You see, this is how it starts.
You’re cruising your dash and you see ‘one of those three’. The big Kahunas. Sherlock. Doctor Who. And then there’s that one fandom. The fandom with the gif for everything. The two brothers and the angel. There it is, shining in all it’s glory.
SUPERNATURAL
You think to yourself, “I have too many shows. Too many OTPs. Too many feels. I don’t need any more.”
But you keep seeing it on your dash. Usually just a gifset or two every so often. You see some of the most crazy manip’ed sets ever. (Have they really been having that much sex on this show? How far have they really driven?)The fandom where other fandoms sit and wait for them to show up. The fandom with over 7 million hits on a photo of a guy in tight red gym shorts.
And then you see these fics. They start appearing. One by one. And they’re short maybe. So you read one. It’s tagged “Destiel”. What is this crazy portmanteau? It’s a hunter and an angel.
You read one. It’s cute.
You read another. It guts you with the amount of feelings. You were not prepared for this.
You’re curious. Does it always hurt this much?
You read another. It’s 150,000 words long.
You haven’t even seen an episode yet. You’re not ready for this kind of commitment.
And yet…
Netflix.
Netflix has 8 seasons. And that neat new auto-play thing so you don’t even have click to the next episode. It just plays and plays.
You’ve succumbed. It’s only 8 seasons, and you need something to keep you company while Sherlock and Doctor Who are hiatus, and you’re not ready to watch the last 22 minutes of The End of Time Part II for the seventy-first time and cry over that scene with Rose…and there’s no way you’re touching Reichenbach with a ten-foot pole (this week anyway).
You’re 43 seconds in to the pilot and the words that come out of your mouth resemble the cries of so many around you. ”I’m so invested!”
You devour episode after episode. You break only for water, to pee, and for more tissues.
Season 1 finale; you cry. Season 2 finale; you cry harder and weep for these two brothers. Season 3 finale; there are no words to express your grief. Season 4 finale; you can’t believe how much your babies have grown and how their family has grown. Season 5 finale; you understand all those oh shit! we forgot adam gifsets and inside jokes. Season 6 finale; you gasp in horror. Season 7 finale; you smile a sad smile because this is the end of all the Dick jokes. Season 8 finale; you just want to cuddle with the ones you love.
You get ahold of season 9 and BAM! Gone in an afternoon. But now there’s another hiatus.
It’s the story of your life. Literally. Invested in another show. It goes away and comes back bigger and better than ever.
In the mean time? AO3 and tag tracking. Because that is all that’s left.
Pretty much how it went for me. And a push from awesome roommate.