Excuse me while I get a little emotional right now.
Just a few minutes ago, Jensen, Jared and Misha announced season 15, next year’s season, will be the last season of Supernatural.
If you know me or my work at all, you know how much Supernatural has meant to me over the last few years. It’s where the Workshop came from, it’s where I met so many of my dear friends, it’s honestly one of the biggest reasons I am who I am today.
I first discovered the show on a TNT rewatch marathon in college. I thought the leads were hilarious and I fell in love with the fact the soundtrack reminded me of long car trips with my family when I was a kid. I was intrigued by the premise: a pair of brothers hunting what goes bump in the dark. I went back and watched the show from the beginning and slowly, Sam and Dean Winchester and Castiel became a big part of my life. I stayed up late following their adventures and through a friend and my roommates senior year, I met the SPNFamily.
I had never experienced such a passionate group of people since the Harry Potter fandom when I was a kid. Even then, I only experienced that in small doses at movie premieres and book releases. The SPNFamily was seemingly everywhere and anywhere. I delved deep into Tumblr, reading fanfiction, devouring fanart, anything to extend the Winchesters’ adventures from beyond what I saw on screen. I started Little Castiel in 2014, a blog dedicated to my little Castiel Funko figure, a Flat Stanley kind of thing, taking pictures of his adventures, my own little contribution to the wider SPNFamily. Through Little Castiel, I got to know the SPNFamily a little more, and found…a home. Here it wasn’t…shameful to love something. It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t nerdy. It was just love. Love for two brothers and their angel and their family.
Supernatural, for a lot of us, is more than a TV show we gather to watch on Thursday nights. Sam and Dean and Castiel and Jack and everyone have become more to us than characters on a screen. They’re our family. What Jared, Jensen, Misha and the cast and crew have built is more than a show. They brought together people from across the globe, people who have built schools, saved lives, made art possible, changed the world, and made them a family.
Hold your fellow fans close today and every day. And realize that this family will exist long after those final credits roll. We’ve, along with Sam, Dean and Castiel, have come too far together to go our separate ways just yet.
And a final note to Jared, Jensen, Misha, and the cast and crew: Thank you. Thank you for 15 years of tears, laughs, heartbreak, and cheers. Thank you for letting us take this ride with you. Thank you for connecting with us, thank you for sharing with us, thank you for going above and beyond for us. This family wouldn’t be here without you. I’m sure it’s overwhelming to think of all that’s happened because of a TV show, the families, the children, the projects, the businesses, the art, the foundations, the charities, everyone that’s benefited from being a part of this family. All of that is because of you.
And a final final note to our fearless creator, Eric Kripke: Thank you for the gift you gave us. Thank you for Sam and Dean. Thank you for Castiel. For Baby. For Bobby. For Mary and John. For Crowley. For all the characters that have graced our screens. For this universe that has grown and lasted three times as long as you initially planned. Thank you for creating this universe.
Elizabeth