Valentine’s Day Poll Results!
A lot of you may be scratching your heads about why the results are going up now and not tomorrow night. The poll was scheduled to close February 15th at 11:59pm EST. But here we are closing it on Valentine’s day morning. I know that’s disappointing to many of you who have been working tirelessly for days, but we posed this question to our Tumblr followers and discussed it among the staff and this seemed like the decision that was fair to the most people. There will be people upset by this decision, but it seems that most will find this fair so it’s what we’ve decided to go with.
Why have we made this decision?
There have been accusations of botting since the start. We had to eliminate Stydia for botting early on, but have defended Sterek pretty passionately against those accusations (see this Tumblr post with an outline of some numbers). The number of hits on our website, the amount of linkbacks, and the comments on our poll generally trended with when Sterek was surging in votes and by roughly how much it was surging by. Unfortunately in the early hours of February 14th these numbers got severely out of balance. While the linkbacks to our poll were still overwhelmingly in Sterek’s favor, the votes no longer matched the hits on our site and the votes surged by more than triple any of the other surges that had occurred for any of the ships on the poll… except for Stydia who was botting.
We are not blaming Sterek shippers for this. We have had several tipsters (on Tumblr, through email, and on Twitter) that have pointed us in the direction of another unrelated group who were actively rallying to throw the poll. Earlier in the poll I foolishly stated that if either Sterek or Destiel was caught botting they’d both be disqualified and a third ship would be declared the winner. This spurred some into action to get them both disqualified so that they could claim the title. My bad. I clearly put far too much faith in people with that declaration. I’ve also witnessed rallying to spite vote and place bots on candidates so that the ship they hate wouldn’t win. They weren’t cheating for their own ship, but cheating to force another ship to lose. It’s horribly mean spirited, but sadly the truth of the matter.
This poll was created to celebrate love, not vote out of revenge and hate. It’s Valentine’s day. Unfortunately not everyone could vote out of love and tried to ruin things for everyone. But you know what? We aren’t going to let that happen. We aren’t going to let a small group of people rain on your parade. The vast majority of shippers have been wonderful and pleasant. Your hard work to push your ships to the top has certainly been noticed. You deserve the recognition.
The Verdict
It’s a SEMI-TIE. Yes, semi-tie. It’s hard to say who would have won. Both fandoms have been jockeying for first place, but Sterek shippers truly deserve some special recognition here (Edit: The person who made this decision doesn’t even ship Sterek so please stop calling me biased). You’ve truly shown how powerful of a fandom you can be and have shown up in full force. Both fandoms have been incredibly hardworking, but the linkbacks (Edit: proof in this screenshot here) show your campaigns as being more popular. Since the lead did swap out between you two repeatedly and you hadn’t pulled ahead by such a large margin until bots were involved, it’s hard to say exactly if you would have won fairly. I’d like to think that you could have. There’s just no way to say for sure. Therefore you can both claim this as a victory and Sterek can get special recognition for proving that they are force to be reckoned with. You should both be proud. I ship both fandoms together right now. You’re both fabulous.
~Desterek 4ever~
We may hold another shipping poll in the future, but not right away. We’ve had suggestions for making a femslash/lesbian poll and a poll that would allow the smaller ships a chance at claiming the title. Due to the issue on this poll we may even have a Destiel vs Sterek poll only with tougher voting restrictions. All three of these options are possibilities. None of these will happen right away. Frankly, we’re tired. We need a break. But keep an eye out!
Thanks to everyone who voted fairly! You’ve been spectacular!
Edit: A request has been made to see who the other top ships are. Here are the five ships that came in after the top two. Congrats to these ships for working so hard!
Author: Angel Wilson
Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.
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\(ouo)/ Fair enough, it’s been fun guys, and i’m proud that we’ve all be awesome at voting. :33 Who knows who would have won? But if anybody won i would have wanted it to be fair. ^,^ As a shipper of both fandoms i’m happy. Cx Happy valentines Guys. :33
Thank you for ending the madness! Love both Destiel and Sterek! Glad they both get to be winners! <3
Totally agree with you! I love both, and I’m glad they won !
I love both ships too. I glad the madness is over as well.
Thanks for the post explaining this. Is it possible to create another page where you simply list all the winners. I’m interested in knowing who the top 5 ships were. 🙂
Ah, yes, sorry I hadn’t thought of that. I will post the 3 ships that came in after it in the original post shortly. I have a backlog of emails. Give me like 10 minutes. 🙂
-Admin Angel
That’s great and totally fair. I also thought that a tie was the best way to close things off. Much love to my sterek fandom for getting us this far and Destiel fandom it was a pleasure as always :p
I agree! This is a wonderful way to end the poll. I was coming in to vote once a day, and every time it had swapped out as to who was in the lead…obviously both are very well loved!
I’m also glad that (from what I understand as far as the information given) it wasn’t Destiel or Sterek shippers that botted, but a third party. Showing that both sides can be decent to each other really warms my heart.
I’m really happy for the results of this poll 🙂
Everyone, have a wonderful valentine’s day!!
I’m happy with a semi-tie for sure! Wasn’t too sure if I’d be happy with just a tie, but the semi-tie was a great idea! Sterek recognition is always awesome! Thanks to the geekiary team involved for making this such an enjoyable experience despite the minor setbacks in the last day. You guys are awesome!
And STEREK FANS YOU ARE ALSO AWESOME I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH.
And also Destiel! I’m sort of falling in love with the Destiel fandom 😉
Desterek/Sterestial5evafosho
I agree! Destiel shipper myself but I’ve actually made a few friends through this that are sterek shippers! I made one friend through a conversation that started as an argument about what ship was better haha!
But a semi-tie was a great idea! DESTEREK FORVER!!
While I can see why you did what you did, I don’t understand why, if you suspected botting by Stereks in the last hours, you still decided to give them half the win. Yes, they did work super hard, not gonna lie and all props to them, but someone in the fandom also cheated and yet you gave them the win when the same behaviour earlier had a ship excluded.
