#i have OPINIONS and I WILL share them

[some-creep]

BayoJeanne thru the years

Childhood besties (who don't realize the other has a crush on them)

Intensely homoerotic and sexually charged rivalry

Happily married for several years

Coworkers who happen to share a lunch break but work in different departments

[esseastri]

OK NO WAIT, REAL TALK AFTER MY TAGS ON THE MEME POST (x)

listen, I was on the Locked Tomb train before it was even a thing, like, my store got a BOUND MANUSCRIPT, that’s what they out BEFORE advance reader copies, it was like. pages stapled together with glue with giant margins like. listen. We were OG Locked Tomb fans, I don’t say this to brag, I say this for context:

Gideon the Ninth is straight up one of my favorite books in the history of books. I was recommending it to people before there was a release date. but I 100% always recommended it with the caveat, “please be aware, this book is batshit wild. properly, deeply wild.” It’s not for everyone and I was BLUNTLY HONEST about that even as I shoved it at everyone I could. even people who I didn’t think would like it, I was STILL like “LISTEN, BEAR WITH ME, GIVE IT A TRY, IT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU” and 90% of them came back like “Whut. Did I read?” and I was like “I KNOW RIGHT”

and then we spent two years doing theories for Harrow the Ninth and then we got the ARC and I swear to god I have only twice before in my life been as disappointed as I was when I got through Act 2 of Harrow. and when I started recommending it to people, I gave out WARNINGS. I was like, “pls understand, this book is DENSE and it is a SLOG but it will be worth it if you can make it through and if you can’t NO HARD FEELINGS.”

Like.

My friends.

I know this is dangerous to say on this website, but honestly, from the very deepest part of my soul: the beginning of Harrow the Ninth is not good. like. it is? but it’s not, because it’s 300 pages of WHAT THE FUCK with absolutely no plot hooks, a crapton of infodumping, and an impenetrable hunk of worldbuilding and magic theory that do not make sense until you get to the end of the book. 

It took me until Chapter 36 to be like, “...aight I’ll finish it.”

and then I did finish and I was like “somehow this is better than gideon but I cannot explain that?? and I don’t actually know what happened but I’m ok with that??” and then I IMMEDIATELY started reading it out loud to Lisa and I was on page like, six, and I was like, “OH. I GET IT.” and I spent the entire time I was reading to Lisa teasing her with theories and letting her theorize and it was great. but honestly, I DID NOT ENJOY THE PROCESS OF READING HARROW THE FIRST TIME I READ IT. I genuinely didn’t like this book until I REREAD it.

And I honestly think that’s a deep weakness of Harrow, because a book should be able to stand on its own without a reread. Authors shouldn’t take 480 pages to string their readers along--I LIKE figuring stuff out on my own, but at some point, I just want a damn fucking clue. Not even the whole answer, just a clue. And Taz is VERY STINGY with those in Harrow. And it is DEEPLY FRUSTRATING from a craft standpoint. This is absolutely one of those books that SHOULD NOT WORK but does.

So I just want to say to everyone who feels like they still don’t GET Harrow--I SEE YOU I AM WITH YOU I UNDERSTAND YOU. If you’ve got the energy to reread it, DO THAT, because it 10000% makes more sense when you can parse what part is what, what’s going on with Sideways World, and why Harrow is Like That. You’re not alone, I promise you, if your entire process of reading Harrow was just

with a side of

THAT IS OK. that’s like. the point. I know people who just dropped the series because of how damn DENSE Harrow is, and that’s TOTALLY FAIR. It is absolutely not what is expected after Gideon. AT ALL. and if you’re looking for more story/tone/content LIKE Gideon, you’re actually far better off reading THE UNSPOKEN NAME than Harrow the Ninth [insert shameless plug for other top tier queer SFF novel] and it took me until I finished Harrow to figure out what Taz was doing. Like--I am 10000% DOWN for series in which none of the books are the same, they are wild and I LOVE IT, but god the expectations were WILD and Harrow was a 180 that I did not see coming. and I do genuinely think that the biggest weakness of Harrow is that Taz did not actually give us enough info to figure anything out before Act 5.

Don’t get me wrong, it works for some people!!! But for some of us, holy shit, it just feels broken.

