Bitching about coming late to fandom

This is the story of how I started watching Supernatural. So first, I was aware that there was a show by this title, and it had a towering fandom I wanted nothing to do with. I assumed it was a little like the Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings fandoms, and stayed well clear. I remember being on /y/ from time to time with SPN threads popping up, and anonymous persons getting into screaming matches trying to chase it off.

Again and again, it came back. But, since I do not watch broadcast television as it airs, I never saw previews, or anything, and mostly didn't know it existed.

Enter Tumblr. On tumblr, people reblog animated .gifs of everything. It's the only social networking site currently considered actually relevant that I moderately actively partake in. I enjoy the opportunity to read more about feminism and intersectionality, and I enjoy the funny animated .gifs. And while I became fractionally aware that a lot of my fellows who were already into the show were into it for some guy who was an angel, I actually only noticed Jensen Ackles. He looks and acts a lot like a friend of mine. I like him! But still, didn't go for it until someone reblogged a set of .gifs of Ackles's character getting the tar beat out of him by his mind-controlled friends in various tug-at-heartstrings showdowns.

I posted brazenly in response to this, "Someone tell me what episodes this happens in, and I promise you, I will join the fandom."

I know myself. My dark not-so-secret is that I write excessive amounts of torture and hurt/comfort and any show with hot young folks getting the shit kicked out of them will draw my attention because I want to see how they handle it. And, to a more likely disgusting degree, I know that the violence done to them will generally be portrayed sexily-- instead of unsettlingly-- which is part of why I am a terrible person.

Anyway, so I watched the recommended episodes. Luckily, my parents have a Netflix account, and you can use that on multiple devices. For the sake of making us watch films they recommend that we otherwise would blow them off over, they let us use the account as their second "device". (Kekeke.) The first couple of episodes I watched were in S1 / S2, so no angel guy. I immediately liked Dean as a character. As expected, he looks, acts, and seems to think like my friend. (My friend happens to be a fan I think, too, so this may not be wholly coincidental. But he's a strange one!)

Then I saw episodes with the angel, and I went "Oh! Hey!"

"...stubble!"

"--angels are creepy in this show and not just saccharine bullshit?"

Then I watched THE episode-- the Rapture, where we get to find out who the angel's inhabiting (the whole show is invasion of the body snatchers lite, really-- or Animorphs if you're quirky) and see his side of things and the very first thing I thought upon conclusion of this episode and Castiel's return was "I bet there is fucking mind control torture going on here." I wrote a fic about it. I happened to do all this the same DAY that an episode in the current season (which I hadn't watched yet at the time) aired on the CW-- an episode that confirms, unequivocally, "Yes actually there is mind control torture happening, and here's how".

Now, you have to understand my moderate frustration here (which I am exaggerating for comedic effect; I think it's important to note I'm not actually particularly miffed about being right). I picked up on this immediately. Like, in season 4 of 8(possibly more later, even). My very first thought was "I hope it's this." And it is.

And if I had been in the fandom instead of wisely sidestepping it all this time, I would have been so, so satisfied when season 8 began to air only to confirm the idea. Damn!