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trashcanlore · 8 months

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Your Kabbalah-Genshin Theory is really insightful, I feel like I've learned so much! Something I noticed about it though is that nine of the Ten Sefirot are associated with a biblical hero, and I was wondering if either the Dragons or Archons match the hero of their respective element. I've only gone over one so far, but I think we're off to a really promising start with Zhongli as King David.

King David's famous weapons were a spear, (given to him by Prince Johnathan,) a shield (the "Shield of David" or "Magen David" was so famous that it became the symbol of the Jewish people,) and the sling, (used to throw rocks.) Zhongli wields a spear, the most powerful shield in the game, and throws really big rocks - combat-wise he fits perfectly.

Speaking of the sling, David's main use of the sling was against Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior. The Philistines were sea-faring invaders from Greece, some times referred to as the "sea people." And Zhongli's ancient battles were regularly about throwing giant rocks at the giant sea monsters invading his land. This might be why all the monsters from his stories are usually sea creatures.

And speaking of Prince Johnathan, it's well known that he and David were close friends, possibly even lovers. But Prince Johnathan died in a massive war, as did his father, King Saul. David didn't arrive until he was already dead, and was apologized to by the dying Saul, (who had made an enemy of David,) who made him the next king. Zhongli's close friend (and possibly lover) Guizhong died in the Archon War, and was dead by the time Zhongli arrived. After defeating the last of the gods in the Archon War, Zhongli was granted the title of Archon and given the authority to rule over Liyue.

It's not a perfect 1:1, but a lot of the big picture stuff matches really well. Technically Zhongli is missing some stuff, like being a musician with a lyre (looking at you, Venti,) but if I had to pick a biblical figure to represent Zhongli then young David during his War Hero phase fits startlingly well. And King David is the figure that represents Malkhut, which is the Sefirot that you ascribed to Geo. (Though according to the Jewish Virtual Library, the matriarch Rachel also fits the bill. But she probably fits better for the Shekinah interpretation than the Malkhut interpretation, since the Shekinah is feminine. Malkhut, meanwhile, means "kingdom" and David was famously a king.)

If this theory holds water upon further examination, then we might be able to predict the story of Genshin going forward. Guizhong might be revealed to be the daughter of one of the gods that Zhongli fought against in the Archon war, for example. And if the Tsaritsa is Abraham then her rebellion against the Heavenly Principles would match young Abraham rebelling against polytheism by destroying his father's idols.

(Also, I just glimpsed at some of the others, and Raiden Ei as Moses is really funny. She doesn't fit at first glance, but she did split an island in two, which is an inversion on a pretty famous Moses symbolism. She also killed a snake, which Moses did when his staff-cobra ate the snakes of those two guys. Now it makes sense why she wields a spear despite being famously a katana wielder - cause Moses was a staff guy. I wonder if Eternity being "closest to the Heavenly Principles" has anything to do with the fact that Moses had direct communication with God, and brought down God's Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai. Anyway, it's really funny that the Archon Quest ended by confronting her to, "Let my people's Visions go!" I wonder if the associated biblical figures aren't 1:1 as much as their story beats are borrowed upon for the associated Archons.)

aaaaahhh thank you for this ask (essay) - your reasoning is 👍 and this has really interesting implications indeed

it's also a hilarious coincidence because back when Schwan and I started working on this theory before Sumeru, during the GAA2, we thought we could connect dreams to dendro and yesod (it was the only of the lower 7 sefirot we couldn't pick a element for) through dreams. This was because Joseph had prophetic dreams, and he is the Biblical character associated with yesod. And then lo and behold, dendro was all about dreams, and not only was Nahida's ideal of wisdom involved with this, she also helped the Traveler through dreams while still in baby jail - like how Joseph interpreted dreams for his fellow inmates when he was in jail.

SOooo i got to thinking about the rest of the Archons:

Focalors/Furina corresponds to Isaac (Gevurah/Judgement), whose most famous Bible story involves him being (almost) sacrificed by his father, Abraham. There are several ways to interpret this one. You could look at is Egeria sacrificing her successor and creation, Focalors, by leaving her to deal with the aftermath of her 'sin,' and the prophecy. OR you could view it as Focalors sacrificing Furina, her creation, in her effort to execute her plan. Either way, Focalors is literally sacrificed and Furina is figuratively sacrificed.

I'm not so sure how to align Venti's backstory with Jacob but he does have a fight with an angel and when he wins, God is like "congrats you have proven yourself and here is a new name". Ironic cause as far as we know, Venti didn't directly fight in the Archon War. If I think of anything more interesting than "Jacob is an absentee father", I'll add it later.

And finally, the pyro Archon would be Aaron, the high priest. Based on the probable inspirations for Natlan, it seems highly likely there will be themes of ritualistic sacrifice. So having the Archon act as a kind of priest or overseer of these rituals fits nicely. This also means 2 memey things: -pyro archon polearm real (Aaron also used a staff) -will we find the remains of the Ark (Teyvat) in Natlan?

much to think about! thank you for writing this and sending it! we appreciate you perfectly normal person <3

#genshin lore #asks

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zmeyel · 1 year

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I want to see a Leviathan Servant with the staff of Moses as his/her weapon

Well there's a fairly convincing theory from Beast's Lair that Watcher from Strange Fake is Leviathan (they look like a whale, Fate Extra has some throwaway lines that connect Moby Dick to Leviathan, Captain Ahab is one of Watcher's Shadows, Flat's mentioning of rebirth in Hero's Journey and Jonah being swallowed by the whale, etc).

So...maybe if we ever get a Strange Fake collab? I think they'd probably save the staff of Moses for Moses if they ever want to do an Ozy-focused event.

#fate grand order #fgo #fate strange fake #fsf #spoilers #asks

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sarah-dipitous · 1 year

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Hellsite Nostalgia Tour 2023 Day 115

The Third Man/The Waters of Mars

“The Third Man”

Plot Description: Investigating a case of biblical plagues, Sam and Dean call Castiel for help and learn that God’s weapons have been stolen

Would I Survive the First Five Minutes??: No. I would not survive having my skin, down to the muscle, peel off and then EXPLODING

And I continue to make the mistake of watching this on my lunch break…luckily I was spared the most gruesome parts by blocking it with my phone

Sam…I’m not saying that you have to be in a relationship to do that, but you can hook up with some one for free, you know. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would…is your personality that dogshit now that you have no soul??

Biblical plagues apparently say ACAB. Which is nice to see

“Were you…racing me?” “No…I was kicking your ass” I’ve missed these sibling moments when the stakes seem low

Um…I know this guy is goin through it but damn. Well, at least we were spared seeing … no we weren’t fucking spared watching locusts digging their way out of this dude’s skull

He gets there when DEAN calls him. Cas’s blatant favoritism and disdain for Sam is amazing. “You like him better or something?” will be so much funnier later

Don’t lie to yourself, Castiel. “You think I came because you called?”

“I think we can rule Moses out as a suspect” I love this show sometimes

“My ‘people skills’ are ‘rusty’” bitch, me too. Cheers. I keep forgetting I have a shirt with that on it that I bought in 2021 for if an occasion that I’d have to be around people would come up outside of work

Cas is that X Files kinda fed I guess. Sam and Dean are trying to play real federal agent and Cas is just asking where this guy has the Staff of Moses

Jesus, Cas. I guess I know this is a HUGE deal but maybe we go about it a little differently? No?

I’m sorry for being SUCH a Cas apologist. I can see that what he’s doing is not great to wrong, but I can see why he’s doing it. He’s not human, he doesn’t have QUITE the attachment to humanity he’ll eventually have

Oooo, I remember Balthazar being fun

Angel fiiiiiiight

You can’t start Who’s On First with Cas…he’s a millennia old baby when it comes to cultural references

Bestieeee, your people skills are not just rusty, they’re rusted, fallen off, and lying on the side of the road

Did we get Balthazar as a Gabriel replacement? “This morning I had a ménage a…what’s French for twelve?”

I’d love to be the kind of person who could hang with Balthazar, but I know I’m more of a sit quietly in a room with Castiel type

Damn, Cas. You are too good at throwing knives…and getting your shit wrecked by your older brothers

You LOT-ED RAPHAEL, Balthazar??

Hmmmm…gonna tuck away the “do you know what a human soul is worth” line for later. There’s some kind of power they hold. So, who’s got Sam’s and why

Sure. You had different hell experiences but…it would still affect you IF YOU HAD A SOUL, SAM

“Been On My Mind…”: does in Dean’s dreams count??? And…I guess there’s confirmation Sam did entirely off screen…

"The Waters of Mars"

Plot Description: In a Mars base the inhabitants are being infected by a mysterious water creature which takes over its victims. The Doctor is thrust into the middle of this catastrophe knowing a larger one is waiting around the corner.

Oh man...I'm trying to not get attached to these characters. I know, like, ONE of them makes it out, but some of them are just....you know?

Like these two in the garden...oop, one's already getting infected. GREAAAAAAT

As the Doctor remembers the crew members and their Great Value Wikipedia pages pop up...Adelaide was born in 1999. The deputy was born in 2008. HE'S FIFTEEN RIGHT NOW. THE TECHNICIAN WAS A COVID BABY

Ah, shit, EVERYONE DIES??

Yeah, I guess that makes sense that they'd link the Doctor's arrival to what's going on

I forgot how horrifying their faces get after they get infected. Ring Corrupted Bilbo Baggins lookin...giving Vincent D'Onofrio in Men In Black but worse and wetter...

I know any acting job's an acting job but the guy who controls the robot is just...he got the short end of the stick when it came to roles

"Water is patient, Adelaide. Water just waits[...]Water always wins." What a terrifying thing to hear

BUT. WHY. DOCTOR. WHY DO YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHAT MOMENTS ARE FIXED POINTS.

Captain, you WHAT.

GOD...imagine being told that the human race WILL travel to the furthest reaches of the universe, and it's because YOU inspired your granddaughter to continue your legacy, but it does mean you and everyone here with you HAS. TO. DIE.

Oh. She...she doesn't think that...she thinks they escape. I mean, of course she does. Doctor...

Stop...maybe stop going to fixed points in time. (I know you're not completely in charge of where the TARDIS takes you, but goddamn)

Imagine loving humanity so much but having to stand there and listen to them die on Mars, nothing you do can save them. Everything you do just causes it to happen anyway

The pressure equivalent of your bathroom shower hitting someone has never been so tragic

God...I forgot that he goes back and goes apeshit. "The laws of time are mine, and THEY WILL OBEY ME" gworl.

OK but how did that NOT kill everyone and destroy the TARDIS??

I hate the way she has to do it, but...he needed to be knocked down that peg. You'd think that he'd learn a thing or two after all the time he traveled with Donna, especially. She was asserting herself having an equally important say in what they were doing, how the people they were meeting would address her... You really would think that he wouldn't see his beliefs as absolute.

