Sometimes in fandom, we may knowingly partake in a bit of offered Kool-Aid, whether it be longtime folklore, endearing qualities that never seem to be outgrown, or behavior that can be chalked up to "Oh, that's just the way they are". We may even acknowledge that we know we're drinking fandom Kool-Aid, but it's only an occasional swig and fairly harmless to our digestive systems. We just shake our head and wish that we could either turn back the clock to when times were more pure, or back to when we were more innocent, which was kind of a nice place to be.
However, with all nostalgia aside, what happens when the Kool-Aid begins to be fermented to the point where it could be more accurately referred to as Trigger-Ade instead? Last weekend at the ever-hot mess that is Jus in Bello (aka JibCon), the Supernatural convention held in Rome, Italy, "the drink" was flowing alright. Both literally and metaphorically. And it was not pretty.
Just for kicks, I thought it would be interesting to open up the photo album and look at a few memories from years past. It looks like the first JibCon was held in 2010. Jensen and Jared were but mere pups:
And the long-time, designated meard, Misha Collins? Oh, he was there, perhaps not quite as front and center (after all, this was the first Jus In Bello event), but looks like he was already imagining the endless possibilities ahead.
2011 was the scene of the infamous video screen play with Jensen and Jared. Who could forget this wonderfully classic J2 moment?
And 2012. Who recognizes Jared here? Amazing, isn't it?
By 2011 and 2012 respectively, one can see that intended meard Collins was slowly, but surely getting his foot inside the door.
Nothing says intimacy and sexual innuendo "Cockles-style" like a sinus cleaning, can you dig it?
2012 - it was only the beginning
And THEN? Wellllll...then the wheels really began to fall off in subsequent years.
Jared missed 2013 due to a reported family emergency. In 2014, he was
Making sure pics made it to social media:
• The inconsistencies of the nature/diagnosis of the "injury"
• An on & off sling (it's on, it's off, it's on, it's off)
• The logistical fallacies between the timing of the "injury's" occurrence conflicting with the JibCon schedule and everyone who was supposed to be in the room during said 'injury', on that Saturday
• the lack of reports of a visit by a doctor and/or a trip to a clinic or hospital for an X-ray and then once back on American soil, the long delay before an alleged surgery
All of the above bullet points pointed towards a PR stunt for the ages. [But don't mind this "newbie" Spn fan - back in 2014, I was told right off the bat I didn't know what in the heck I was talking about. #eyeroll]
The one big thing I do know is that Jared was eliminated, retired, put out of commission, however one wants to phrase it, on Saturday and "Cockles" took over.
In 2015, Management tried a different route, one much more personal; this time, Jared was given another doctor's note of sorts to excuse him from JibCon. He was given a mental breakdown and skedaddled "home", disappearing to "heal and regroup" while Jensen, Collins & Co. carried on hot-tubbing, touring the sights and dedicating stage music to their runaway comrade.
and
The last picture contains two look-backs. Apparently unfazed by what was supposed to be a rather sensitive and forgetful period of time for their friend, these gentlemen chose to forget that part and said, "hey, remember that time when?!" This glaring callousness alone should have raised more than a few eyebrows.
And yes.... "Cockles" thrived onward.
2016? lol. Well - Management knew it was too risky to try another high profile stunt, so what did they do instead? They brought on board one of the beards - Genevieve Cortese Padalecki so she could babysit, I mean occupy her merkin, i.e., "husband". Even more telling is notice that the beard they brought over was Jared's so that Jensen could be free to run amuck with Misha Collins on Saturday. More proof that the shenanigans of previous years (e.g, Jared's dislocated shoulder and mental breakdown) were strategically planned.
just.....doesn't....quite work, lol.
Nonetheless, her Jared-diversion presence then freed up.....guess who?
Oh, the fumbling hands!
And the whole scheme was working until Jensen had a bit too much of that "apple juice" at the closing ceremony and the green-eyed monster got a hold of his tongue and air quoting fingers. 2:20 in this vid clip is pure gold.
But that kind of acting out is the kind of by-product that Management risked happening by bringing one of the beards onto a live stage situation with these two particular men. There were also gratuitous mentions of Jared having missed the last two JibCons and another "protective brother hug". Yes, this author is putting quote marks around those "hugs" because they've gotten to be a bit scripted and Milkbone-ish.
And so it was at JibCon7. Jus In Bello 2017 was without near the drama, but once again, there was the now-essential J2 bro-hug.
and the "Cockles":
and show-me-yours-and-I'll-show-you-mine [what on earth?]:
Uhh....
