pink and satiny

It’s time for another fucking giveaway I guess.

Here’s the deal: this time, you don’t get to know what I’m giving away. I’m taking away that privilege since y’all decided to worship a lemon last time.  

You get what’s in this mystery box and you don’t get to whine about it. It might be worth a million dollars, or it might be worth zero. It’s probably not a million, though. 

This time, we have some rules. 

You have to be following me. Not because this is a grab for followers, but because this is a giveaway for the folks that have put up with this blog’s antics for so long. Now you have to put up with this one too. 

No giveaway blogs. Feel free to reblog this as many times as you’d like, but you can’t win if you’d made a whole separate blog just for the purpose of winning the giveaway. Sucks, I know. Deal with it. 

Like or reblog before October 11th, 2018 6:00pm CDT. I’ll use a random generator to pick a winner. 

I will ship to any country. If you win it, you win it. Congrats. 

You must be willing to give me your address if you win. For obvious reasons, I will need access to that info. 

You don’t get to know what’s in the mystery box. Don’t send me asks asking what’s in the mystery box. I won’t fucking tell you. 

If you win the mystery box, feel free to post about it if you want to. I don’t give a shit after it’s gone. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. Whatever. Enjoy. 

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions. 

Have fun weirdos. 

i know tumblr doesn’t give a SHIT when things happen in countries outside the “most popular ones” (such as the usa & england). it’s true, don’t lie to me. y’all don’t give A FUCK. not every issue and problem in said countries gets the appropriate exposure but in general shit shows up on the news WORLD FREAKING  WIDE. you set up donations, you help out, your spread the word, you say “pray for x”……

southern europe is burning. 

my country is burning.

people are dying - at home, on the road, trying to run away, in their cars.

yesterday my country had 300 active fires.

people are losing EVERYTHING they own.

i have a friend that is on a train right now passing through places that have been burnt to the ground and she says the smoke is so intense it’s getting inside the train and she can barely breathe.

and yet, even though several people (myself included) have been trying to bring awareness to what has been happening in southern europe… what we get from most of you, those not part of the countries suffering, is silence. we don’t ask for money, we don’t ask for shit other than a reblog to spread awareness… something you can delete in 24/48hrs if you wish. 

i don’t know what to tell you. i’m angry. i’m frustrated. i’m disappointed. i feel like i’m screaming into the void. “a reblog does nothing” - you know that’s a damn lie, you know exposure always helps, you know people start paying attention when posts on social media become popular. my country in particular is a small one, we get ZERO exposure. y’all are only starting to figure out we even fucking exist bc of the shit we’ve been winning lately. 

but hell, if the EU doesn’t give a shit, why should some user on tumblr dot com?

again, i don’t know what to tell you so i’ll let the images speak for themselves: 

An image captured by a Nasa satellite shows a thick plume of smoke blowing southward from the Greek island of Chios over the island of Crete

Torneros de Jamuz, Spain

Duca, Croatia

A helicopter from Italy’s civil protection service drops water on a fire near the railway between Venice and Trieste

Residents take refuge on the beach as a wildfire burns on the mountain next to the village of Lithi, on the Greek island of Chios

Men gather cattle during a forest fire in Vieira de Leiria, Marinha Grande, Portugal.

Charred trees are seen on the hills above the Cloister of Thivaidas on Mount Athos, a World Heritage Site in Greece

Portugal

SO I POSTED THIS ON INSTAGRAM BC IT WOULDN’T LEAVE MY MIND BUT I WANT TO POST IT HERE TOO BC I SO DESPERATELY WANT SOMEBODY TO PROVE ME WRONG ON THIS

@archangelsanonymous @archangel-with-a-shotgun @archangelgabriellives

This whole series has a history of using obvious overtones so they can later allude to some of the darker things while still keeping their TV-14 rating (or whatever). I mean they’re always doing this!