#hellsite nostalgia tour 2023

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the-firebird69 · 2 years

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Watch "The Hooters - All You Zombies" on YouTube

youtube

And I have seen these hot beds in there they look like piles of balls and I've seen them on scans from Will and Bill he says it might be Tommy f and it might be Satan but Tommy f might know where Satan is putting them and that's the dragon but it's a serpent it's not a dragon and I believe him I saw it outside too you got to be kidding I ran out I was out back you and Justin were out front and you were out there for like an hour wondering where it went Ken was out there for a few minutes tried to get a beat on where it was I don't know if you know something but we started to listen to after that because you said I think it's just sitting there looking at us and that's what they said it was doing and you are amazed it looked like it was on fire it was so awesome I've never seen anything like that in my life that was so cool and scary then that song came out and it's Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabbath and he's the one who owns our apartment that's freaking weird and probably on purpose but there's so many other things he's playing the song because his granddaddy is Moses and he held a serpent in his hand as a staff and he turned it into a live serpent but it looked like a snake as it was eating snakes it's not magic it's science and he did it in the Pharaoh was afraid and the Pharaoh is Jason and he's a friend of our friend over here who my friend him kept him alive. And he goes boy I guess he's in time. And said you never believe it so he is already gone and it's going to be revived and he's not revived and you can't revive him until he goes off somewhere so I'm wondering what the hell that is it looks real it might be him doing it just trying to save his program this is incredible but the program's going to start because we're going up there hell or high water he says the clones are in the way of the computer the clones are in the way that ship the clothes are in the way of the backpacks which are it's a lightning plasma weapon and they have a term for it and Ghostbusters the proton packs and once again it was a friend Mike goodhue which is you Dan calling them proton packs she'll probably make Ghostbusters cereal with proton packs in it and slimer and some other things cuz it's gross yeah you'd be surprised your first octillion will be in a few days that's funny Chris very funny. I'm going up there right now this house is from wizard of Oz and it flew up there the question is when it says a long time ago and see the film... This is maybe

Dan

Okay okay we may have found her near there I'm not sure where yeah I might be sure where so we tried to grab her and kidnap her and bring it on the ship this is starting to get disgusting

Mac

Is that how she got sick I don't know he says I had no idea that happened or what he was doing it for so sudden we started saying something else we don't need any help with this stuff but really I want to go up there and see what the hell happened

Daniel

It's on because I think that may have happened and it's on the f already took the other

Zues Hera

We did run into that thing but it was big a lot bigger than these and it seemed to be a common empire ship it was firing multiple beams but they're kind of fixed this is not the same thing and these are much more powerful because they're from Spears so we think it might have been a death star and it makes sense but we have to go up there because it's Mom your mother and it's important

You know where she is and we have our identity but we have to see what was going on I'm pretty sure you're right

Daniel

#Youtube

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introvertguide · 2 years

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Platoon (1986); AFI #86

The most recent film for review is the last of our gritty war films from the AFI top 100: Oliver Stone directed Platoon (1986). This film took home four Oscars that year for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, and Best Editing. Like many other big war films with many small parts, this film had a ton of current for the time and future stars. The cast includes almost no women since the film begins with the arrival of the main characters in Vietnam and ends with some of them leaving. Notable names include Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David, Forest Whitaker, Francesco Quinn, Kevin Dillon, John C. McGinley, Johnny Depp, and Tony Todd. The only other war films I can think of with more star power are Saving Private Ryan or Apocalypse Now. The film has a much more interesting story than "kill the enemy," which is why I think it received so many accolades. I really want to get to some behind the scenes notes, but let's start out with a synopsis and a quick warning...

SPOILER WARNING!!! THIS IS A WAR FILM SO IT CANNOT BE GUESSED WHICH CHARACTERS MAKE IT THROUGH AND WHICH DON'T!!! I AM ABOUT TO SPOIL THAT!!! IF THAT IS OKAY, THEN KEEP READING! OTHERWISE, CHECK OUT THE MOVIE FIRST AND CHECK OUT THIS BOTTOM PART OF THIS ARTICLE AFTERWARD!!!

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In 1967, U.S. Army volunteer Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) arrives in South Vietnam and is assigned to an infantry platoon of the 25th Infantry Division near the Cambodian border. The platoon is officially led by the young and inexperienced Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses), but in reality, the soldiers defer to two of his older and more experienced subordinates: the hardened and cynical Staff Sergeant Robert "Bob" Barnes (Tom Berenger), and the more idealistic Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe). An interesting note is that the first things Taylor sees upon landing are body bags being stacked onto an outgoing plane, implying that there is only one way to leave.

Taylor is immediately sent out with Barnes, Elias and veteran soldiers on a planned night ambush for a North Vietnamese army force. The NVA soldiers manage to get close to the sleeping Americans before a brief firefight ensues; Taylor's fellow new recruit Gardener is killed and Taylor himself lightly wounded. After his return from hospital, Taylor bonds with Elias and his circle of marijuana-smokers while remaining aloof from Barnes and his more hard-edged followers. There are many shots with Elias on the right and Barnes on the left, almost like an angel and devil on the shoulders of Taylor. To add to it, Barnes is scarred all over his face and body will Elias is basically untouched.

During a subsequent patrol, three men are killed by booby traps and unseen assailants. The injuries from the trap are hard to watch, so be prepared when the soldiers start looking around. One of the deaths is more obvious since a guard is displayed like a scarecrow as a message to the group. Already on edge, the platoon is further angered when they discover an enemy supply and weapons cache in a nearby village. This is the intense scene that the movie is famous for. One particular soldier called Bunny (Kevin Dillon) shows that the men in the platoon might be more dangerous than the NVA. Barnes, through a Vietnamese-speaking soldier, Lerner (Johnny Depp), aggressively interrogates the village chief about whether the villagers have been aiding the NVA, and cold-bloodedly shoots his wife dead when she snaps back at him. Elias then arrives, getting into a physical altercation with Barnes over the killing before Wolfe breaks it up and orders the supplies destroyed and the village razed. Taylor later prevents a gang-rape of two girls by some of Barnes' men.

When the platoon returns to base, the veteran company commander Captain Harris (Dale Dye) declares that if he finds out that an illegal killing took place, a court-martial will ensue, leaving Barnes worried that Elias will testify against him. On their next patrol, the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight, in which numerous soldiers are wounded. More men are wounded when Lieutenant Wolfe accidentally directs an artillery strike onto his own unit before Barnes calls it off. Elias takes Taylor and two other men to intercept flanking enemy troops. Barnes orders the rest of the platoon to retreat and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. Barnes finds Elias alone and shoots him, then returns and tells the others that Elias was killed by the enemy. While the platoon is extracting via helicopter, they glimpse Elias, mortally wounded, emerging from the tree line and being chased by a group of North Vietnamese soldiers, who kill him. Noting Barnes' anxious manner, Taylor realizes that he was responsible.

At the base, Taylor attempts to talk his group into fragging Barnes in retaliation when Barnes, having overheard them, enters the room and mocks them. Taylor assaults the intoxicated Barnes but is quickly overpowered. Barnes cuts Taylor near his eye with a push dagger before departing.

The platoon is sent back to the front line to maintain defensive positions, where Taylor shares a foxhole with Francis (Corey Glover). That night, a major NVA assault occurs, and the defensive lines are broken. Much of the platoon, including Wolfe and most of Barnes' followers, are killed in the ensuing battle. During the attack, an NVA sapper, armed with explosives, destroys the battalion headquarters in a suicide attack. Now in command of the defense, Captain Harris orders his air support to expend all their remaining ordnance inside his perimeter. During the chaos, Taylor encounters Barnes, who is wounded and driven to insanity. Just as Barnes is about to kill Taylor, both men are knocked unconscious by an air strike.

Taylor regains consciousness the following morning, picks up an enemy Type 56 rifle, and finds Barnes, who orders Taylor to call a medic. Seeing that Taylor won't help, Barnes contemptuously tells Taylor to kill him: Taylor does so. Francis, who survived the battle unharmed, deliberately stabs himself in the leg and reminds Taylor that because they have been twice wounded, they can return home. The helicopter carries the two men away. Overwhelmed, Taylor sobs as he glares down at multiple craters full of corpses.

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I don't want to break down every single character in the film because that is everything there is. The film is much more about character development and Vietnam is just a setting. I believe that Oliver Stone wanted to emphasize that humans, when put into a hellish situation, had to choose between conforming to survive or trying to keep your own morals. Charlie Sheen plays Taylor, a young but moralistic person who entered the situation by choice in an attempt to prove himself. There is an authority figure of Lt. Wolfe, who is technically in charge, but it is the two sergeants that play a demon and an angel (they would be on his shoulder if this was a cartoon) that push Taylor towards conforming to evil or holding on to righteousness. Neither sergeant survives the film, and it is ambiguous how Taylor will act when he returns home, The only thing for certain is that he is very different from what he was when he arrived. Both Defoe and Berenger received nominations for best supporting actor for their roles, but neither won the award.

There is some mention of class in this film because it seems that it is mostly the uneducated masses who could not get away from the draft that fought in the war. It is this irony (those who have the least are forced to sacrifice the most) that is a focal point of the film. The character of Bunny, played by Kevin Dillon, finds war as an opportunity to get out his aggressions and attack something that represents his personal failures in life. A big gun and not much to live for is a dangerous combination, especially when a person with these attributes is trained to kill. Oliver Stone was a soldier in Vietnam and he really wanted to emphasize how the horror of the situation can bring out the worst in the downtrodden.

There are a group of black soldiers that are played by Tony Todd, Keith David, and Forest Whitaker. None of the three seem very interested in the politics of the situation as much as they just want to get away. Forest Whitaker's character sits on the middle ground and does what he is told, but he also expresses that he feels bad for his actions. Tony Todd's character sides with Barnes because he feels this is his best chance to survive long enough to get out. Barnes was shot and mangled, yet he still is alive, so he must be doing the correct thing. Keith David's character is trying to survive while also keeping his own morals, so he sticks with Elias and tries to do what he feels is right.

This film is what I would describe as a war drama since it is the Divine Comedy set in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. There are no really good people and evil actions are understandable and sometimes almost relatable. It really makes the viewer upset that so many young men and women were put in this situation to be morally and mortally tested. It really affected audiences of the mid 80s, and that is why the film won for best picture.

One negative note about the production is the reported behavior of Oliver Stone. The film was shot in the Philippines and the push to make the film realistic bordered on abuse for the actors. The whole production was plagued with sickness and injuries with the actors having both Stone and advisor/actor Dale Dye yelling at them the whole time. There is a scene in which Tom Berenger is holding a gun to a little girl's head and he was told and berated into yelling and threatening the young actress until she really began to cry. Actors were allowed to leave as they were killed off since the film was shot almost completely in a linear fashion, so those looks of relief when they got on a helicopter to go home were quite genuine.

I was surprised that there was no nomination for make-up effects because the battle injuries look horrific and the scars on Tom Berenger were so realistic. I just thought that Berenger had scars all over his face until I saw him in another movie. He doesn't have the greatest skin, but the deep wound scars were blended in perfectly. The film would not have won since this award was eventually taken home by The Fly with Jeff Goldblum, but I still think a nomination was in order.

So, does this film deserve to be on the AFI top 100? Yes, but it is definitely lower on the list. It was shot in the Philippines and describes a war that America was not committed to, but it was still a major part of US history and touched a sensitive nerve for audiences at the time. The film is neither imaginative nor innovative, but the realism is worthy of recognition. Would I recommend it? That is actually kind of difficult. I wouldn't recommend it to a general audience because it will ruin your day. It is an engaging experience that transports the viewer to the war-torn jungle, but that is not something that many people really want. The film will affect you, just make sure that you are ready for it.

#platoon #war films #psychology #introvert #introverts #movies #great movies #best picture #academy award winner

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ehyeh-joshua · 4 years

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God of Dragons

@greater-than-the-sword - rather than dragging your post further off-topic, I decided to finally get around to writing this up.

If you honestly want to grapple with the Bible, it becomes essential to consider our ancient scaled friend/enemy the dragon. The Scriptures leave no alternative but to declare that man walked with dinosaurs.

The Hebrew word that we translate as “dragon” is Tannin, and like all ancient Hebrew thought, is not a specific species, but a genera – to us, we categorise things by qualities – we use “pencil” and “pen” and “quill” to describe specific classes of objects; to the mindset of Biblical Hebrew, they are all the same; you write with them.