For unknown reasons, 2018 was even more rolled back, with mild, lame and reaching "Cockles":
Whereas J2 believers were gifted with this pleasant, romantic moment, when Jared presented Jensen with a balloon bouquet. Who will ever forget this one?
Nah, that was too original, let's re-create in 2019 with Jensen and the meard, minus the balloons, but otherwise close enough to taint the organic:
But as far as breakdowns and broken bones are concerned, perhaps the J's were able to take a year off before 2019's JIB, because Jus In Bello (2018) came and went without incident. With relative calm and ease, in fact,
and then the bottom came unhinged last weekend.
Forced...
— Manon (@mstieldean) May 19, 2019
Miserable? No, not really.
— ٰ (@casclaire) May 19, 2019[now deleted tweet and account]
#jusinbellocon #jib10 #jib10pic #supernatural #spnfamily #JIBWEEK2019 #jibfamily @jusinbellocon @JensenAckles @mishacollins Their laughs warm my heart through and through. pic.twitter.com/Qu1PGONMJ3— JibJess. (@IAmBossypants) May 18, 2019
Proactive.
Because you've always got to compare and let the shippers know that you have seen the meard's junk in order to "know this" #elementarymydearwatson:
So I’m watching all the jib panels and WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS!? pic.twitter.com/GtyIhFEILd— 『T』😈😇 (@TONiANN_ROSE) May 22, 2019
Fans, are you catching this one? Make sure now!
— 𝐦𝐨 ☾ (@jensbowlegs) May 20, 2019
Action! This one is just pretty unbelievable.
And let's throw an inflatable unicorn on stage as a mascot for ridiculing and hiding-in-plain-sight taunting:
Is there a metaphor here? What is being said?
There are differing views on whether or not Jensen was really displeased by the Destiel fan shirt and the Destiel ship in its entirety. But who can even tell these days? If Jensen can fake tolerance of a Jared hug,
and here,
and from JibCon7,
it looks like he's well past that 2014 stage of reluctance and displeasure. Let's face it, the "Jared bro-hug and lift" is some of the fandom Kool-Aid, it's part of the whole stage shtick, sometimes kind of cute, pretty proverbial stuff...But in all seriousness, by now it's difficult at best, to argue on behalf of Jensen being "fed up" with Destiel/Cockles when he clearly and proactively encourages the management-manufactured ship. This is proactive behavior, folks:
There is not any wincing, any restraint. Now, is this author answering with a resounding yes to the question, "Is Cockles in any realm, real?" Not hardly. Ackles and Collins are not a One True Pairing; they're not even close to a blind date. Jensen and Jared have been and remain the true OTP. They're so together, they should be the Merriam Webster's definition of OTP.
And make no mistake about it: Cockles and Destiel exist because of the real OTP, J2 and their real-life chemistry bleed into Sam and Dean Winchester. And perhaps with the show winding down, just like the ramping up of the fake marriage to Danneel Harris for lingering effect, Management feels it doesn't hurt to pimp the fake sidepiece. Can't toss away those gay dollars completely, can we?
Here was Jensen at the Upfront's in New York City recently, playing the "I am so ashamed for I hardly see my own children, they live far, far away from me most of the year and my 'wife' is the 'primary caregiver', I'm such a rotten guy and for the fandom, Psst! This translates to I really only wanna be with Jared, neither one of us cares enough about our offspring, this is why we film in Vancouver for nine months out of the year because we are merely sperm donors" card.
It's really a more out-in-the-open version of Jakers "Jake" Gyllenhaal repeating the mantra, "I am not a father, but I would like to be a father someday; it's a dream of mine *sigh*, alas hopefully it's in my life future, if I'm fortunate". Perhaps Jake and Jensen could pull a couple of canes out of the ol' steamer trunk and form a vaudeville act with their rinse and repeat denials?
Jensen's version:
“I often joke with my wife
that she’s a single mom of three with a sugar daddy that lives in different
country. It’d be nice to actually be her partner and give her a little help and
be a dad and see my family.”
And then he mentions something about taking a few
The irony of all this, the extensive effort of 'Cockles' and 'wife' shoehorning, is when Management messes up with this sloppy kind of undermining gaffe, one which originates from this Mother's Day "Ackles family" photo a couple of weekends ago:
Pretty nice, eh? The Ackles children are adorable and then there's beard Danneel's lengthy and self-defensive essay which was pretty eye roll worthy. And it all comes undone by a pair of hands with a two-mile long right middle finger and mis-matched skin tones.