You clearly didn’t read the post at all. Let me copy & paste this for you:
“We are not blaming Sterek shippers for this. We have had several tipsters (on Tumblr, through email, and on Twitter) that have pointed us in the direction of another unrelated group who were actively rallying to throw the poll. Earlier in the poll I foolishly stated that if either Sterek or Destiel was caught botting they’d both be disqualified and a third ship would be declared the winner. This spurred some into action to get them both disqualified so that they could claim the title. My bad. I clearly put far too much faith in people with that declaration. I’ve also witnessed rallying to spite vote and place bots on candidates so that the ship they hate wouldn’t win. They weren’t cheating for their own ship, but cheating to force another ship to lose. It’s horribly mean spirited, but sadly the truth of the matter.”
-Admin Angel
It’s because there’s quite a bit of evidence that it wasn’t anyone in the Sterek fandom that started botting but rather one of the 3rd-place ships trying to sabotage both Sterek and Destiel (since she’d originally said if one botted both would be disqualified).
No Casey don’t do that.Don’t say Sterek fandom cheater.They worked too hard.Don’t be like those who say rude to all Supernatural fans.Don’t fight guys.It’s not cool. -sorry for my bad english-
Congratulations to to both fandoms! It was a crazy battle. As a shipper of both pairing I am very happy of the verdict.
This is a PERFECT idea for valentines day! I LOVE both ships equally so it was hard to keep voting for each one. To the other fandom that tried to get both the ships DQ’d…. :p. Ha! #Desterek for the win!
Peyring Destiel all the same the best, and we voted all honestly) the Shame on those who used bots
This is the only fair outcome.
I do admire that you’re not naming which fandom put the bot on, but the problem is that people really aren’t going to the read more. They’re just reading about bots on Sterek and denouncing Sterek as cheats. I know it’s not your fault for people being lazy and not checking facts but there’s already been a few posts about Sterek shippers cheating.
I’ll just keep copying & pasting that paragraph then. I don’t know what else to do. Bold it? Italicize it? Make it 50 point font? *sigh* I don’t blame Sterek. I honestly do not believe it was Sterek. They tried their best and they are awesome. <3
-Admin Angel
Dear Angel K! Thank you for your support and patience^^
Thank you so much for believing in the Sterek fandom.
I know for sure nobody from the Sterek Facebook group was botting.
We were all just voting our buts off xD
I think you’ve made the right decision here Angel; as much as I’d have liked to see Sterek win this poll, I’m pretty pleased it’s been closed as a tie and that neither Sterek or Destiel got disqualified because of the actions of others. And I have to say, you’ve been absolutely brilliant with the way you’ve modded this poll. You’ve kept out all the hate that so often spoils these polls for people and worked so hard to address the botting issue – thank you for all your hard work 🙂
Congrats to all the Destiel fans – see you for whichever Sterek v. Destiel poll we meet at next! 😉
Also, I honestly wish that Cecilos fandom was a little bigger. They actually tried pretty hard too, just didn’t have as many people. Tho, there were many good fandoms who tried very hard, just didn’t have numbers.
Still, grats to both Destiel and Sterek =D you did amazing.
Well we tried our hardest. TBH my fingers ache from voting! A tie is only fair if cheating is suspected be can’t be proven. Well done fellow Sterek shippers :)<3
The best possible ending 🙂 Thank for handling this madness! Event of the day. Valentine’s day 🙂 Congratulations to everyone!
The perfect ending TBH.
We really both deserved this. I am a tiny bit frustrated that a third ship came in and sabotaged us. But I think it’s great to have Sterek and Destiel on top for Valentines Day. I know no other fandoms that have kept such positivty, creativity and passion for their ships, even when our boys go episodes with a scene together.
Well done everyone!
Sterek shipper, I love you!
Admin Angel, you are a gift. Even with the way it ended, this has been the best run, best moderated and fairest slash poll I’ve ever been apart of — and as a Sterek shipper I’ve been through a few of these gruelling things 😉
I’ve even started followed The Geekiary tumblr because of this poll and it’s been awesome to see other fandom things that I don’t usually see with my heavy Sterek-orientated dash. (Supernatural fandom stuff really does look fun!)
Thanks everyone!
woooooooo Johnlock took 3rd!!! I am so happy about that honestly <333
I can't believe people would take this so seriously that they think its worth cheating. Like…its not like this poll actually means anything, or has bearing on the shows. It was just for fun. and if people need to cheat…for some fun poll thing, thats pretty sad honestly.
I knew Johnlock wasn't going to take first. Honestly thats fine. we're too busy writing meta on Series 3 lol. But third to me, is first. So I'm pretty happy with the results. And I'm so proud of all the johnlockers that did come and vote.
so woooooooooooooooooooo
As much as I was pulling for Destiel to win, considering all the wank and events of the past couple of days, I think a tie is about the fairest you can hope to be in these circumstances, and I’m willing to accept your decison. 🙂 It’s hard to say who would have won legitimately. I think that Sterek shippers seemed to dominate during the night, and Destiel shippers dominated during the day, but the two were very evenly matched. It’s disappointing that people have to resort to cheating and trying to tarnish the reputation of Sterek and Destiel. Unfortunately, there will always be haters, (especially in big ships like Destiel and Sterek) even if they’re the minority. It’s sad that people spend more time voting against what they hate than voting for what they love. Sometimes a small group of people are hateful enough to try and ruin it for the larger group. Fortunately, the majority of the fandoms are only interested in spreading the love. I think your decision is a good way to to make love prevail, and not late small groups of (butthurt) haters win. I think both Destiel and Sterek shippers should feel like winners here, and neither should fee like the loser, because they both fought hard for their ship and they’re both obviously super passionate about what they love. And I think we all need a break from voting, because I’m pretty sure the Destiel fandom is exhausted (I don’t want to speak for Sterek but I imagine they’re tired too), considering Destiel was already exhausted at the start of the poll. XD Anyway, congratulations to both ships! 🙂 We’re both awesome. Our love for our ships will always win out over hatred and revenge. Always remember to fight hatred with love. I hope for a good year for both Destiel and Sterek! And to the Sterek fandom, we’ll see you at the next poll. 😉 Thanks for giving the Destiel shippers a good challenge and a reason to fight for their ship.