What Tannin refers to is any large, dangerous reptile, whether on land, at sea or in the air, and while it would include them, it doesn't actually mean our modern understanding of dragon, which having being split from it's roots in historical creatures, is now mythical. (although such creatures are mentioned)

In the Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was considered the Old Testament for the Greek-speaking early church – the word Tannin is translated by “Drakkon” which is the root for our word “dragon”.

The word Tannin is used 23 times in Scripture:(note-all the citations are quoted in full at the end, truncated here for brevity)

Singular form:

Nehemiah 2:13; Psalm 91:13; Isaiah 27:1 and 51:9; Jeremiah 51:34; Ezekiel 29:3, Exodus 7:9, 7:10 and 7:12, and Genesis 1:21.

Plural form:

Deuteronomy 32:33, Job 7:12 and Job 30:29, Psalms 44:19, 74:13; and 148:7, Isaiah 13:22 Jeremiah 9:11, 10:22, 14:6, 49:33 and 51:37 and Ezekiel 32:2.

The second word we need to have in mind is Leviatan – this is the creature we think of when we think of dragon. This word is used five times in four verses: Job 41:1, Psalm 74:14 and 104:26, and twice in Isaiah 27:1. Like Tannin, Leviatan is translated in the Septuagint by “drakkon”.

Leviatan has the longest description, having nearly a whole chapter devoted to describing it at the end of Job – this is the strongest evidence, as this is God Himself describing this creature as an example of His own power.

One of the reasons I like Dragons so much is that God has set them as a testimony to Himself.

Sadly, this is perhaps the most mistranslated word in modern English Bibles; most English Bibles insert jackals into these verses wherever the Scriptures undeniably mean literal creatures, doing so because of the wrong belief that dragons are mythical.

The thing is, Hebrew has a word that actually means jackal; it is the same as that for “fox”, and for good reason, as they are known to be able to interbreed, and are therefore the same baramin. That word is “sha’ul”.

Nehemiah 4:3 for example; 'Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!”'

He’s trying to say that despite the fact that the fox/jackal is such a small and weak animal, it could crush the walls the Jews were building; he’s insulting them. By contrast, a dragon smashing down a wall is kind of what you would expect to happen, and throughout the Prophets, the threat of dragons overwhelming a city is used to express judgement.

Compiling all these references gives us a huge amount of information about these creatures, some of it (most of it in fact) directly from God describing what we would understand as a water drake.

Firstly, that the purpose of these creatures is to give glory to God.

Secondly, it tells us that these are huge reptiles that are very dangerous; enough that the mere threat of them is enough to put a city of people to fleeing for safety – a quarter of the times Tannin is used, it is referring to this terror.

If a city got overrun with jackals, a single person could chase them out; a decent thickness stick as a club, and they scatter. A host of people working together could do it easily. They are mildly dangerous, but they have absolutely nothing on levyatan, which the Scriptures equate to Tannin. A Dragon however? An armoured, fire breathing dragon?

That is dangerous; one dragon is enough to be a risk to an entire region, they are apex predators, there is absolutely no shortage of stories of the danger dragons possess.

Now, if you had an entire city overrun by dragons? You’re not going to reclaim that. Not on the Bronze/Iron age technology possessed by Ancient Israel. Roman Ballistae might have a chance, and a Macedonian Phalanx could make a melee fight in the open stick, but I wouldn’t want to try that kind of a battle without at least trebuchet, if not cannon. And this is from a guy who knows how to solo a T-Rex; T-Rex has one primary weapon, the bite. The solution is a fuck-off amount of three feet long spikes covering your whole body, that way it can’t bite you without facing it’s own mortal peril. You could probably win with a spear, but I’d rather have the spikes.

Dragons? Fire. The accounts of dragons possessing fire-breathing capability are nearly universal, and it is far more reasonable than you might think; using the Bombardier Beetle as a baseline, to breath fire a dragon needs the reaction of hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, catalysed by catalase and peroxidase; the reactants are ejected from separated storage areas into the front of the open mouth, where the reaction begins in conjunction with the rush of oxygen from heavy breathing out, causing both the reaction and the expellation of the reactants. Range could be comfortably over ten metres and still sufficient to cause burns and scalding on the victim.

Coincidentally, but rather obvious when you think about it, dragon stories generally stop after the invention of cannon, and by the 1800s, almost stop completely outside of Native American tribes.

It is therefore plain that reading the text and allowing the text to explain itself leads to the conclusion that Tannin/Levyatan are a race of immense and dangerous monsters, usually serpent-like but again not always, who’s presence is like the judgement of God, and which God Himself uses to say how awesome He is that He made them and controls their fates. Note also the contrast - the Babylonians had their gods being scared of these monsters, but right from the beginning God takes ownership of them.

The Bible tells us how these creatures lived, where they lived, their diet, their habitat, to an extent their way of life; and it exists as part of material from all over the world that shows that man and dinosaur coexisted. And if humans and dinosaurs coexisted, evolutionary beliefs about ages collapse.

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Nehemiah 2:13; “I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire.”- presumably, the Dragon spring was a well or spring that was named for a resident/visitor dragon.

Psalm 91:13; “You will tread on lion and viper; you will trample young lion and dragon.” - the point is to talk about the protection of God; the claim about jackals makes no sense, and using serpent instead has already been covered. Further, the Septuagint uses Drakkon here.

Isaiah 27:1; “In that day GOD will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent with His fierce, great, strong sword, Leviathan the twisted serpent! He will slay the dragon in the sea.” Again, entirely pointless unless it refers to either a real animal, or a mythologised version of a real animal.

Isaiah 51:9; “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of GOD, awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon?” Again, a pointless exercise if not referring to an actual event.

Jeremiah 51:34; “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, crushed me, set me aside like an empty dish, swallowed me up like a dragon, filled his belly with my delicacies, rinsed me away.” Jackals cannot eat even a whole arm, and certainly cannot swallow a whole man as the similie depends on; whereas plenty of large carnivorous dinosaurs could.

Ezekiel 29:3, “Speak and say, thus says the LORD GOD: ‘Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh King of Egypt, the great dragon lying in his rivers, who says: “My Nile is my own—I made it for myself.” The idea is to convey that Egypt believes itself to be extremely powerful, before it is cast down in judgement.

Exodus 7:9, 7:10 and 7:12; “So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did as Adonai had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a dragon. Then Pharaoh called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they too, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For each man threw down his staff, and they became dragons. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.” Not much to say here, although the Septuagint again uses drakkon both times, instead of one of the words that means a snake.

Genesis 1:21; “And God created the great dragons and every living soul that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their nature, and every winged fowl after its nature; and God saw that it was good.” This is one of the few times the Septuagint uses keytos (whale) to translate Tannin, however, dragons are traditionally associated with the sea and sky, so it makes sense that they are created on day 5.

Plural form:

Deuteronomy 32:33: “Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.” This also informs us that some dragons were poisonous, a feature noted of certain dinosaurs, and never with jackals.

Job 7:12; “Am I a sea, or a dragon, that you set a watch over me?” Again linking dragons to the sea.

Job 30:29; “I am a brother to the dragons, & a companion to the ostriches.” By this, he is continuing his theme, and he means he is alone, ostracised from the community. Jackals however, operate in packs.

Psalms 44:19; “Though you have broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.” Doesn’t tell us much this one, as it’s relying on the nature of tanninim to convey the situation.

Psalms 74:13; “You split open the sea by your strength; You broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.” Possibly a reference to the Flood.

Psalms 148:7; “Praise the LORD from the earth, you dragons, and all deeps:” An intriguing statement, given extra-Biblical documentation of dragon intelligence, which some sources put as near-Human.

Isaiah 13:21; “But wild animals will lie down there, and their houses will be full of howling creatures; there ostriches will dwell, and there wild goats will dance.” while it doesn’t say dragon, it says howling creatures, Wycliffe was happy to write dragouns as his translation solely from the sound identified, and it has to be inquired why he did so if humans could not have encountered dragons to record the sound.

Isaiah 13:22; " And the wild beasts shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.” Given the reference is about animals being used as tools for judgement, it’s no surprise that dragons are mentioned.

Jeremiah 9:11; “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” Again, a judgement making the city uninhabitable.

Jeremiah 10:22; “Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.“ again, dragons used as a symbol of judgement.

Jeremiah 14:6; 2and the wild asses stood in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass.“ This gives us information about how dragons breathed, which is something very difficult to know unless you either witnessed it or heard from someone who had.

Jeremiah 49:33; “And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.“ Again, using dragons as a symbol of judgement.

Jeremiah 51:37; “And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.” Jeremiah again uses the presence of dragons as a judgement.

Ezekiel 32:2 “ “Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: “You consider yourself a lion of the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you burst forth in your rivers, trouble the waters with your feet, and foul their rivers.”Not much to say here.

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darkstar6782 · 4 years

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6.03: The Third Man - My Rewatch Review

I find Balthazar to be a fascinating addition to the ranks of angels as we have seen them so far, and I am always a bit surprised that we don’t meet more like him, especially because I feel like his perspective on the “God isn’t coming back and the Apocalypse isn’t happening any more” issue is one that more of the angels would be able to get behind to some extent. Because it feels like Balthazar is just carrying on as if the Apocalypse had ended in the angels’ favor. I had asked this question in my review of ‘99 Problems’: What were the angels expecting to get out of the end of the Universe if the Apocalypse went their way? Because if Paradise was going to be anything like Heaven, it would have been pretty hands-off for all of them, and without humanity to watch over or Hell to thwart, or whatever else it was that angels did as part of their heavenly duties, what would come next? And I am willing to bet that most of them hadn’t really thought that far ahead—likely they were just hoping that the Apocalypse would be enough to bring God back, or that any change would be better than things remaining the same—but I think that Balthazar, at least, knew exactly what he wanted out of all of it, and when it didn’t happen, he decided to fuck off and live his own life anyway.

And it’s an understandable attitude for him to take, if not an ideal one; hence, why I’m surprised that more angels didn’t follow in his footsteps (or maybe they did, and they just knew to keep a lower profile than he did). And it’s why I find myself fascinated by the parallels in this story to the film that it takes its title from. Because the driving force behind the story in the film The Third Man is that of a man who is trying to find out what happened to his friend, a man who is presumed dead, but who actually faked his own death because he was being hunted down for the crime of selling diluted penicillin on the black market, causing numerous illnesses and deaths. And when the man finds his friend alive and confronts him, the friend expresses no remorse for the hurt that his illegal activities have caused others and actually offers the man a job working for him. Ultimately, though, the man decides against it, and ends up killing his friend during a police pursuit. Within this episode, you can see the bones of that story clearly. Balthazar is the friend, presumed dead but actually alive and well and working a black-market scheme that has the potential to hurt or kill a lot of people, and Castiel is the man who is searching for answers about that friend once he finds out that he did not die as was suspected. They even have a similar confrontation in which Balthazar explains his plans (to some extent) and invites Cass to join him in his new life of uncaring decadence. And there is a ‘police pursuit’ in the form of Raphael and the forces of angelic law and order showing up to stop Balthazar, but which end up putting Castiel in the ultimate position of stopping his friend.

