SPN: You Bring the Collar, I'll Bring the Cuffs Setting Notes
Setting Notes and Research:
On Gabriel’s names for Castiel:
I play in a game on LiveJournal, Letters for Sam, in which I am Gabriel. There is another person who plays Cas, and while I’ve done my best to corrupt him, I also protect him and threaten to smite whoever oversteps their bounds and makes him upset/uncomfortable, awesome big brother that I am. Part of the teasing, however, included a long list of names that I would call him, starting with Cassie-Cas and ending with HTA (Holy Tax Accountant). After some protestation, he agreed to be called Fluffy or Blue-Eyes. As a side note, the mod has learned not to be eating or drinking anything whilst reading my Gabriel posts, as it may be hazardous to her health/keyboard.
On the house plans
Many thanks to www.houseplans.com - an easily searchable database of house plans, in which I found both Castiel and Gabriel’s houses. I knew what I wanted for each of them, and found the perfect plans so that I didn’t screw up the descriptions.
On angel wings
There are just too damn many different answers as to the whole ‘wings’ debate. So for the number of wings, I went with what we saw in the show - the angels all have one pair of wings, and they’re roughly the same size (ie, huge). However, unlike the show, in this their wings are permanently manifested, with different descriptions to match different jobs. As Gabriel is the Herald, and people are meant to sit up and pay attention, his wings are suitably magnificent. As Castiel is a foot-soldier, more used to sneaking around, ambushing and fighting dirty, his wings are sleeker and dark grey to blend in with his surroundings at night.
On angel ranks and jobs
We all know Gabriel’s an Archangel, which means he’s pretty high up - as opposed to an arch-angel, which ranks only just above the normal angels. Apparently, anyway. However, since Castiel’s a fictional angel (they made him up for the show), I’ve given him the rank of ‘Power’ - the bearers of conscience, the keepers of history, the warriors created to be completely loyal to God. From what I’ve seen of him in the show, Cas lost his faith in the rest of the host but refused to give up on God until he got a direct message telling him to stop looking, and he was pretty knowledgeable. So he’s a Power. Now according to most variations, Uriel is an Archangel as well. On the show, however, he’s shown as being either the same rank or only slightly above Castiel. So he’s a Principality - the rank which works closely with the Powers to watch over humanity.
On deities
The pagan deities still exist - they were once humans, thousands of years ago, who did something to inspire belief. That belief, once strong enough, turned them into gods. The Christian God is most powerful, but he doesn’t get involved in Earth’s affairs. The pagans, on the other hand, are much like the angels in that they can be in their own realms, or they can walk amongst the humans. Due to this system, it is possible for angels to also become deities - hence Gabriel is also Loki, though it is well-known amongst the other deities in this setting. And yes, Lokiel has plenty of children, but they don’t make an appearance in the story.
On law enforcement
Human laws do not apply to angels or deities - which is a real pain in the arse for law enforcement officials. The best that can be done is for the local cops or government to petition the liaison angel or nearest benevolent deity to intercede on their behalf. Thankfully, most deities and angels at least pretend to pay attention to the laws. Except the ones banning slavery.
On Angelic Anatomy:
In this setting, angels do not have vessels - they are what you see. Some (such as Gabriel/Loki) are able to change their appearance, though most are stuck as humanoid when they arrive on Earth. As they are not born, however, they have neither nipples nor belly buttons - something which can be disturbing for a human lover to find out.
On the Slavery System:
Usually, a human becomes a slave when they’re an adult - an angel sees a human that they want, and puts a collar on them. Most are actually decent and will ask the human or the human’s family, and the family often receives some sort of compensation.
Some slaves are born into it - a few angels breed their slaves together to create better bloodlines, or in order to train a slave from childhood. There aren’t many of these, as demand isn’t high - too much effort providing for the child early on when most adults can be trained just as easily with the help of a collar, and genetics aren’t always reliable in humans.
The third option is when a human owes an angel a debt for some reason - as a sort of compromise between the first two options. Occasionally when a human becomes indebted to an angel for whatever reason, they have the option of giving up their child or children as slaves.
Some angels have also been known to take youths from orphanages or troubled homes to become slaves, claiming that it is better for the child to grow up a cared-for slave than abandoned or unloved.
