Fear not.*

[bending_sickle]

I'm announcing an official hiatus (as opposed to the "oh gods, work is draining the life force out of me" hiatus) for the coming week because I'm going to be galavanting about Europe. The Links of the Day will be done, eventually, so never fear. As for my fellow Supernatural viewers, be strong and keep the spoilers away from me until next Saturday (which is when I'll probably come crawling to y'all in tears and dire need of discussion.)


Quote of the Day: Jacob, here

If my need for approval didn't get me up in the morning, my morbid fear of failure would do it instead.

Links of the Day:
Random:
wtf_nature's Astronomers discover a planet orbiting both stars in a binary system ; Birds in space (with video) - At first I was like :D then I was like D: ; Newly discovered wasp species is the stuff of nightmares - ...or odly adorable? ; Lizard has problem-solving skills - Look how not surprised I am. ; Rainbow toad discovered after 87 years ; Parrots name their offspring ; Cycloptic and albino shark! ; Snail with an iron shell - That's hard-core, yo.
DearLindal's Black Saturday Bushfire 2009 - The most touching and wonderful photograph of a fireman giving a koala water from a bottle.
YahooNews' Ga. executes Davis; supporters claim injustice - "Such incredibly flawed eyewitness testimony should never be the basis for an execution. To execute someone under these circumstances would be unconscionable."
Treehugger's New species of dolphin discovered in Australia
Wiki's Photo Wildebeest herd grouping for migration - Chaos -> order = 0.0
Time' Shark Week: Top 10 Unforgetable Shark Moments ; Shark Week: Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Sharks ; Photos: Explosion and Shooting - Norway ; Photos: The World's Most Humane Prison ; Photos: The Berlin Wall - Don McCullin's Lost Negatives
Newser's Ahmadinejad: Europe Stealing Our Rain
Nature's Male saiga antelopes have been so ruthlessly hunted that their breeding and populations have been severely disrupted - Linking only because the saiga in the photo looks like a tuantaun.
Truestarhealth's Four Keys to Kick PMS"
Pittenger's Child Abuse: An overview of child physical abuse - PDF presentation ; WARNING: Potentially disturbing images.
IJDVL's Skin manifestations of child abuse - Ermertcan & Ertan (2010)
Vetmed Uni Vienna's Animated historical and projected climate zone changes - D:
Maati.TV's 20 Deadliest Effects of Global Warming
BBC's Echo, an unforgettable elephant - Probably not available in "your area". Thanks, BBC. ; Last chance for Africa's elephants?


* Archangel Gabriel, The Bible

Comments

[phantmgreeneyes.livejournal.com]

I can't wait it tonight either. No worries. We'll be together in our suspense. But Cass was such a douche in the season finale too. So boo.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

I hope you survived the season premiere!

[seschat.livejournal.com]

Pleeee-eeaaaase don't leave meeee

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

I'm baaaaaack! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBQ0_9IFzU0)

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Snail with an iron shell - That's hard-core, yo.

Actually, the core is soft and squishy. ;-)

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

*sporfle* And maybe delicious with garlic? If your into that sort of thing, that is ;)

[mrscastielftw.livejournal.com]

Have an amazing time and hopefully there will be two awesome episodes waiting for you when you get back :D

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Thank you! A great time was indeed had, and I've just watched 7x01 and 02 back-to-back so I'm all a-flail.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Also, thank you so much for the virtual gift! It's lovely ♥

I hope to catch up with all things Supernatural-related - including your posts - and we'll probably need some thinky-thought discussions and a lot of tissues and support. (I've already got a heapin' pile of Denial ready.)

[mrscastielftw.livejournal.com]

I’m glad your trip was lovely!

You're most welcome!

07x01 and 07x02 were a lot to take in. I took some time to be completely inconsolable, but now I have theories - Just know that in my version, it will all end with a Dean/Cas hug! (And when I say Cas, I mean CAS!)

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

...I may or may not have been shouting at Dean to finally hug Cas after he came back to life. What better reason does that man need?!

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the episodes, mostly clinging to flaily bits. I don't have any theories of my own (although I love the Gabriel one), but I do have a lot of denial because Cas will be back, or so help me...