And here is where the difference between the ending of the movie and the ending of this episode drop a huge hint at what is actually going on with Castiel this season, a hint that we don’t even know to be looking for this early on. Because Castiel does not join Balthazar, but he does not stop him either, or even try to censure him for what he has done. He makes sure that Balthazar follows through with Dean’s demand that he release the boy whose soul he bought in exchange for the Staff of Moses, but then he lets his old friend go without a word. And while this could be explained away as Cass just not caring as much about what happens to humanity any more in favor of his own concerns in Heaven, which he was pretty clear about earlier in the episode much to Dean’s dismay, when you look back on the season as a whole, and you know that there is more to the whole ‘angels buying up human souls’ thing than Balthazar is letting on, Castiel’s motives for letting Balthazar go become much clearer. Because unlike the poor fellow in The Third Man who feels nothing but disgust over the immorality of his friend’s uncaring actions and the hurt that they have caused innocent people, Cass knows that Balthazar is not the only one in that room with an interest in the power that souls hold. So even though he can’t give up on his mission to stop Raphael in order to “blow coke and jump on the bed” with his old friend, he sees that Balthazar’s cache of weapons and his market in souls will be useful for him down the road. And his decision to let Balthazar go should have been examined more closely by Dean, but Dean is too distracted by the fact that Sam is definitely not acting like himself to pay too much attention to the affairs of angels. Which (though it’s a discussion for another time) might have been part of Castiel’s plans all along.

#supernatural #6.03 the third man #spn rewatch #the great pre-convention SPN rewatch #tgpcSPNr

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badbookreviewclub · 4 years

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Empress Theresa, Chapters 21-28. IT’S FINALLY OVER.

Disclaimer: If you haven’t read the previous review, you can find it here (chapters 11-20). This will contain spoilers.

Well, the ending is finally here and holy fuck this book went off the rails. I only have one reaction to the ending of it and that’s just what the fuck. Just… What The Fuck Norman whatever the fuck you were on when you wrote the end of this book must have been some powerful shit because holy fuck. Let’s just get started and maybe you’ll see what I mean. These chapters are also completely nonsensical in how they’re put together and just so much information is shoved into them that it can get confusing. I’ll do my best to keep it clear. Chapter 21 The boat that was driven into the Exxon Maria was deemed as a terrorist attack because “the world know that this had been a terrorist bombing” (pg 321). They know this because a bunch of explosives had been smuggled onto the boat beforehand by Middle Eastern terrorists (because Norman is convinced there are no other kind of terrorists) and they drove it straight into the Exxon Maria to try and get back at Theresa for her oil mining operation. So how does Theresa retaliate? She drops the price of oil down to ten dollars a barrel. Thinking that OPEC (which I guess Norman still thinks is a terrorist organization. It’s not) is going to retaliate, Theresa has her parents moved to a safe place (West Point), and tells Prime Minister Scherzer that they have to evacuate the Israeli people now. He tells her that it will take 36 hours to start the evacuation. To remind Saudi Arabia of their deal (because there was a deal apparently in Theresa’s mind, even though there was absolutely no deals made, just an offer put on the table) Theresa raises a mountain in the middle of the Saudi Arabian desert.

When the Israeli people start to cross evacuate via the landbridge to Crete because as it turns out, no, the island isn’t ready yet, Theresa parts the fucking sea to make giant water walls that terrorists and missiles can’t get through. Moses parting the Red Sea moment, anyone? Because of this, Prime Minister Scherzer calls Theresa the ‘Right Hand of God’. Theresa also decides that it’s time for her to head home, so the Ambassador of the United States to England asks if she would ride home on the Ronald Reagan (the same ship that led took her to the plane she was supposed to be blown up on) to give the ship her honor back. Theresa disagrees, but Steve says that Theresa should play (American) football with the navy of the Ronald Reagan against the Army (I think Norman means foot soldiers specifically). Theresa does agree eventually.

Someone attempts to do the same drop that Theresa did when she was almost blown up and of course, rather than dissuading them, Theresa gives him tips on how he might survive. Unsurprisingly, he fucking dies. All Theresa does is say “oh whoopsy-doopsy, he fell into still water, not wavy water like I did. Must be why. Sorry that you’re dead bro. Nobody should do that again.” Chapter 22

Theresa heads back to the United States, but in the process, HAL puts everyone in the plane into a deep sleep, including the piolets and every electronic. Somehow though, the Autopilot still works, so that’s lucky for Theresa I guess. Bitch learns how to fly a plane in under four hours. She lands it after causing millions of dollars worth of damages to the windows of buildings after flying just a little too low to them and as such that causes a lot of injuries, but she doesn’t get in trouble for that because she’s just too sweet and innocent for that.

Chapter 23

Am I moving really fast through this? I feel like I am. Though I will say, it’s definitely because I want to be done with this book as fast as I possibly can it’s so fucking dumb. I hate this book so much. I have never met a book that has baffled me as much as this one but absolutely fueled my anger to no end. Anyways… Theresa arrives at West Point (where her parents are) and going to the ranch house that was built specifically for her and her family. The football game takes place, and surprisingly, Theresa and the Navy lose to the Army. 48-36. I don’t know American football very well, despite living in the United States, so if anyone could tell me how good this is I would really appreciate it.

We learn that her island is producing 3 million barrels of oil a day and by the next year is predicted to be producing 15 million barrels a day, so Theresa is rich as fuck and is going to have a monopoly on oil (what a wonderful capitalist she is). Because all the oil tycoons are worried she’s going to monopolize (she is) and then raise the price drastically, they put her into a two-year deal (bc that’s long enough) saying that the price can’t go above ten dollars a barrel. Theresa agrees without hesitation.

It’s suggested to Theresa that she should monopolize the manufacturing industry as well, but she turns that down because it could “start a global trade war” (pg 370).

Theresa, while being a jerk and ignoring everybody when she goes out into public because how could she possibly be expected to meet or even wave or smile at people, finally gives in and talks to 10 North Korean men (via a translator) who have brought her a PBS Documentary to show her the conditions of North Korea. Theresa watches it and is so moved that she comes down and tells the men that she’ll save their families. So essentially, this one PBS Documentary has convinced Theresa to declare war on North Korea’s government.

Because the North Korean’s wouldn’t listen to her because she holds no power, Theresa joins the army (not really because she never ever ever ever sees combat, but she gets the titles that come with it).

Chapter 25

Theresa gets her uniform. She specifically requests to have the male uniform because the female one doesn’t look powerful enough. She also gets men’s shoes instead of women’s shoes because the women’s would look stupid with the men’s uniform, I guess. Theresa also insists on wearing her hair down because nobody is going to say jack shit to her about it. Because Theresa got the uniform we learn that Steve has a uniform kink. “Steve thought I looked awful cute in my little uniform. “‘Hon, you never looked better. It turns me on’” (pg 389).

Now Norman, I thought this book didn’t have sexual content? Yet here we are, learning about Steve’s fetishes. I’m not going to fetish shame anyone, and more power to you Steve for being open with your sexuality, though I just wanted to point out that Norman specifically said this wouldn’t happen (just like the swearing).

Anyways, Theresa goes to a meeting at the White House where she immediately becomes a five-star general, the first person after Omar Bradley died. Now I may be wrong, but Omar Bradley was a World War II veteran (a senior officer) and was Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff and oversaw policymaking during the Korean War. The only thing Theresa has (realistically) done up until this point is kill off most of the population, if not all of the population.

Theresa came up with the idea earlier on that the only way to liberate North Korea is to destroy their weaponry in a certain mile radius and then take over as their dictator for the time being until things could get set up. In a really complicated matter, Theresa sets up a plan wherein ten-miles around Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, all weapons, planes, bombs, missiles, and helicopters will be destroyed. She works with the South Korean government in order to achieve this with HAL and so they can invade safely.

But, duN DUN DUN! because all the weapons are destroyed, the government orders unarmed citizens and soldiers and other personnel to attack as soon as they see Theresa and the army. Because there’s 5 million of them, the South Korean army knows that they’ll be easily overwhelmed. Theresa’s solution? Take a Japanese island and move it a bit closer to North and South Korea, and then break North and South Korea away from China and move it closer to the Japanese Island. This way the Japanese Island can build a bridge over and then teach North Korea about a new government. And it fucking works.

They invade Pyongyang after doing this and the South Korean army basically liters the city with pictures of Theresa’s face and a promise that she’s going to save and liberate them all. They drop all these pictures and promises with an airplane to hopefully quell the people’s worries. There’s a big crowd of North Koreans who are basically lining a gigantic boulevard and the South Korean’s are surrounding the tanks and Theresa, prepared to shoot anyone who gets rowdy or gets too close. Theresa tells them their leaders have left them on a complete fucking bluff, and the South Korean general who has been working with her confirms that they fled to China. Theresa is so relieved by this she almost starts crying, and then the North Korean’s start cheering and wailing and are basically so so so so so happy that Theresa is their new leader.

And Theresa’s big speech as the new leader? She reads the first couple of paragraphs from the Declaration of Independence. And it’s a smash hit and her greatest success ever. She gives it to a translator so that the North Korean people can understand and just… “Nobody could translate such elegant language on the fly and maintain its beauty. I anticipated that. I’d given the translator the English text the day before and she worked all night at it. When I finished speaking she read what I’d said in Korean with all the emotions and nuances only a Korea could express. My speech or rather the translator’s rendition of it was a spectacular success. The crowd cheered their hearts out. Witnesses said President Stinson cried when I gave the speech. This event, broadcast to the whole world, was called by greatest achievement” (pg 418). And yes, I meant to write ‘a Korea’. That’s how it’s written in the fucking book. But the Declaration of Independence wasn’t written by Theresa and yet somehow it’s ‘her’ speech. And it’s a smashing success because fuck you. Chapter 26

Theresa sets up the South Korean government in North Korea because she can’t be fucked to actually lead it, but comes back when she needs to. In this chapter, Theresa gets really into biology and teaching HAL about biology. She also gets really into archaeology and discovers a bunch of really old Jewish scrolls but nobody can have them. They can look but only she can have them. She also finds Joan of the Arc’s remains because why the fuck not.

Theresa also makes a mountain in the middle of Lake Michigan without consequence. This is all so they can have the Winter Olympics because I guess Mountain = Snow despite the fact that it’s summer the entire year.

Oh yeah, and Theresa recognizes that she could have thousands of lives with teaching HAL biology and learning how to do surgeries that could save lives that couldn’t otherwise be done. But she decides this is a terrible idea because she’ll end up in court if something goes wrong.

“‘I can immobilize them like this [basically just holding their body together in a temporarily immortalized, unaging, undying stated] while the surgeon operates and saves thousands of lives.’ (Theresa) “‘And get yourself thousands of lawsuits when things go wrong. Hell the families will hope something goes wrong so they can go after your money’ (Steve) “‘You’re right. I’d spend the rest of my life in courtrooms. It’s a shame. Greed keeps me from saving lives’” (pg 423).

The only greed keeping you from saving lives is your own. How fucking selfish of you to believe that people want their loved ones to die just so they can get some money. There are horrible people out there in the world like that, there’s no denying it, but the majority of people aren’t. You recognize you could save lives, but you chose not to because you don’t want to go to court if something goes wrong. You’re a fucking villain, Theresa.

Because of this, I really don’t feel bad when Theresa gets hit by a car, breaks her back, and loses the ability to walk. Getting hit by the car was apparently a terrorist attack that was carefully planned because they wanted to hit Theresa. Because everything just has to be a fucking terrorist attack. But this is why Norman had Theresa suddenly pick up an interest in biology that was never ever even hinted at before. It’s so Theresa can start working on a plan to fix her back so she can walk again. And so she can figure out a way to be immortal. You’re supposed to feel bad for Theresa, but I honestly don’t.

Chapter 27

More HAL’s show up because when Theresa was about to be blown up and she jumped from the plane, HAL divided itself into 420 other HAL’s. Now all these HAL’s are merging with people. Because Theresa doesn’t want to not be special anymore, she puts the entire world into a deep sleep under the pretense that all of these people could be another Adolf Hitler and she needs to take care of it and stop that before it happens. You know, so the logical explanation, because she can’t just put on HAL into a deep sleep, is to put the entire world into a deep sleep regardless of the consequences. Doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle of surgery or you’re in the ICU. It doesn’t matter if you’re about to die or something is happening. We’re just going to put everyone into a deep sleep because Theresa can’t be fucked to figure out a solution right now.

