#just rowena things

[starfolk7]

5,7,9,15,21,22,27 and 30 for Charlotte, Aiko and Rowena 😼

Ahhhh, more of my girlies!! I haven't gotten to think on things for Aiko especially in forever, this will be so much fun!!! ;w;

Given the questions, the girls will mostly be answering for themselves and this will get pretty long. Also, assume a lot of these are answered after most respective main story events lol

5. Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech! Will they give one, and what about?

None of them are inherently ones for speeches, but here's some that I think they might give, though they're all on the informal side:

Rowena: "'Tis true that we're both stuck in this dying world. But does that really mean we have to forsake everything we hold dear? I think not. There are still things to hope for, souls to treasure. You speak truth, acknowledging the cruelty all around us. I, however, stand in defiance of that cruelty. It is the sole way I can continue to live. I only hope you join me in that endeavor."

Aiko: "War does not come to your doorstep and ask to be invited in. It tears down every barrier and cares little if you fall victim to its destruction. You never asked for any of this. Carrying on as if you did is doing you no favors. Stop acting as if you have something to prove to me. Be honest. I refuse to be kept in the shadows in the name of safety."

Charlotte: "How could you possibly know what true despair feels like? You lose once and you think you know it all? You haven't even scratched the surface. While humanity suffered an endless war, you and your heavenly Father sat on high and watched us BURN. Countless people I LOVED could have been saved if someone, ANYONE in Heaven bothered to care. But we weren't good enough to save, were we? Just little living toys for the Father that he could banish out of sight. And now, only now, you expect me to feel sympathy? After everything God, Heaven, YOU, have done?? You don't know SHIT about suffering! It's about fucking time something taught you what it's like!"

7. Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

How I describe Rowena: Selfless, stubborn, bouncy

How Rowena describes herself: "Um...I suppose...thoughtful, considerate, attentive? It's better to ask someone else how they see me."

How I describe Aiko: Gentle, thoughtful, witty

How Aiko describes herself: "Quiet...uninteresting, and small. I know what I am."

How I describe Charlotte: Passionate, kind, fierce

How Charlotte describes herself: "Stubborn, tiring, but also fun, I guess. I dunno, people liked me way back when, and the sinners and some machines like me well enough."

9. Do they empathize with non-sentient things (dolls, plants, books…)?

Rowena: "I hardly let my little bird doll out of sight as a child. It went on every little adventure with me, and I felt terrible if it fell down or got dirty. Father also taught me how to care for various plants and how they like to hear people talk to them. I still sing songs to them sometimes. Don't tell Ornstein, though, I will simply perish if he finds out."

Aiko: "Every piece of nature is alive to me. I love chatting with the flowers! We have such riveting conversations, though they're a little one-sided. I even feel awful if a blanket is out of place and apologize to it as I'm setting it back. I'm sure that's been overheard more than once."

Charlotte: "Hasn't been a single day where I didn't. Books have always been like second pets to me, my dad was a florist, and my mom taught me to care for musical instruments like pedigree dogs. Is anyone really surprised that I befriended machines, sentient or otherwise?"

15. What would they consider a waste of time– other than school or work?

Rowena: "Cooking. I'm alright at the task, but can't it just be ready for me to eat in an instant? The whole process is laborious. Not that I get too hungry these days, being Undead, but the pang still hits me from time to time, and oftentimes I ignore it because of the work involved in solving the issue. I'll risk foraging strange berries over cooking anything. This might explain a few of my deaths."

Aiko: "Cruelty for the sake of it. Why travel down such a path when it's much easier to be kind in most instances? Oh, and fishing. You would think I'd be neutral on the task, but I find it boring and leave it to much more skilled people than myself. They can do that while I gather safe fruits and vegetables. I think that's a fair tradeoff."

Charlotte: "Religion. It was just a personal opinion before, but with everything I've experienced, it's only confirmed my 'heretical' belief system. Why waste time praying to a god that never wanted to listen to us, anyway? I'll put faith in myself long before I ever give that bastard a second thought again."

21. What would it take for them to break up with someone? What would be the last straw?

Rowena: "This is a bit tricky, given my circumstances. I suppose wanton cruelty towards others. If there isn't a blatant reason for clashing with someone, my partner had best have a damn good one to explain going for a person's throat in the first place. Luckily, in Lordran, there's usually a very good reason for such actions."

Aiko: "Animal slaughter with no purpose. Killing an animal to survive, feed and clothe yourself and others, is one thing, but killing a creature for fun? This I can never accept. Call it childish, if you like, but I grew up loving every animal of Tsushima. Unless I need to, I can't imagine myself hurting them, and neither should my partner."

