#The gaslight of decades

[fonthoura]

Star Trek TOS: *Stablishes that the touching of hands is incredibly intimate in Vulcan culture akin to fully making out.*

Star Trek TOS: *shows us Spock holding Jim's hand while talking about the importance of his feelings.*

The fandom: *reads it as romantic.*

The writers: oh my god, that's crazy, where did you get that from?

Star Trek DS9: *Stablishes that, in cardassian culture, flirtation is done by arguing and bickering, that is how they show interest in another person.*

Star Trek DS9: *Constantly shows Garak and Bashir arguing and bickering, including a scene where Julian shoots at him and everything.*

The fandom: *reads it as romantic.*

The writers: OH MY GOD, THAT'S CRAZY, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?

[dooffirmations]

They are laughing at the people who thought her dress was blue

[happyk44]

People talking about Grover vibing with Ares over war and the violence of nature (or whatever happened in that scene) and how it was unexpected but still cool are forgetting that in the book he played a hunting game at the casino where the deer hunted people and very loudly demanded humans die over pollution and then shot at Percy with the plastic gun when they tried to get him to leave, like Grover's been wild since day one.

[say-littlepinkbow]

[wh0-is-lily]

The Beautiful Hedy Lamarr in, 'Zeigfield Girl,' 1941

[crimeronan]

my mom's true crime youtube channel is nearing 5k subscribers and she's already gotten monetized after three months and keeps getting dozens-to-hundreds of comments per video going "your perspective is so insightful and intelligent!! always excited to hear your analysis of a situation!!"

when we talk she keeps being like "i don't even care about the money, i'm just so excited that people want to listen to what i have to say" and i'm just like. SO proud of her. yes mom thank you GOD. get the recognition and love you deserve. fantastic to witness in real time!!

[luvbeqx]

☆moodboard;¥ulia

[feedingicetothedog]

there’s enough canonical abuse in the loumand relationship as written, you don’t have to make up imaginary hypothetical abuse just bc you prefer loustat

[quietwingsinthesky]

was writing this down for an ask but realized i was quickly getting off topic for that ask lmao. let’s talk about Dean’s handprint, the wild misinterpretations of it, and how those have affected how people read Anna covering it during her sex scene with Dean.

We have to establish the obvious first: the number one way the handprint is misinterpreted is to establish a romantic connection between Dean and Castiel from their very first meeting. Because of how popular the ship is, we’re now left with the unfortunate aftermath of people knowing the ship first and the show second, and therefore being more inclined to interpret the show through the lens of the ship. Needless to say, while looking at season 4 through that lens for hints of destiel is fun, it doesn’t lead to a thematically cohesive reading. The handprint is the best way we can demonstrate this. If we take the handprint to indicate that Castiel has been romantically interested in Dean since minute one, or even that he sees Dean as a person rather than an instrument of Heaven’s will at first (put a pin in that), then the rest of his character arc for the season is incoherent and meaningless. To assert that this is what the handprint is about takes the conclusion Castiel needs the entirety of season 4 to reach and transplants it onto him at the very beginning in order to make it easier to find evidence for the ship.

There’s a lot of media out there where interpreting it through the lens of a ship, even one unintended by the author, can enhance the original text. (Lest we all forget our Winter Soldier roots.) Supernatural does not have that relationship to interpreting it to be about destiel. A season 4 where the handprint means Castiel is in love with Dean is a weaker story and does a huge disservice to Castiel’s actual character arc.

So, now that we’ve established what the handprint isn’t, can we talk about what it is? Yes. It’s pretty simple, actually.

Think of it this way: To Heaven, Dean is livestock, and the handprint is the brand telling everyone (but especially Dean) what ranch he belongs to.

Let’s start with the obvious: it isn’t a metaphorical brand at all. It’s literal. It’s burned into his skin permanently (or at least, when the makeup department wants to put it there.) I’d argue that from the nature of it being notable as the only scar Dean has from being raised from Hell and later showing up during his sex scene with Anna that even if we don’t see the handprint, we’re meant to interpret it as continuing to be there for… well. The rest of his life, most likely. And that’s horrifying. The handprint is telling us two things when it shows up: one, letting us know that Dean’s resurrection was intentional and through a manner we as the audience don’t have the information to guess at yet. Anyone who watched the show airing, or watches it now without knowing about angels would have assumed demonic deal intervention as being the cause of Dean’s new lease on life, and this. handily. discards that theory. But secondly, it tells us that this resurrection was violating. All resurrections on Supernatural are.

We assume from Castiel’s line, you know the one, we all know the one, Mr. Gripped-You-Tight, that he’s the one who put it there. However, to then make a further leap that it was Castiel’s personal decision to do so is, I think, a misunderstanding of his role. Take that pin out now. Dean is not a person to Castiel at this point. They’re not friends. Dean is a tool for Heaven to use, a tool that should be honored and grateful to be picked up at all. Make no mistake: Castiel branded him for Heaven, not for himself. Castiel’s a ranchhand. They aren’t in the business of letting the cows run free if they look a little sad to be slaughtered later.