Also, I rewatched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and wondered how come when Cas came back godlike, he couldn't kill Crowley. Godlike powers < powers to gank a demon?

[mrscastielftw.livejournal.com]

I shouted the f-word at my television *Blushes* I just knew that we wouldn't get him back so easy and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop…Luckily it did :(

My current theory revolves around "Why bring Cas back at the end of 07x01." It gives me hope to carry on in fandom.

Also, I rewatched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and wondered how come when Cas came back godlike, he couldn't kill Crowley. Godlike powers < powers to gank a demon? I think Cas knew that while he was away, we would need something pretty to look at. BUT he is so coming back! Seriously, I don't know that was so much couldn't as didn't. Maybe it was a last slap in the face to Raphael - I'm going to kill you, but the lowly demon can live.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I don't know that was so much couldn't as didn't. Maybe it was a last slap in the face to Raphael - I'm going to kill you, but the lowly demon can live. - I meant before that, when Cas did the hand-to-the-forehead thing and Crowley just quipped about his sweaty hands and how he was being protected by Raphael. Unless it was all a show put on by Cas and Crowley for Raphael before the angel showed up (in which case, win!), then Cas really did try to smite Crowley and failed.

My current theory revolves around "Why bring Cas back at the end of 07x01." - I cling to that narrative logic as well, although when I remember all the dropped and drastically shortened storylines of Season 6, my faith trembles a little.

[mrscastielftw.livejournal.com]

I thought that was before the powers, but I'm probably confused...Here are a few thoughts:

1. Crowley may have had more souls
A. As the King of Hell, he would have had access to all contained within.
B. He had 50,000 that he could freely give to Cas, which makes me think he had more at his disposal.
C. It could explain some of his hesitance to give Bobby back his soul (Especially, since that action resulted in him losing Bobby as an ally.)
D. He would have always planned for the possibility of a double cross (Maybe he was planning it more as something he would do to Cas instead of Cas getting the drop on him)
E. If having more souls meant having more power then he would have worked to ensure that he did to keep Cas the junior partner in their arrangement.

2. Cas wasn’t really trying
A. We still don’t know all the details of their arrangement.
B. He may have hoped that Crowley would bring Raphael to him, so that he could finish Raphael on his turf.
C. He may have hoped that Crowley and Raphael would agree to work together, so he could use the information to combat any Raphael supporters, who would use his alliance with a demon against him.

3. Crowley isn’t a demon
A. We have never seen Crowley’s eyes change
B. Since they faked Crowley’s death, it would make sense that they had faked the entire character background -That way they show Bobby and the boys a way to kill demons (which may or may not actually work) that wouldn’t hurt Crowley. It also prevented them from using any of their usual demon handling techniques.

We have to stay strong for Cas.

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* I'm remembering it wrong. Again. I keep thinking that Crowley's "nah nah, I have a new angel friend" and the Raphaelsplosion happen one after the other, but no, Cas absorbs the souls in between the two. So it may very well have been that Cas just couldn't nuke Crowley.

I'm leaning more towards the third theory, although the first one of Crowley have way more power that we realize is always valid. I've got a third bit of evidence in support of it (or at least in support of "the authors are leaving the door open for that option"): Crowley's never bumped up against a Devil's Trap "wall". All the other demons we've seen generally only realize they're trapped when they try to step over the symbol and get blocked by the invisible force-field effect. Crowley, on the other hand, always simply acknowledged he was in a Devil's Trap and didn't test the boundaries (so he could very well have been faking being trapped).

I don't know how I'd feel about Crowley being something other than a demon, though. On the one hand, he's a demon done right, like back in Season 1 and 2 when demons were scary and powerful and a very real threat, before knives and traps turned them into minor monsters and minions. (I may also be influenced a bit by Tumblr's crowleyismyco-pilot meta, whose tumblr thingy I highly recommend for all things Crowley and Mark.) On the other, there's so many options open for him not to be one that it seems like a waste to not explore those hints.

[mrscastielftw.livejournal.com]

Crowley's never bumped up against a Devil's Trap "wall". You are so right! I hadn’t even thought about that.

Crowley, demon or not, would be amazing in any storyline! I think they will continue to leave the door open – It’s more fun to keep guessing!