Charlotte: "I used to be able to say 'trying to kill me', but uh..." She gestures towards herself, then gestures somewhere vaguely out of view. "That's already happened a few times." She sighs. "Look, it's complicated, okay? I'm not claiming any of this makes sense, and I'm probably more confused on this whole issue than you are. Besides, that's not happening anymore, obviously. Fuck, I sound insane." She blows some hair out of her face. "But barring that...I guess turning their back on me. Already been fucked over in that regard multiple times in my life. I'm not gonna put up with that from someone that's supposed to be supporting me."

22. Do they like being called pet names? Do they call other people pet names? What’s their go-to?

Rowena: "Oh, um..." She blushes a little. "Gods, I wasn't prepared for this question. But...yes. Pet names are endearing, especially when they get a bit creative. I've been called "sparrow" for most of my life, and that is one pet name that seems to have carried over to the present. Ornstein likes to see how I react to it." She rolls her eyes, then grins. "It's fine, though. The man's stoic exterior collapses the second I call him 'love' or 'my sunlight', so I think we're evenly matched."

Aiko: "Yes!!" She claps her hands, giggling a little. "I adore pet names. Mother and father always compared me to a fox, but Ryuzo calls me his little kitten. He says it's because I'm always sneaking in places I shouldn't be." She makes a face. "It's only partially true! Anyway, I like calling him Ryu. He stops in place whenever I do that. I really need to think of some more for him, just to see what happens..."

Charlotte: "Do I have to answer this question?" She grumbles under her breath, her face flushing pink. "I never asked for them, if that's what you mean. Mom liked calling me 'colibri'. French for 'hummingbird'. Dad called me 'katydid'. Either way, I didn't escape the speedy creature allegations." She hides part of her face with one hand. "...Gabe got attached to calling me 'hummingbird'. Of course he did. He claims it's only natural because of my mechanical wings, but I think he likes seeing me stumble a little. Maybe for old times' sake." She looks off to the side and smiles a little. "It's...kind of nice, though. Makes it even better when I can get him back with something equally stumble-worthy. 'Dove' was a no-brainer, but ever seen an archangel short circuit over a name? That's quality entertainment." She lowers her voice, her face flushing again. "And pretty damn cute but shhh-"

27. Forgiveness or vengeance (or…)?

Rowena: "I strive for forgiveness. But where that won't do, vengeance will suffice in its place. It all depends on the situation."

Aiko: "Forgiveness. I don't have much room for vengeance in my heart. It would take a dire situation to push me towards it. Some say I forgive too much. Perhaps they're right, but this is the way I am."

Charlotte: "Dad taught me forgiveness. Mom taught me vengeance. Lately, I'm leaning towards the latter. Mainly if I ever meet the person that made me a cyborg. Or God. Or any other angels that get ideas about fighting me. Either way, they're getting shot in the face."

30. What would they do if they knew it would be forgiven?

Rowena: "I would do everything in my power to ensure the other Knights of Gwyn survived as long as Ornstein has. Even if that meant changing the course of time. It would likely cause more suffering, but...my heart aches for him. They were truly his close friends, lost to tragedy. If I could ease that burden without suffering the consequences, I would allow Manus to snatch me thousands of times over until I got it right."

Aiko: "Overturn the Shogunate." She glances around a little. "I don't speak on it much for obvious reasons, but the samurai are not as pure and honorable as they parade themselves to be. Lower classes often suffer because of them. It's one thing I wish I could do, if only to put everyone on equal footing for once. But that would never be forgiven, in this lifetime or the next."

Charlotte: "Thin out Heaven's ranks before they got ideas." She raises an eyebrow. "I wouldn't kill all of them. Don't let Gabe give you that impression. Just enough to send a message from the kind they tried to oppress. So much could have been avoided if I were allowed to do it, but instead I had to scramble for my life while they hunted me down through Hell. Not exactly what I'd call a good time."

[invisiblearsonist]

underrated supernatural duo — sam and rowena

like come ON. they are actually everything to me.