Castiel needs to start here for his arc to be as impactful as it is. He can’t begin rebellious. He has to learn how to doubt. He has to develop a personal friendship with Dean that threatens his allegiance to Heaven. He has to see Anna having chosen to fall rather than obey Heaven and to be betrayed by Uriel being so desperate that he’s turned to killing their brothers and sisters trying to find a way out from under Heaven’s control.

There’s another line I think gets misinterpreted a lot in this initial meeting. “You don’t think you deserve to be saved?” On its face, easy bait for someone looking for shipping fodder, but that misses the actual point of the line. It’s a powerplay. We don’t learn until later why Dean wouldn’t think he deserves to be saved (aside from his general Winchester levels of self-esteem, but knowing that trait about him actually serves as a pretty good red herring to mask real reason Dean is thinking about himself as irredeemable now until the reveal. It’s not that Dean had a low opinion about himself in general, but that he tortured people in Hell and can never forgive himself for that.) , but Castiel does know. All of Heaven knows what Dean’s sin in Hell was. Without saying it, Castiel can remind Dean of it here. This line isn’t about Dean being so inherently good that Castiel had to rescue him. It’s about making sure Dean knows that the only way he can be ‘redeemed’ is through obedience to the heavenly powers who own his ass now. This is how he deserves to be saved. Because God commanded it. Because they have work for him.

And if he doesn’t bow? Then, as Castiel puts it in the very next episode, “I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in.” This threat hanging over Dean’s head won’t go away for the rest of the season, not from Heaven. The only shift is that Castiel’s continued doubt and disobedience levels the playing field between them. They’ll both be punished, rather than Castiel taking on the role of disciplinarian. (It’s a really clever way of dealing with that power gap between them, actually. There’s always a bigger fish.)

The handprint and Castiel’s early conversations with Dean serve as a reminder of the precarious position he’s in. We shouldn’t take him ‘being saved’ at face value, no more than we should take Heaven being good just because they’re the angels in this equation as a given. Dean hasn’t been saved. He’s being used, just as much (if not arguably more) than Ruby is using Sam. (Because at least Ruby truly believes this is for Sam’s benefit, in the end.) And the worst part is how aware of it Dean is. How could he not be? His entire stint in Hell is defined by how Alistair used him. He’s just been handed off to a different owner, one that will still happily push him into the thing they ‘saved’ him from the minute it proves useful. Dean needing to torture Alistair reminds us just how little his circumstances have actually changed. He’s not allowed to say no to this.

So. The handprint is Heaven’s mark of ownership. It’s Dean’s status as their tool, their victim, burned into his flesh and inescapable. What does it mean when Anna places her hand over it?

I’ll lay my cards on the table. I’ve been thinking about this for so long because the aforementioned tendency to assume that the handprint is evidence for destiel means that the scene between Anna & Dean also gets lumped into being interpreted as more evidence for destiel. For over a decade, I have endured people joking about Anna being jealous of Cas for getting to leave a mark on their boytoy. And that’s one of the nicer things the Supernatural fandom will say about a woman who they perceive as a threat to their ship.

So, not to be rude or anything, but fuck Castiel. This ain’t about him.

This scene—It’s a lovely scene, a fantastic continuation of Dean and Anna’s previous conversation into the language of a sex scene—is about two people who have both been used and threatened by Heaven connecting over that shared trauma. Before, Anna gives space for Dean to open up about Hell, but he can’t, not yet, and though she knows what he’s gone through, she hasn’t been there herself. But when it comes to what Heaven has made of them, she does understand. It’s an incredibly vulnerable moment.

You make the handprint about Dean and Cas, and you erase what that scene is about entirely: the way Heaven’s abuse has tangled itself deep into Dean and Anna’s lives, into their bodies, and how they can resist it, if only for a few moments together.

The handprint was never about Castiel at all. It was about Heaven and its dehumanization of Dean.

[silviakundera]

Ok but sometimes in The Princess Royal it's so fucking funny to think about how the rest of the capital are viewing them. In ep 17 everyone thinks it's all over for the princess, in house arrest in a temple copying texts and about to get banished to her country estate for eternity, and the noble houses put on hit on her too ambitious husband. Servants gossip is she's in denial about his death! How tragic.

In reality she was like, yeah and THEN the next part of our 65 step plan is that I'll take myself off the board and lower their guard by doing some shit to get me on house arrest. And in court I'll suggest some other punishments that'll get waived, so I can take down that asshole in Ministry of Justice with me. 💁 Then you dodge the inevitable murder attempts and come back with the evidence. Done & done. ✔

And instead of losing her mind about her dead husband, she really has a point that this old demon Pei Wenxuan has survived way worse and isn't gonna be taken out like that. 🙅

(not that she isn't legit worried and writing pining unsent letters to him, because she misses him constantly. BECAUSE SHE IS and it's awesome.)

[blueshistorysims]

June 1938, Henford-on-Bagley, England

The first immediate thought Byron had when he finished reading the letter was to call his sister. Exactly ten seconds later, the phone started ringing.

