ik you're sleeping but i wanna talk about my fav enstars songs unit wise cus I love talking about songs
fine: The Tempest Night (very original i know /s) and Neo Sanctuary
Trickstar: UNSTOPPABLE LOVE!!!! IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY THE RAP IS SO GOOD!!!
Ryuseitai: their music is not my style. but Ryusei Hanabi. so so feel good
ALKALOID: VERMILION. you get it.
Eden: how do i choose,,,,,it may not look like it but Eden's music is the one i dig the most i love LOVE EDM,,,,,sigh. Eden's Psyche Butterfly.
Valkyrie: URUWASHI NO AA NIGHTINGALE AA NIGHTINGALE SONO UTAGOE DE,,,,,Eternal Weaving close second
2wink: SWEE2WINK LOVE LETTER SWEEP
Crazy:B: Honeycomb Summer,,,, even though all of their songs are bops
UNDEAD: both Nightless World and FORBIDDEN RAIN. but like. in different ways. to me Nightless World is Fireboy and FORBIDDEN RAIN is Watergirl (both gender neutral). do you get it
Ra*bits: sorry Ra*bitsP I don't vibe w their music at all. FALLIN' LOVE=IT'S WONDERLAND
Akatsuki: earlier i liked Kengeki no Mae before i got to know of the imperialism,,,,so Akatsuki Iroha Uta it is
Knights: sorry they aren't my type as well,,,,Mystic Fragrance or Knights the Phantom Thief
Switch: Romancing Cruise or Omoi no Kakera. their music is so *chef's kiss*
MaM: HELLO, NEW YEAR!
Double Face: =EYE=
Shuffle Units: MOONLIGHT DISCO. IT CHANGED ME AS A PERSON
Fusion Units: YORU NI KAKERU!!! closely followed by Artistic Partisan <333
this turned out too long LMAO im sorry
THE THING IS i don’t want to rank my favorites by unit because i’m literally biased and half of my favorites are just crazyb songs and like. none of them are akatsuki for ex.
anyways you don’t mind if I judge your taste!! right (it gets suuuuuper long)
fine: yeah no you’re totally right!! I respect you. I went and listened to the first few seconds of neo sanctuary and I feel like it’s a song I could definitely like?? pending judgement. I’ve got owaranai symphonia stuck in my head recently though,,,
Trickstar: …what song is that? (< clearly not a TrickstarP) I only know I really like rebellion star and I looove playing the beatmap of infinite star
Ryusetai: girl I know like One (1) song of their by name and it’s like comet HALATION or something and the only reason I know it is because of the last event
ALKALOID: HELL YEAH VERMILLION!!!!!!!!!!! but let me add kiss of life because it was like the first alkaloid song I listened to and I was like HOLYFUCKINGSHIT THIS SONG BANGS!!!!! set off my era of learning abt alkaloid and the main story. (living on the edge gets a mention as the honorary aira center song)
Eden: hey EDM and eden sound kinda similar dontcha thi(gets shot) ANYWAYS. I keep hearing about psyches butterfly but I’ve NEVER LISTENED TO IT !!!?!! sorry i’m basic but , THE GENESIS SWEEP !!!! don’t ask me how I remember but that song was the FIRST beatmap I played on eng.
Valkyrie: HEY ETERNAL WEAVING LIKER!!! I loove the little talking parts in it and the spam of notes at the start. also acanthe has my heart
2wink: LITERALLY THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i’m a liiittle biased towards play tag cause I keep pfcing it and also LEMON SQUASH CHEERS (bc crazyb!!)
Crazy:B: THEIR SONGS NEVER MISSS LETS GOOOO HONEYCOMB SUMMER HELTER SPIDER ARIADNE NOISY BEEP RISKY PENIS ETC ETC EYC
UNDEAD: PERSONALLY i’m in love with valentine eves nightmare cause it was the first undead song that made me like them (THE GUITAR SOLO!!!!! DO YOU HEAR IT))x nightless world is fun to play but a not really my thing.., I hear forbidden rain is really good though.
Ra*bits: pocket ni uchuu. that is all. WAIT NO SHIT UR RIGHT. FALLIN' LOVE=IT'S WONDERLAND IS ALSO SOOO GOOD.
Akatsuki: you are speaking a Different language and I have no idea which akatsuki song is which. help. sorry tbh they all sound the same to me.
Knights: OKAY phantom thief isn’t too bad!! IT SHOULDVE WON THE POLL BTW im partial to silent oath cause its my event grinding song b I don’t actually like it that much. HAVE U HEARD PROMISE SWORDS THOUGH AAUUGUGHHHHHHH I DONT KNOW WHAT IT IS ABOUT IT THAT MAKES ME GO DHJFKGNGKFFNFJ (aaand. grateful allegiance it’s the one ingame song I like rn)
Switch: SHUT UUPPPP OMOI NO KAKERA IS NOT EVEN THAT GOOD /lh . I Like switch a lot but also their music AND THE FUCKING DANCING is BYE. the ONLY one I like is Magic for your switch. natsume’s “shunte utsumuiteru my girl” HAS BEEN PLAYING ON LOOP IN MY HEAD THE WHOLE DAY HELP
MaM: Nods. but I mean,,,, as a solo unit his solo song should count too right???? so I’d have to say see you again is my favorite, sorry
Double Face: YEAHHHH THE VOCALS THE STAGE THE OUTFITS THE DANCING EVERYTHING IS CHEFS KISS !!!!! Stippling has my heart though <333 (god. the piano)
Shuffle Units: NEVER SHUTTING UP ABT MY ATOZ AGENDA!!!! I don’t get what’s so good about moonlight disco help. (also i’m gay so noir neige)
Fusion Units: YES.
HAHAHHA IMAGINE. MY RESPONSE BEING LONGER THAN YOURS. ok thank u this was super fun to read and reply too!! even if it took like three days. oops. anyways
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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.
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