[nev3rlaand]

dude this new mlp generation is so fucked up they killed twilight sparkle with a gun

[rowenabean]

so proud of my country today for standing up to say he kotahi tātou, we are one people united by the treaty and we don't get to change what that means

so proud to be one of 42 THOUSAND people in front of parliament to support te kaupapa hirahira

ko te iwi māori, ko te iwi pākeha - kua paiheretia tātou e te tiriti na reira kua huihui tātou ki te whakamana i te tiriti

[annmariethrush]

I’m not a Drowley shipper really, but I’m a BIG fan of them being exes. And the way that Crowley’s character shifts so significantly following his and Dean’s summer of love is so fucking insane. Like, they literally made that part of the plot???? That is not even subtext? They call it the summer of love and they start acting like gay exes who aren’t entirely over it but know that if they can’t be chill then every party they go to for the rest of their lives will be awkward. And the way they have a soft spot for each other still and know each other too well even after they’ve stopped actively going out. Exes Drowley my beloved

[wxywardsun]

Supernatural is sooo fun because it has so many weirdgirls in it! Like wow girl you’re so [unintelligible garbles of tv static]. Keep [unexplained light flickering] it up!!

[sampegger]

do you guys think the writers would have taken it more seriously if it had been alastair around relentlessly tormenting dean in late seasons as opposed to lucifer with sam

[thepunkmuppet]

I know basically nothing about rowena, but I now finally get what people mean about shipping things aesthetically. because what do you MEAN love of my life sam winchester, 6”4, deeply damaged but lovely straight white dude-man, has a cute, interesting and disgustingly tragic relationship with A TINY GINGER SCOTTISH WITCH WHO’S THE MOTHER OF A RECURRING VILLAIN AND PLAYED BY AN ACTRESS WHO’S OLDER THAN HIM????? WHAT??? I NEED THAT IN MY LIFE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

like what is this. I love it. I’m obsessed. enemies to friends to lovers, height difference, age difference, and just generally UNCONVENTIONAL AS FUCK for a straight ship??? spectacular gimme fourteen of em right now

[420technoblazeit]

the s10 cas and crowley dynamic is so funny to me crowley's like yeah this is rowena she's my mom she abandoned me when i was 8 and left to raise another kid that wasn't even hers. it's kind of the root of all of my trust issues and even now after 400 years i still haven't gotten over it. and cas, who only just got on good terms with crowley after years of them trying to kill each other and never even had a mom is like. im.... sorry🧍‍♂️

[wolfstarlights]

Something something Crowley and Rowena parallels, like mother like son. Cycle of trauma. Losing the one thing they still hold dear. Being proven that they can still care and love again, they’re scared of it but they can’t run from it. Trying so hard to become something that’s not meant for them and eventually giving up in the sense that they realize maybe that’s not what they wanted in the first place, only for it to be too late. But they both become what they’re meant to be even though neither really gets what they want. Also they’re both incredibly cunty and manipulative in a fun way. They’re tragic but also comedic relief somehow and I ate it up.

[shallowseeker]

Basically, the Samwena of it all is something like:

SAM takes her prisoner, throws his weight away, and makes weird demands surrounding her power.

It's almost like his character in Peace of Mind, if you think too hard about it, lol:

///

But here's the twist. Rowena also is a goddamned piece of work:

*Demon talks about equal work, equal pay* ROWENA SNORTS & says "Tear the man in half!"

///

RE: power

Samwena is also this:

ROWENA (s10): An angel of the Lord, the King of Hell, more power than I could possibly dream of, utterly wasted—

&

SAM (s14, to Chuck): Then why don't you do something? If I had your power—

[starfolk7]

1 for Rowena, 3 for Chris and 7 for Sybil.

OOH, these are good!!

Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite?

Rowena used to have a little bird doll she slept with when she was a child! It was based off of a kind of bird that would visit her parents' home. Her mother saw that she adored the bird so much and would always get so sad when it left, so Rowena's mom made her the bird doll so she could hang out with it whenever she wanted! Many a night she was caught sleeping with it, even as she grew older.

The doll's lost to time now, but she still thinks on it fondly ;w;

3. Ask them to describe their love interest.

Not gonna lie, I cackled when I saw this one was for Chris. Let's see what Miss Wint can come up with, shall we?

"Well...I don't think you'll believe me, but I'll try. He has hair and eyes the color of fire. The stare matches the color, as if his gaze could burn a hole through your soul. But he's not unkind...to me, anyway. It can be a bit of a gamble with other people. He's quite a busy man, you see, leading an entire city, and I can understand not having the time or patience for every person that crosses his path. Still, he could stand to have a bit more patience. It's not exactly his strongest attribute. He's gotten a bit better with some chiding, but don't tell him I said that.

Really, though, he's not...all bad. He's had his missteps, but there's so much kindness buried under that cold, tired stare. Sadly, you have to get it out of him with a pick axe. ...I'm not making him sound that appealing, am I? Gods, if I had time to write this down it would sound so much better. But rest assured, he's much less ruthless than he used to be. That...also doesn't sound good. I should stop while I'm ahead."

