CASTIEL: Those first weeks back in heaven were surprisingly difficult. Explaining freedom to angels is a bit like teaching poetry to fish.
And how the episode starts with Cas describing the origins of humanity, starting with fish:
CASTIEL: I remember being at a shoreline, watching a little grey fish heave itself up on the beach and an older brother saying, "don't step on that fish, Castiel. Big plans for that fish."
And how poetry, a form of art, is part of the "human" sphere as Cas tells Hannah in 10x01:
CASTIEL: Well, perhaps I've been down here with them for too long. There's seemingly nothing but chaos. But not all bad comes from it. Art. Hope. Love. Dreams.
HANNAH: But t-those are human things.
The fish made poetry! It took a long time but, they did it! It's possible.
"Teaching poetry to fish" is like, well, this fish right now won't get it, but maybe, in a couple million years, that fish will have evolved into something else, something capable of comprehending and making poetry.
Teaching freedom to angels is not impossible. But it's not instantaneous. It will take a long time to deprogram most angels. To get them to understand. They must evolve. They must change fundamentally. To understand "freedom" as angels means to give up angelhood as they know it. Because the truth is they've always had free will and the ability to feel and think for themselves. It's just been conditioned out of them and reinforced through the culture of Heaven. They think all that they are is this one thing. Warriors. Servants of Heaven and God's Will.
Right now, they are fish. They are fish that have not yet breached the surface. But they could be more than just fish. Cas has already begun that journey to land. Heaved himself up onto the shore. He is evolving. He looks different to the other angels. Not quite their kind anymore. And he's turned back to the sea, peered down into the waters, trying to speak to them, but they can't understand. They are still fish. But one day, maybe....
The first Demon and Angel culture blog! (And only >:] )
This is currently run by one person, so do mind if I don't get to asks and such fast (despite having far too much time on my hands ^^’) Ya may name me anything cuz I cannot think of anything 😭 but I'll settle for Daema for RN till otherwise
Since these guys—
@lotus-doodles-04 & Cup/Dish culture
@dip-n-sippy & Candy toon culture
@gargoyles4days & Statue toon culture
@boxboi51 & Glass Doll culture, and so on…
—Have there own culture ideas for most of the MOTM, but none for bendy or demons at all, imma take matters into my own hands >:D
More info below the cut!
||About me!||
I'm a POC/Black artist
I LOVE character designs, world building, and generally anything that deals in making things/make me think about complex ideas
My music taste is all over the place, but I mainly like fandom and movie songs :]
I won't much on my age, other than being called unc so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
||Characters on the Blog!||
So far, I got my boy, Malachi! He'll be the main representative for Angels :]
As well as the denizens of Dae Town (pronounced as Day)! A remote village/municipality on the outskirts of ToonTown full of toons of the night and mischievous beings!
From right to left:
Sleaze/Sleazy: Resident scoundrel, multi-faceted "businessman" and right hand to Dae Town's baddest Mob boss.
Belle Leeds: Bubbly fabric seller, intense flirt and all-rounder performer at Tekoa Bar & Inn.
Crosby: aspiring crossroads demon, lazy farmhand, and trouble-making kid.
Eudoxia: The owner said Tekoa Bar & Inn. Selectively mute and communicates via ASL/gestures and writing on her notepad. Not a demon.
so i was doing some thinking about supernatural and the angels, and i kind of realized that we have origin lore for a lot of other supernatural creatures, and comparitively little on the angels. so i decided to change that. behold; my frankenstein combo of speculative biology, rudimentary astrophysics and chemistry, and my very spotty understanding of supernatural angels.
i've divided this into three sections (found below the cut). section one is my method for relating angels to their origins (which, for this, i've chosen to be supernovae). section two will be a few ideas on the science of angel grace/angelic powers. section three is my catch-all section, involving angel speculative chemistry/biology, a reason why iron and other metals affect supernatural creatures, and some more miscellaneous thoughts on angels and supernovae.