I think this is fair. Yup. It’s quite sad a third party decided to ruin the fun for everyone else, but hey, what can ya do. *shrugs*
I love how you’ve handled this poll, I haven’t followed a lotta polls but you’ve def handled it the best, I think.
Sadly like someone said above some are not even gonna bother reading the whole thing & will accuse us of cheating but eh, that’s their problem.
You deserve some rest. XD Have a nice weekend. lol.
Well, the result kind of ok with me. Too bad the one who put bot to troll the other suck. 🙁 You ruin the fun of both fandom!
Finally, I can got some sleep, thought I might need another cup of coffee. My eyes hurt so bad…
Darn, there go my valentine day, other go out on date but I am bunking in my room, all day and night, voting for my Sterek.
Good job for both Sterek and Destiel, it was really fun!
well i’m very pleased with this result!
as a huge shipper of both sterek and destiel, and someone unable to really choose between them, a tie is wonderful because it means i don’t have to!! ;P
but seriously – this is the best decision to come to, because it shows the scumbag cheaters trying to up them themselves through sabotage that that kind of low blow tactic just won’t work. i just wish they’d get the freaking message already – this isn’t the first time they’ve attempted as much, and they’re not even sublte about it!!! infact, they go around advertising how to do it to the high heavens because they’re f***ing shameless…so yeah. it’s nice give the birdie to them and see fairness winning out.
well done in monitoring this poll, and keeping things as in line as possible. that’s no easy task – you performed it admirably.
Congratulations to everyone! Both fandoms worked really hard and I’m happy to see how polite and sweet all Sterek shippers are. It’s awesome the fact that we both won.
Good luck, guys!
Wonderful! It’s only fair like this, the results were so close and we were changing leading positions all the time!
Congratulations to Sterek fans, it’s always an honour to compete with you, even if our & other fandoms unfortunately don’t appreciate how competitive we both are. Love and confetti from a Destiel shipper! 🙂
Huge thanks to Admin Angel and everyone at the Geekiary for working their tails off on this poll! I feel awful that this fun little contest turned ugly, but you handled the wank and the troublemakers with aplomb! I think most of us appreciated the spirit of the game and had a good time fighting for our respective ships 🙂
Congrats to Desterek on a hard-won victory! HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, ALL!
I’m very happy with these results, both us Sterek shippers and the Destiel shippers worked our butts off!! I’m just sorry to hear there are some third party members out there who have enough hate and spite that they would resort to cheating like that. )’:
Either way, Thank you for being the best, and most fun, shipping poll I’ve participated in!
GO DESTEREK! <3
I think you totally made the right call here by ending it because of bot voting, but I’m kinda sad you called it a “semi-tie” instead of a tie and then said that Sterek deserved special recognition over Destiel. That honestly doesn’t make it seem like a tie at all, and that you are basically saying Sterek won. I know that as a Destiel voter, I spent HOURS every day voting, and that is kinda hurtful I guess, because I think our ship did just as well. :/ Sterek and Destiel were both going back and forth about equally, and I think BOTH deserve the recognition of being a winner without one ship being placed on a higher pedestal.
They did have a very powerful campaign and deserved special recognition. I only declared it as such because they had far more linkbacks from online campaigns than Destiel did. I did’t come to this decision lightly. They deserve a special call out for their effort. But Destiel worked extremely hard too and that’s why I’m not declaring Sterek the winner. They jockeyed for first place a lot and I only want to give Sterek that recognition because from the back end I can see clearly that they had a very powerful impact that deserves to be noticed. It’d be unfair to ignore it. This is the best I could do. And most people seem happy with it. I’m trying to please the most people here and I’m sorry you aren’t falling under the “most people” category.
-Admin Angel
I understand that, and I promise I’m not trying to cause wank or anything. I am happy with the results and I totally think that both ships deserve this, and that it was a bad situation all around with the bot voting. I guess it just seemed off to me because up until the jump with bot votes last night, Destiel and Sterek were both going back and forth pretty much equally. Sterek may have had more individual campaigns, but I saw vote campaign posts on tumblr for Destiel with 20k+ notes, so I guess maybe Destiel had fewer campaigns but with bigger numbers of people following them individually? I dunno it just seems like there are a lot of extenuating circumstances involved to just be able to make a blanket statement that overall the Sterek fandom did better. But again, I’m not on the other end so I’m sure you have access to a lot of data I don’t and I respect the decision you made, but I guess I’m just kinda put out by the whole ‘semi-tie’ thing because before the bot voting, there was no possible way to know who would have won. You may not know this, but people in the Destiel fandom were doing a TON of campaigning too, I saw it all over my dash as well as on other media sites. People were even doing fanart and fanfic stuff based on voting milestones and stuff that were reached, and I have almost never seen our fandom band together so much. We worked SO hard, so I guess I just wish that was recognized more. :C
FYI: I ship Destiel, not Sterek. I just want to make that clear. But on the back end there were far more linkbacks from Sterek related posts. I’m not saying there weren’t any from Destiel and I’m not saying Destiel didn’t work hard. I’m merely saying that Sterek deserves special recognition for how they performed. They did extraordinarily well. And again, I don’t even ship this. AT ALL. Would you like to to take screen shots to prove these numbers to you? I will gladly do so.
-Admin Angel
No that’s okay! I totally believe you. I’m sorry if I’m coming across as being especially salty, I’m probably just tired (I was up all night voting XD). Sorry. I guess I was just really hoping for an even tie, but this is still better than coming in second place.
I’ve been up all night monitoring the poll so I’m equally as salty. Doesn’t make for good interactions between two extraordinarily tired people.
I took screenshots anyway: https://thegeekiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/PollResults1.png
-Admin Angel
Ahh that is impressive! Kudos to Sterek. Once again I’m sorry if it seems like I’m trying to lessen their accomplishment, I’m truly not. I guess I just have a hard time believing Destiel fans didn’t give just as much effort. Out of curiosity (sorry I’m super ignorant about this stuff), does that just include the individual posts made about the poll for each ship, or does it also show how many people liked/reblogged those as well? I only ask because I think Destiel may have had less unique campaign posts, but the ones we did have were immensely popular and reblogged by many.