She tried lmao

7. Describe them in three words. Now let them describe themself in three words.

How I would describe Sibyl: Intelligent, witty, compassionate

How Sibyl would describe herself: "Don't do this to me. Um...alright. Well-read, clumsy, boring. Don't give me that look, it's the truth!"

We'll work on the self-esteem bit sdxgdskg

[ananke-xiii]

I've written somewhere that Team Free Will is actually Team Dean's Will but it wasn't, like, a criticism or something like that, it was what I personally got once the show was over (and I still have very legit concerns about Dean's choice during the last episode).

I don't think Chuck won in the end because he, as a character, wouldn't have wanted for Dean to die. As far as polysemy goes, Chuck does represent many things but, to be really honest, I don't really think he represents John Winchester on a cosmic level. Like, yeah, OF COURSE, we can definitely put them together in the "Shitty Fathers" box but when Chuck tells Dean that he's not like his father I think he's not that wrong after all. Chuck is much worse and not because he's a John Winchester on a gigantic scale, it's not about quantity. He's worse because he just is.

Leaving aside the many problematic aspects of their relationship, Mary and John can be totally seen as Amara and Chuck (the show does go there and I think it's interesting for many reasons) but it's also true that the one who lied in the couple was Mary, not John. Even if we know why she had to lie and it can be understandable, it's also true that both Sam and Mary are willing to omit a Very Important Thing about themselves that, eventually, gets their partners killed. But, unlike Chuck who's to blame for his omissions, lies and manipulations, both Sam and Mary are two characters that, even more than Amara, are ALWAYS stripped of any choice. So it's almost like no matter what they do, they can only fight for their free will but never fully live it (SPN final thesis: you can never get what you want).

So yeah, if we consider John as a person and, more specifically, as a partner (therefore not in his paternal role), Chuck's not like him at all. Chuck's in control of his narrative, John couldn't even choose his own car at the dealership (btw, in my fantasy John has a love/hate relationship with the whole album "Boys for Pele" by Tori Amos that he keeps hidden like Bobby's passion for Tori Spelling). John is very much mainly narrated by other characters, in this respect he's just like Mary, to be honest. We don't 100% know who he is because he's a character described by absence. So much so that Sam and Dean didn't even know he had a fucking SECRET family!!!

Chuck is portrayed to be less enigmatic. We know he lies because we are shown that multiple times even before "Moriah". He's a character without much depth and that bothers him So. Much. He's a God who wants to be like Keith Richards. LOL!

However, even if Chuck, to me, objectively doesn't win (I also have my own "Billie won theory"), he neverthless does represent the Dictorial Power of Shitty Fathers that some might call The Patriarchy (not me. I would NEVER!). In this way, yes, he sort of wins because, as I've said, the natural order wins in the end and, in SPN, the natural order is Absent, Shitty Fathers. The sugarcoated version of the bygone days, the bittersweet nostalgia for a golden past that inevitably leads to death.

And who, the show tells us, represents all of the above? The absence of John Winchester via the presence of his journal. A man who's become so powerful he's been morphed into a myth. Maybe he is the real tulpa of this story, after all.

What does this have to do with Team Dean's Will? I find that saying that what Dean did in the end is a "choice" is very troublesome. To me personally. But the show does imply that, not strongly enough because it leaves some room for doubt but it ultimately does that. So okay, I'll bite and will consider it to be a Real Choice out of Dean's Free Will. Fine. What about Sam, though?

S15 starts with Sam and Rowena and ends with Sam and Dean. Rowena and Dean both commit suicide that's not 100% framed as suicide. Among other things, it is framed as a sacrifice. And Sam's there with them and he doesn't want that. He says so. He tells Rowena to "screw the books" and he tells Dean that he doesn't want what Dean is asking for.

Rowena's act is framed as being done out of her own agency because she believes in prophecy and magic. To which I say bullshit, not to Rowena but to the show because this is a cop-out. Since S13 Rowena couldn't do what she wanted to do because it wasn't possible. Fine. But how come that prophecy seems to be working only for her? How come the "rules are rules" mindset only applies to her? Why do other characters' books change and hers alone doesn't? How come her sacrifice is both destined and out of her own free will? It means that it can happen then! That destiny and free will can coincide! This change in thinking about the question is so packed with possibilities that they could've done another 15 seasons about it. Unfortunately, destiny and free will seem to meet in Definite Death which meh. Story over.

And Sam? He's still there. Participating and not participating. Against his will.

With Dean things are a bit different because we do know that Chuck is obsessed with him. Once Chuck is out of the picture, we could imply, Dean's finally "free" to choose what he wants. Which is such a naive thought because if it were only the absence and/or presence of things/persons to determine our lives we, perhaps, wouldn't need therapy.