Chapter 28

600 years have passed and everyone starts to wake up. Everyone thinks Theresa is dead but she shows up with Steve and 420 (nice) children. All these children are geniuses and specialize in something and have the equivalent of like 10 college degrees. So in the past 600 years (where nobody aged, not even Theresa and Steve) the world has advanced massively because of the children and Steve and Theresa.

Theresa also kept the children as 10-year-olds rather than letting them age. “I’d kept them in a pre-puberty state so they wouldn’t fool around with each other” (pg 464). It’s not like they’re siblings and look like mini replicas of you and your husband. It’s not like you should discourage incest among them because incest isn’t a good thing and can mess with someone’s psyche because it’s damaging a familial relationship by intertwining it with a sexual relationship. Not at all.

But these children, as it would turn out, don’t have a HAL. Theresa and Steve just had like 420 (nice) children I guess. No, Theresa just absorbed all of the other HAL’s and will absorb any other HAL that shows up on earth. And that’s the end of the fucking book. This shit show of a book is finally over. I hated it so much and I’m glad to finally be done with it.

-8/10 stars. Get fucked Norman Boutin. Your book is stupid as shit and I hate it.

#Empress Theresa #bad books review #bad book #review #reviewblr #bookblr #the end #it's over #I can finally sleep easy #no more empress theresa #this book was hell #Theresa is still a monster #fuck you theresa #this book is shit #finale

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scoobydoodean · 5 months

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just saw somebody saying that cas is a pushover for dean…. obviously that’s not true. but can i have some solid evidence just to make me feel more sane?

I mean Cas's baseline state is ignoring what anyone wants him to do imo. It's just when he ignores what most people want him to do, he makes this face: 🙄

And when he ignores what Dean wants him to do, he makes this this face. 🥺

But anyway:

"You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in." (4.02)

ANNA: "Uhm, guys, the angels are talking again. / SAM: What are they saying? / ANNA: It's weird. Like a recording. A loop. It says: "Dean Winchester gives us Anna by midnight, or we hurl him back to damnation." (4.10)

"[I tricked you into coming into town] Because whatever I ask [for you to turn an innocent person over to me for execution], you seem to do the exact opposite [protect them from me]." (4.15)

After kidnapping Dean to make him torture for them: "This is too much to ask, I know. But we have to ask it." (4.16)

[Kidnaps Dean and locks him up] (4.22)

[Flies away abruptly because Dean asks a question he doesn't want to answer] (5.01)

"I killed two angels this week. My brothers. I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world—and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself." (5.02) (Note: Cas blaming Dean for everything going wrong here is also some major bullshit).

CASTIEL: May I borrow [your amulet]? / DEAN: No. / CASTIEL: Dean. Give it to me. / DEAN: All right, I guess. (5.02)

Cas flies off to kill Jesse when Dean and Sam are in direct moral opposition. (5.06)

ANNA: I'd say the Winchesters don't trust me. / CASTIEL: They do. I don't. I wouldn't let them come. (5.13)

You're not gonna finish that? [Takes Dean's burger without waiting for an answer] (5.14)

[Kidnaps Dean and locks him up] (5.18)

"Maybe they're desperate. Maybe they wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them." (5.18)

[Beats the shit out of Dean in an alley] "I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them?" [kidnaps Dean and locks him up again] (5.18)

DEAN: Whoa, wait. You’re gonna take on five angels? / CASTIEL: Yes. / DEAN: Isn’t that suicide? / CASTIEL: Maybe it is. But then I won’t have to watch you fail.

CASTIEL: You think I came because you called? I came because of this. [The Staff of Moses] / DEAN: Oh, well, it's nice to know what matters. / CASTIEL: It does help one to focus. (6.03)

CASTIEL: I need your help. / SAM: [ Scoffs. ] That's rich. Really. / CASTIEL: [ Grunts, tosses the jar of locusts at SAM. CASTIEL performs air quotes during this speech. ] Sam, Dean, my "people skills" are "rusty." Pardon me, but I have spent the last "year" as a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. But believe me, you do not want that weapon down here. Help me find it. Or more people will die.

[Flies away abruptly when Dean asks anything he doesn't want to answer] (6.03)

Cas tortures a child while Dean pleads with him not to do it (6.03).

[Yanks Dean's wrist over without asking and slices his palm open to use his blood for a spell] DEAN: Whoa, whoa! Hey! Ahh! Why don't you use your own? / CASTIEL: It wouldn't work. I'm not human.

[Flies away abruptly when Dean is mid-sentence] (6.06)

Cas ghosts Dean for days while Dean pleads for help in prayers (6.05-6.06)

Those are some moments of note up to my current rewatch episode.

Less organized but past current rewatch point some random momence:

The entire plot of season 6 where Cas is going behind their backs the whole time culminating in him refusing to let go of his plan while Dean pleads him to do just that.

Fun lil Deancas bitchy compilation set here

[Beats the shit out of Dean flies away with the angel tablet]

Refuses to come out of Purgatory

Ignores Dean's nightly prayers in Purgatory

Ignores Dean's prayers and calls all of the tiiiiiiiime sometimes for weeks

Locking Dean in the dungeon... again. (S9)

DEAN: I'm glad you're here / CAS: *Leaves* (10.03)

Keeping Demon Dean from doing demon things :(((( (10.03)

Works with Sam to decode the Book of the Damned behind Dean's back.

CAS: No fighting. / DEAN: Tell [Claire] that. / CAS: Both of you.

"YEAH you know what I like about him? It's that he's sarcastic, but he's THOUGHTFUL and APPRECIATIVE too."

"If I plan to do anything else stupid, I'll let you know."

CAS: So I should just sit here? / DEAN: Pretty much. / CAS: NO.

[Look of utter loathing] "Dean. You are NOT a talking dog." (13.16)

"At least I don't look like a lumberjack."

Steals The Colt to kill Kelly Kline when Sam and Dean want to save her -> Does a 180 into wanting to protect Kelly and still won't include Sam and Dean, instead knocking them unconscious (12.19)

Locks Sam and Dean out of the dungeon so he can torture Donatello for information (13.14)

Also: #hot girl cas. And anyway, if Cas decreases his bitchy basline tendencies to be bitchy around Dean and Dean only, and instead indulges him occasionally by doing things like dressing up like cowboys, we should be fond of this because the angel the size of a Chrysler building who has killed thousands lets Dean put him in little outfits to make him happy and there is something very cute about that.

#and cas is my best friend #mail #hot girl cas

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vvivacious101 · 5 years

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Re-rewatching S06E03 - Multidimensional Wavelength of Celestial Intent

Soulless Sam is cool. He is the ultimate chilled out dude. Man, this season is already of to a good start just based on how different Sam is and I'm loving it. The tension and the atmosphere this characteristic creates is so unique, it's giving a nice flavour to the first half of this season.

Someone mentioned at a con that they liked this episode just for the first five minutes of it and I have to agree, the thirst is real but it is a really good episode too. The plot itself is amazingly written. There is so much happening but unlike the previous two episodes it never gets overwhelming and I really loved the plot.

We have Balthazar who stole a bunch of Heaven's weapons and now he has made a business out of it, he is hawking his fares in exchange for souls. A piece of the staff of Moses finds itself in the hands of Aaron Birch who uses it to exact revenge on his brother's murderers. The unnatural deaths they die lures Sam to the case and soon Sam and Dean call in Cas who figures out that it's Balthazar who claimed the boy's soul and therefore he must have the heavenly weapons.

Now the civil war in Heaven makes Balthazar a target as Raphael and Cas both want the weapons as a means to strengthen their sides and while Balthazar pledges his loyalty to Cas, he refuses to part with the weapons. He flees before Raphael arrives who takes out all his anger on Cas. Fortunately, Balthazar arrives in the nick of time and destroys Raphael's vessel.

The moment Dean learns about the civil war he asks Cas why he didn't tell them to which Cas replies he was ashamed because he expected more from his brothers and he apologizes which in hindsight feels so poignant. Cas already knows he is going to hurt Dean and he is already sorry for it just not enough to come clean. It's weird realising that at this very moment Cas is entrenched in a very dicey plan that hinges on Crowley, Alphas, Purgatory and souls.

I think this episode is important just because of the concept of souls that it introduces. Balthazar for the very first time gives the attributes of value and strength to souls and just when Dean wants to dig more, Cas releases Balthazar thus effectively covering up his own steps. In a surprising way if you know what to look for it becomes increasingly clear something's up with Cas.

This episode is also significant because of this -

- and also because in this episode Dean and Cas are perfectly in sync, things are good between them but soon Dean is going to channel his frustration about Sam onto Cas. Of course, Cas is also a source of his frustration but he doesn't know it yet. In this episode, we basically have Dean without his two biggest supports Sam and Cas. Sam is soulless and Cas is hiding things and the magnitude of it is going to beyond expectation. But given how cagey Dean is with Sam it makes sense that he is finding Cas' quirks increasingly frustrating.

This season isn't great for Dean and Cas while simultaneously being the best thing to happen to them till date. This season is very important to the foundation of their relationship but for good and bad reasons. A lot of season 4 and 5 really see-sawed on where they wanted Dean and Cas to go but since season 6 the show stopped backtracking on this particular relationship and started building it up step by step.

#supernatural #spn #spn 6x03 #supernatural season 6 #the third man #sam #cas #dean #destiel #myposts #spn rewatch #raphael #balthazar

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mrlnsfrt · 4 years

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The Battle Belongs to the LORD

In this post, we continue the story of David vs Goliath. For part one check out Lions, Bears, and Giants.

I know what you need!

Saul finally agrees to let David fight Goliath. After all, it is not like he had many options to choose from or any options for that matter. However, Saul is decided to provide David with every advantage he could.

So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. - 1 Samuel 17:38-39 NKJV

Saul was trying to help David. Saul figured David would need an armor, a bronze helmet, and a coat of mail, and of course a sword! After all, Goliath was dressed in that manner and that is how everyone fought battles. Saul was like everyone else (see Like Everyone Else). The problem is that Goliath is counting on someone facing him like that, with armor and helmet and sword. Goliath had trained for that, he was prepared to face and defeat someone coming at him in the traditional way.

Everyone expected David to face Goliath as a soldier, trusting his skill with a sword, and his armor. Everyone also expected David to lose.

David tries the traditional way of doing things, but he has no experience or training in that way of doing things. David is not a soldier, he has no army training or experience. David is a shepherd. David is honest and self-aware. He knows that now is not the time to play soldier. He has been a shepherd over the years, and even though there are benefits to having a helmet and sword and armor, David has no experience with them. In essence, David was not going to win by trying to fight like Saul or Goliath. David was going to do this as himself, and he was a shepherd.

A Shepherd, not a Soldier

David teaches us a great lesson in authenticity, in refusing to play by the rules, on thinking outside the box, and on maximizing his advantages. David knew the gifts God had given him, he was aware of his strengths, he knew who he was and he had a plan to face Goliath. David had no intention of facing Goliath as a soldier. David was coming to Goliath as a shepherd. David would use the skills he developed as a shepherd facing lions and bears (read Lions, Bears, Giants).

Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40 NKJV

David was not careless, he was preparing for a fight to the death, he was just not prepared as a soldier, but as a shepherd. David took his staff and 5 smooth stones from a brook and placed them in his shepherd’s bag and he also had his sling in his hand. Goliath was intimidating. The sight of him in his full battle gear was enough to make a grown man shake with fear. Meanwhile, David looked like a young man looking for lost sheep.

