He’s insane. He’s absolutely fucking insane, and Sam’s going to be killed because of it.
Dean feels like he’s being torn apart, watching as Michael uses his hands to pump Sam full of more grace-tinted blood. Dean’s lost track of how long this has been going on- time is strange, when he’s not in control of his own body, and Michael shuts him out sometimes, too- but it doesn’t matter. It could’ve been five minutes, and that would still be too long for Sam to be tied to a chair and experimented on by some freak of an archangel.
He’s been fighting since the get-go, struggling against Michael’s hold, but for the most part, it feels like his strength has been sapped from him. Michael acknowledges him, on occasion, but mostly for offhanded mockery- he’s damn smug about the fact that he’s in control, especially since capturing Sam, and Dean- Dean’s desperate. Especially now, as Michael’s plans for today’s session slowly come to light.
“You should be strong enough now.” He says this with Dean’s mouth as he starts to undo Sam’s restraints. Sam’s visibly tense, and doesn’t seem to trust it for a second. Dean’s confused and angry. “To protect yourself, hm? It’ll be fascinating to see what you can do.”
Once Sam’s been freed from his binds, Michael steps back, casual as he walks towards the door. Dean doesn’t know what’s waiting behind it- Michael’s kept this a surprise for him, too- but when he pulls it open, and there’s a young woman waiting, smiling slow and easy-
Her fangs come out as Michael beckons her forward. “He’s all yours. Good look, Mira.”
Vampire. She doesn’t waste any time in going for Sam, and Dean’s forced to watch in horror as his brother scrambles to respond. Sam is completely unarmed, exhausted, unfed- he doesn’t stand a chance. What the hell is Michael trying to do?“
Michael, for his part, offers no response. He simply leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watches the fight that starts. Dean tries to force him to do something, to interfere- what good are all these experiments if he’s just going to kill his subject, anyways?- but Michael is unaffected.
Despite everything, Sam is holding his ground. He’s a damn good fighter, everything else aside, and despite himself, Dean feels a small bit of pride as he watches. Sam keeps distance between himself and the vampire, and when she gets close, he uses his size to his advantage, keeping her from getting her teeth into him. The way his eyes are darting around, he must be searching for something to use; anything with an edge sharp enough to kill her. Dean’s doing the same and comes up short; the room is bare but for the chair Sam’s just risen from, and it’s hardly got any edges on it at all.
“You know,” Michael says, sounding absent and unconcerned, “there’s more than one way to kill a vampire.”
Abruptly, Dean’s hit with visions of Michael’s other experiments- the burned-out eyes, the pile of corpses. It doesn’t make sense when Sam’s the one fighting, unless-
Does he really think that those injections have given Sam the power to smite people?
Insane. He’s insane, and Sam’s going to suffer for it.
Sam’s noticed the chair, too. For a lack of any other options, he’s grabbed it, using it now to keep the vampire away. He smashes it against the floor hard enough to splinter the wood, and it leaves him with a messy stake- good enough for Bram Stoker, maybe, but not for real life. Not for protecting himself against this thing.
“It’ll be too bad if you die here,” Michael hums. “A disappointment, really. I’m sure Dean will be upset, too. Won’t you?”
The last bit is directed inwards, and Dean throws himself against the wall, desperate to get through. To do something; to save his brother the way every part of his mind is begging him to. Michael’s control almost falters, enough to twitch forward towards the fight, but-
Her neck. Sam’s jammed the thing right into her neck. It won’t kill her, but it’ll definitely slow her down, and he repeats the motion more than once. There’s blood. She’s screaming. Sam’s getting desperate, and Dean thinks, for a moment, he catches a faint sort of glow, a hint of blue-
It takes four or five tries, but Sam’s brutal, messy solution proves to be enough. The vampire drops to the ground with her head nearly separated from her body, and the makeshift stake joins her, gory and blunt. Sam’s panting hard for breath, unsteady on his feet, and Dean wants to cry. Wants to go to him, more than anything.
Michael hums again, and he straightens himself up off the wall. If Dean’s resistance has bothered him, he makes no indication. “Disappointing,” he says simply, and then turns to leave the room without another word.
Dean screams and shouts and fights with all he has, but it’s no use. Sam is, once again, left alone. There’s no telling what Michael will force on him next.