But, as I've said, I'll be good and keep my promise: let's say Dean chooses out of his own free will. It should be cool for us, right? This is what Dean wants. The Big Big Bad is not dead but he's not the man behind the curtains anymore so hurrah! Free/Dean's Will wins. We should feel like we must respect that. And yet, it doesn't feel right.

And Sam? He's still there. Participating and not participating. Against his will.

It doesn't feel very "Free Willy" if the people just let the orca free. It's not very Free Will for Sam if the show tells us that it's Dean literally getting out of the picture that will "free" Sam. Brrrrrrr.

So what does this tell me? That the "destiny vs free will" discourse seems to be working only when there's a villain on the horizon, a commanding power that wants to tell you what to do, someone actually stronger than you whose actions can alter your life's story.

If you take that power out, what's left? Only people with their choices. And your absent, dead father's journal radiating The Real Power (the idea of power inside your mind that controls you). Is free will still in the room with us? Cause it starts to look like somebody's supposedly "free" will might be somebody's else constraint. As far as Sam is concerned, it seems to say: it doesn't matter whether there's a God, Death or that prophecy is real or not. What matters is that you can only stand there, participating and not participating. You don't want that? Too bad, 'cause that's what you got.

Maybe the finale really took the worst from my "Billie won theory" and the worst from the "Chuck won theory", i.e. an idea of natural order that upholds patriarchy. Or, since I can and will go there, that the natural order is the patriarchy.

So what about Free Will, is it an illusion? If it applies to only a few it certainly doesn't seem like something worth fighting for. And the natural order is indeed restored in the end. I don't think the show gives a real answer to that, by the end of S15 there are so many things that simultaneously mean 100 other things that everybody can take what they want from the show.

If you ask me, I think it was a moot question, to be honest. It made sense in S4-5 but once SPN goes full meta in S15 it becomes very superficial. Of course I know they're fictional characters and literally don't have free will, the premises were interesting because I wanted to see how these characters would react to stuff happening in the story. Once the story is revelead to be a bluff, though, what am I left with? Characters spiralling into crisis after crisis. This could be interesting in a novel but in a 15-seasons-long series you have to give me something ELSE as well, the "all die more or less happily" last-minute finale (knowing Heaven is a scam, by the way) is just... not having to deal with the consequences of the narrative choices that were made.

Or, perhaps, Supernatural is a show where one of its themes is "destiny vs free will" that ultimately tells you that there's no destiny but there's also no free will, there's only John's journal aka the Power of the Dominant Narrative. Which is the power of the people who write that narrative for us to believe in it. Perhaps, not even the people making the show were free to do what they would've liked to do. They were also there, like Sam, participating and not participating. Finding ways to cope.

[pinkfey]

i may be obsessed.

[reyolfx]

season 13 is starting off so interesting for differentiating what keeps the boys moving

like they lose their mom, they lose cas, crowley's gone, and they're stuck with the son of satan. okay, cool. dean just straight up wants to die. he can barely fuckin go on, he's playing fast and loose with his life, he's angry as hell, he's drinking, he's punching walls, he's PRAYING to GOD, he's desperate and depressed.

but sam? sam's okay: he has a plan. he has jack. one, he can use jack to get their mom back, he has to believe she's still alive. two, well, he sees himself in jack and he cares about him and helping him out is probably cathartic. sam has a plan, he has a purpose, he's upset obviously but he's got a handle on it all.

cas comes back. no crowley, no mary, just cas. and dean is liiiiike, healed. or as healed as a depressed alcoholic traumatized hunter can get in this situation i guess. he's done a complete 180, he's talking like himself again, he suddenly has grace and affection for the kid they've semi-adopted even though five seconds ago he hated his guts - he got cas back, therefore he's regained faith. he can do this.

they lose jack. now i'm definitely not trying to say sam doesn't care about jack as a person cause it's very clear he does and i actually find their dynamic so lovely and can't wait to see more of it! but their bond is still fairly new, so yes sam loses jack but he also loses his PLAN. and that's what does him in. he gets worse instead of better, unlike dean. because dean needs people and he got his person back, but sam needs purpose and he's lost his way. dean is back on track, sam's floating, helpless, because he can't find a way to help himself. and dean isn't really getting it.

dean can pretty much do anything as long as he has sam and cas. sam? he needs a little more than that. always has.

[rowenabean]

went to aussie for a week and apparently while I was over there a switch flipped and I am no longer on read-six-books-per-week sabbatical but have reached actually-think-about-the-future sabbatical which is a welcome if somewhat baffling switch