A lot of kudos for the admin for managing this poll and for the hard work. Really appreciate it. Although it’s tie and not what I’ve expected but I had a lot of fun here. Everyone’s so great an being respectful. U guys are totally rocks.
Congratz for Desterek. I’d be in if there’s another poll like this 😀
Due to what I’ve seen these past days, its hard to say who would’ve truly won since it seemed Destiel shippers took the lead during the timezone they were mostly awake and vice versa. On another note, I am satisfied with the current verdict, I actually broke my voting finger shoveling snow yesterday- so I’m honestly benefiting from the poll ending early! Maybe next time, have one vote per hour and include a capcha? Idek. Anyway Happy Valentine’s Day to Destiel and Sterek, let’s team up sometime and start a micro-country.
Super happy with this outcome, haha!
I’m a Destiel shipper but both did great.
A good and fair outcome, I personally love both the pairing. Congrats to both and as always an awesome battle, it’s nice seeing Destiel and Sterek fans getting along and not lettting petty 3rd parties running the fun.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
And thanks to the admin for the poll and for being fair through all of the setbacks, you guys were awesome!
I’m happy with these results.ALL shippers work too hard (Not just Destiel or Sterek).Fangirls are the best!And Thank you for giving shippers a reason to fight for their ship.Happy Valentines Day guys!
I don’t mean to be a sore loser but this verdict seems heavily biased. Whoever wrote this article sure has a deep love for Sterek and mentions that over and over, but seems to forget mentioning much about Destiel…
But I understand that unfortunately, cheating was getting far too out of hand and because of that it would have been unfair to make either of them the winner. Just goes to show that cheaters never prosper. Damn bots.. What party poopers, ya know.
Hi, I’m the admin. I don’t ship Sterek. I ship Destiel. So you are incorrect.
-Admin Angel
Edit: Please to enlighten me how I can have a bias towards a ship I do not ship? I’d love to hear it.
This is great. Both deserved it. All these shippers are awesome . And congratulations to all the others.
I would really love to see a poll where people can only vote once per IP, and for one ship.
That seems an interesting way to really go about things.
I feel really happy for result because both ships were voting with passion! As destiel shipper i wanna thank sooo much Angel and shippers who understand that most of hate was from hatets who came here from “should or shouldnt they”. And if some hate was real, I am so sorry 🙁 Love for both ships!
i’m not said that it’s a tie. i’m a sterek shipper but now both fandom can be happy. it would have been a close call anyway. 🙂
~Desterek~ lol
Seems like a fair decision! Hope the rest of your Valentine’s Day is less stressful.
I’m super happy that all three Supernatural ships were near the top 🙂 Not that pleased about a ‘tie’ that’s basically “Sterek wins” lol but whatevas, look how high Sassy and Wincest got! xD
Wait, so we did better than Destiel right? Why the hell is it a tie then? And you admit you are a Destiel shipper? Uhhhhh? Sterek had this one in the bag. We were sabotaged by bot voters trying to make us look bad, but our campaign was stronger and we would have definitely won. I don’t really think Destiel has a right to be declared a winner here.
Hey, I’ve been accused of bias in FAVOR of Sterek, so calm down ok? I gave you special recognition. Here, look at this again:
“It’s hard to say who would have won. Both fandoms have been jockeying for first place, but Sterek shippers truly deserve some special recognition here (Edit: The person who made this decision doesn’t even ship Sterek so please stop calling me biased). You’ve truly shown how powerful of a fandom you can be and have shown up in full force. Both fandoms have been incredibly hardworking, but the linkbacks show your campaigns as being more popular. Since the lead did swap out between you two repeatedly and you hadn’t pulled ahead by such a large margin until bots were involved, it’s hard to say exactly if you would have won fairly. I’d like to think that you could have. There’s just no way to say for sure. Therefore you can both claim this as a victory and Sterek can get special recognition for proving that they are force to be reckoned with. You should both be proud. I ship both fandoms together right now. You’re both fabulous.”
-Admin Angel
I honestly don’t understand how special recognition doesn’t = win over Destiel. We did BETTER than them right? Doesn’t that mean we should have won?
“We did BETTER than them right? Doesn’t that mean we should have won?”
Nope, you didn’t. You just had more link backs. Let me direct you to this:
“t’s hard to say who would have won. Both fandoms have been jockeying for first place”
and
“Since the lead did swap out between you two repeatedly and you hadn’t pulled ahead by such a large margin until bots were involved, it’s hard to say exactly if you would have won fairly. I’d like to think that you could have. There’s just no way to say for sure.”
Destiel shippers are saying I’m biased towards Sterek and now you are saying I’m biased towards Destiel. Can’t be both, right? And the vast majority of the comments and feedback is extremly supportive of this choice. Take a look at the comments section here. Be happy with special recognition. I recognize what you’ve done, but as I said:
“Since the lead did swap out between you two repeatedly and you hadn’t pulled ahead by such a large margin until bots were involved, it’s hard to say exactly if you would have won fairly. I’d like to think that you could have. There’s just no way to say for sure.”
-Admin Angel
Always said…both sides accusing someone of bias is probably a good indicator they’re not. 😉
Thanks. I’ve been trying to play this fair. I’ve defended Sterek vigorously until it became too obvious that there was a bot. During my defense of them I got accused of being biased towards them. I don’t even ship it. Now I declare a tie with special recognition to Sterek and both side are accusing me of bias for either not declaring Sterek a winner or for not declaring it a straight tie. There is NO winning. Thankfully most people seem happy with this result and it’s just a few who are complaining. But there will ALWAYS be complainers. So I think this was ultimately the best.
-Admin Angel
I’m so proud of Destiel and Sterek. We worked our butts off! I’m so sorry to Sterek that hate groups stole what might have been a victory for you. Even though I was rooting for Destiel all the way, it’s very tragic to hear that spite voting was trying to throw your poll stats or get you kicked off. Destiel fans have had to deal with that a whole lot as well, and it’s a shame. Two worthy ships and two awesome winners! Whoever would have won would have definitely deserved it!