Psychological Warfare

So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 1 Samuel 17:41-42 NKJV

Goliath is coming, he has so much armor that he needs help getting around, he needed a young man just to carry his shield. Goliath finally takes a good look at the Israelite champion, and he is young, reddish, and good looking. Goliath is unable to take this opponent seriously. They send a shepherd boy to fight an elite soldier? Goliath is furious, he is offended, is this a joke? David does not look like a threat. He does not look intimidating, he does not look dangerous, so Goliath lets down his guard, he loses his composure. Goliath is not taking this fight seriously.

So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” - 1 Samuel 17:43-44 NKJV

Goliath seems to have been a big trash talker. He loved talking big, cursing, threatening, mocking. Maybe this was part of his strategy, to throw his opponents off their balance, demoralize them, intimidate them. But Goliath just got himself in trouble. He had cursed David, a descendant of Abraham, who had been anointed by God. Goliath was not aware of God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants.

I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - Genesis 12:3 NKJV (bold mine)

The blessings of Abraham, the covenant, carried on to the descendants of Abraham. Especially those who were faithful to the covenant and did not turn after other gods. Goliath had just brought God’s curse upon himself by cursing David. Goliath taunted, dared, invited David to come closer, and get what was coming to him. Goliath threatens to not only kill David but to desecrate his body by denying him a burial.

Goliath looked at David much like Saul, as a simple, young, shepherd boy. What everyone was missing is the fact that divine enablement is of much greater value than human devices.

divine enablement > human devices

Sure, David was just a shepherd, but so had been Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. David was not like everyone else, he was like the great shepherd leaders of God’s people. Like the great shepherd-leaders of the Torah, David lived by faith in the promises of God (Hebrews 11). Trusting in God may look weak and foolish, especially to those who are not familiar with what He has done for His people throughout time. But there is nothing more powerful than someone who trusts completely in God.

Bold Faith

David reframes reality according to his faith and his personal experience with God. David not only knew the history of what God had done in the past, but he also knew first hand what God could do (for more, read Lions Bears Giants).

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” - 1 Samuel 17:45-47 NKJV

David puts things into perspective for Goliath. David explains that it is not about the weapons but all about God. That is the perspective we need to have, that is what the world needs to understand. It is not about the gadgets and big budget, it is about God. Faithfulness to God should be the main goal of our lives because God will provide everything else. David was faithful. He lived a humble life as a shepherd. David was not looking for a fight. But he was not one to run away from one. David would not allow someone to defy his God. David was the kind of person who did not look for trouble, but he also did not run away from it. He was faithful to God and he knew that God was faithful. He had experienced it in his life ( for more read Lions Bears Giants).

Goliath had threatened David, David returned the threat to Goliath and extended it to the entire Philistine army. However, a significant distinction between the threats is that David was not claiming he would do this on his own, nor would this be for his glory. David claims that God will deliver Goliath to his hands and defeat the entire army and this would be a testimony to the world that Israel had a powerful God, a God like no other. It was true that David did not have a sword or spear, but God does not need either to give the victory to his children.

The Fight

So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. - 1 Samuel 17:48-49 NKJV

When it came time for action David did not hesitate. Goliath was weighed down with weapons and armor, David was quick and nimble. Goliath was accustomed to rivals having to draw closer and engage with a sword or spear, but since David had none Goliath was not worried. David on the other hand had no intention to come within range of Goliath’s sword or spear. Goliath had noticed David’s staff and figured that presented no threat. Apparently, he had never witnessed the slingshot used in military combat. Goliath had no experience facing a marksman. He might have noticed David taking out a stone and perhaps he was over-confident, perhaps David was too agile, but nobody expected David to be able to strike the exposed portion of Goliath’s forehead.

Analysis

After David’s speech, there is no doubt that the hand of God was at work here. God delivered Goliath into David’s hand. However, there are also lessons to be learned here on top of trusting God. First and foremost, faithfulness to God is key and if not for that David would have in all likelihood have lost. However, on top of his faith, we also see here the first signs of David’s military genius.

David did not fight Goliath on Goliath’s terms. David fought on his terms. Goliath walked slowly with a shield-bearer, he had heavy armor and heavy weapons. This made it impossible for Goliath to move quickly. David on the other hand could run and jump and dodge. Goliath was walking towards David, David ran towards Goliath. David threw off Goliath’s expectations, he changed the unwritten rules of combat. He rejected armor and sword. You don’t face a bear or lion with armor and sword, those animals would destroy you. You had to be quick, stealthy, and often you had one shot. These were the battles that David had trained for and grown accustomed to. David never had a chance of winning by brute force or weapons forged by men, so he used was he had, a sling, a staff, and stones, things you could easily find or make in nature.

David could have spent time feeling sorry for himself for not having a sword, or helmet, or spear, or military training. He could have complained that Goliath was much bigger and had better weapons and how it was not fair. The playing field was not level, it was not a fair fight. But David was able to find and exploit weaknesses that came form being underestimated, and from doing the unexpected. David was not Goliath, but he did not have to be. David had his own set of skills that he had developed over the years due to his life experiences and circumstances. Being the youngest he got stuck doing what no one else wanted to do, taking care of sheep, but he did it well and developed a skill set that God could use to grant him this victory.

Most importantly David had developed a bold faith and a mindset that allowed him to boldly face giants in the name of God.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. - 1 Samuel 17:50-51 NKJV

The text is clear. David defeated the giant with a sling ad a stone. David did not have a sword. But this does not mean that David was against swords, or that it is wrong to have swords. As a matter of fact, Goliath had a very nice sword that David borrowed to cut off his head. David did not face Goliath with a sword, to fight Goliath on Goliath’s terms would have been suicide! But David was a man of his word, and he had told Goliath that he would remove his head (1 Samuel 17:46), so I believe David was planning this from the very beginning.

According to the terms of the battle explained by Goliath himself, the Philistines should have become the servants of the Israelites (1 Samuel 17:9), except they all fled. Imagine the fear the Philistines must have felt after watching a young man without a sword or spear or helmet or armor defeat their great champion. Imagine them thinking “if their shepherds are this good imagine their soldiers!”

On a more serious note, all those soldiers must have witnessed this victory for what it was, a sign that God was with Israel and that there was no way to defeat them.

Practical Application

What skills have you developed in your life as you faced multiple challenges? How have your trials shaped you? What can you bring to the battle?

Here is a question I often ask myself.

What are my gifts? What am I good at? What do I enjoy doing? What can I do that would benefit someone else?

God calls all of us to ministry, to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), but there is no specific description of how we are to do this. We each approach and accomplish our mission in different ways. The one constant is our need of God. God enables us to make disciples, but God uses what we have. God is not limited by what you lack, but He is able to multiply what you do have. So even if you have just a few stones, a sling, and a stick, God can use you to win great victories for His kingdom.

Prayerfully consider, what is God calling you to do? How will you make disciples for Jesus? Then move forward using the skills you have developed in life up to now.

David would eventually learn to fight with sword and armor. But just because he had not yet been trained did not mean that he was unable to do something for God. God wants to take you as you are and use you, and as you continue on this journey He will cause you to develop other skills. On this journey, we are always learning and picking up new talents and skills. So the key is starting. Starting now. Whit what you have. Leave the final outcome to God. Just focus on showing up, make yourself available to God, and watch Him work in and through you fo the honor and glory of His kingdom.

#David #Old Testament #Narrative #Goliath

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fuwafuwamedb · 5 years

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Singularity Subspecies V: The Holy Land: Jerusalem: Jerusalem of Holy Sin - Chapter 2: Invading the City Gates

Chapters: Prologue - Chapter One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Infidels.

They were infidels now.

Gudako pulled the golden armored king along the ground, calling the shots from the sidelines as the others fought. A shout here and there to David, a warning about a blow to Ozymandias; she gave Cu the go ahead to run ahead.

Something was causing the singularity and they needed to find the cause.

No upset, sky polluting idiot was going to keep them from that.

Saying that and doing that were two things though. These guards were better prepared than most of the guards that they had faced before. They were casting spells, but not in a manner that she was accustomed to for casters.

“Mash!”

She could hear the earpiece on her ear buzzing a bit as she shoved it in. Her eyes drifted to the scene, trying to find some kind of weakness or opening that she could call to the others to exploit.

They could try a set of quick attacks or just buster their way through, but without knowing how strong their enemies were and how to take advantage of the attacks.

Cu Chulainn was thrown back, his body spinning just enough that he could stick the landing.

That was close.

“MOSES!” Ozymandias yelled.

There was no one coming.

“Gudako, I think you’ve encountered Moses,” Mash told her over the earpiece. “Moses was the brother to Ozymandias before he heard the voice of God. He brought forth a bunch of plagues and caused the death of Ozymandias’ first born.”

Shit.

Was the pharaoh after revenge then?

They would need to keep him out of Jerusalem.

“Mash! The guards-“

“I think you may want to retreat,” Mash told her. “If Moses is protecting the city, then he may be able to use some of the talents he used in his homeland on you all. And carrying Gilgamesh to run through the city would be difficult.”

Yeah, that was true.

Glancing down at the king of heroes, she could already sense that she was going to be giving him a lot of shit for the clunky armor. Honestly, who needed golden armor that was hard to lift. More importantly, how the hell did this man fight in his armor?

“I can’t really retreat to anywhere. There’s no good place to hide, Mash!”

She could he fingers running across a keyboard, the woman on the other end of the line trying to think of somewhere they could go.

“Hound! King!” Ozymandias roared over them, raising his staff and letting the heavens above split open. Once again, he was using his noble phantasm.

He’s going to suck my mana dry!

“MASH!”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! Hold on!”

They didn’t have time for her to hold on. She could already see the guards being slammed. She could feel the world falling into the wayside as a great light came upon the land.

She could hear Ozymandias’ roar as she pressed her face to Archer’s chest. She could feel the man beneath her stirring.

As the world returned to its intended brightness, she could see those red eyes opening.

“…Ninkasi…”

“Gilgamesh!” Gudako sighed in relief.

The man was awake.

He was moving to sit up on his own. It seemed, whoever had tossed him over the city gates, they hadn’t managed to really do any lasting damage. His hand was running over his face, feeling the remnants of the dark waters that had been poured over him and Ozymandias.

“Where?”

“Moses already ran back into the city,” Gudako told him. Best to be honest about the situation. “We’re trying to get in-“

“Where’s my summoned master?”

Summoned…

“King Gilgamesh,” Gudako narrowed her eyes at him. “There’s no other masters but me.”

“We need to run now,” Ozymandias declared. “We shall invade their city while guards and soldiers attempt to create a second wave!”

“Pharaoh, you must locate someone for me,” Gilgamesh began.

An astounding change of circumstance. The king of heroes was actually acquiring help from another. She’d never seen the man so much as lift a finger for the others in Chaldea. Even when Mash and her required help with heavy lifting, the man merely had sat on the couch and poured himself wine to watch their struggling.

“Who?”

That was what she wanted to know.

“She has divinity,” Gilgamesh told the pharaoh. “about to our chests, brown hair about to the midback, light colored robes… the color escapes me.” He didn’t like that fact, scowling as he said it. “She creates and oversees true drink.”

“What do you need from what is mine?”

Gudako could feel herself shiver at the sound of that tone.

“Yours?” Gilgamesh laughed, “you think you may claim that which I have brought forth? You dare to touch what is mine?”

“You have no claim.”

Gilgamesh looked at him a moment before laughing, the sound echoed in the space before the portals all around their group opened.

They all took the blows.