In other words, that is where the conjoining of two different women is taking place, right there in the fingers.
And so then, one needs to ask why is it Danneel who is the one who needs to be photo shopped into this composite picture?
;D
The nonsense isn't liable to ease up or stop anytime soon. Jared and Jensen are nearing the finish line and their public relations team(s) have a set of narratives which need carrying out. And after watching the antics from these past several months, Narnia's weariness of the fandom Kool-Aid (from all factions) has been exhausted. Will we continue to follow Jared and Jensen? Of course - this story is far from over. But when the manipulation of the entire fandom reaches the blatant levels that exist now, there comes a time when someone like myself needs a good, stiff cup of black coffee to snap out of it.
pic sources: Manilea Photography, gfycat, YouTube, giphy,
magnificentwingedbeast, ohmysupernatural,
weheartit, pinterest, donnagaff wordpress, fanpop,
dudewheresmypie, storgram, The Spruce
our playlist: Pop a Top - Alan Jackson
Raise Your Glass - Pink
Closing Time - Semisonic
Homemade Wine - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
10 comments:
Phew. That took quite a bit longer than I had ever planned. Granted, quite a bit of it was caused by my watching a friend's menagerie. But it did get a bit more involved.
Let me tell you what's been going on here since Friday. I'm watching two dogs (a little Yorkie named Ruby and a Westie named Daisy), two cats, several Gekko (sp?) lizards, several snakes and their food which involves worms and crickets. And I've had to corral worm escapees, who have been eating holes through their styrofoam takeout "prisons", with one even making it as far as the bathroom. There is a mini shark thing in formaldehyde in a jar sitting in front of one of the snake aquariums and I think I'm going to be seeing worms in my nightmares forever now.
Tomorrow will be the first day of feeding several of the little Gekko's and I just hope there will be worms in the containers to dump into their aquariums.
Goodness! Thankfully I only have to worry about making sure the snakes have water. They were fed a week ago and I was told that it takes a snake about two weeks to digest their food. I would have had to draw the line at feeding the snakes.
The crickets and worms are for the gekkos. They are kind of cute? But not a whole lot.
You know, there are still some nice Jared/Jensen moments, like the balloon bouquet. And there's no doubt whatsoever these two guys are as meshed together as two Lego pieces. But the manipulation of both the Cocklers/Destielers AND the believers is off the charts. They play both sides. And they taunt with the blow up unicorn, they slap asses and make d*ck jokes, then "run back" to the beards (or meards) for their IV drip of "het" protection.
I should know that any Saturday J2 panel is going to be promptly followed up by a bunch of Cockles crap. JibCon has operated like this for about as long as I've followed these two, and even longer than that. Does it need to be one of those "Oh, that's just the way it has to roll."
No, it really doesn't. Jared & Jensen are the stars of the show. The show and the conventions are nothing without them. The convention guest stars, Misha Collins, and the beards are without notoriety if they're not present. They have the power and the clout. There's something messed up when they're the ones who are having to "walk the plank or else". If it was 2007 or Supernatural was a newly launched show, it would be different. But now?
Nah, I'm having a hard time buying it.
Whew! What a chronology. These guys are both a hot mess, embarrassing and shameless, as well as just plain pathetic. I guess it helps that the alcohol flows generously at these JibCons, but the childishness, serial mearding between Misha Collins and Jensen, and the just in your face taunting is mind boggling. And that 2014 JibCon still stands out as one of the most ludicrous excuses for removing Jared from the Saturday panel ever. Remember that whole Osric Chau/Ty Olsson YouTube video where they tell an obviously concocted story to explain how Jared could have "dislocated" his shoulder. Blow by excruciating blow. It started out with Jared being "bored" so that should give you an idea just how scripted the whole thing was. The fact that cast members would immediately go public and have detailed accounts of what should have been a most scary and unlaughable event, tells you how made up the whole thing was.
The fact that cast members would immediately go public and have detailed accounts of what should have been a most scary and unlaughable event, tells you how made up the whole thing was.
