Vessels, Consent, and Spanish (not necessarily in that order)

[ratherastory]

I've been posting Take Me Home on ff.net, because that's where I started my fanfic career (short as it may be right now), and several people have been commenting and mostly saying nice things. One in particular has been quite good about leaving reviews, except that she writes them all in Spanish.

The problem, of course, being that I don't speak a word of the language. I speak English and French fluently (French is my native language, for those of you who didn't know: I've spoken English for most of my life, and even been educated partly in the language, but French is my mother tongue), and I took enough Italian and German in high school and university to make myself understood if I need to, but I managed to bypass Spanish entirely.

So I've been trying to decipher her comments with my not-so-extensive knowledge of word derivations and how verbs get conjugated and how nouns get declined, and cobbling together something in-between French and Italian with half-baked memories of Sesame Street ("Manzana means apple!") to figure out just what the hell she's saying.

I'm not sure reading reviews should be that much work, but it's kind of fun, too.


Anyway, the other half of my post is me wondering just what the hell is up with angelic vessels. I don't remember Castiel's exact wording concerning Jimmy Novak (damn, now I have to go back and watch "Lazarus Rising" again), but I'm pretty sure he said something along the lines of him being... oh, screw it. I'm going to go look for that scene, it's bugging me. Hang on.

[INTERMISSION]

Okay. Castiel says, and I quote: "This, this is —a vessel. [...] He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this."

So here's my problem. Okay, wait, more than one problem. Castiel is very obviously a protagonist of the story now (it was more ambiguous to begin with), but the other angels pretty much aren't. Maybe there are others who will turn out not to be douchebags, but it remains to be seen. So.

1- Vessels need to consent to be possessed, right? Does that mean Zachariah & co. LIE to their vessels about their motivations? Or at least don't tell them everything/tell them half-truths/obfuscate what's really going on?

2- What about Uriel? I mean, he turned, right? He's a traitor to heaven and the other angels, totally joined up with Lucifer. Does his vessel get a say in that? I mean, here you are, a devout and religious person, you agree to be a vessel for what you think is an up-and-up angel, and instead you end up helping freaking LUCIFER. What about all the other angel/vessel combos who ended up turning to the Dark Side?

Basically, is there any indication that a vessel can revoke their consent once it's been given? It seems like that ought to be part of the initial contract, here.

Comments

[zoemathemata.livejournal.com]

And so far we've seen mostly sharp dressed vessels. Except for Raphael, I think who was in his grubbies

So apparently, when you give consent, you should be dressed up, dammit!

I also feel for those poor bastards that Cas killed in first ep this season. Those dudes were like the trash collectors on the Death Star. S'not their fault Zachariah has gone and helped start the apocalypse. I get the impression they were just the angel equivalent of dudes in red shirts on Star Trek.

Also, I highly recommend yahoo babelfish for translating. you will get the direct translation which you may have to "massage" to get the spirit, but it's pretty darn close.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the online translation thingies, but I've been using those too.

Well-dressed vessels! Maybe they all dress up in their Sunday best before getting possessed. Kind of like going to church.

I always figured Castiel was a bit of an anomaly, though: I'm sure Zachariah and Uriel know how how find a tailor. ;)

*snerk*

Trash collectors on the Death Star. Awesome analogy.

[agent-jl36.livejournal.com]

I think once you say yes to being a vessel, that's it. No take-backs unless the angel leaves quietly. I can imagine Zach and Uriel coming to their hosts with a simple message of "Hey! I'm an angel that needs your bod for a bit." Throw in a few "this is holy work" blabber and the vessel is theirs.

That would make for some interesting fic - Zach and Uriel's vessels realising that these angels don't have humanities best interest in mind!

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing there are no take-backs in the show, but it seems highly unfair to me. (Yeah, I know, life is unfair, especially on SPN, but I like to cling to my illusions)

It would make for interesting fic. Alas, I have no time to write it. Too many other commitments. Feh. I'll put it on the backburner of List Of Fics I Ought To Get Around To Eventually™.

[essenceofmeanin.livejournal.com]

hey! i can't help you out with the spanish at all, but i i have some thoughts re: uriel. as far as i'm aware, he didn't rebel. he's, um, a bit of a far right character, but he represents the schism between the angels who nominally follow gods orders (even though everyone except for cas and a few others, apparently, has pretty much given up the ghost on god ever coming back from wherever he went) and what they were actually intended to be. honestly, i think all these angels are a bit rogue. but uriel wasn't helping lucifer -- he simply hated humans as much as old lightbringer did, and that's why it's easy to muddle their motivations.

[mtee.livejournal.com]

I guess it's like the old adage.. read the find print. Once you say yes.. whatever happens in the future is just too bad.

My take... you have no control once consent is made. The assumption is, angels would not be going darkside. Maybe when this law was made.. God hadn't decided to sit back and see how the kids act on their own. Turns out they don't do well without parental control!