ALL THIS TO SAY: NONA IS NOT LIKE THIS. If you read Harrow (or if you gave up on Harrow (which-FAIR)), I will say that Nona is worth it. Nona is worth the absolute SLOG that is Harrow because Nona rewards you for paying attention. (Harrow does not. Harrow just tells you what you missed and it’s annoying.) But because NONA the CHARACTER is actively trying to figure out what the fuck is happening in NONA the BOOK, you get way more info and it’s actually possible and satisfying to figure out what is going on. Because HARROW the CHARACTER spends all of HARROW the BOOK trying to AVOID THE PLOT WITH ALL HER MIGHT, it’s just kinda frustrating. But if you can stick with her, I promise Nona the Book is worth it.

ok, coming down off my high horse full of opinions but just. idk. tumblr has a LOT of opinions about Harrow and I have not seen a lot of support for people who uh. Don’t like that one. as much as Gideon or even at all. but it is absolutely different enough that it makes perfect sense for people to find Harrow frustrating! So if you’re one of those ppl, just know you’re not alone, one of the OG Locked Tomb fans is with you (it’s me, hi), and just come party with Nona where everything is better.

[rbvcdeluxe]

every time someone makes good richie lipschitz characterization an angel wins their wings back

[dlldior]

VAIN — a kuro analysis of sebastian's character and his relationship with ciel

hi! so i've been wanting to make an analysis post for SO long but didn't really know where to post it, but tumblr is always here to answer my prayers. i just want to preface this by saying this is all my personal opinion and what i've taken away from the kuroshitsuji manga. there are so many layers to sebastian's character and his relationship with ciel, so many angles to analyse it from, they are extremely complex characters so there isn't one true take of their characterisation.

i'd be happy to discuss any disagreements or even other opinions you might have with my points in a civil manner. that's the beauty of media literacy!

my take on sebastian character!

sebastian is a really interesting character. being the main protagonist of black butler, it's surprising we don't know much of his origin or past—all we have of his character is how he behaves and interacts with characters now, and i'd like to further delve into this.

but from what we do know, sebastian is a hyper narcissist. he's unable to feel shame and thinks he is above everyone else; as illustrated and stated by the creator. most of sebastian's character is revealed through his relationship with ciel—which is the main centrepiece of the story—and how he behaves with him, as ciel is the only person (aside from the obvious exceptions) aware of sebastian's true nature and intentions. despite his "caring" facade towards ciel, sebastian is simply acting on the contract for his own best interest, and even ciel is aware of this fact which is why he rarely lets his guard down around him. his great means to preserve ciel's life is to preserve his soul, after spending the last 3 years cultivating it for him to devour after fulfilling their contract.

sebastian is too wrapped up in his own affairs and self-absored nature to even consider other people's concerns. he only feigns care for ciel due to his duties as a butler and maintaining the "aesthetic". the reason why he's so comfortable being in such a subservient position is because he knows deep down that he is above all humans. the best way i can describe this is a little odd but it's like when celebrities work at minimum wage jobs just because they can, not because they need to but because they know they're above these types of jobs with their level of wealth. they willingly put themselves in these degrading positions as they're comfortable enough with their wealth to be able to for fun. that is sebastian's case. he is comfortable enough with his power and tact as a demon to be able to don a tailcoat and play as a servant to the very species he sees himself above.

on top of that, sebastian appears to believe he is above those of his own kind, claiming that such gluttony goes against his demon "aesthetics" which is why he has invested so much time into cultivating ciel's soul instead of feeding off of multiple contracts. it reveals why sebastian is so into the "butler aesthetic" and finding himself in such a degrading position for one of his own kind. he seems to prioritise elegance, not greed, when it comes to fulfilling contracts.

however, sebastian's true nature is more prominent in the flashback sequence where ciel first summons him. he is extremely cocky, trying to manipulate ciel for a quick and easy kill such as when he was eager to kill everyone who has caused him harm, which does, in fact, reveal that he is not unlike most demons. the reason why sebastian picks such an appearance all ties into his narcissism, he gets off on impressing humans with his supernatural skills and ciel is only one who seems to understand that part of him, but it's always played off for comedic effect. sebastian soaks up in the praise he is given by these "puny" humans, always hanging onto their last words of flattery which reveals his true vain nature and that he is not as elegant and collected as he seems.

the fandom's take on sebastian!

