yo it’s literally november 3rd. what’s next the 4th? and then. no it can’t be.
There are people in the notes & comments that don’t know about tumblr’s November 5.
So…
Let’s set the stage here:
It is Thursday November 5, 2020. Most of the world, including the US is still observing some level of COVID-19 pandemic measures. The US’s President is currently Donald Trump, much to the chagrin of more than 50% of the US population and probably a lot of the rest of the world. The trajectory of US politics and the US response to COVID-19 hinges on the results of this election.
The US presidential election was held two days ago on Tuesday November 3, and, as the poll results are being reported, as of this evening, it still looks like Trump is winning the election. However, not all precincts in several states have reported. Many US residents (like myself) are refreshing maps provided by various news outlets to see what states are providing their electoral votes (all of the votes for the state) to republicans (red, Trump) or democrats (blue, Biden). The map is very red, but the race is tight and there’s enough electoral votes to flip the map blue between a few “swing” states, specifically: Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Nevada.
It’s taking a long time, by US standards, to determine the election because there are an unprecedented amount of mail in ballots due to the pandemic, and, as these ballots are being counted, Trump is demanding, via Twitter, to “Stop the count.”
A lot of tumblr users, especially US users, obviously, are posting about all of this and waiting to see if those states are going to flip blue.
The US election is the focus on tumblr.
No one, except very dedicated Supernatural fans, are watching Supernatural Season 15 Episode 18 Despair.
However, everyone who has been in fandom heavy spaces on tumblr, is well aware of the existence of the Supernatural fandom and the large portion of the Supernatural fandom that ships the angel Castiel and one of the show’s main protagonists, Dean Winchester. The ship, Destiel, has been around as long as Cas.
The episode that is airing is not the show’s finale, so there is an assumption that if the show runners decide to make Destiel canon, it would happen then. Also, a lot of Supernatural fans have stopped watching the show for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, the writers coming up with misogynistic and homophobic storylines and queerbaiting with Destiel.
The last five minutes of the Supernatural finale coincides with one of these states having their ballot count flip blue.
In those five minutes, in order to save Dean from being killed by a Grim Reaper, Cas confesses that he is in love with Dean. (Two seasons earlier, in order to save his adopted son, Cas made a deal to return to the Angel after life, the Empty, when he experienced a moment of true happiness. A moment he experienced by confessing his love.)
The Empty takes Cas and Billie, the Grim Reaper.
Dean does not respond to Cas and seems to still be processing what Cas said when the episode ends.
Regardless, Destiel is now at least half canon, and everyone was expecting it about as much as the Spanish Inquisition.
Tumblr loses its mind. About the election. About Destiel.
There are posts about Dean processing his emotions at the speed Nevada counts its ballots. There are posts about Cas going to super hell to turn states blue.
There are posts about a homophobic love confession and burying your gays.
Apparently Putin is resigning. Of course he is.
Everything feels like a chaotic fever dream.
(Putin was, obviously not resigning, but it took at least a few hours for this misinformation to stop circulating tumblr)
Putin wasn't the only misinformation that night. Truly, anything seemed possible, from the glorious to the terrible.
This really captures the vibe (i.e. completely unhinged):