so without further ado, angel theory
section one: angels and supernovae
what i ended up doing was taking a list of the accepted classifications of supernovae*, and a seperate list of accepted classes of angels in the show, and i compared them. i sorted my angels into 6 tiers, and i compared their canon relative strengths to the light curves of supernovae (showing how bright they get, essentially). for this scenario, i imagine "wavelengths of celestial intent" to operate on a similar mechanism to waves of light, so the brightness of supernovae directly relates to the power and amount of angels released from the star
*an important thing worth mentioning for this section is that there is a type of supernovae known as type Ia. if archangels were not canonically older than the universe, this would be their attributed supernovae. however, given their age, i had to come up with an alternate theory to explain these supernovae, as they do not produce any angels. archangels are not discussed in this, because i don't have the mental capacity to go back to what possibly existed before the universe.
type Ib - this is my category for the grigori. these are the ones that were in heaven and got banished. these guys were the first ones to show up on earth so that's why they get this one. the light graph for this is not as bright as Ic, but it does last longer (hence the being on earth longer part).
type Ic - these are my seraphs. these are slightly more powerful than grigori so they get one that is slightly brighter. both these types are very very similar too (the only supernova difference is that one has helium being released, the other does not. this is relevant later in my chemistry section).
type IIn - these are my "high tier angels". that's not helpful as a category so i gave them my solid middle ground option. these are neat because there's some infrared activity going on, which makes me think it's some freaky angel thing i am actively choosing to ignore for the moment because i dont understand infrared enough (i may come back to this later).
type IIb - this type involves two types of angels. my reasoning for this (hear me out); their light curves have two peaks. i gave the smaller peak to the healing angels (rit zien, according to the wiki), and the second (and bigger) peak to the intel angels. the first peak is pretty normal, but the second peak is like a type Ib peak [this has to do with naomi and the intel angels having a similar deal as grigori; both morally shunned by various people].
type II-L - "low rank" angels. technically its max brightness is higher than IIb, but im chalking that up to the sheer amount of low rank angels that were formed at one time making that happen, despite being low power level.
type II-P - cherubs. nothing special here; weakest brightness = weakest angel class
section two: angel grace and angelic abilites
i'm assuming anyone reading this has some basic knowledge of chemistry. essentially you have protons, neutrons, and electrons. turns out, there are also these things called neutrinos that appear from things like supernovae or nuclear reactions. science is kinda sketch on them still because they're hard to replicate and actually measure on earth, but they are a thing. a huge amount of these get realeased from supernovae and my thinking is that the angels have properties similar to these neutrinos. exhibits to follow;
exhibit one: angel radio. angels can hear it, humans cannot. which must mean it gets communicated through some other means than just sound waves. solution ? neutrinos. we as humans have successfully used these particles to communicate through something like 800 feet of rock. obviously this could only be picked up by specific instruments, but the logic is there.
exhibit two: angel teleportation/speed. when a supernova occurs and the core collapses inward, it functions a bit like a black hole; it kinda sucks everything into it except for neutrinos and light (because their speeds are so very very similar). therefore, i can make the conclusion that neutrinos have a relationship to angels moving at near the speed of light to teleport and occasionally move(there are some scientific problems here in which neutrinos have been recorded at faster than the speed of light, which shouldn't really be possible. for supernatural, it's just another angel quirk in this universe, perhaps)
exhibit three: angel grace. i've taken a bit of a liberty here and thought of these like a recurring nova (small classical nova that reoccurs periodically). something in the angels from their supernova origins allows them to be able to do this (im not hung up on the details. its fantasy after all. again, i might revisit this later).
section three: catch-all on angel chemistry, speculative biology, etc.