Firstly, Angel K thanks for being an awesome admin and putting up with everything…. You did a great job as did the staff on the site….
Secondly, I’m quite happy with the result because this way all the over 1 million votes were recognised…. that is a lot of votes…. I am a Destiel shipper 4eva but I seriously don’t mind sharing this with fellow passionate shippers of Sterek….. Congrats to everyone as ‘confetti, it’s a parade’ 😉
On a final note, SPNFamily pat yourself on the back because all our ships in our fandom are on the list, how cool is that….
Signing out now, till nxt time
split fandom….(shall rest fingers now)
I gotta say, I am awed by how well you (all the mods) handles this entire experience. It really could have gone sideways, but you guys worked so hard to keep it going, and as fair as you could make it. You did an awesome job. I’m sorry there were bad elements out there making your work that much harder.
Just wondering, why did sterek get special recognition?
Because of this: https://thegeekiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/PollResults1.png
-Admin Angel
Well, I guess that kind of decision is fair under the given circumstances. Especially on Valentine’s Day.
Though I can’t help but feel disappointed at the same time.
As a Destiel shipper, I really wanted to see if my/our ship would win another poll through a fair and clean “battle”. (The thrill and challenge Sterek-shippers always offer is amazing – thank you guys for that! 🙂 )
So reading that bots and hate votes have been used just to throw this whole thing off … well, I’m a die-hard fan but I would never stoop so low and cheat :/
I mean seriously, the vote was for fun and love and other unicorn-pooping-rainbow-reasons – not to elect a new president, or somethin’! Some people really gotta take it easy …
Oh well …
The timing (ending) was also kinda unfortunate in my opinion.
I mean, is it just me or has anyone else noticed that during mornings and middays Sterek was in the lead while during evenings and (mid)nights the Destiel-ship sailed ahead? … Uhm, well at least that’s how it was here in Germany. I guess if you’re from another time-zone the timing “might” be different 😉
So, what I’m trying to say is, you kinda stopped the poll – what? midday? – around here and I just can’t help but wonder if my suuuper-thought-through-and-thoroughly-analyzed assumption would have pushed through at the end. (Oh man, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna lose sleep over this … I hope you’re happy! x) )
But I guess I’m glad it’s a tie – though I’m really hoping you guys are gonna make another poll just for Destiel and Sterek … you know, let us settle it “once and for all” 😉
Ahhh, it’s gonna be an epic battle!
Hope you guys all have a fantastic Valentine’s Day!
Kudos to all the honest, hard working voters and shippers who participated. It was a fantastic (and frantic) few weeks and my hands are TIRED. Especially our embattled and amazing mod, Angel.
I actually like the results and I think my top ship now may be Desterek. Wouldn’t THAT be epic?! Long live SuperWolf! (let the fic commence…or increase)
:C What even is a semi-tie? Doesn’t that kinda defeat the point of calling a tie? Also, why are you using the fact that Sterek had more linkbacks as a reason to give them special recognition if that was never going to be a deciding factor anyways?
I’m confused about who won? It sounds like you are saying Sterek actually won. I’m sorry this is extremely confusing. Why can’t we just call it a tie?
A semi-tie means that we have no idea who would have won, but there were more linkbacks for Sterek. We don’t know if that means they would have won legitimately, but I don’t want to ignore the very obvious strength there. There’s no way if linkbacks=win, but it’s certainly a strong enough indicator that I didn’t want to simply ignore it.
-Admin Angel
What’s a linkback, may I ask?
Of course you may. I want people to understand and I’m more than happy to explain. A linkback is essentially where the traffic is coming from. Take a look at this image: https://thegeekiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/PollResults1.png
All of those are links that people clicked on that brought them to our website. Clearly there are more linkbacks with Sterek words in them, but there’s far more linkbacks directly from Tumblr dashboards than from both ships put together. Many people didn’t even follow links to get to this poll. Many had it bookmarked or were sent it in some other fashion. Measuring linkbacks is not a perfect way to measure it, but the fact that Sterek had more isn’t something I wanted to ignore. Since there’s no way to know for sure if linkbacks=winners I wanted to give them a special mention, but not declare them a direct winner. It was the most fair thing I could do.
-Admin Angel
OOOH! Thank you that makes a whole lot more sense now thank you!bi think that’s actually made me agree with you more that this was the fairest way to do it and now I know why sterek got a special mention thank you!!
So glad that this is what you decided! Both of the ships really needed the win, so I’m glad that we were able to share the crown.
This is so sad. I’m really sorry Destiel shippers. You deserved just as much recognition as us. I have friends who organized some of the Destiel campaigns and I know firsthand how hard you worked.
Nothing to be sad about! Both ships won. The only sad part is that someone messed up the poll.
-Admin Angel
yes, and I’m super happy about that, but Destiel shippers deserved the same recognition as us. I know how hard they worked, and I know a lot of them are really down right now about it. I love the Geekiary, but for what it is worth I strongly disagree with this decision.
Noted, but this is why we gave them special recognition: https://thegeekiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/PollResults1.png
And most of the Destiel shippers I’m seeing commenting here, on Twitter, and on Tumblr are happy with this decision. Also, I AM a Destiel shipper. I don’t even ship Sterek at all.
I am getting incredibly frustrated with all of these accusations. This decision made the most people happy. I’m sorry it’s upsetting a few, but the majority is please so I’m going to call this the right choice.
-Admin Angel
I’m not accusing you of anything, I’m just saying that your focus on giving ‘special recognition’ made people feel bad and inadequate. That is the truth. If this was REALLY a tie you should treat it like that.
And I’m sorry that happened. But people were going to feel bad either way. This decision made THE MOST people happy. There are only a few people that are unhappy. So this is the best I could do.
-Admin Angel
Thank you for your shout-out to us. <3
Just because we didn't have superior linkback numbers didn't mean that we didn't bust our collective ass just as hard (just in a different way), so yeah. Clearly coming in as "conciliatory first" does sting quite a bit.
Glad everyone is pretty much being decent about it, though. And good job to everyone who played on the level.
