#the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb

[farenmaddox]

Supernatural unhinged rambling ahead… be warned.

I have started obsessing over this idea that was a passing thought I had a few weeks ago, which is how much better seasons 6 and 12 would have been if the plots had been swapped. Reasons: the Campbell family plot Did Not Serve the Narrative of season 6 and felt hugely distracting, and the BMoL felt like a silly threat at the point of season 12. They have super-cool weapons to fight monsters. Okay, and? They can incapacitate/go toe-to-toe with an angel? Me, too, bitch, you ain't special. This is well after The Fall and after angels have already been thoroughly nerfed by previous seasons.

So what if the big bad of season 6 was the BMoL and the big bad of season 12 was Sam?

Season 6: The British Men of Letters knew some shit was up in America but left it alone until Crowley leaned on them for resources in some cagey plot of his. They dig into it and realize angels are on earth and fucking things up. This is a big deal, a big problem, and they need as much information and leverage on angels as they can get, immediately. So what do they do? They identify the person who knows the most about them at this point: Dean Winchester.

Sam is in hell, Cas in heaven; Dean is alone (I mean, he has Lisa and Ben but let’s be realistic about how much of a shield they can be). This group who is so ruthless about killing monsters gets to Dean at a point of real vulnerability in this life. They promise him that if he works with them they will find a way to save Sam. And so begins the War. Dean is a ruthless hunter, Ketch and Mick get more screentime to attempt to be interesting people, the Alpha plot is more developed. They capture angels and study them. Cas is too distracted and Dean too sad/angry to realize the threat that the BMoL actually poses to Heaven until it's almost too late.

Dean defects to side with Cas, but only at the last minute. Cas is the one who amasses the power to get to Sam first, and Dean’s grateful. That, plus the fact that the BMoL want to lock up and study Sam and kill Cas. Cas decimates the BMoL and Dean doesn’t mind that at all. Then the Leviathans happen, end season.

Season 12: At the end of season 11, as Amara is trying to gather as much power as possible, Sam is caught in the crossfire and she eats Sam’s soul. Very end of the season, she brings back not just Mary but Grandpa Campbell as well, in an effort to fuck up Chuck's storylines.

Sam is dangerous and running amok, chasing Lucifer all over the globe and leaving a trail of collateral damage, maybe trying to steal the Knights of Hell's loyalty for himself. Cas and Crowley and Dean (hello toxic polycule!) are chasing Sam, and the Campbell family (including Mary) is left to deal with actual hunting as a profession. Dean tries to be around when he can to temper their hunting style and forge a relationship with his mom, but it goes poorly. At the same time, Dean is trying to negotiate with Billie on how to get Sam’s soul back, which of course goes awry when Cas kills Billie to get Dean and Mary out of the deal they made when they got arrested for trying to kill the president.

Big overarching themes/plots related to “blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” type stuff, and the nature of Death and souls. Dean maybe gets caught up in Death politics for a minute, as a way of actually doing something with how much Dean has had a special connection with Death and reapers in previous seasons, and his role as assassin of the old Death and an agent in the ascension of the new Death. Because Sam is like this, Dean ends up sticking with Cas more and ends up siding with him about what to do with Kelly's little nephilim problem.

Season 12 ends similarly to canon, except that Sam is the one who gets sucked into Apocalypse World, Grandpa Campbell is the one who tries to shoot Jack, and Dean is the one who tries to stop him. When they wake up from Jack flinging them away, Mary turfs her dad out and sides with Dean about Jack. Heading into season 13, we are wondering about soulless Sam and whether he's going to find a way back and take Hell for himself, and what Dean and Mary are going to do about the absolute MESS that the Campbells have made of the hunting network and the Winchester reputation.

[ramblingsfromthytruly]

BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BLOOD RUNS THICKER THAN WATER BUT BOTH FEEL THE SAME WHEN YOU'RE EYES ARE CLOSED I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER I AM THE RIVER'S DAUGHTER AND YOU'LL BE HER SON WHEN WE'RE BOTH REPOSED

[brionysea]

they put max in mike's colour for the episode where she gets targeted by the trauma monster. max why are you in blue. why does trauma + monster = blue and blue = mike so mike = trauma + monster. even her hair looks less bright because she's depressed and both the monster and the trauma have her in their sights (max's colour is equal parts "orange" and "rainbow" To Me)

the blue (mike's colour!!!) took over max's character (like how el is pink but the blue takes over her when she's in a state of mutually assured destruction with mike) and then max dies in the bluest attic ever and ends up comatose in the bluest hospital room known to man. thinking yet again of mike vs max and el's feminism. she's her own person who's fully capable of making her own decisions so PLEASE STOP DROWNING HER IN THE BLUE, MIKE!

also the blue attic is disrupted by the red gate. between that, the roses, the spooky fog, and the mind palace, vecna is red. blue + red makes me think of blood in the water which draws sharks (the imagery used for barb's death + by nancy realising the demogorgon is drawn by blood), BUT with this imagery MIKE is the unfathomably expansive ocean and vecna is the piddly little drop of blood. the sea was calm until vecna summoned the sharks? also the possessed mike agenda of blood being IN the water

[canichangemyblogname]

Watching the Netflix-made documentary on Alexander the Great and the actor playing Alexander’s father in the supplemental visual story telling of the archaeology was scripted to shake hands with Alexander and ask him for forgiveness because “blood is thicker than water.” << Those words exactly.