Art | Masterpost
On Gabriel’s names for Castiel:
I play in a game on LiveJournal, Letters for Sam, in which I am Gabriel. There is another person who plays Cas, and while I’ve done my best to corrupt him, I also protect him and threaten to smite whoever oversteps their bounds and makes him upset/uncomfortable, awesome big brother that I am. Part of the teasing, however, included a long list of names that I would call him, starting with Cassie-Cas and ending with HTA (Holy Tax Accountant). After some protestation, he agreed to be called Fluffy or Blue-Eyes. As a side note, the mod has learned not to be eating or drinking anything whilst reading my Gabriel posts, as it may be hazardous to her health/keyboard.
On the house plans
Many thanks to www.houseplans.com - an easily searchable database of house plans, in which I found both Castiel and Gabriel’s houses. I knew what I wanted for each of them, and found the perfect plans so that I didn’t screw up the descriptions.
On angel wings
There are just too damn many different answers as to the whole ‘wings’ debate. So for the number of wings, I went with what we saw in the show - the angels all have one pair of wings, and they’re roughly the same size (ie, huge). However, unlike the show, in this their wings are permanently manifested, with different descriptions to match different jobs. As Gabriel is the Herald, and people are meant to sit up and pay attention, his wings are suitably magnificent. As Castiel is a foot-soldier, more used to sneaking around, ambushing and fighting dirty, his wings are sleeker and dark grey to blend in with his surroundings at night.
On angel ranks and jobs
We all know Gabriel’s an Archangel, which means he’s pretty high up - as opposed to an arch-angel, which ranks only just above the normal angels. Apparently, anyway. However, since Castiel’s a fictional angel (they made him up for the show), I’ve given him the rank of ‘Power’ - the bearers of conscience, the keepers of history, the warriors created to be completely loyal to God. From what I’ve seen of him in the show, Cas lost his faith in the rest of the host but refused to give up on God until he got a direct message telling him to stop looking, and he was pretty knowledgeable. So he’s a Power. Now according to most variations, Uriel is an Archangel as well. On the show, however, he’s shown as being either the same rank or only slightly above Castiel. So he’s a Principality - the rank which works closely with the Powers to watch over humanity.
On deities
The pagan deities still exist - they were once humans, thousands of years ago, who did something to inspire belief. That belief, once strong enough, turned them into gods. The Christian God is most powerful, but he doesn’t get involved in Earth’s affairs. The pagans, on the other hand, are much like the angels in that they can be in their own realms, or they can walk amongst the humans. Due to this system, it is possible for angels to also become deities - hence Gabriel is also Loki, though it is well-known amongst the other deities in this setting. And yes, Lokiel has plenty of children, but they don’t make an appearance in the story.
On law enforcement
Human laws do not apply to angels or deities - which is a real pain in the arse for law enforcement officials. The best that can be done is for the local cops or government to petition the liaison angel or nearest benevolent deity to intercede on their behalf. Thankfully, most deities and angels at least pretend to pay attention to the laws. Except the ones banning slavery.
On Angelic Anatomy:
In this setting, angels do not have vessels - they are what you see. Some (such as Gabriel/Loki) are able to change their appearance, though most are stuck as humanoid when they arrive on Earth. As they are not born, however, they have neither nipples nor belly buttons - something which can be disturbing for a human lover to find out.
On the Slavery System:
Usually, a human becomes a slave when they’re an adult - an angel sees a human that they want, and puts a collar on them. Most are actually decent and will ask the human or the human’s family, and the family often receives some sort of compensation.
Some slaves are born into it - a few angels breed their slaves together to create better bloodlines, or in order to train a slave from childhood. There aren’t many of these, as demand isn’t high - too much effort providing for the child early on when most adults can be trained just as easily with the help of a collar, and genetics aren’t always reliable in humans.
The third option is when a human owes an angel a debt for some reason - as a sort of compromise between the first two options. Occasionally when a human becomes indebted to an angel for whatever reason, they have the option of giving up their child or children as slaves.
Some angels have also been known to take youths from orphanages or troubled homes to become slaves, claiming that it is better for the child to grow up a cared-for slave than abandoned or unloved.
Art | Masterpost