#soullessness

[totally-cis-offical]

Idea: work of fiction where having no soul doesn’t make someone not care about other’s feelings and unkind, but rather not conscious/not sapient

A human body that has no soul and can still move will show kindness to others (or at least appear to). But it can’t think. Can’t understand. Everything it does, including its kindness, is nothing more than an instinct response unless it has a soul

[ladyluscinia]

Every few weeks I get mad at the soulless Jack arc again for throwing Supernatural's already nonsensical bullshit definition of where emotions and empathy come from out the window.

Like Nephilim = Human Soul + Angel Grace. Jack burning off most of his soul is immediately followed by stealing AU!Michael's Grace and fully replenishing his own. Angel Grace is obviously a passable substitute for a soul seeing as angels by Dabb era are so clearly emotional and empathetic beings (even if dumb spn bioessentialism means they are "inferior" to humans at it). We have an angel main character who is constantly feeling things.

So why the fuck is Jack's status of nearly pure Angel Grace more comparable to fucking Donatello than Cas????

That fucking bench scene where Jack and Cas, two beings operating pretty much exclusively on Grace, have their talk and the tragedy is that Cas can love Jack and yet Jack can only feel an apathetic void? Why??? How did the fuck did anyone write that scene without pausing to ask "Wait, Cas has never had a human soul, so how is he feeling all these things?"

Also it's just cruel as fuck to take away Jack's ability to tell Cas he loves him.

[suncaptor]

The soul is also like pointedly not the source of consciousness in supernatural which is the antithesis of my views on it. How is the consciousness and complexity of human perception different from the moral powerhouse of energy the soul obtains? Is it about time? Would a soulless individual recover, develop a soul of their own? Is the soul only maintaining the power it has through it's designation in Chuck's story which allows it the ability to remain within the brains own desire frameworks, with that much power then to fuel both it's own self then Heaven?

[pictureofsirgalahad]

can you have a gender without a soul?

for most people it seems like gender is something this is closely intertwined with the soul, but then there’s all those theories that gender is in the brain, so theoretically a person’s gender could stick around after they lost their soul. however, even if that were the case we would need a deeper understanding of the relationship between the soul and the psyche, something i want to do intense research on but i CANT because soullessness isn’t REAL!

i’m just thinking about what it would be like to lose your soul and suddenly have an absence of gender. i imagine that would be confusing, but would it even matter? because people without souls can’t feel emotions! so maybe nothing would even change because it’s not like they would feel any dysphoria.

would being soulless be like how i experience gender? i once told someone that gender feels like an empty space in the middle of my brain, and that even the idea of a gender was so far away from me that i couldn’t even understand it. is that what it feels like to devoid of a soul?

[imaginationcemetary]

Inks s/o gives up their soul for him? Now the s/o is the soulless one and has to take paints. Bonus points if their child is soulless too because of it and die at a young age?

It's an interesting idea for sure, but, I think that if Ink had someone willing to give up their soul for him, that he wouldn't take it. He knows what it feels like, he knows how to deal with it, and it's not something he'd ever wish on anyone else. It's like living literal purgatory. He'd call it a living hell but he can't bring himself to care enough to be that miserable.

And honestly, if he did accept the soul his S/O offered him, he'd likely absorb it, and them with it. Which would leave him all alone and that's the furthest thing from his desires.

Sorry if it's not what you were hoping for, it's just not something I can see happening.

[realitista]

If Taco Bell Is The Peak Of Our Civilization, Get Me Another Civilization

Why do I hate the Homewood Suites? It’s fine. Well, I hate it because it perfectly epitomizes the aesthetic logic of capitalism. Whoever designed it knew that it was going next to the French Quarter, and that people would want that “New Orleans feel.” They gave it that “feel” by varying the facade in order to simulate the look of a New Orleans city block, and slapping on a balcony or two, because the French Quarter has balconies. The actual French Quarter, let us remember, looks like this:

Each of these buildings has history. Each has been adapted by individuals, who were thinking about what they wanted their building to look like, rather than “what would convey ‘New Orleans.'” The Homewood Suites has the bare minimum number of balconies necessary to prove that it’s “French Quarter-y.” The actual French Quarter has the number of balconies that people wanted on their buildings. The differences may be subtle, but it’s in those subtleties that I find everything I love about the world. Take them away, and all you have is a sad, hollow replica. It’s the architectural equivalent of the shit on the walls of a Cracker Barrel, or 37 pieces of flair: an effort to create the impression of caring without actually caring. Why do people like “mom and pop” establishments? One reason is that, when you’re in them, you know that somebody in the store has set up the display because it’s how they like it, rather than because it’s how the franchise manual requires it to be set up. When people talk about how capitalism is “dehumanizing” or “soulless,” what they are often referring to is the way things are decided: Walmart employees do not cheer spontaneously because they feel like it, they cheer because it has been decided that they will cheer, by a body that feels that it is optimal for the institution that they cheer.

Authenticity, then, to the extent it exists, is partly a matter of motive. I want to live in a place that has flowers on its windowsills because the person whose window it was liked the particular flowers, not because the flowers match the company colors. If there is art on the wall, I want it to be art that somebody cared about, and chose because of its meaning, rather than because it fell within the “brand standards.” Some people might not be able to perceive what’s so superficial and disappointing about corporate chains, but once you have actually had the food in the picture, once you have seen the real good life rather than the cheap facsimile of the good life, you can’t help but be angry watching people who care only about money—and who can’t see the difference between a Taco Bell and an old church—grind the whole world into boring, featureless garbage.

[dovesdanceatdusk]

Yeah. I know the show is trying to spin it like Jack is soulless, and he probably is, but they’re doing a bad job at showing it. For me, at least. 

Jack’s actions did not register to me as soulless. In the first half of the episode, Jack seemed annoyed and tired of everyone asking him if he’s okay. The latter half of the episode, people/beings insist he’s soulless without a definitive answer. Why then, did Castiel go on an extensive trip to search for Chuck, if he could’ve found another way to find out (soul-fisting*)? Why did they need to hear it from Donatello if Jack is soulless or not? How did Nick realize Jack is soulless? Do we need to rely on Nick’s observation to confirm Jack’s soullessness? If so, then Dean and Sam, former vessels of archangels should have sensed it too. Do you see what I mean?

*Sighs* Okay. Okay, that probably came out more like a rant. Sorry about that. 

The implication Jack is soulless is intriguing. I’m not knocking that. But the show isn’t doing a good job proving to me that Jack is soulless. I probably need to look at this from a different angle, because the signs are probably there but my brain has elected to ignore all weak attempts at proving soullessness. 

*snorts* Maybe I’m soulless. 

* A painful procedure, judging from what I remember from season six. So I can buy it if someone pointing out soul-fisting and why the guys elected not to do it (because it’s painful). But that was an option, right? Not guesstimating what may or may not be soulless Jack.