Sword after sword rained down. Gudako could barely breathe as she found Cu Chulainn slamming himself over her, taking the blows and wincing. His skills must have been wearing off.

An extra sword blew the Celt off her, throwing him in the direction of David.

The king of Heroes stood up, eyeing the city.

“So you have claimed the pharaoh then?” He exclaimed towards the city. “You dare to be so bold as to find other servants once more? You little fool, am I not enough? Prepare yourself. I shall want an entertaining battle, woman.”

“KING!”

Gudako tried to run forward, but the swords landed too close. She could feel the pharaoh yank her back as the king ran through the city gates.

More guards came out as Gudako looked at the stabbing swords on Ozy’s person.

“We can treat ourselves in the city,” Ozymandias told her.

Right.

“CU! DAVID!”

The two looked over, yanking weapons out and healing themselves.

“Let’s go,” Gudako called to them.

They made a run for it after the king of heroes.

Their bodies pressed against the inner walls, watching as a bunch of soldiers came out of one of the buildings nearby and rushed to get outside the walls.

They were supposed to stop them from entering the city.

They had been doing a great job of it until Ozy used his noble phantasm.

“We must find my Nefertari and then make our way to my brother,” Ozymandias demanded.

“We need a hide out,” Gudako told him.

“The king of heroes is after my Nefertari-“

“You’re bleeding out, Ozymandias! We’re finding a place to hide. It’ll work out better for us if we have a hiding place.”

Mash was agreeing in her earpiece.

“I know a few outer buildings from when I ruled over this city,” David told them. “Let’s head this way.”

They moved slowly, quietly.

They’d hunt for Nefertari later.

Right now, protection and a base of operations were key.

#drabble #drabbles #singularity drabble

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beatlejuice64 · 5 years

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Destiel: Season 6 - A catalog of Supernatural episodes

A catalog of each episode in Supernatural that features scenes related to Destiel. This includes scenes between Dean and Castiel, scenes with other characters that address their relationship with each other, and scenes that allude to Dean’s bisexuality.

Season 6 Summary Analysis

Castiel keeps his distance from Dean in an effort to protect him. He sees that Dean has a real shot at a happy, normal life and does not want to interfere with that. Being separated from Dean’s influence causes Cas to lose his way, and he becomes hardened and less sympathetic toward humans. Dean considers Cas to be a close friend, and he tries to stay loyal even when Sam and Bobby suspect Cas is up to something. Dean feels betrayed at Castiel’s manipulation and severely disappointed that he would stoop to working with Crowley instead of going to him for help.

My interpretation: Cas lets go of the possibility of a romantic relationship with Dean because he sees that Dean is happy with Lisa. Cas throws all off his energy into the war with Raphael to cope with this loss. Dean loves Lisa, but their relationship doesn’t work out because she and Ben cannot share the hunting life with Dean. After distancing himself from Lisa, Dean’s feelings for Cas grow, but he still does not fully admit them to himself. He repeatedly exhibits behavior typical of someone who is repressing an aspect of their sexuality.

6.01 Exile on Main St.

When Dean asks about Cas, Sam says he hasn’t heard from Cas at all and doesn’t know where he is.

6.03 The Third Man

Dean suggests calling Cas for help on a case. When he shows up, Sam is pissed that Cas answered Dean’s prayer when his own have gone unanswered for the past year. Cas tells Sam he and Dean have a profound bond, which makes Dean slightly uncomfortable: “Dean and I do share a more profound bond. I wasn’t gonna mention it.”

Cas, who is in soldier mode due to the angel civil war, explains that he answered Dean’s prayer to retrieve the Staff of Moses: “Sam, Dean, my ‘people skills’ are ‘rusty.’ Pardon me, but I have spent the last ‘year’ as a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. But believe me, you do not want that weapon down here. Help me find it, or more people will die.”

Dean unsuccessfully tries to talk Cas out of doing a soul cavity search on a young boy: “You’re gonna torture a kid.” “I can’t care about that, Dean. I don’t have the luxury.”

Cas explains the Raphael situation and apologizes for not being upfront about it: “Cas, why didn’t you tell us this?” “I was ashamed. I expected more from my brothers. I’m sorry.”

Cas chooses Dean over Balthazar: “I believe the hairless ape has the floor.”

6.06 You Can’t Handle the Truth

Cas answers Dean’s call for help diagnosing Sam. He feels bad for not coming to Dean sooner, and Dean convinces him to help figure out what’s wrong with Sam: “What happened to you, Cas? You used to be human, or at least like one.” “I’m at war. Certain regrettable things are now required of me.” Cas pours Dean a drink while they’re talking.

Lisa breaks things off with Dean because of Dean’s obsession with hunting, his unhealthy relationship with Sam, and because of what happened when Dean was a vampire: “You’ve got so much buried in there, and you push it down, and you push it down. Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and not freak out?”

6.07 Family Matters

Cas determines that Sam has no soul. Cas uses sarcasm with Dean, which throws Dean off a little: “Of course. Your problems always come first.”

6.10 Caged Heat

Dean feels uncomfortable when Cas reveals he’s watching a porno while Sam and Dean are doing research in the next room: “If the pizza man truly loves this baby sitter, why does he keep slapping her rear? Perhaps she‘s done something wrong.” “You’re watching porn? Why?” “It was there.” “You don’t watch porn in a room full of dudes, and you don’t talk about it. Just turn it off!” Cas gets a boner, and he doesn’t turn it off. Samuel walks in and comments: “This is what you boys do—sit around watching pornos with angels?” “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”

Dean notices that Cas is not helping to find Crowley: “You know, Cas, you could help.” “I’m ambivalent about what we’re attempting.” “Well, breakin’ into monster gitmo is not exactly a two-for-one in the champagne room.”

Cas shows genuine concern for Sam and thinks Dean may be making a rash decision: “Sam’s soul has been locked in the cage with Michael and Lucifer for more than a year, and they have nothing to do but take their frustrations out on him. Do you understand? If we try to force that mutilated thing down Sam’s gullet, we have no idea what will happen. It could be catastrophic.”

When the hell hounds come, Meg agrees to stay behind to fight them. She kisses Cas, and he kisses her back, which thoroughly confuses Dean and Sam: “I learned that from the pizza man.”

When Meg leaves, Dean teases Cas, but he’s too naive to understand: “Well, she’s smart, I’ll give her that. I was gonna kill her, too. ‘Course I’d have given you an hour with her first.” “Why would I want that?”

Dean thanks Cas for his help and offers help in return: “Crowley was right. It’s not going well for me upstairs.” “If there’s anything we can do...” “There isn’t. I wish circumstances were different. Much of the time, I’d rather be here.” “Cas, we know you’ve got a steaming pile on your plate. There’s no need for apologies. We’re your friends.”

6.12 Like a Virgin

Cas and Dean argue about returning Sam’s soul to his body: “I’m sorry, Dean, but I warned you not to put that thing back inside him.” “What was I supposed to do? Let T-1000 walk around, hope he doesn’t open fire?” “Let me tell you what his soul felt like when I touched it. Like it had been skinned alive, Dean. If you wanted to kill your brother, you should’ve done it outright.”

6.15 The French Mistake

Dean is frustrated that Cas agreed to use him and Sam as bait: “When will I be able to make you understand? If I lose against Raphael, we all lose everything.” “Yeah, Cas, we know the stakes. That’s about all you’ve told us!”

Cas feels bad for being so secretive: “I’m sorry about all this. I’ll explain when I can.”

6.17 My Heart Will Go On

Balthazar expresses resentment of Castiel’s fondness toward Dean: “Sorry, you have me confused with the other angel. You know, the one in the dirty trench coat who’s in love with you?”

Cas is willing to kill Fate to save the Winchesters: “If I know her, and I do, she won’t stop until you’re dead.” “Awesome. So what do we do?” “Kill her.”

Cas refers to the Winchesters as friends: “You need new friends, Cas.” “I’m trying to save the ones I have, Dean.”

Cas chooses the Winchesters’ safety over the power of 50,000 souls after Fate threatens to kill them.

Cas demonstrates his belief in free will, and his appreciation for what Dean and Sam have taught him: “You’re the ones who taught me that you can make your own destiny. You don’t have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. I still believe that that’s something worth fighting for. I just wanted you to understand that.”

6.18 Frontierland

Dean calls Cas to help with time travel. Rachel answers for him, and she talks down to Winchesters for trying to take Cas away from battle. Cas interrupts her as she’s insulting them. She is surprised that he would drop everything to help them.

6.19 Mommy Dearest

Bobby recognizes Dean as the one Cas consistently responds to: “Why does it always gotta be me that makes the call, huh? It’s not like Cas lives in my ass. Dude’s busy... Cas, get out of my ass!” Cas and Dean share an awkward look: “I was never in your...”

Dean appreciates Cas being there to help fight Eve: “Well, if she is here, I’m glad we’ve got Smitey McSmiterton on our squad.”

Castiel’s feelings are hurt when Dean insults him for being powerless: “Something in this town is affecting me. I assume it’s Eve.” “So, wait, Mom’s making you limp?” “Figuratively, yes.” “How?” “I don’t know, but she is.” “Oh, well that’s great, ‘cause without your power you’re basically just a baby in a trench coat.” Cas glares at Dean and looks out the window, prompting Sam to say, “I think you hurt his feelings.”

Dean teases Cas some more: “I’m fairly unpracticed with firearms.” “You know who whines? Babies.”

Cas and Dean disagree over taking time to save two young boys: “Millions of lives are at stake here, not just two. Stay focused.” “Are you kidding?” “There’s a greater purpose here.” “You know what? I’m getting a little sick and tired of the greater purposes, okay? I think what I’d like to do right now is save a couple of kids, if you don’t mind.”

Cas doesn’t understand why the Winchesters don’t share his sense of urgency: “Pardon me for highlighting their crippling and dangerous empathetic response with ‘sarcasm.’ It was a bad idea letting them go.”

Even without his powers, Cas tortures a monster without blinking an eye.

Despite Castiel’s apparent lack of empathy toward humans, he yells out in anguish when Eve bites Dean.

When Sam and Bobby express suspicion that Cas is working with Crowley, Dean can’t get on board with the idea: “Bobby this is Cas we’re talking about.”

6.20 The Man Who Would be King

We learn that Cas, overconfident after being brought back by God, pulled Sam out of the pit. We also learn that Cas initially went to Dean for help with Raphael, but chose not to ask him because he wants Dean to have a real shot at happiness: “Everything he sacrificed, and I was about to ask him for more.”

Cas initially went back to heaven to try to explain the concept of free will to the other angels, but he has grown pessimistic over time: “If I knew then what I know now, I might’ve said, ‘It’s simple. Freedom is a length of rope. God wants you to hang yourself with it.’”

Dean continues to believe that Cas was tricked by Crowley instead of believing that Cas has been lying to him. He even offers to help Cas: “Cas, you’ll call, right? If you get into real trouble?”

Dean feels uncomfortable lying to Cas: “You know, he’s our friend. And we are lying to him through our teeth.” “He is the Balki Bartokomous of heaven. He can make a mistake.” “This is Cas, guys. I mean, when there was no one, and we were stuck, and I mean really stuck, he broke ranks. He has gone to the mat, cut and bleeding for us, so many freakin’ times. This is Cas! Don’t we owe him the benefit of the doubt, at least?”

It’s hard for Cas to watch Dean defending him: “And the worst part was Dean trying so hard to be loyal, with every instinct telling him otherwise.”

Cas second guesses his choice to deceive the Winchesters: “I had no choice. I did it to protect the boys. Or to protect myself. I don’t know anymore.” “Hiding, lying, sweeping away evidence... and my motives used to be so pure.”