Think of the man Trickster!Gabriel had killed who had a roll of quarters forced down his throat and “something missing” from a “lower abdomen wound” (or whatever words they used to vaguely describe it). Without the rest of the episode we could’ve never figured out why he initiated those seemingly unrelated maimings, but because of the more thorough explanations of the earlier deaths–that people were dying in ways that brought justice to the crimes they’d committed–we were able to infer that the guy had been a rapist.

So yeah. I think tying that back in with the rest of this season’s context has proven your theory more than plausible. Unfortunately.

I’d always thought it was very strange the way they insinuated grace to be so obviously comparable to sex, with Lucifer… But now…

Oh, man. The “just desserts” Asmodeus is going to get for this shit…

So at first I considered NOT posting this second part bc y’all seemed to have it covered on my first post in terms of extra insight for this episode. BUT. I am fucking traumatized, and the only way I’m getting SOME closure is if I point out everything on my mind at the moment (just like part one, which backfired horribly).

SO

Obviously, spoilers for 13.18, and trigger warnings (sexual assault, abuse, torture of our favorite archangel). On that note, Let’s jump into this.

Let’s start chronologically, shall we? The first scene of hell we are treated to is Ketch being told by one of Asmodicksucker’s minions that he needs to wait, because he is busy. After pausing and giving the guard a strange look, Ketch relents fairly quickly, asking if they have something to read.

NOW, I may be thinking too hard on this, but we all know that demons are irreparably corrupt; they have no shame in what they do to others, have no reason to hide what they do. So, why does Asmodeus tell the guard to keep ketch out?

Ketch seems to find this strange too, based on the look he gives the guard before asking about reading materials. When he finally walks in, Asmodeus is in the process of extracting some of Gabriel’s grace (our poor archangel whimpering as he does so). Ketch looks curious, sure, maybe even a bit confused initially. But as he watches, he seems…. disturbed? which is obviously unusual for his usual sociopathic behavior. He asks if this is a bad time, which prompts both of them to look up at him, one is disgruntlement, the other is surprise and hope.

Which brings me to my next point; this entire fucking scene. Rewinding a bit, we have Asmodeus being creepy and saying “just a little more” to Gabriel as he extracts the grace. I didn’t put too much thought into it the first (dozen) time(s) I watched it, but….its strange, isn’t it? If he were any other prisoner, Asmodeus wouldn’t show such…attentiveness to Gabriel’s reactions. He would probably insult them, maybe threaten them for the reaction.

But Gabriel isn’t any other prisoner, not to Asmodeus. I’m sure we all saw the preview where he says “I own you.” To someone off-screen. I’m also sure most of us thought he was talking about Gabriel. He wasn’t, not directly, but it may as well have applied anyway.

Near the end of the episode, Ketch describes Gabriel as Asmodeus’s “prize milk cow.”, and he’s not really that far off in his description. The way Asmodeus reassures Gabriel rather than threatening him is akin to somebody talking to their pet, or any animal in general.

You guys. Asmodeus doesn’t see Gabriel as an archangel, or even a human being. He sees him as his pet, his property.

This little convo right here, where he beats ketch down verbally, saying he has no real identity and that he doesn’t know what he is, is almost certainly what he did to Gabriel in order to break him into what he is now, a petrified shell of his former glory. And it isn’t just in Asmodeus’s mind that Gabe is like his property/an animal – it’s also in Gabriel’s. I can’t stop comparing the way Gabriel flinches away and whimpers when Asmodeus moves to a puppy scared of its abusive owner, how he is almost in a completely different mindset the whole episode, as if protecting whatever is left of his old self by reverting to what Asmodeus thinks him to be.

AAAND now I’ve gone off track from my original point; sexual assault. Obviously the show can’t just outright say they are talking about rape (and even if they could, the writers love subtext too damn much to do that.) I say they are using the ‘pet’ arc to explain just how violated and humiliated Gabriel is. Keep in mind, an angels grace is a part of their very BEING, what they are made of. While we have seen other instances of grace stealing in this show, we have only ever seen it one other time for an ARCHANGEL – and that would be with Michael, in the other world. We all saw how insistent Lucifer was about keeping Michael on the other side, and it makes me wonder if he felt just as violated by Michael as Gabriel does by Asmodeus. (who knows, maybe they’ll address the similarities eventually. After all, Gabriel and Lucifer are going to meet sometime, right?)

