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Part 4 of Supernatural Season 12.5 -- the Nymphverse
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Published:
2025-06-10
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2026-01-30
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The Winchester's Collected Notes

Chapter 2: Maria's Note

Summary:

From Ch. 5 of "For Better," the Nymph's questions and Maria's answers

Chapter Text

Interview with an Angel-Made Psychic

Questions by Aneia and Kye the Nymphs

  1. What does it feel like to use your powers? Does it take exertion/effort?
  2. Do you feel/get influenced by other people’s emotions?
  3. Does it ever make you feel uncomfortable or sick to use your powers or to go too long without using them?
  4. Do your powers work in a gradient or are they just on or off? Do you feel when they work?
  5. How do you stop using them?

 

Answers by Maria Coney

  1. If I had to give a name to it, it feels like a buzzing or a vibration that kind of works the way I imagine animal’s sonar does – like it goes out and comes back in. It’s not like anything else I’ve experienced, though. It doesn’t take effort so much as focus? But it can get tiring after a while.
  2. I don’t think I ‘get influenced’ by other people’s emotions? Like they don’t change how I feel, but I can tell what they are pretty easily now, and I can tell if someone isn’t genuine or has bad intentions.
  3. Uhhh, no? The visions give me a headache sometimes, but not persuasion. Not yet, at least. Maybe I just haven’t pushed myself enough for it to be a problem, but it’s never hurt to use or not use my powers. Are you guys okay?
  4. Definitely a gradient. That’s a good way to describe them – like it’s a faucet and it can be all the way on or off, but I can also choose something in-between. I don’t know exactly how it impacts other people, I guess, when it’s a partway thing. They seem swayed towards what I’m saying or suggesting, but they don’t immediately do it unless I’m putting more effort in. I don’t feel anything specific when they work. It’s just something I can tell from how people are acting.
  5. I don’t know. It’s like they’re dormant unless I choose to use them or get really upset/scared. Like, if it’s fight or flight, sometimes I feel out of control. Otherwise, I just don’t use them unless I want to. Sorry, that’s not super helpful for you guys. Going back to the faucet thing, it sounds like we’re stuck in different default positions. My default is off, so I have to try to turn on. Yours is on? Do you feel your power when you’re not using it? I don’t unless I try to.

Notes:

On my research/ideas:

Name -- Vitria Vitae (s.), Vitries Vitae (p.)

Vitria is the feminine version of a Latin adjective meaning glass-like. It's the root of the word that eventually became "vitreous" or "vitriolic" in English. I have no evidence that native Latin speakers associated this word with revenge. However, during the Middle Ages, alchemists named sulfuric acid "oil of vitriol" for its translucent nature. Because the acid is so potent/dangerous, the word "vitriol" became associated with something destructive, bitter, or hateful. That is now the more common usage outside of scientific cases like "in vitro," "vitreous body," etc.

From my research, oil of vitriol was -- in alchemy -- associated with enlightenment/distilling both chemicals and an individuals' true spirit. I am super not an expert, so I don't know how accurate that is, but I really like the connection between the ideas of revenge and justice, and someone's core/distilled self. So, we got the Vitries Vitae, who are thoughtfully, but grammatically incorrectly named. It's supposed to translate to something like Living Revenge/Soul of Revenge (or Living Glass, if you take the original usage). More accurately, it's a slight mess that probably reads more like "glassiness of life" which sucks. But it sounds cool if you don't speak Latin and I can't do a lot better tbh, so.

Sources:
https://www.latin-is-simple.com/en/vocabulary/noun/17281/
https://www.wordsense.eu/vitri/
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/conservation/wild-plants/landscaping-with-native-plants.html
https://crystal-information.com/encyclopedia/magnesium-properties-and-meaning/
https://oilofvitriol.com/
Signs and Symbols of the World, D.R. McElroy, The Quatro Group (2020)
The Illustrated Signs & Symbols Sourcebook, Adele Nozedar, HarperCollins (2010)

I don't usually get this far down a research rabbit hole, but I had fun