Cas is unsure if he’s doing the right thing by working with Crowley: “My interest was conflicted. I still considered myself the Winchesters’ guardian. They taught me how to stand up, what to stand for, and what generally happens to you when you do.”

After Bobby refers to Cas as “a Superman who’s gone dark side,” Dean deflects his status as Castiel’s closest friend onto Sam, “This makes you Lois Lane.”

Cas saves the Winchesters from demons even though he knows it’ll anger Crowley: “For a brief moment, I was me again.”

Cas is furious with Crowley for sending demons to kill the Winchesters: “I’m only gonna say his once. If you touch a hair on their heads, I will tear it all down. Our arrangement, everything. I’m still an angel, and I will bury you.”

Dean is elated to see Cas when he returns: “Well, Bobby, what do you think about Cas saving our asses, again?” “We never should’ve doubted you. We just hope you can forgive us.”

When Dean realizes that Cas HAS been lying to them, he feels betrayed—much moreso than Sam and Bobby: “You gotta look at me, man. You gotta level with me and tell me what’s going on. Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not working with Crowley.” “Why else would you keep this whole thing a secret, unless you knew that it was wrong? When crap like this comes around, we deal with it, like we always have. What we don’t do is we don’t go out and make another deal with the devil.” “Yeah, it sounds so simple when you say it like that. Where were you when I needed to hear it?” “I was there. Where were you? You should’ve come to us for help, Cas.”

Cas desperately tries to make Dean understand: “I’m doing this for you, Dean. I’m doing this because of you. You’re the one who taught me that freedom and free will...”

Dean pleads with Cas to stop what he’s doing for his sake: “You’re a freakin’ child, you know that? Just because you can do what you want, doesn’t mean that you get to do whatever you want.” “I’m not gonna logic you, okay? I’m saying don’t just ‘cause. I’m asking you not to. That’s it. Look, next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest things I have to family, that you are like a brother to me. So if I’m asking you not to do something, you gotta trust me, man.”

Castiel’s ego gets in the way of trusting Dean: “I’ll do what I have to do to stop you.” “You can’t, Dean. You’re just a man. I’m an angel.” “I don’t know, I’ve taken on some pretty big fish.” “I’m sorry, Dean.” “Well, I’m sorry, too, then.”

Cas struggles with a crisis of faith because of his differences with Dean.

6.21 Let It Bleed

Cas is furious with Crowley for kidnapping Ben and Lisa.

Cas tries again to make amends with Dean and help him understand his position: “I thought you said that we were like family. Well, I think that, too. Shouldn’t trust run both ways?” “Cas, I just can’t.” “Dean, I do everything that you ask. I always come when you call. And I am your friend. Still, despite your lack of faith in me, and now your threats. I just saved you, yet again. Has anyone but your closest kin ever done more for you? All I ask is this one thing. I’ve earned that, Dean. I came to tell you that I will find Lisa and Ben, and I will bring them back. Stand behind me the one time I ask.”

Cas is hurt when Dean compares him to Crowley and won’t trust him. He is also mad at himself for letting things get to this point. Dean can’t let it go because he feels so betrayed: “Why don’t you go back to Crowley and tell him that I said you can both kiss my ass.”

Cas comes to heal Lisa in the hospital and apologizes to Dean. Dean asks him to wipe Lisa and Ben’s memories of him.

6.22 The Man Who Knew Too Much

Dean and Castiel continue to fight. When Dean refuses to let Cas follow through on his plan to open Purgatory, Cas breaks down the wall in Sam’s mind.

Cas feels like everyone has abandoned him: “I’m doing my best in impossible circumstances. My friends, they abandon me, plot against me. It’s difficult to understand.”

Dean pleas with Cas to return the souls to Purgatory: “I know there’s a lot of bad water under the bridge, but we were family once. I’d have died for you—I almost did a few times. So if that means anything to you, please... I’ve lost Lisa, I’ve lost Ben, and now I’ve lost Sam. Don’t make me lose you, too.”

The combination of Castiel’s feelings of abandonment combined with the souls scrambling his brain lead him to reject Dean: “You’re not my family, Dean. I have no family.”

#supernatural #dean x castiel #dean winchester #castiel #destiel #spn #deancas

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Text

Guardian Angel(s)

Prompt: Imagine being made my God as the perfect being and it’s all the Angel’s duty to take care of you. The Winchesters always get confused by your interaction with the Angels. Song Recommendation: Meddle About by Chase Atlantic TW: None Word Count: 1,412 Pairing: Friend!Winchester’s x Reader

Third POV:

The boys had known Gwen for years, they'd been introduced through Bobby and met up on numerous occasions. They started hunting together soon after, but the boy's curiosity grew more and more about their friend over the years as more strange interactions happened between her and angels...

Instance one:

"So what now?" Dean asked, throwing a lore book onto the cheap motel table, "what the hell is this thing?"

"I don't know man, I think we need help," Sam closed his book too, scratching the back of his neck.

"From who? We've called every hunter we know of and they know nothing," Dean sighed, taking a long gulp from his beer.

"I was thinking more... celestial-"

"No, absolutely not-"

"Dean, what choice do we have?-"

"Not that one!"

"Guys, chill!" Gwen snapped, shutting up the boys arguing, "Why don't we just call Cas, I'm sure he'd be happy to help." The boys shared a look, shaking their heads in unison.

"Can't, he's busy with... stuff."

Gwen sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her head down. A few moments later the flap of wings filled the room.

"Who the hell-" Dean pulled out his angel blade, jumping up to a fighting position.

"Call off your dog, Gwen," The angel spoke with a sharpness to her voice when glaring at Dean, but her eyes softened when looking at the girl next to her, "how can I help?"

Gwen waved a hand towards Dean to get him to sit down, smiling up at the angel.

"Guys, this is Jophiel. Jo, you know Sam and Dean. We're working a case, but we're stuck..." She pulled out the case reports and any other information they had, "We thought it was some hybrid, but now we're not so sure."

"Mm, not a hybrid. It's Até's Harpe." Jophiel closed the folded and sat it on the table, smiling warmly at Gwen.

Dean stared at the blonde in confusion, "Harp? Like the musical instrument cupids have?"

"No, you imbecile, the sword. And having met a cupid, I'd think you know they don't actually have a harp," She growled, arms crossing in frustration. Gwen grabbed Jo's bicep and squeezed, giving her a warning glare, "Até is the Greek goddess of mischief and ruin, a harpe is a sword with a sickle protrusion along one edge near the tip. It's believed that she used the sword to kill other gods and goddesses. Death follows that sword wherever it goes, which is why it was locked up in heaven."

"That doesn't make sense, I thought only Heaven's weapons were locked away, like the Staff of Moses? And that they had all been found?" Sam spoke up, brows furrowed.

"Other weapons were locked up too, for the safety of heaven and earth. Now that we know the harpe is here, we can track it down and put it back where it belongs. Thank you, Gwen," The angel placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and gave a quick squeeze before vanishing.

Instance two:

The group had gotten into a slight... predicament. They might've pissed off some demons and were now being held captive with no escape in sight. They'd already been there a few hours and Gwen was getting the worse of the abuse. The demons figured they'd hurt the Winchester's where it counted, which was through her.

"C'mon dear, you aren't getting tired, are you?" The black-eyed man jested, dragging the edge of the knife down Gwen's cheek to leave a small gash.

"Fuck you," she spat, "fuck you!" He growled and twisted the knife into her arm, earning a gut-wrenching scream.

"Gwen!" Sam whimpered, fear and adrenaline pumping through his veins as his brother sat beside him, tied up and unconscious, and his best friend sat across from him, being tortured.

"Placere auxilium. Quid enim est quod angelus, qui haec audit, non mihi. Ego quaeritur te: ego sum, ego dico tibi, quia petitio principii ope." Gwen chanted quietly, throat raw and body aching.

"What was that, bitch?!" The demon twisted the knife deeper, but Gwen continued on.

She looked up moments lay, smiling wide with blood covered teeth, "you're fucked now, bitch."

A man with long brown hair and flared blue eyes appeared behind the demon. He cleared his throat, catching the demon's attention before resting his palm on its forehead, bright white light and screams filling the dark room.

"Demons," he scoffed, "so annoying." His eyes darted to Gwen, concern washing through him, "are you okay? Here, let me," and with a snap of his fingers Gwen and the boys were untied and healed.

"Thanks, Nanael." She smiled softly, quickly kissing him on the cheek before helping Sam carry Dean out to the car.

Instance Three:

Gwen was bored- no, she was beyond bored. She started contemplating joining Sam on his afternoon run, which she deemed ridiculous because she hates running. So while Sam was out and Dean was doing Chuck knows what, she sat in the middle of the floor and sent out a prayer, "To any angel who's listening, this is Gwen. If anyone's free, it'd be greatly appreciated if you joined me down here. It's an emergency."

It didn't take long for someone to show up; an auburn haired, toffee skinned girl, whose grey eyes were wide with confusion.

"Sarathiel, is that you?" Gwen marveled, jumping up to greet the archangel.

"Yes... I heard your prayer. Most of Heaven is concerned that you're using us Angels for your entertainment, darling. We are busy, you know," she cocked an eyebrow mockingly, waving a hand as a gesture to sit. They sat on the floor, staring at each other.

"Me? Using you guys? For my own entertainment? I would never!" She laughed, fully aware that she was taking advantage of her special treatment from Heaven.

The two girls sat talking until the motel door swung open, Sam and Dean walking in. Their conversation halted, staring at the angel sat on their motel room floor.

"Hey guys, this is Sarathiel, she's an archangel who was keeping me entertained while you were gone." Gwen stood up, speaking so nonchalantly that the boys were taken aback, the angel nodded in acknowledgment.

"Nope, nope, nope," Dean turned around and walked out, leaving Gwen confused.

"I should get going, please ease up on the angel's, okay darling?" The angel spoke softly, ruffling her friend's hair before disappearing. Dean walked in as she left, face blank.

"Okay, what the hell?" He snapped, throwing his hands in the air.

"What?"

"'What?' What do you mean what? That was an archangel! When the hell did you become buddy-buddy with an archangel? No, better yet, when did you befriend most of Heaven?!" Dean hissed, backing the raven-haired girl against the wall.

"Dean," Sam warned, grabbing his shoulder to ease him back.

"No, no! Seriously, we've put up with it for years, but now I'm done. Tell us the truth!"

"Dean, if you wanted to know so bad, you just had to ask, it's not some big secret I'm keeping from you. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little bit different than most people. I'm not exactly normal; Chuck- I mean God- made me special. Called me his 'perfect being' or some shit. Most of Heaven watches over me, protects me or does whatever I ask." She shrugged, so use to the attention of earth's most powerful beings that she didn't see the strangeness of it all.

"Whatever you ask... And you never thought to mention this before? It's sort of a big deal, Gwen!" It was Sam's turn to snap, disbelief of what his closest friend had kept from him for so long.

"Sorry guys, I guess I just hadn't thought about it. It's always just been another thing to me, you know? Like learning how to hunt or something, I forgot it's not normal sometimes." She shoved her hands in her pockets, drawing into herself.

"We'll finish this later, I found a case and we need to get going," Dean turned on his heel and started packing. Sam sighed and looked at Gwen with more disappointment than she'd seen from him, breaking her heart and adding to her guilt.

-------------

Rough translation: Please help. For any angel who hears this, I'm begging for help. Please.

Literal translation: Please help. For what is more it is that the angel of the, who heareth these things, not me. I ask you: I am, I tell you, begging for help.

#Winchester #sam winchester #dean winchester #angels #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural one shot #supernatural imagine #chuck shurley #chuck supernatural #chuck spn #spn fanfic #spn fic #fandomsalign writes

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