I immediately paused the show and walked into the other room to stand there like this:

[readingcircletemple]

Editing Thoughts:

As we reach the end of the Circle of Magic series, magic starts to get weird, y'all. I know a lot of people struggle with things that happen that are not previously established, but I never had an issue with them. Yes, this is my series. I grew up with these books, so CoM is kind of my baseline for magic anyway. But I'm going to pitch one more possible explanation fror why I think it works:

I ran across this video by Timothy Hickson a while back, in which he explains how soft magic systems work really well to emphasize the emotional beats of a story. (This, incidentally, helped me understand why I like soft magic systems so much.) This works particularly well in CoM because we see in the first couple of books how emotional states can have an influence on magic--namely, when Tris is angry, she sparks. And she must learn to control her anger.

So at the end of Shatterglass, when Tris basically opens a hole in the ground? This is again, an echo of her anger. And at the end of the Will of the Empress, Tris's ability to be with the other three "physically" while still being so far away is the CoM version of the family member leaving and saying, "I'll always be with you in here (points to heart)."

The thread circle is a symbol of the childhood bond these four form. Then they part from one another, grow, change, and return. For many of us, childhood friendships fall apart as we grow older. We leave friends and that's that. And throughout the book, they struggle with whether or not their frienship has ended--if it was just a childhood thing. And in a way it was, and in a way, it wasn't. By the end of the story, they reform their friendship anew--it is no longer a childhood bond, but an adult one, which comes with all the complexities of adulthood. So the thread circle--the symbol of their childhood friendship--disappears as they form a newer, deeper, stronger bond. And the circle goes deeper--literally moving into their hands--and leaving them with a scar, just as friendships can both open and heal wounds. And yes, it's something new and unexpected, that can't easily be explained. But isn't that so much of what life (and friendship) is?

But I would be wrong. Let us know what you think in the comments.

[reccord-raccoon]

Fire Emblem Siblings week 2023 day 2: fears/books

the Fraldarius siblings protect one of the Gautier siblings from the other

drabble under the cut

Felix ran a hand over the weathered leather of the old diary. His husband's, from long before the thought of marriage crossed either of their minds.

The pages in Felix's hands held all of what was left of the true nature of his brother. Of Both their brothers. No one else close enough to know them had kept a diary as faithfully as Sylvain had.

"Speak of the devil," Felix whispered when he heard the door open behind him.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Sylvain's voice sounded cheerful, but Felix had known him for much too long to truly believe he was.

He didn't answer. Instead he let his husband brush aside midnight hair and rest his chin on his shoulder.

Sylvain hummed, "That old thing? What about it caught your attention, love?"

Felix opened it to the page his thumb hand been saving and let their eyes scan it before speaking.

"...the well…"

"I remember this," he whispered.

"…Glenn and Felix saved me…"

He felt Sylvain shrug. "Kinda hard to forget. My brother was a pretty big dick."

"…I'm still pretty cold, but Glenn let me borrow some of his clothes while mine dry off…"

"That was the day Glenn and I realized just how bad Miklan actually was. Glenn vowed to stop him however he could. I vowed to protect you."

Sylvain stilled. Too afraid of his emotions breaking through to dare to move.

"I remember how I felt that day," Felix continued, "but I don't think I ever…"

knew how you felt.

The unspoken words hung in the air and young Sylvain's loopy handwriting burned in front of them.

"…Miklan tried to yell at me again later. But Felix and Glenn were there so he didn't. Felix was hugging me and Glenn's hand was on my shoulder and even though I was still scared, having them by my side made me feel like I could conquer the world…"

"Maybe with them I could even fight Miklan."

@fireemblemsiblingsweek

[space-station-collective]

I have acquired Several Children /lh

anyway yeah I now have two children in other systems, it's great, I love my sons /fam

found family between systems and headmates in the same brain is so lovely, we are bonding over things and forging our own paths, with the people we want

(some thoughts on chosen family after the cut)

the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. that means that chosen family will always be stronger than blood relations, if you so choose

there are people in the world who will try and say that you should remain loyal to your "real family" no matter what, but those people are wrong. blood relation holds no value beyond what people prove they deserve

so remember that, your chosen family is yours, and anyone who tries to say otherwise is plain wrong

love your family, whoever that may be. find your own path if the one you were born on fails you. you will find your way eventually, I promise

in case nobody has told you today: you are loved. you are cared for. I see you

-the host (he/they)

