The April situation
”Real!April was raped”
The reaper said that there was a real April, so we know the reaper had possessed her, but was she still in there? Reapers convey people to the afterlife, that’s their job. Maybe the reaper did that to April and then possessed her lifeless body. Extradiegetically we’ve been told that reapers are a type of angels, but as far as I’m aware we don’t have a better source for that than WB script supervisor Chad Kennedy, so it’s a far cry from canon imo. If we do accept that, however, we know that angels take live vessels and keep them alive. I don’t think we’ve ever seen an angel intentionally kill its vessel on the show. So in that case, April was presumably still there and she was raped.
We just don’t know. Personally, to be able to live with the episode, I’ve made it my headcanon that April was no longer in her body. But if so, the show should have indicated that, and they didn’t. Going strictly by what was shown in the episode, it’s reasonable to assume that April was present. However, there is still room for doubt about it.
”Cas was raped - the reaper lied to get him to consent”
She did lie to him by omission and he wouldn’t have consented if he’d known the truth, but I can’t agree that this is rape. It’s a matter of definitions, and I think that if you label this rape, the meaning of the word is diluted too much and it starts to become meaningless. I’m speaking here as a rape survivor myself. I live in Sweden, and in recent years there’s been a lot of discussion here about exactly what does or does not constitute rape. Unlike the US, for example, we didn’t have such a thing as statutory rape, so sex with minors could be labelled sexual assault or something like that, and there was an obligation to prove that the minor had resisted. This law was in effect when I was raped, so my rapist would not have been convicted if I’d said anything about it to anyone, which I didn’t.
I think that an adult having sex with a minor is committing rape. I think that sex with someone who is drugged or very drunk or unconscious is rape, because they’re not able to consent. I think that when someone lies to get someone else to consent to sex, that is sleazy and inexcusable behavior, but I don’t think that it’s rape or that it should be punishable by prison. If that’s rape, then both Sam and Dean have committed it as well. Dean told the amazon he was a successful moneymaker, which made her have sex with him because that was the kind of guy she specifically targeted. Sam lied by omission to Amelia by keeping his entire life from her. For that matter, Cas didn’t tell ”April” the truth about himself either, and she (the real April that he thought she was) might not have consented if she’d known the full story.
In fact the amazon lied to Dean as well, and so did Amelia to Sam (she didn’t mention her husband). Both Dean and Sam have probably consistently lied, actively or by omission, to all their casual sex partners. Jess didn't know about Sam's background. Dean didn't tell Lisa all about himself before their first bendy weekend. The show is full of the type of sexual encounter where one or both parties isn’t telling the whole truth. In fact it’s an extremely common trope in all fiction.
”Cas was raped - survival sex”
The reaper acted extremely sleazily. If you imagine the same situation with the genders switched, it’s even clearer just how creepy it was. I just can’t agree that Cas was not ABLE to consent because of the situation.
I think that survival sex is rape. But when you slap such a serious label on something, you have to be very careful with your definitions, and I don’t think that Cas’ situation amounted to survival sex.
Sex for food and board? He’d already eaten the sandwich. The worst that could happen was that she’d throw him out. So, another night in the cold and wet. Not very nice, but not by any stretch of the imagination a question of survival. For that matter, he could have just locked her in the bathroom and slept in her bed if he wanted. She (the real April that he thought she was) could not in any way force him into anything. And any argument veering into Cas being mentally unprepared or unable to handle her advances, I can’t take seriously. He’s been an angel for millions of years and he’s been through much, much worse. He can handle himself. If he didn’t want to have sex with her, he wouldn’t have had sex with her.
Cas did not show any sign of considering himself to have been violated. Not at the time, not immediately afterwards, not later in the bunker with Sam and Dean, not weeks later in the bar with Sam and Dean.
The episode was extremely crappy, for sure. BucknerRossLeming should never EVER be allowed to write sex scenes - it’s like they’re in a
competition to make them as offensive as possible. There were definitely consent issues, that weren’t in any way acknowledged in canon, and TPTB (Robbie Thompson, was it?) allegedly informed us that the writers didn’t intend for them to be there. From canon information, it seems likely that real!April was indeed raped. Problematic crapfest all around.
But. I personally don’t agree that Cas was raped, and I consider it a viable position that April wasn’t either. And you know what, I feel like my opinion is not allowed in the fandom. I’m honestly scared to even talk about it because of the reactions I might get. We have to be able to at least discuss these things. I can’t think it’s right to shut down any discussion of it or different views on it with a blanket ban.