Chuck himself said that archangels are made of different stuff, the stuff of primordial creation. Could this mean that an archangel’s grace is even more close to their true form than a regular angel’s? if so, it’s just adding to the theory that not only is Asmodeus using Gabriel to power up, he is also KNOWINGLY VIOLATING HIM, and is ENJOYING IT (that bastard.)

Anyway, I think I’ve spent enough time torturing myself with THAT scene. Let’s move on, shall we?

Hearts were breaking across the world as Gabriel continued to show signs of complete psychological and emotional trauma. He cowered away from Ketch, even when he said it was a rescue. He all but screamed when Sam mentioned his grace, leading to a very disturbed and surprised look from both of them. just – hell, the look on the boy’s faces, PERIOD. When they first saw him, the shock and disgust in dean’s voice as he asked what Ketch had done to him. HELL, even Ketch looked shocked and disturbed that dean would even THINK he would go this far, do something so heinous, especially to an ARCHANGEL.It almost makes me wonder if the writers were also alluding to the boys KNOWING just how bad Gabriel’s current mental state is. i’m COMPLETELY shocked that Gabriel would even let Sam come NEAR him, let alone with a sharp object (ahhh my sabriel shipping heart!).

Some other (smaller, perhaps repeated) points that I don’t have the patience or brain cells to articulate;

-       Asmodeus almost sounding like he’s taunting Gabriel when he says “just a little more” rather than threatening him or insulting him. The humiliation must be immense, knowing he is being treated more like an animal than the archangel he once was.

-       Ketch’s reaction to Asmodeus’s little (ahem) session with Gabriel. He looks almost disturbed, which is very unlike his usual sociopathic self. It almost makes me wonder if Asmodeus KNEW ketch might try to free him, which is why he then later starts trying to mentally fuck with Ketch himself. Ketch also asks if it’s a “bad time”, adding to the uncomfortable sexual atmosphere of the scene already.

-       SPEAKING OF WHICH; Asmodeus fucking MOANING as he injects himself, his expression almost one of euphoria (ew.).

-       Notice how the camera cuts to Gabriel in the middle of the injection, showing a look of pure violation and fear. It is almost as if he can FEEL his very essence being absorbed, corrupted by Asmodeus’s demonic being. I’d say it’s almost an act of…domination, perhaps?

-       When ketch first speaks, both look up, Asmodeus with a look of disgruntlement, Gabriel with a look of surprise, and even HOPE. JUST LOOK AT HOW HIS EYES WIDEN, HOW HIS EYEBROWS RAISE. LOOK AT THE HOPE ON HIS FACE, YOU GUYS.

-       ASMODEUS SEWING OUR POOR CHILD’S MOUTH SHUT ASHDGFGS. It not only is a big part of his identity, who he IS, but it is also a big reminder that there is NO CONSENT ON HIS PART WHATSOEVER, leading to the connection of sexual assault.

Sorry for the COMPLETELY MESSY and out of order post, you guys. I just can’t even BEGIN to fully and properly articulate how fucked up the underlying sexual tones of this episode were. Maybe someone who is better at all this complex meta stuff can explain this better?

honestly you guys, i’m not sure what the writers are planning to do, but with how humiliated, how VULNERABLE Gabriel was….well, its gonna be a hell of a time trying to heal him up back to his former self. what he went through…its not something you just get over. despite this, i’m terrified interested to see where the writers take this.

But taxation is theft, you say? Fine. Make it voluntary. Businesses can opt out of paying taxes. If they don’t want government involved in their business, then government won’t be involved.

They want government subsidies for not paying their workers enough? Too fucking bad, Wal-Mart, you’re not getting special treatment for being shitty employers anymore.

And I Never Really Sleep Anymore by tiptoe39

Wordcount: 3023

Rating: E

Summary: Dean has insomnia. Castiel can relate.