[fluffernuterfiller]

my personal favorite version of the “humans are special because…” is the idea that humans don’t just pack bond with other species we make other species pack bond with us

the idea that a human will pack bond with something/one and after a period of time that thing/person will begin to care about the human too, even if the species doesn’t typically form pack bonds or are exclusively solitary or only brought the human aboard for its usefulness (only thought of us as a tool to be used and discarded if no longer of use)

the idea that by caring for someone/thing we can make them go against their own nature and care for us too

I like the idea that once the alien’s figure out that it’s a thing™️ they try to study it and the results are frustratingly inconclusive, it’s not some sort of telepathic manipulation, it’s not pheromones, it’s not psychological conditioning, it’s not a method of training. it just is

Humans are Weirdos (ft.  animals)

I know a popular ‘humans are weird to aliens’ topic is how easily humans can bond to animals. But then think the opposite.

We humans are so weird because we are practically bonding magnets to animals.

We have our social hierarchies, so it makes sense that we can fit in with certain groups like dogs and even gorillas if we can understand them enough. We get ourselves acquainted with dogs who have been domesticated and these dogs will leap into our laps and constantly bother us for pets and treats and licking us as a way to show affection. People who can get certain animals to open up to us are super cool. Aliens are in awe of how our understanding of them can get us into a pack so readily that humans who are super close to normally protective dog mothers are allowed to hold their precious babies.

We can even manage to bond with animals like cats, known to be mostly solitary. We care for these cats and when they’re comfortable they will break their isolation and seek us out for affection.

Imagine an alien seeing a dog or cat go to an upset human and try to nuzzle them or snuggle into their lap to let themselves be held for our emotional comfort. These animals which, though currently domesticated, were descended from predators streamlined towards a goal of becoming efficient hunters. Willingly coming to our emotional aid and comforting us because they’ve bonded with us so closely.

Aliens see dogs act as protectors and bark away intruders on the human territory, but instantly turn happy when they know it’s their owner and friend. They see cats utilizing inborn maternal instincts to hunt down and leave ‘gifts’ of dead things in an effort to feed and teach their humans to take care of them since we’re such worthless hunters in their eyes. They’ll even know if something is wrong with humans medically before we do, or know about disturbances in the home like fires or gas leaks, and will uncharacteristically jump us to get us out of danger.

And when humans are in danger by others, and an animal senses it before we do, these animals will immediately jump on the defensive and snarl and warn against any potential enemies  and try to alert us.

You’ve got dogs who will literally jump on intruders and bite them when they’re trying to attack their human owners. Throwing themselves and and intimidating animals many times larger than themselves for our sake. Even cats, the ones people might think aren’t very interested in their humans, will throw themselves into the fray and claw the hell out of something that’s a danger to a precious human of theirs.

And, for an added bonus, imagine if we can get this to apply to bigger, deadlier animals with similar capacity for pack bonding.

After months and months of talking, mimicking, feeding, and caring for a giant predator the rest of the crew refuses to near, it’s sort of relaxed to the human. A sense of loyalty that 'yes, this creature cares for me’. Then, one day, pirates invade the vessel and somehow the animal gets loose. Cue the crew panicking when it comes ambling out of its’ holding bay at the time when a pirate is about to bring a knife or something down on the human. Two seconds later this pirate is running and screaming for its life when it sees it. The creature takes a running start, LEAPS over the human (which was closest to it and already injured) and takes off after it. When that pirate is either captured or dead, the creature returns to the human, nuzzling them and making sounds to see if they’re okay.

The human is smiling and mimicking the sounds back, or just talking to it to say what a 'good boy’ it is.

The aliens of the crew are in shock.  The rest of the humans just smile knowingly.

[bones-of-old]

poetry dump x11

thicker than water

Family is a choice

Not something you are stuck with

They are yours to choose

[readingcircletemple]

While we're on the topic of Phil Kaye and Sarah Kay... here's another poem that surprisingly resonates with the Circle kids...

[how-what-why-huh]

i'm all the people i've ever loved

loseness lines over time by olivia de recat, @i-wrotethisforme, Kaveh Akbar, Olivie Blake

[twinklingstrawberries]

Growing up with two homophobic, racist, misogynistic, conservative and overall just shitty older brothers really is an experience when you are a queer woman that is working on moving abroad.

[crimzonquazar]

I always wondered if me not wanting to telling my family I was gay and trans was a bad thing, then I realized that if I felt I had grown up in an environment where I felt comfortable and safe with sharing that information, I would’ve already

[yourheartinyourmouth]

can’t wait to go back to the big city, everyone there is an orphan like me

[co-opmode]

imo "thinking of eachother as siblings/parent/child/whatever" means the love we have is just an obligation based on living circumstances, which makes it feel cheap and meaningless. Finding a family is soooooo much different and DEEPER than just "well they're blood" and has nothing to do with whether or not sex is involved, its 100% just about if these people are your home and make you feel safe.

exactly

[is-on-its-way]

For Mulder, Scully is his touchstone

For Scully, Mulder is her covenant (biblical)