those relationships have ended well, largely because of the sorts of lives that the boys live (Jessica, Cassie, Lisa, and Amelia were all serious relationships that ended because of hunting, in one way or another). They don’t have room for romance, nor do they have people in their lives with whom they would want to be romantic.
“Imagine the powercouples, the angst. They wouldn’t be whining everywhere, they wouldn’t be torn between their “family” and the hunting. They would be protecting each other, fighting it, being awesome.”
Frankly, the relationship between Sam and Dean fills every part of this description except for the implication that there should be a romantic aspect. The relationship they have with each other is an extremely deep lifelong partnership- why should that be seen as invalid relative to a romantic partnership? What purpose would a romantic relationship serve that isn’t already fulfilled by the close relationship they have with each other, or those they have with other friends (or, in a different sense, with various one-night stands)? What is missing besides the label of “romance” and the focus on that aspect that you claim isn’t necessary?
I’m going to cut myself off here before I go on any more tangents. TL;DR, I really can’t understand where your point is coming from, and Supernatural has never been that kind of show (and I, for one, never want it to be).
Apparently all I can do is write Sam angst. Here’s another one…
Dean didn’t mean to do it. It was an
accident, really. They had been arguing over some trivial thing about
the last hunt, Dean doesn’t even remember what it was. They had been in
fist fights before, some of them quite brutal.
But this time it
was different. After a few punches had been exchanged between the two
of them , and some choice words as well, Dean’s next punch landed
squarely in Sam’s eye. He recoiled a bit from the blow and stumbled
backwards. While trying to regain his balance, he had turned to place
his hands out to brace his fall, but he wasn’t quick enough. His head
hit the corner of the table and down he went – he was out cold.
It
was a sickening sound, the loud thwack of his brother’s head hitting
the smooth surface, and even worse, the sound of his limp body hitting
the floor with a loud SMACK – causing Dean to flinch.
Dean had
carried his unresponsive brother to the car, driving as fast as he could
to the hospital. And now, here he was, connected to a bunch of
machines to monitor his breathing.
Doctors kept coming in the
room, telling him about “chances of survival” and “organ donation
process”. Dean was stunned. He almost couldn’t breathe. They had
finally stopped trying to get him to sign papers after he started
grabbing some of the doctors, yelling about how an angel would save him
and to stop fucking asking about his brother’s remains, when he wasn’t
even dead yet.
But Cas hadn’t shown up yet, and Dean didn’t know
what to do. It was only a fight, how could this have happened? He
didn’t mean to hurt his little brother like this. He ran a hand across
his face, trying to hold himself together. Sitting alone in the dark
room, Dean listened to the sound of Sam’s shallow breathing, keeping
time with the dreadful beeping machine. Dean wanted to rip it out of
the wall.
And then suddenly, a voice in the darkness brought Dean back to his brother’s side.
“D’n…” Sam’s voice was weak, but he was alive.
It was the best sound Dean had heard in a long time.
The beeping sounds of the heart monitor grew stronger and steadier.
Dean felt himself exhale.
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