Fair enough, I’m really happy with your decision (Destiel and Johnlock voter here). Sorry that this has probably been such a headache for you with all the accusations flying. Thanks for the fun, happy valentines day! *offer handshake to Stereck* Well done.
I’m just kind of laughing at the people whining about the decision, really. XD Like…the admin literally said that “both ships won” and we could “both claim this as a victory.” She’s not giving Sterek special recognition because she thinks the ship is better, she’s giving it special recognition because of how big their online campaigns were and how many people voted. She even said there was no way to tell who would have won in the end because they were both so close. This isn’t a “tie-but-actually-Sterek-won” or “Sterek-should-have-won-but-we’re-going-to-call-it-a-tie-because-we-like-Destiel-better” scenario. Literally both ships won. This was the admin being unbiased, because if she had actually called just one winner between the two it would have been unfair. If she was saying Sterek was better, she would have declared it the winner, not both ships. Like…she’s not even saying that Destiel didn’t work hard or doesn’t deserve recognition either (both ships do, that’s why they’re both winners). I don’t understand why people are accusing the admin of being baised in favor or either Destiel or Sterek??? Just be happy that both ships did so well and can share the crown. Lol, I wish people would read the whole article, though I’m starting to wonder if they’re trolls who are butthurt that their plans were foiled. XD
Thank you, finally
wait, sorry for asking so many questions but I’m still confused. So did both ships technically win? From the comments people are making it sounds like Sterek won because of the special recognition thing, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what you’re trying to say. Is it accurate to say that this round was a ‘tie’?
I’m pretty sure the contest itself was a tie. The other bit, call it a ‘special mention’…it doesn’t affect the results.
Yep, it’s a tie with special mention because of linkbacks. But it is a tie.
-Admin Angel
Good job to everyone that kept this a clean fight up until the end! I think a tie is a good way to resolve it. I was voting for Destiel (and Johnlock and Cecilos), but I have a lot of respect for Sterek and I’m impressed by how you guys pulled together for this and I’m proud that we got to share the title with you. *hugs*
Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you see love in all places. <3
Exactamundo! I’m Team Destiel and I give mad props to the Sterek shippers who kept us on our toes the whole poll! We couldn’t slack off for even a bit or you’d vault past us. It was impressive, for sure. I’m pleased as can be to share the win with ya’ll. Good job! And YAY DESTIEL. <3<3
i mean, i would have preferred for sterek to win outright because i’m super competitve, but this is adequate too. good job everyone!!
lol. You should totally have a desterek ship in the poll. We would rule them all.
omfg, i love the way you think
That would be wonderful omg.
Oh my god! It would be like Godzilla and King Kong had a baby. 😀
well there actually is a fanart on deviantart of stereks son and destiels son as a ship ^^
Admin, frankly, Russian fandom shocked. We voted for Destiel. other polls have never fished on the use of bots, we voted ourselves. very disappointing.
I’m slightly unclear about what you’re saying, but I was also shocked that people resorted to using bots in order to spit the two ships that were in the lead. If I’m misunderstanding you I apologize. But yes, it was very unfortunate, but neither of you guys should be punished for a very cranky few. You’re both winners.
-Admin Angel
I hope that in the next vote you’ll have to avoid the use of bots. Thank you. Tell me, could you somehow inform SPNmanagers about the results?
If we hold another poll involving Sterek or Destiel we will limit it based on IP.
Feel free to send the results along to anyone you please.
-Admin Angel
The Sterek fandom also voted for themselves, and worked incredibly hard to get the result they did. If you read Angel’s other posts; another fandom (which Angel has not named, but is pretty obivous who) deliberately targeted Sterek because Stydia was disqualified for bot voting and Angel stated that any other pairing that got a massive increase by botting would also be disqualified.
You should be disappointed in the people that attempted to sabotage another ship because they had no chance of winning and caused the poll to be closed early rather than being disappointed in the outcome of the poll.
I’m pleased with this solution. The situation was unfortunate, Admin Angel, but you did a great job handling it (indeed did an exemplary job moderating the whole poll). As a Destiel shipper, I bow to Sterek. You guys are really great, and I’m glad we can share this. Actually, I bow to all the people voting honestly and passionately out of love for their ship (and for that ship), whichever it was.
Thanks Parakett and others fighting for Destiel. We Sterek shippers, also, respect and bow to your Destiel love. Both fandoms fight the hard fight for representation and respect from other shippers and show runners. And we fight equally hard for virtual trophies like this one. I’m proud of you and your many devoted fans. Which is not to say I won’t try to take you out in the next poll, by any honest means. LOL But happy to share the title on this one.
someone should send this to dylan obrien and tyler h and jeff! Sterek FTW
Watson : I’m glad no one saw that.
Sherlock: Hm?
Watson: You ripping my clothes off in a darkened swimming pool. People might talk.
Sherlock: People do little else.
Johnlock!
I feel that this is a very considerate and kind final result of a quite heated and competitive poll. I was making plans all morning to stay up all night voting to try and make up for my inability to do so all yesterday, so I’m actually quite glad that the poll was ended early. (for the sake of my poor family having to put up with me going to bed at insane O’clock in the morning to try and catch up on votes.)
I was voting on the Destiel side of the battlefield, so I suppose I am a little biased towards being happy about the final decision,,. But I was beginning to make peace with the idea that Destiel was unlikely to win (possibly around the time the apparent “botting” came into effect.) and was really only saddened by the fact that an announcement of Sterek as the winner wouldn’t show how neck and neck the entire poll has been. (Considering how both Sterek and Destiel still have the fan clout to leave pretty much every other ship in the dust show something about both pairings and their fans)
So I feel that this final result is more than I ever let myself hope for, once it was clear that Sterek had the upper hand, An acknowledgement that, although Sterek had the most recent lead, the results were so close and fluctuated so often that both ships could have potentially won.
I’ll just say, at the end of the day, this proves that both ships have a wonderful collection of dedicated, hard working followers who truly love their ships. (holds out my hand towards all the Sterek shippers who see this) And I’m not even going to deny that, had this whole botting event not occurred, Sterek would have more than likely won! So an extra big congrats and an enthusiastic “look forward to next time!”.