point one; when a supernova occurs, the result is almost always one of two things. either it turns into a neutron star (second densest thing in the universe), or a black hole (y'all know these). there's a trend that i found with these angels. the weaker angels trend toward forming neutron stars, and the stronger angels trend toward forming black holes. this makes sense, because bigger stars typically form black holes over smaller stars, and you would theoretically need a bigger star to hold more powerful angels. there's exceptions to this (like to everything...). number one, cherubs have a tendancy for their stars to result in black holes on occasion. i'm assuming this has something to do with forming a large number of cherubs at once, so you need a bigger star to house them all. number two, you have seraphs and grigori occasionally forming neutron stars over black holes. this i'm attributing to forming a noticably less number of them at once than usual. therefore, smaller star needs less space. my "high level" angels can form either result at more or less random; again, this would be based on power level and number formed from one star.
point two; there is, in the actual astrophysics of supernovae, an energy transfer issue. when the star collapses into itself, there's a massive amount of energy required to make that happen and as of right now, we have...no concrete idea where it comes from. we do, however, think it's related to neutrinos (aha, angel grace ??? anybody ???). my theory is that the angels are the source of this energy. they pull it back into the star to slingshot themselves out of the star's orbit, and then once the star explodes, they ride that shockwave like surfing until they reach heaven.
point three; angel chemistry (this part was difficult, so be kind to me if there's mistakes). angels are weird, and i have reason to believe they may be partly a silicon based species (or, they are not, and the silicon simply fused into the star core like it does in real life. for my purposes, let's say that angels have a silicon component to their biology). i've found that the only type of supernova that doesn't result in angel formation is the type that has a silicon spectra (we can detect it, which means it doesn't get absorbed or fused). by that logic, i'm assuming the angels have to be somewhat silicon based. additionally, i have a theory that there's a sweet spot to layers used by the star when forming angels for their powers. having a helium spectra present (we can see helium given off by the star) results in a grigori. this means that having that one less layer has some sort of effect on their power levels. meaning that when we see hydrogen spectra given off from all the type II supernovae, that results in weaker angels because they're missing an additional layer (there are some issues with this that i don't know enough about atomic spectra to fully work through. i think it may have to do with some forbidden spectra that i don't fully understand. i may revisit later).
point four; elemental chemistry and the formation of heavy metals. so we know in the show that the boys use various metals to defeat/harm supernatural creatures (bronze, silver, etc.). the most important of these (for this at least) is iron, and here's my theory why. a while ago i made a post about iron being a "pure" element and that's why it works. i would also like to make this addition; type Ia supernovae produce iron-56 as a result of nuclear decay (iron-56 is the most naturally occuring isotope of iron on earth). it came to earth from when the planet formed, as the iron was floating around in a gas cloud that condensed into our planet. if you remember from earlier, type Ia is the only type of supernova that doesn't produce angels. essentially, it has so much happening that instead of forming a neutron star or black hole, it quite literally explodes itself apart until there's nothing left. my thought is that this amount of energy is too much for the angels and tears them apart. their angelic grace gets left to dissipate into the rest of the star, and when iron-56 forms in the core and enters the universe, it works so well against spirits because it has trace amounts of angel grace in it (same goes for the other metals that they use). this also explains the Si showing up from these stars, because instead of being in the angels, it's just in the universe.
theres a few other points about types of stars relating to angel strength before they even go supernova, but it's not super relevent to be truly honest. it doesn't tell you anything that i haven't already explained (although i am willing to explain it further). some of the other iron on earth comes from meteorites. they've related fallen angels to meteors in canon, so i am going to apply the same logic and say that when their grace gets altered in the fall, it imbues this iron with grace, and you get the same result.
if you made it to the end, congrats, you are now my new favourite people. questions are accepted and please PLEASE tell me if i screwed something up with my science. i am not an astrophysicist or a chemist; i'm just a molecular biology major with way too much time on my hands and unmedicated adhd
also, tagging those who were interested in this : @dontlistentodaisy, @bejeweledinterludes2, @aniresrene, @sorryitsmyfirstdayonearth, @clemeowntine, @reginaphalangelobster
You have a demon priest but what about any fallen angels?
Okay, wait, wait, wait!! This actually poses a super interesting question. In his world, if you have a Demon who wants to become a Priest so that he can rejoin Heaven, then couldn’t there also be Angels who want to or happen to stumble into falling to earth too? I think there totally would be.
