#im really bad at keeping in touch

[calypsolemon]

pathetic sopping wet beaste. a poor little meow meow if you will

[risingsunresistance]

cant stop thinking about this silly dog i saw on twitter the other day, reminded me of him for some reason. The Animal 🐖

[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.

[tpup]

having such an absolute shit time which is horrible because I had put so much effort into making this week bareable only to be fuckin stranded in the worst place I could be rn because my health was so bad I couldn't leave i feel so fucking bad and helpless and fated to having to suffer over and over and over

[sunbunnyyy]

i know i just got here, but seeing all of the laughably bad takes from both sides of the spectrum is convincing me that no, i don’t actually need to be on social media again.

[eggbagelz]

gale voice here feel the pulse of the magic in my heart that will eventually be the end of me. im on my knees before you like an animal showing its belly. im in excrutiating pain bc of the contact with the magic in my heart but please dont take your hand away please dont stop touching me

[puppyeared]

[bogkeep]

first week back at school and ahhhhhh everything is a little overwhelming currently

- my living space is full of boxes i have simply not had the energy to unpack at all.... hopefully this weekend (but i have also been invited to a Social Event so WE SHALL SEE)

- this school year is going to have So Much Important Stuff happening inbetween the many weeks of practice placement

- such as The Academic Text

- AND i need to finish the big project i was supposed to have finished ages ago

- our teacher this year speaks swedish with a very thick french accent and i speak norwegian with a dialect, we really struggle to understand one another but maybe hopefully that will change over time.... please...........

- i'm stressed about Stupid Bureaucracy Stuff

- and im so so sleepytired :(((

- and it's too humid and warm for comfort :(((((

AT LEAST I HAVE CUTE SOCKS

purchased in a distraught jetlag haze and subsidized by my travel insurance. they're my favourites now

[h0ney8ee]

i think it should be illegal for people i like to live so far away from me

[snail-email]

How do you tell someone ‘i still think about you all the time even if I haven’t dm’d you in months’ without sounding utterly insane

[enigmatic-enigmas]

I HATE CROCHETING

[finsterwalds]

I’m currently holidaying in Paris and my feed has handpicked me your BCS AU and I’m OBSESSED. The “Legall” name has me *rolling* 😭 please tell me more about the villains in your AU!

I just *KNOW* Gus is even cuntier in French, and Lalo even more insufferable. The twins are serving judgemental and rude Parisians.

Hey anon, thank you so much for your message that totally inspired me to draw >:) I only fleshed out Gus so far, first of all because he's my favorite villain <3 but second because his transposition in the french AU feels very natural to me. I have no idea how the Salmancas would be and what they'd even do. I have zero knowledge of the european drug traffic in the early 2000s lol, and I'd have to make them spanish I suppose? The mexican diaspora is, as you can imagine, very circumstancial in France, but maybe it could fit? I have no idea, that's why I'm struggling to come up with anything about them... However, I can picture their lavish lifestyle fitting neatly into french society, with the Don's house and everything. Lalo's clothing style would be even gayer too that's for sure lol.

I hope you like my drawings about Gus. Sending you a warm thank you for your message and for inspiring me to draw more! Enjoy your holidays <333

[tricks-n-illusions]

(@ask-the-shiny-pokemons) Noelle approaches Silas as she remembers that he might give something in return, however...something terrifying happened recently. "SILAS, WHAT THE HELL ARE YA DOING???" she says with an anger and starts to cry.

"Don't get me wrong. Killin' folks is a really bad idea… Please, just think of a moment when we met each other. You saw me as a friend… But now… I saw you murdered someone. It’s…it’s…JUST UNFAIR!"

At this moment, she is upset at him.

For once the fox's ears seemed to perk up at the sound of something familiar, Someone he knew? He seemed almost hopeful for a moment, but his ears quickly flattened at the Houndoom's upset words. Of course, there it was, the hate he so expected would come from her eventually. If there was one thing he could do right, it was disappoint people. Though his expression was unreadable his behaviour instantly became guarded and tense, his fear of further conflict was obvious. The previous interaction seemed to have done a number on his confidence and persona. He didn't look too keen on talking to Noelle... yet he forced the words out nonetheless, they were broken, quiet and almost inaudible.

He sat in silence for a long moment before he spoke up once more. "…You want it back, don't you? Is that why you're here again? You finally realized the mistake you've made?" He asked, his voice much louder than it previously was. Of course, how could he have been so dumb to not realize? Though he seemed crushed at the idea of giving the gift back, he spoke with confidence in her decision. "I understand."

"I'm one of those people." Silas turned away, leaving the previous gift with Noelle. "You can leave now, you have your gift back... And- We're not friends." He sighed as he waved a hand attempting to shoo her. "We never were, even if I did know who you were..." "You never know I might murder you too, I seem to like doing that to people who are close to me. I'm pretty fuckin' impulsive and honestly... you're just another thing to kill."

-> Silas doesn't seem to remember Noelle… Yet. But he can't fight the feeling of familiarity haunting him. Maybe something from the past will help? A name? Something that happened?

[bangcakes]

.

[terriblelizbians]

howww do people maintain long term connections/friendships how do you DO it. short term connections are very hard for me but i know generally if i put myself in social situations i’ll manage like if someone is already open to friendship then they will be pretty tolerable of me flailing through conversation and depending on the person they may even find it endearing. but long term you can’t just flail through interactions and it’ll be “good enough”. if you don’t Actively Do It then it just fucking fails. and if you don’t maintain long term connections then you have to keep starting from scratch with the short term connections which means i don’t get any good practice with the long term connections. because you can only PRACTICE if you HAVE them. and you only HAVE them if you MAINTAIN them. and i don’t know how to MAINTAIN them because i don’t have any PRACTICE. screams for fucking ever

[mirmidones]

3.40 i woke up bc i was cold and needed to pee and now i can't fall back asleep i keep thinking of the people i accidentally ghosted. is it ghosted if there was no intent to ghost? i feel so bad and it's not even like i don't think about them i often do think "i should really reply to them... once this is over ill properly sit down and write them... " and then i don't bc something else happens and im dealing with that and the longer i leave it unanswered the more difficult it becomes because i feel so guilty and therefore want to do things properly not half assed but bc i feel so guilty a part of me also tends to avoid it even more. if i do this to you just know i'm really sorry and ill get back to you i swear