The reaper said that there was a real April, so we know the reaper had possessed her, but was she still in there? Reapers convey people to the afterlife, that’s their job. Maybe the reaper did that to April and then possessed her lifeless body. Extradiegetically we’ve been told that reapers are a type of angels, but as far as I’m aware we don’t have a better source for that than WB script supervisor Chad Kennedy, so it’s a far cry from canon imo. If we do accept that, however, we know that angels take live vessels and keep them alive. I don’t think we’ve ever seen an angel intentionally kill its vessel on the show. So in that case, April was presumably still there and she was raped.
We just don’t know. Personally, to be able to live with the episode, I’ve made it my headcanon that April was no longer in her body. But if so, the show should have indicated that, and they didn’t. Going strictly by what was shown in the episode, it’s reasonable to assume that April was present. However, there is still room for doubt about it.
”Cas was raped - the reaper lied to get him to consent”
She did lie to him by omission and he wouldn’t have consented if he’d known the truth, but I can’t agree that this is rape. It’s a matter of definitions, and I think that if you label this rape, the meaning of the word is diluted too much and it starts to become meaningless. I’m speaking here as a rape survivor myself. I live in Sweden, and in recent years there’s been a lot of discussion here about exactly what does or does not constitute rape. Unlike the US, for example, we didn’t have such a thing as statutory rape, so sex with minors could be labelled sexual assault or something like that, and there was an obligation to prove that the minor had resisted. This law was in effect when I was raped, so my rapist would not have been convicted if I’d said anything about it to anyone, which I didn’t.
I think that an adult having sex with a minor is committing rape. I think that sex with someone who is drugged or very drunk or unconscious is rape, because they’re not able to consent. I think that when someone lies to get someone else to consent to sex, that is sleazy and inexcusable behavior, but I don’t think that it’s rape or that it should be punishable by prison. If that’s rape, then both Sam and Dean have committed it as well. Dean told the amazon he was a successful moneymaker, which made her have sex with him because that was the kind of guy she specifically targeted. Sam lied by omission to Amelia by keeping his entire life from her. For that matter, Cas didn’t tell ”April” the truth about himself either, and she (the real April that he thought she was) might not have consented if she’d known the full story.
In fact the amazon lied to Dean as well, and so did Amelia to Sam (she didn’t mention her husband). Both Dean and Sam have probably consistently lied, actively or by omission, to all their casual sex partners. Jess didn't know about Sam's background. Dean didn't tell Lisa all about himself before their first bendy weekend. The show is full of the type of sexual encounter where one or both parties isn’t telling the whole truth. In fact it’s an extremely common trope in all fiction.
”Cas was raped - survival sex”
The reaper acted extremely sleazily. If you imagine the same situation with the genders switched, it’s even clearer just how creepy it was. I just can’t agree that Cas was not ABLE to consent because of the situation.
I think that survival sex is rape. But when you slap such a serious label on something, you have to be very careful with your definitions, and I don’t think that Cas’ situation amounted to survival sex.
Sex for food and board? He’d already eaten the sandwich. The worst that could happen was that she’d throw him out. So, another night in the cold and wet. Not very nice, but not by any stretch of the imagination a question of survival. For that matter, he could have just locked her in the bathroom and slept in her bed if he wanted. She (the real April that he thought she was) could not in any way force him into anything. And any argument veering into Cas being mentally unprepared or unable to handle her advances, I can’t take seriously. He’s been an angel for millions of years and he’s been through much, much worse. He can handle himself. If he didn’t want to have sex with her, he wouldn’t have had sex with her.
Cas did not show any sign of considering himself to have been violated. Not at the time, not immediately afterwards, not later in the bunker with Sam and Dean, not weeks later in the bar with Sam and Dean.
The episode was extremely crappy, for sure. BucknerRossLeming should never EVER be allowed to write sex scenes - it’s like they’re in a
competition to make them as offensive as possible. There were definitely consent issues, that weren’t in any way acknowledged in canon, and TPTB (Robbie Thompson, was it?) allegedly informed us that the writers didn’t intend for them to be there. From canon information, it seems likely that real!April was indeed raped. Problematic crapfest all around.
But. I personally don’t agree that Cas was raped, and I consider it a viable position that April wasn’t either. And you know what, I feel like my opinion is not allowed in the fandom. I’m honestly scared to even talk about it because of the reactions I might get. We have to be able to at least discuss these things. I can’t think it’s right to shut down any discussion of it or different views on it with a blanket ban.