the nature of consent to angelic possession should’ve been explored so much more
by nature, it’s incredibly predatory and we see explicitly with jimmy that castiel essentially groomed him into saying yes. obviously by picking someone already devout, proving his existence by healing him when he puts his hand in boiling water, being told he’s needed and special, but he also promises he will protect his family - a promise at best he never intended to keep or one he finds a loop hole in by assuming if the world is saved from lucifer then jimmy’s family, by default, is safe. but he never explains possession to him in simple terms; he never says what it will feel like, how long it will last, what it means for jimmy to say no or if he’s ever freed from his possession
jimmy, by definition, cannot give informed consent because he is never informed. he’s never asked in a bubble where there is no consequence from his no; it’s either jimmy says yes or the world will fall into an apocalypse, say yes or doom the world, say yes and save everyone you know and love, save your daughter
jimmy is conscious enough to feel like he’s been “chained to a comet” and to know he’s been dragged all over the earth and healed over and over. he felt bodily sensations and either couldn’t think past the physical pain to be aware of what’s happening outside of his body beyond that or was mentally suppressed by castiel but not put to sleep. jimmy’s hunger bleeds into castiel when he’s in proximity to famine so he isn’t comatose or frozen; he is starving. he is aware. he is suffering
how many vessels do angels go through, not because they burn out from contact with angelic grace, but because angels don’t care enough to look after their human needs? do they age while possessed? could jimmy have been trapped in this eternal purgatory of hunger and pain until the day castiel decides he’s done with him? a day that may never come since castiel seems to view switching vessels with the kind of annoyance one would have with having to buy a new car
jimmy is never told that even if it is over, he and his family will never be safe because demons will always want an ex-vessel; just to torture for fun even if he doesn’t have any knowledge of heaven. he and his family are never safe again from the second he says yes- breaking castiel’s promise
and when he is injured outside of castiel’s influence? when he’s dying of his own accord? even when it was indirectly caused by castiel himself? instead of healing him like he easily could and has? he decides to keep possession of his 12 yr old daughter and let him die. the 12 yr old who likely only said yes because he told her he could protect her and her family
all of that pain, all of that agony, the kind of experience that leaves a scar on your soul; and castiel didn’t think twice about inflicting it on a child without explaining any of it to her. and this is when he’s at his most loyal, inferring every angel is like this. how many angels are on earth at any given time? how many take their vessels back to heaven? how many hundreds of people are screaming inside their own heads, feeling like they’ve been chained to a comet, just to be told they consented to it? they asked for it?
what if someone said a verbal yes but internally didn’t want it to happen? is the verbal consent enough to override how much they don’t want it? even sam saying yes to lucifer in s5, is his desire to complete the plan and save the world enough to outweigh how much his body and mind must have been screaming that he didn’t want this? castiel, micheal, lucifer; they all use the person they want to possess’s family against them. they will keep them safe. they will save them. they will avenge them. faced with that choice, with the power and might of an angel asking you for something they’re telling you only you can give them, how could anyone say no?
lucifer saying, “i don’t lie. i don’t need to” and “i will never lie to you. i will never trick you”, is technically correct of him and all angels. but you don’t need to lie to manipulate someone and angels are better at manipulating and using humans than demons will ever be. at least demons are honest about how awful it is to be possessed by them, how forced it is. they never try to coerce someone into saying they want it
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