Osric Chau was all over the place telling anyone who would listen, what happened and yeah, in tremendous detail. Notice who the individuals were who posted the “Dubai look back’s” - Osric and the chaperone, I mean “bodyguard” Cliffie. The “bodyguard” who did nothing resembling bodyguard’ish the next year when Jared was supposedly having this big breakdown. He stayed behind when Jared supposedly went rogue and in 2015. Some bodyguard. Supposedly you have someone in real distress and where’s he at? Staying behind so he can hot tub and play peekaboo in closets. In closets - the metaphor there is unreal, isn’t it?
And Cliffie, who supposedly popped Jared’s shoulder back into its socket not once, but two times. By all means - let’s not call a physician to come to the hotel, right? Or make a trip to a walk in clinic if there was one around?
And then there’s that video interview where Jared said he had a broken arm. Broken arm? Rotator cuff? I do believe there’s quite a difference with those two types of injuries.
The J’s PR team have really had to keep adding reinforcements onto his whole panic attack/anxiety/depression story that they gave him so that he could be excused from JibCon in 2015. Interviews, a written chapter in “Fangasm’s book”, so that it’s all in print. Tealight candles, the whole works. And now Jensen has to cradle his head and hug him every year at cons because Jared needs “protection”.
Just like “little brother Sam”, right? Mgmnt knows exactly how and where to hit the female fans of these two and their show. It’s Supernatural come to life, only it’s Jensen who has to “look out” for Jared. Good lord.
And the J’s team aren’t the only ones who play on the female demographic and many’s instilled instinct to cradle, hug tight, wipe tears, and protect. PR teams hang out everywhere there are fandoms of the deeply closeted, that means tumblr, twitter, blogger, etc. And they have observed and made notes. I think they have picked up on what I call “Tumblr speak”. Words like “smol” and “puppy” and “don’t @me”. They take these terms and they’re using them with phony accounts. They’re using them to play and exploit the female and young demographic.
I see people calling Jake a “puppy” and about fall out of my chair laughing. He is not a puppy, lol. LOL! Who would call Jakers a puppy? Come on. And that’s how I know his social media has got fake in it.
Sorry, I am a bit frank speaking today. I think it’s all the reptiles I’m living with right now, LOL
Well, I was going to relay some reptilian tales, but I see I’m out of time. Good thing, right? I’ll probably delete those comments later. I don’t have a lot of tact, I will freely admit that.
Well, the ol' automatic pilot from Airplane! remains my avi since Jakers has been on his mini summer hiatus before he hits the road and has to leave the fam behind.
Let me tell you, I have been trying to get a post up, but this week has just gone to POT. We had storms and tornados on what was it, Tuesday night? Sirens going off, my dog mama texting me a lot asking if we were going to go to the basement and it seems like we're constantly going outside! It has been one thing after another.
So I started watching little Daisy and Ruby on Friday night and we've hit it off right away. They're very congenial, loving dogs and very good.
The cats are confined to the upstairs and they have their own room, the cat room. There's the reptile room that has all the geckos, the snakes, meal worms (?), crickets and the tiny shark thing in formaldehyde (sp) in a jar. And I ran into trouble over the weekend when I noticed one of those meal worms crawling along the outside of the bath tub. And I thought "Uh oh. That's not good."
Escapee mealworms!!
One of the daughters had put the mealworms according to portion (there are about six of them, some are in pairs and a couple of them are single aquariums) in little styrofoam takeout containers with rolled up tissue in the opening. Well, some had chewed a little hole near the closure and I had to corral about four of them. Man, they are GROSS.
Monday was feeding day for all the geckos and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Then one of the cats got into the reptile room and I had to get her out of there. The dogs and cats have to be kept separated except the yorkie is fascinated by one of the cats, who seems to sit at the top of the stairs a lot, sort of taunting her.
On Monday, Ruby the Yorkie came inside and she had something sticking out of her mouth. I told her to give me that and when I got close, it looked like her tongue was swollen and cut. I happened to be on the phone with M&M, who told me to get some ice and put it on her tongue.
So that's what I did and there was a dab of blood on the tissue. I no sooner had turned around while holding her and I heard this PLOP! and this creature had fallen out of her mouth onto the wood floor!
It looked like some kind of salamander/alien thing with tiny legs. Dead, of course. I don't know if I was more creeped out by the dead animal or glad that it wasn't her tongue, LOL.
I have a picture of it. I bet that thing was a good 5 inches long and I don't know how on earth she had that in her mouth. So then I had to scoop that thing up and get it into a paper bag.
Their mama told me that they've had rabbits before have babies under their large bush and so I'm thinking that's what it was.
Never a dull moment. Worm refugees and alien animals, lol. So how has your week been? ;-)
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