I voted on the Sterek side, but because it was neck and neck I didn’t vote until ~12:30 AM this morning for eight hours. (Totally explicable, anxiety attack –> mmm, soothing repetitive motions –> now watching Netflix –> Team Sweden, heck yeah!) I think a lot of other people in the TW fandom gave it a really big push or only showed up and voted together en masse today. So in terms of when Sterek first got a surge, it was like me and unwise people like me and the Australians and other folks for whom it was day.
Unfortunately when They Who Shall Not Be Named saw Sterek was pulling ahead apparently they started running bots to try and disqualify Sterek. Which, of course, has nothing to do with any of the fabulous Destiel voters being enthusiastic in the comments! It had been going very well.
Since they’re in different canons besides as in-community sports events I’m a confused why people see it as Destiel vs Sterek. Either one becoming canon and succeeding would give a HUGE boost the other one’s potential to become canon. I am/have been in both fandoms (TW predominantly right now) and the chemistry between the characters has different flavors, the circumstances are quite different as are the pivotal bonding moments, the characters themselves are all four different.
So what I’m saying is do we want one thing and to call it squishy and it will be our squishy etc. or do we want to move forward with a mindset of fandom as itself a demographic? In which case Destiel AND Sterek are equally important test cases. xoxoxo
(I gotta say when I finally watched Teen Wolf, coming over from SPN, I didn’t expect from the fan art on Tumblr that the single thing Derek Hale does when he has free time is read by himself, coming out cutest when he passes an insinuation on through meta commentary on The Crucible, and that he’s good at two things (1) losing every knockdown fight he’s ever been in and (2) being from big brotherly to p/maternal…or getting paralyzed or very full of arrows or entering a fight with another disadvantage, explaining a lot of (1).
Or that Stiles is the jockish aggressive one getting up in the faces of everything that has a face regardless of his inability to defend himself. And is Derek’s height. And consistently wants way more people actually dead, including Derek in S1. (But then he couldn’t let him actually die in front of him, probably owing to his big adopt-me pound dog eyes at the time; unlike a character in S2 Stiles was totally cool died and like “Him? No. Forget that guy.”) It was all very strange. Pleasantly strange.
And now Season 3 is blowing me out of the water, so here I am voting Sterek suddenly! But beyond the phenomenal writing going down, I think it has the best chance of becoming canonical, and after last summer of trying to get a clear statement on Destiel out of any single person involved in SPN I’m blissful and extremely confused every actor and actress and the showrunner has all the ships memorized by heart and they’re always chatting as/among fans even if they can’t give spoilers.)
As a sterek and destiel shipper I am very pleased with this. 🙂
Obviously I would have loved for Sterek to romp home – it’s been difficult as I kinda like Dean/Cas but Sterek has taken over my brain so all of my voting was for them. It’s a shame that you had to end things because of underhanded behaviour, but can I just say how impressed I am with how clear you have kept things all the way through and the gracious manner in which you have handled it all? I can only imagine the comments/post you have had to deal with and to not throw in the towel and just close the whole thing down is impressive.
This is the first Geekiary poll I have taken part in but I have followed you on Tumblr and will keep my eyes open for any others. Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you for doing this xx
Thank you. I’ve been tempted to throw in the towel and shut everything down. Goodness, I can’t even begin to explain. But that’d suck for everyone. Comments like this make all the work I’ve done worthwhile <3
-Admin Angel
Wow, I’m really psyked about result, that it got down to a draw, it’s awesome, that they both won, because I’m ship them both, of course! And if I’m being completely honest here, then; I’ve to say that I’m little bit more into STEREK as of now, um, yeah that’s it!
LITERALLY THIS IS THE BEST POSSIBLE RESULT. Minus the whole botting and hating and ughing thing, of course, but I’m really happy that it was a tie. Sterek was my previous go-to ship for fanfics, but recently was replaced by Destiel (because shiny new things and also cockles). For this poll, voted for Destiel because it’s what I’ve been most caught up and invested in recently, but Sterek has a special place in my heart too, for having been my #1 for several months (far longer than usual, mostly because of exhaustible fic supplies) and having SO MUCH FIC (esp having a constant new supply of longish-but-not-too-long oneshots).
I really don’t hope you pit them against each other again, but I suspect I am in the minority. (Can’t we just ship Destierek in peace?) Still, I have a hard time imagining either of them really winning, since the winner switches constantly with different polls.
Thanks! We aren’t sure if we’ll run a ship with them again. It’s a big IF. And I definitely like hearing opinions on the matter and, truthfully, it’s been pretty mixed. To be honest I’m exhausted. I’m not sure I can do it again. But if I figure out a fair way to do it that doesn’t take years off my life due to stress, I’ll run it. So yes, big IF.
Thank you for your feedback 🙂
-Admin Angel
It’s a bit disappointing that a clear winner wasn’t announced….it was such a heated competition, but since it was decided ‘you both win!’ it’s a bit of a anti-climax. But oh well.
Thank you for all your effort, Angel! We really appreciate how much time you’ve put into moderating this poll<3 It really makes me sad at how negative the comments got, at the begining it was all lovey-dovey, but then it all went downhill. Oh well, I had fun nonetheless. Maybe we could have a femslash poll next? Hehe, after everyone gets a bit of rest of course. xD
Femslash poll is definitely on the agenda! We’re just working out the details. After a bit of poll hiatus. We’re tired lol
-Admin Angel
D – E – S – T – E – R – E – K
Destiel fans, will you be my valentine? :3
Aw, we thought you’d never ask! YES, we’ll be your Valentine! ♥
♥♥♥ Desterek ♥♥♥
WE TOTALLY ACCEPT <3
I SECOND THAT! HELLO VALENTINE!
