Am I the Nerd?

I would imagine this extends to most areas of battle and strategy (competition, sports, video games).

Another interesting theme is the magnitude of the destruction. In RAMPAGE, the monsters must raze all buildings in a high-rise city to advance to the next level, eating people and destroying helicopters, tanks, taxis, police cars, boats, and trolleys along the way. Sounds a lot like Michael's AU Earth, really. Video games don't necessarily represent behavior, but I think in soldier-angels, it represents some kind of drive. Benjamin is playing Ralph the wolf.

Benjamin was a "gifted soldier" in Cas's estimation, but in terms of his personality, I don't get the impression he was "cool." He seemed like a whiny angel. Probably not what Ishim would call an "angel's angel," especially since he eventually grew to care for his human vessel.

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Anyway, I just find it interesting that Benjamin was so hyperfocused on this game. Make me think of Ishim's line: "Hero? Or spanner in the works (destroying things/making things go wrong)?" etc etc

Video games, sports, etc -- I just think that anything that requires mastery, rules of gameplay, learning "moves" and "plays" would be appealing!

(before jimmy, i would bet that cas tended to let his vessels go, releasing them from servitude whenever possible.)

and yet these angels dominated their vessels and kept them in (eternal?) bondage and cas complimented them on that. :( he’s talking the talk! we get another glimpse of cas, the successful military career angel.

it’s interesting to me that cas knows how to navigate the angel politics fairly well here. i wouldn’t even be surprised if cas were to throw in some casual, seemingly harmless misanthropy, you know? (in fact, sam and dean plopping themselves in the booth probably made it more difficult for cas to talk the talk.)

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another note: benjamin had a known relationship with the human woman he bonded with, which seems to be somewhat tolerated in angel circles, oddly enough

to wholly possess a human seems tacitly okay in angel world, but not walking beside them as separate individuals or equals

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and ofc ishim’s misanthropy reads like mad-men-type misogyny, “i was wronged by a woman and now i hate women on principle,” parallels the, “i was wronged by a human and now i don’t like humans on principle.”

I don’t have the GIFs, but Cas seems almost relieved when Sam swoops in to provide neutral wording, which allows Cas to breeze past having to talk about angel-human relations.

Clearly, it’s something that makes Cas uncomfortable both because of his upbringing and the forbidden nature of his and Dean’s feelings. We learn that it’s not just any law, it’s the oldest law in Heaven.

And soldier angels are rife with misanthropy from what little we’ve seen. If misanthropy is that saturated in the military wing (see: Uriel) then it’s no wonder Lucifer found such easy support, (or that AU Michael was able to switch to genociding humans after defeating Lucifer).

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CAS: Benjamin is an angel. His vessel is a woman. But it – it's – it's more than that. She's not just his vessel.

SAM: She's... She's his friend.

CAS: Yeah. Benjamin would never put her in unnecessary danger.

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ISHIM: Me? You were sent here to observe humanity, to watch and to learn. But instead, taking up with a filthy animal. Have you no shame?

AKOBEL: Who are you to lecture me about shame? Humans aren't animals.

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CAS: Why do his words bother you so much, Ishim?

ISHIM: Who is he to question my choices? Who is he to question yours?

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 spn angels!

Balthazar

Anna

Gabriel

Castiel

Belphegor: Soooo… Castiel took care of your kid, so now you gotta take care of me. I’m like your nephew now. Kinda.

Jimmy: (horrified)

Belphegor: (having too good a time) Uncle Jimbo.

I’ll take “fics no one else wants” for $500

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(This is a threat for my dash. Have a very scary Wednesday and you are not safe from Belphegor here ever.)

@shallowseeker