And ever since I got your ask I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Imagining a complete foil to Demon Priests character in the form of a Fallen Angel.
Like imagine a being who sees that Demon Priest has you and it infuriates him. He’s a demon, he doesn’t deserve someone as lovely as you. Fallen Angel doesn’t understand that Demon Priest went through centuries of pain to receive you as a gift because he’s always just had everything.
And seeing Demon Priest with you introduces all these new and unknown emotions to Fallen Angel and it leads him to falling from heaven. At first he’s distraught, unsure of what to do. But when he realizes he can finally be with you he figures this must be his gift.
Now Fallen Angel still looks as divine as he always has, his halo still in tact after the fall. He just has to hide the small crack and hope no one notices the dimming light of it. And of course the other slimy little mortals don’t. They’re too busy fawning and slobbering over him, a real Angel in their presence. He has them practically eating out of his hand in minutes.
While it took Demon Priest lifetimes to get humans to trust him and his divine wisdom due to his demonic appearance, it takes Fallen Angel less than a day due to his angelic one. All while none of these humans bother to look beneath the surface and realize each beings motivations.
Demon Priest wants to build everyone up and make the world a better place for you.
Meanwhile Fallen Angel wants to watch it all burn to the ground so that he may have you for himself.
This month is Disability Pride Month, so the Department of Monster Affairs would like to highlight some of the ways monsters and those living in the magical realm support individuals with disabilities. Their magic and culture have helped inform how the Federation of American States and other countries improve their treatment and accessibility for those disabled in the mortal realm.
Importantly, we must make clear that magic does not “cure” disability. To think that a world of magic would have no one who is disabled is ableist and entirely inaccurate. Disability is a socially constructed concept and exists in all cultures, regardless of their level of technological development or magical ability. Disability is something that can happen to anyone due to an accident, age, or birth. Those with disabilities can be contributing members of society if given the accommodations to help them succeed, and are valuable members of society regardless of any contribution, because they are part of our society. This exploration of disability in the magical realm will go over each colored stripe found on the Disability Pride flag (see above).
Starting with red for physical disabilities. The magical realm is very adept at accommodating a variety of body types and needs. While most monsters found living in community with others have a bipedal body type, not all do. Merfolk that cannot transform their tails into legs (about 65% of the population) use wheelchairs to get around on the surface. Just like in the human realm, wheelchairs are a common form of mobility aid, as are canes, walkers, and walking chairs. However, these aids are often enchanted to be self-propelling or have other enhancements. Now, very popular among those using canes in the human realm are canes enchanted to transform the end into a grabbing hand, helping with tasks such as reaching items, putting on shoes, and other similar purposes. Other magical aids have been developed that are similar to those found in our world, but arcane rather than tech; there has been an upsurge in magi-tech combining the two to great results.
Some monsters have developed their own solutions to accommodate the needs of their physically disabled members. For example, the Orcs, who are skilled biomancers, have used that magic to develop splicing spells that will attach limbs from fallen foes to replace those that may be missing. However, not all Orcs do this as the process is relatively new, and Orc culture does not stigmatize physical differences, merely seeing them as an additional challenge that their brethren are all the stronger for needing to deal with.
Moving on to the gold stripe for neurodiversity. In the magical realm, little is known about neurodiversity as a framework. While those who are autistic, have ADHD, dyslexia, Down's Syndrome, or other neurodiverse labeling do exist, these individuals are mostly just seen as different, if not a bit strange, yet are mostly unstigmatized. This is a confirmation of what was suspected by many neurodiverse people and neurologists in the human realm - neurodiverse conditions have always existed, but it was the urbanization, industrialization, and technological changes of modern human society that made many these individuals stand out as abnormal with disabilities that needed to be “treated.”
As researchers have examined monster species, it has also become apparent that some may be neurodiverse from a human perspective, but neurotypical within their society. For example, many elves would be considered on the autism spectrum by human standards, and most minotaurs would qualify as having ADHD. Of course, these labels would be an imposition of human-made social constructs, and it would be very rude and inaccurate to label these species such as a whole.