Chiune Sugihara. This man saved 6000 Jews. He was a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania. When the Nazis began rounding up Jews, Sugihara risked his life to start issuing unlawful travel visas to Jews. He hand-wrote them 18 hrs a day. The day his consulate closed and he had to evacuate, witnesses claim he was STILL writing visas and throwing from the train as he pulled away. He saved 6000 lives. The world didn’t know what he’d done until Israel honored him in 1985, the year before he died.
Why can’t we have a movie about him?
He was often called “Sempo”, an alternative reading of the characters of his first name, as that was easier for Westerners to pronounce.
His wife, Yukiko, was also a part of this; she is often credited with suggesting the plan. The Sugihara family was held in a Soviet POW camp for 18 months until the end of the war; within a year of returning home, Sugihara was asked to resign – officially due to downsizing, but most likely because the government disagreed with his actions.
He didn’t simply grant visas – he granted visas against direct orders, after attempting three times to receive permission from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and being turned down each time. He did not “misread” orders; he was in direct violation of them, with the encouragement and support of his wife.
He was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations in 1985, a year before he died in Kamakura; he and his descendants have also been granted permanent Israeli citizenship. He was also posthumously awarded the Life Saving Cross of Lithuania (1993); Commander’s Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (1996); and the Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2007). Though not canonized, some Eastern Orthodox Christians recognize him as a saint.
Sugihara was born in Gifu on the first day of 1900, January 1. He achieved top marks in his schooling; his father wanted him to become a physician, but Sugihara wished to pursue learning English. He deliberately failed the exam by writing only his name and then entered Waseda, where he majored in English. He joined the Foreign Ministry after graduation and worked in the Manchurian Foreign Office in Harbin (where he learned Russian and German; he also converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church during this time). He resigned his post in protest over how the Japanese government treated the local Chinese citizens. He eventually married Yukiko Kikuchi, who would suggest and encourage his acts in Lithuania; they had four sons together. Chiune Sugihara passed away July 31, 1986, at the age of 86. Until her own passing in 2008, Yukiko continued as an ambassador of his legacy.
It is estimated that the Sugiharas saved between 6,000-10,000 Lithuanian and Polish Jewish people.
It’s a tragedy that the Sugiharas aren’t household names. They are among the greatest heroes of WWII. Is it because they were from an Axis Power? Is it because they aren’t European? I don’t know. But I’ve decided to always reblog them when they come across my dash. If I had the money, I would finance a movie about them.
He told an interviewer:
You want to know about my motivation, don’t you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes, Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent.
People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people’s lives….The spirit of humanity, philanthropy…neighborly friendship…with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation—and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage.
He died in nearly complete obscurity in Japan. His neighbors were shocked when people from all over, including Israeli diplomatic personnel, showed up at quiet little Mr. Sugihara’s funeral.
I will forever reblog this, I wish more people would know about them!
I liked this before when it had way less information. Thank you, history-sharers.
Tucked away in a corner in L.A.’s Little Tokyo is a life-sized statue of Chiune, seated on a bench and smiling gently as he holds out a visa.
The stone next to him bears a quote from the Talmud; “He who saves one life, saves the entire world.”
I had no idea it existed until a few weeks ago, but it’s since become one of my favorite pieces of public art.
Chiune Sugihara. Original antifa.
PBS made a documentary about Chiune Sugihara in 2005. If you’re interested in him, it’s definitely worth checking out. (The PBS link above even has some interactive information to go along with the film.) Ask your local library if they have a copy/can order you one from another library. You won’t be disappointed!
Very Good Trope: Civillian is told “ stay in the car” while hero goes to confront villain. Hero gets in over head and all seems disaster. Civillian crashes car into villain.
Me, watching: ohhohoho! But they stayed in the car! Yesss, this is very good!
In honour of its 10 year anniversary I want to show you guys my favourite Twilight shitpost image that my laptop says I saved to my hard drive in January of 2010
The problem with Sam caring for Nick is not that he’s caring for Nick – that’s entirely in character for Sam – or even necessarily that Mary doesn’t fully understand why that has to be hard for him – because nobody ever fully told her – but it’s that the writers, once again, gave everyone else an opportunity to talk about their Lucifer related trauma but Sam.
I don’t blame Mary or Jack for not fully knowing, because how could they (Castiel is another bag of issues here), but we just sat through two consecutive episodes in which everyone but Sam was allowed to textually acknowledge how difficult it can be to see the face of someone who’s responsible for much of your trauma. I’m tired.
artherra 