I think it’s better that way, especially with the unlimited voting. I love to see my ship (Destiel) win polls, but I really dislike having to spend my time voting and constantly reminding people on Tumblr to do the same. Sterek is a powerful ship, the Destiel fans know that and they respect that, and we actually go along well with each other as fandoms, so I’m a little tired to see them pitted against one another. It’s especially annoying since many fans of one fandom are also fan of the other, so it can be heartbreaking for them. So yeah, I won’t be disappointed if there is never another poll like this ever. But there will probably be another Elton poll sooner or later and I’m already crying at the future drama…
I’m actually happy that it’s a tie. I’m in love with both ships and it was hard to decide which one to vote for. And I would’ve hoped that both of the fandoms would be happy with it, not complaining like a bunch of 8 year olds. Desterek Forever ^_^
Anyone got awesome crossover desterek to rec me? Thanks!
I am so happy with this result! I’m a HUGE Destiel shipper and would’ve loved to see them win, but after seeing Sterek losing a couple polls to Destiel, I thought that they really deserved to win this one. And to see both ships winning is the best possible result that leaves everybody happy!
Happy Valentine’s !
I would just like to say thank you to admin Angel, I have been reading your tumblr posts regarding this poll and you are nothing but fair so thank you for seeing this thru until the end!
( I have been voting for only Destiel since day one, but Sterek also has a special place in my heart so congratulations to both shippers. Destiel is my otp and sterek is my baby otp 🙂
Destiel and Sterek are both OTPs for me, so I’m actually glad you made it a tie! It’s a shame about the whole botting thing, it ruins the fun in a poll completely but really what can you do.
Looking forward to the femslash poll! Can’t wait for my F/F ships to get a chance at being in a poll (yay!).
Congratulations to Sterek and Destiel! (And I say this as a Destiel shipper who also ships Sterek.)
Lots of kudos to Admin Angel and everyone else involved in the site decisions. It must have seemed impossible to resolve this in any kind of good way, but you managed to do it. Also I have never seen an admin so involved in what’s going on during the course of the poll, so unflaggingly pleasant, and obviously really caring about us shippers and our well-being, not just about the hits we provide by voting our fingers off day and night.
Special love to my darling Cecilos which made it to 7th place! That’s pretty impressive for a podcast ship, where one half of the ship hasn’t even spoken yet.
Happy Valentines Day everybody! Here’s hoping more of our ships will be canon next year. ♥
I am an avid destiel shipper- the ship being my otp. However, I also love and ship sterek so voting m otp against a ship I love so much hurt.
That’s beside the point however. Sterek has proven itself to be one of the most dedicated fandoms I have ever seen and the most difficult rival of the destiel ship in the past few years. The hard fight sterek put up ( without those fun-killing bots) has me filled with pride for those shippers who fought destiel. And destiel continuosly suprised me and filled me with glee to impose a strong fight back!
Its sad that the winner may not be known but it was fun nonetheless and I’m happy that both ships got the declaration that they did!
Good job Destiel and Sterek!
I’ve been offline a couple of days now and thus I missed all of the drama and was surprised when I came by tonight to do some voting and saw the poll was closed already.
It makes me really sad that people were botting and most especially for the people that were cheating to make another ship lose. It is really sad that we can’t have nice things like this because of some bad apples.
However, I’m really happy with this outcome because even though I personally wanted Destiel to win, I’m thrilled to share a victory with the Sterek shippers. I truly believe that both ships deserve the win and both have been awesome competitors in this poll and I will always love the Sterek fandom, and am always crossing my fingers for both our ships to become canon someday. Sterek shippers, you guys are and always have been awesome and it was a pleasure to be competing with you all. And if I could I’d send you all a big chocolate Valentine’s kiss! 🙂 And to everyone for all the ships that came and voted and played fair and nice.
Big Congrats as well to Johnlock, Sastiel, Jimlock/Sheriarty, Wincest, and Cecilos for taking in the next top five spots with some pretty impressive numbers of overall votes.
Angel and the Geekiary editors, I really really do appreciate all that you did, especially you Angel, in trying to keep this poll fun and fair and making sure the comments stayed hate-free. I’m so sorry that it was a futile attempt and so sorry that it has caused so many headaches for you. It stinks, but I hope you can come up with some way to continue to let Destiel and Sterek shippers take part in future polls. I’m all for that Desterek superfandom being a nominee in a poll 😉
I hope everyone had a terrific Valentine’s Day…. I can’t wait for our Desterek Valentine’s date to happen…someone talented needs to write that fic for us. 🙂
Honestly, I think this is the best possible outcome. Fellow Destiel fans, let us celebrate! Sterek fans, congratulations to you as well!
I feel a bit better now,
Desterek, not sure how that would go on a date, one wrong look and the silver would be out.
I just want to say though, no fandom should be called better than another. That’s like choosing the favourite child, something that should never happen in my opinion. It kinda hurts to see comments here saying Destiel didn’t work as hard as Sterek or we didn’t deserve to win it as much.
🙁
I’m sorry that you were hurt. I didn’t mean to imply that Destiel didn’t work hard. I just wanted to give special recognition to Sterek for having an overwhelming majority of linkbacks. I don’t know if linkbacks=win, but I didn’t want to ignore it.
-Admin Angel
I’m very happy about this outcome! I ship both Destiel and Sterek, so I like how they had a tie. But I do like Destiel a little bit more, so I only voted for Stereo a few times, but way to go both fandoms for working so, so hard! You guys/gals rule!!!!!
Voted for Destiel. Sad that there are people that petty. Fandom should be about love and passion and not hate. Gives your ship a bad name. Just because you don’t share others’ ship doesn’t mean it should sink if yours doesn’t. If you don’t care for a poll, don’t participate. Ruining it for others just shows how young you really are. Unfannish like behaviour is shunned. Fandom is about community and such petty people dwell in the margins.
I just wanna say this is the most wonderful outcome ever. I don’t mind one bit that it was a tie. Derek/Stiles ‘shippers are always a worthy and lovely adversary. What pleases me to much about this is that you’ve actively slammed the door in the face of those whose bitterness and spite threatened the spirit of the competition. The world at large is a horrible place sometimes but here, at least, love conquers hate.
And in this case, it does so while thumbing its nose.
Can I just say, Thank the lords. I mean I don’t like voting polls like these I feel the need to support my ships, but in all honesty I ship Sterek, and Destiel equally my love for them grows like ivy. Anyways Tank you berry mucho por da Tie!