“Did Mama send you a letter?” 

He snorted. “Ironically, I was about to call and ask the same question.”

“Five years we have been estranged, and now she’s suddenly apologizing? She must be really dying.”

“Don’t be crude, Giselle.”

“Oh, don’t pretend you don’t agree with me.”

He was quiet for a moment. “...I plan to go to Malvern Hills next weekend. I’ll go this Saturday so the kids don’t miss school. I want to make amends.”

“I don’t. Do you know how relieving it is not to have the burdening weight of your mother knowing she is disgusted and ashamed of you? You forgive too easily. Montgomery-”

“Giselle,” Byron warned. 

She huffed. 

“...I understand your feelings, but this may be the last time we ever see her. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Twenty, thirty years ago, she was just our mother, and I loved her. So did you.”

Giselle was silent, long enough for Byron to think she had hung up, but then she sighed heavily. “Alright. Fucking bastard. I’ll go. Alone,” she said bluntly and without another word, she hung up.

Byron set down the phone and walked out of his office to see Eleora walking into the library. She immediately noted his downcast expression and gave him a puzzled look.

“What is it?”

He sighed. “I was just on the phone with Giselle. We both got a letter from our mother.”

“Your mother? The one who’s ignored all your calls and letters since she learned you had homosexual leanings? That Rebecca Walsh?”

“I only have one mother, so yes.”

“What does she want?”

“She’s dying, and she wants to make amends.”

[plumbob-pudding]

On a late Friday evening, a few hours before Abe was due to return from the city, the mailbox clanged with the sound of letters. Willa hurried to sort through the mail, eager to receive news from home but when she spotted a small tear-stained envelope from Felix, her excitement evaporated.

"Dear sister," it read, "Papa is sick and the doctor doesn't think he has much left. We'd all like to see you and pay our final respects together. Please come as soon as you can."

Tears filled her eyes as she took in the words. She hurried upstairs to pack a small suitcase, wanting to make it to the station in time for the last train. As she folded in the dress she'd worn to Mama's funeral, heavy footsteps sounded on the wooden floor boards. Abe was back.

"Papa's sick," she explained to him, "I must get going."

Abe looked at her with weak pity, wearing that face he always wore when he was about to say no to something Willa really wanted, but surely he couldn't say no to this? Willa thought.

"It says here that he's been sick for a week now" Abe read out Felix's letter, "sick with that sickness your mother had most likely."

Willa nodded, conscious of the time being wasted. If Papa was as sick as Mama had been, she couldn't afford to waste any second.

"My sweet," Abe began and Willa felt all her hope leave her. Abe kept talking, saying she was the most important thing in her life and she ought not to selfishly risk her life by going into the city, but Willa had stopped listening. She knew she would have to disappoint her family yet again so that she could keep Abe by her side.

[f00t-fic]

Well at least the libraries and city parks funding passed 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠

[bellapasionada]

Accurate depiction of the Caryl fandom for 13 years.

They love to dangle the perverbial carrot in front of us, and we fall for it every time.

[thewarmestplacetohide]

Dread by the Decade: Gaslight

👻 You can support me on Ko-Fi! ❤️

★★★★½

Plot: Hoping to conceal a dark secret, a man tries to convince his new wife that she is losing her mind.

Review: An incredible tale of psychological manipulation and domestic abuse that emotionally drains the viewer as much as it captivates them.

Source Material: Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton Year: 1940 Genre: Psychological Horror, Mystery Country: United Kingdom Language: English Runtime: 1 hour 24 minutes

Director: Thorold Dickinson Writers: A. R. Rawlinson, Bridget Boland Cinematographer: Bernard Knowles Editor: Sidney Cole Composer: Richard Addinsell Cast: Diana Wynyard, Anton Walbrook, Frank Pettingell, Cathleen Cordell, Minnie Rayner, Jimmy Hanley

-----

Story: 4.5/5 - Its handling of mental abuse is shockingly realistic and harrowing. And, though its mystery isn't particularly difficult to figure out, the tension it invokes is thick.

Performances: 4.5/5 - Walbrook is incredible as Paul, so believable in how he portrays an abuser who flips from doting to cruel that it's often hard to watch. Wynyard is similarly great as the fraying Bella.

Cinematography: 4/5 - Good use of layering to create disorienting shots.

Editing: 4/5

Music: 4/5

Choreography & Stunts: 4/5 - The can-can sequence is brief but hypnotic.

Sets: 4.5/5 - Though limited, they're lavish and feel lived-in.

Costumes, Hair, & Make-Up: 4/5 - The costuming is just gorgeous—especially Bella's.

Trigger Warnings:

Mild violence

Domestic and emotional abuse

Implications of sex under false pretenses

Brief sexual harassment

Misogyny (period appropriate)

Mentions of institutionalization

Classism (period appropriate)

[hi-ochite]

Tea called Tsurumi my blorbo of the week and 😭/lh I see where she's coming from, but when I actually try and think which characters I consider full on blorbos there's only, like, four?