I’m taking Castiel from a particularly pivotal moment in his character development - directly after/as he’s being exploded by the Archangel Raphael for disobeying the will of Heaven. Thanks to this timing he’s likely to spend some amount of time under the assumption that Norfinbury is punishment for his rebellion, the greatest crime an angel can commit. This by itself sets him up for an interesting character arc, coming to terms with his actions and what drove him to do it in the first place and grappling with the nature of free will. Being stuck between feeling like he's being punished for disobeying orders while also being cut off entirely from the Heavenly Host and thus having no orders to follow for the first time in his life will be a confusing and possibly terrifying experience for him, especially since the people he chose to put his faith in instead of Heaven aren't here either. There's a strong possibility he'll seek to find something else in which to put his faith, be it a person or a cause, and vehemently adhere to it as a way of trying to replace what he's lost. This also leads me into the next point - being from a fairly early canon point, Castiel has only been interacting with humanity as an active participant rather than a distant observer for about a year, and is still learning how to act like a human. In canon he steadily starts to pick up language and expressions from Sam and Dean, but given that they aren't here he'll have to start drawing from other sources, meaning his CR will have a pretty huge impact on how he develops in terms of both worldview and mannerisms.
Additionally, there's the small issue of the fact that Castiel is accustomed to existing as an immortal energy-being with no physical needs to speak of. While he won't be fully human in-game, susceptability to cold, hunger, and fatigue will all be extremely new to him, as will the fragility of his body. He may be a soldier who has existed since time immemorial, but he has never, ever had to be a living being before, and he's going to be very bad at it. Luckily Castiel is a quick learner and has been watching humanity struggle its way across the Earth from its very beginning, so he may be able to piece things together as time goes on, but the first few weeks will be very difficult and disorienting for him.
Castiel isn't accustomed to feeling cold. He isn't accustomed to fatigue, either, or hunger, thirst. He's witnessed them all, of course, over the long centuries he's spent stationed on Earth. He's seen beasts and men alike succumb to them, watched them kill more surely than any wound, but never once has he felt them for himself. Experiencing the memories of those vessels he'd taken in the past had brought him close, or so he thought, but the truth is his own form simply isn't subject to such burdens. An angel never tires, weakens, or wants, even when inhabiting a mortal form.
And yet, here he is.
“I admit I'm developing a much greater respect for humankind,” he says to whoever happens to be closest through chattering teeth – an unhelpful gesture, but he can't seem to make himself stop doing it. Jimmy Novak had dressed for cold weather that night when he'd left his family to serve as Castiel's vessel, but cold by Illinois standards was nothing compared to this. The angel glances around the room and, noticing that most of the others have adopted a the same hunched posture, sitting on the floor with their limbs drawn in close to themselves, carefully hunkers down and tries to do the same. Whether it's some gesture of solidarity or simply meant to ward off the cold he isn't sure, but copying it makes him feel a little better all the same.
“This is all harder than it looks,” he continues. “Not that I had assumed it was easy, but it's difficult to truly understand when you're a witness, not a participant.” On some level he'd assumed it was like the pain of battle – a sharp spike that fades over time, becomes easier to ignore. But all of this started out so small he hardly noticed at first, then grew and grew until the ache in his joints and the pounding in his head and the dryness in his mouth were constant, needling, impossible to ignore. In its own way, it's so much worse.
He turns to whoever it is he's selected as a conversation partner and watches their face carefully, almost hawkishly as he waits for a response.
no subject
I’m taking Castiel from a particularly pivotal moment in his character development - directly after/as he’s being exploded by the Archangel Raphael for disobeying the will of Heaven. Thanks to this timing he’s likely to spend some amount of time under the assumption that Norfinbury is punishment for his rebellion, the greatest crime an angel can commit. This by itself sets him up for an interesting character arc, coming to terms with his actions and what drove him to do it in the first place and grappling with the nature of free will. Being stuck between feeling like he's being punished for disobeying orders while also being cut off entirely from the Heavenly Host and thus having no orders to follow for the first time in his life will be a confusing and possibly terrifying experience for him, especially since the people he chose to put his faith in instead of Heaven aren't here either. There's a strong possibility he'll seek to find something else in which to put his faith, be it a person or a cause, and vehemently adhere to it as a way of trying to replace what he's lost. This also leads me into the next point - being from a fairly early canon point, Castiel has only been interacting with humanity as an active participant rather than a distant observer for about a year, and is still learning how to act like a human. In canon he steadily starts to pick up language and expressions from Sam and Dean, but given that they aren't here he'll have to start drawing from other sources, meaning his CR will have a pretty huge impact on how he develops in terms of both worldview and mannerisms.
Additionally, there's the small issue of the fact that Castiel is accustomed to existing as an immortal energy-being with no physical needs to speak of. While he won't be fully human in-game, susceptability to cold, hunger, and fatigue will all be extremely new to him, as will the fragility of his body. He may be a soldier who has existed since time immemorial, but he has never, ever had to be a living being before, and he's going to be very bad at it. Luckily Castiel is a quick learner and has been watching humanity struggle its way across the Earth from its very beginning, so he may be able to piece things together as time goes on, but the first few weeks will be very difficult and disorienting for him.
RP Samples:
TDM thread (network)
Prose Starter:
Castiel isn't accustomed to feeling cold. He isn't accustomed to fatigue, either, or hunger, thirst. He's witnessed them all, of course, over the long centuries he's spent stationed on Earth. He's seen beasts and men alike succumb to them, watched them kill more surely than any wound, but never once has he felt them for himself. Experiencing the memories of those vessels he'd taken in the past had brought him close, or so he thought, but the truth is his own form simply isn't subject to such burdens. An angel never tires, weakens, or wants, even when inhabiting a mortal form.
And yet, here he is.
“I admit I'm developing a much greater respect for humankind,” he says to whoever happens to be closest through chattering teeth – an unhelpful gesture, but he can't seem to make himself stop doing it. Jimmy Novak had dressed for cold weather that night when he'd left his family to serve as Castiel's vessel, but cold by Illinois standards was nothing compared to this. The angel glances around the room and, noticing that most of the others have adopted a the same hunched posture, sitting on the floor with their limbs drawn in close to themselves, carefully hunkers down and tries to do the same. Whether it's some gesture of solidarity or simply meant to ward off the cold he isn't sure, but copying it makes him feel a little better all the same.
“This is all harder than it looks,” he continues. “Not that I had assumed it was easy, but it's difficult to truly understand when you're a witness, not a participant.” On some level he'd assumed it was like the pain of battle – a sharp spike that fades over time, becomes easier to ignore. But all of this started out so small he hardly noticed at first, then grew and grew until the ache in his joints and the pounding in his head and the dryness in his mouth were constant, needling, impossible to ignore. In its own way, it's so much worse.
He turns to whoever it is he's selected as a conversation partner and watches their face carefully, almost hawkishly as he waits for a response.