Because of the large overlap in neurodiversity and emotional and psychiatric disabilities, we will jump ahead to the blue stripe. Just like the human realm, those in the magical realm can experience depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and other mental disorders. Because battles and war are more common in the magical realm than in the human realm, PTSD is fairly common to find - they call PTSD “memory scars.” Explorers, or adventurers, commonly develop PTSD, as do monsters whose lives and culture involve a lot of battle or harsh conditions, such as Orcs, bull minotaurs, and merfolk.
Determining the cause of a mental disorder can be tricky in the magical realm, as curses, demons, and other magical sources can impact mortals in similar ways to mental illness. Is that person truly hearing the voice of a deity, or do they have schizophrenia? Are they cursed not to trust the world around them, or do they have generalized anxiety disorder? This is a similar issue faced by the human realm before the advent of psychology. However, this trouble in determining the cause of mental disorders does not mean that there are no treatments that the magical realm has developed. Soothing magical spells, giving people time to rest, herbs and potions, and accommodations in expectations or labor are all ways in which the magical realm adjusts to aid or make room for those with mental illnesses.
Just like with neurodivergence, there are some monster species who, by a human standard, would qualify as having a psychiatric disability. For example, many centaurs would match the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder in the DSM-VII, and this may be due to their horse halves. Angels are prone to behavior similar to what would fit obsessive-compulsive disorder. Once again, these are human ideas of mental disorder, and an entire species should not be labeled as having a certain disorder; however, this information can be useful in navigating interactions with those species.
Now, for the green stripe, which stands for sensory disorders. Similar to physical disabilities, there are many arcane means that the magical realm uses to help or accommodate those with sensory disorders. Blind individuals may use service summons - similiar to service animals - to help guide them; many of these summons can speak to their summoner telepathically, which allows them to translate writing or describe the world as well. Some monsters have additional abilities that support certain impairments. For instance, Naga that are deaf in their human ears typically find that their sensitivity to vibrations is enhanced, giving them somatic hearing similar to that of snakes. Some monsters are categorically sensory disabled by human standards. For example, Werewolves are all red-green color-blind, even in their human forms, just like real wolves. And the monocular vision of cyclops means they have difficulty with depth perception and are notoriously near-sighted.
Back to the white stripe, for individuals with undiagnosed or invisible disabilities. As implied by the discussions on neurodivergence and emotional and psychiatric disabilities, many individuals in the magical realm are undiagnosed. This can have a negative impact on their lives and lead to misunderstandings with those around them. But knowledge about these disabilities from the human realm is helping to address the needs of these individuals. Invisible disabilities, like chronic pain, in the magical realm were often treated by the symptom, but not the source. Pain medication in the medical realm is far better and less addictive than opioids in the human realm, but without treating the source of the pain, conditions can worsen. This illustrates the significance of knowledge and resource exchange between the magical realm and the human realm.
Finally, the Department of Monster Affairs would like to address the black field of the disability pride flag. The black field is for those who have died of abuse or neglect due to their disabilities. While this article has focused on the positives found in the magical realm around disability, it is ignorant to assume there is not a dark side as well. Misunderstandings about disabilities, inability, or lack of desire to care for those with disabilities have led to abuse and death among the disabled population of the magical realm, just like it still does in the human realm. This is why Disability Pride Month remains important: to highlight the failures of the past and present, and discuss how we, as a society, can do better in the future; while still celebrating those who face additional struggles every day and their valuable place in society as neighbors, coworkers, friends, family, and individuals.
I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous about publishing this. While I (probably) have undiagnosed ADHD and struggle with my own mental health issues, I am not the most involved with or that informed about disability rights or the correct language to use - something I work to correct, but you know it takes time. I have really tried to be inclusive and non-stigmatizing with my language and ideas here, but if I've made a mistake, please let me know so I can correct it.