i think the reason why the fandom is so fixated on sebastian's character is due to a myriad of factors. it can be due to how well he's able to play his facade; he's charming in a way and knows how to use his words to get into people's good graces, wielding his "elegance" and "aesthetics" to his advantage. as sebastian is forced to pretend to be human for the sake of their contract, he is able to analyse the qualities in people that others would want to see and apply that to himself. he's able to feign morality and charisma—partly due to his butler aesthetics but also for his own self-serving nature and receiving praise.

another reason why i think sebastian is the most popular character amongst the fandom is, yep, you've guessed it, his appearance. sebastian's appearance is no accident—both in his character's creation and the form he chose for himself in the story—he wields his sexuality and attractiveness to his advantage. his true nature and appearance are disgusting and unsightly, which is why he covers it up with a beautiful face; making it easier to deceive and manipulate.

however, the issue is with the fandom is that i think sebastian has the epidemic of what i like to call "attractive justification syndrome" where the fandom goes to great lengths to justify sebastian's actions and refusing to acknowledge his character for what it is—a self-absorbed, predatory narcissist—because he's attractive. however, sebastian is BEYOND morality and clearly lacks any remorse of his irredeemable actions. he doesn't feel shame and doesn't care to; i feel as though just because he's attractive, fans try too hard to defend him. don't get me wrong, i enjoy sebastian's character as well and i'm no different in admitting he is attractive, but i think he's extremely interesting and does explore different ideas of morality (more so, lack thereof) but i think it's rather off base to try and defend his character.

i think the bigger issue is that people tend to think enjoying his character says something about them, instead of what it says about the story. they're too afraid of liking his character for what it is. as they're scared of what that'd say about them for liking such a terrible person of a character. on tiktok especially, i feel like many fans sometimes try a bit too hard to have a moral high ground that they refuse to acknowledge the darker side of sebastian's character as then there goes their reason for liking him.

the anime adaptation doesn't help with this issue either for why sebastian's true character has been heavily lost. i feel as though they're eager to add some sort of movement or emotional depth to his character, which defeats the purpose of it. sebastian has a very static character, he doesn't have the emotional capabilites to feel empathy, he can sure as hell pretend, but at the end of the day, he's only here for his own best interest.

this is especially evident in the translation change in the public school arc where in the anime, sebastian justifies protecting ciel instead of chasing after undertaker because "he's spend too long raising him", whereas in the manga, sebastian justifies it for the true reason, which is because he's "spent too long cultivating his soul and won't let himself be robbed of it". there is a distinct difference as in the anime, sebastian appears to care for ciel's actual wellbeing, whereas in the manga, sebastian has established the foundation of the contract and how he's only preserving ciel's life for his soul.

anime translation

manga translation

my take on sebastian and ciel's relationship!

it is no surprise to say that their relationship is extremely unhealthy. due to the imbalance of power dynamics between them, there will never reach a point that their relationship turns healthy. it may look like ciel wields the power through their master-servant dynamic, but peeling away at this layer will reveal the foundation of their dynamic, being human-demon. but these are obvious points. sebastian wields his power as a demon to subtly manipulate ciel—his suffering and misery acting as a marinade for his soul. sebastian has no interest in ciel's wellbeing and, in fact, goes out of his way to contribute to his trauma.

a good example of this would be in book of circus during ciel's ptsd attack where he relives his trauma of seeing his brother be murdered in front of him. ciel is completely vulnerable, reaching out helplessly for anyone to help him and sebastian feeds off of his misery, caressing this child's vomit-coated lip and getting him to call his name when he is unable to speak. the scene is extremely grotesque and uncomfortable to watch as we see this adult practically looming over this defenceless, traumatised child who his gripping onto him for support. i usually dislike giving yana credit as she has done a pretty bad job illustrating their relationship with the unnecessary icky fanservice and horrible attempts of incorporating psychosexual elements into the story but i believe this scene was intentionally drawn this way to reveal sebastian's predatory nature. it's supposed to make you feel disgusted as sebastian uses ciel's codependency on him as some sort of power trip, feeding off of his trauma.

i got this point from a wonderful friend who i've analysed the story with, but sebastian is indeed a predator. he is textbook definition grooming ciel. he may not be sexually as grooming falls under the definition of "preparing/training someone for a particular purpose or activity", but his relationship with ciel is for the sole purpose of being able to devour his soul at the end. when sebastian was referring to "cultivating his soul" in the public school arc, he meant spending years using subtle manipulation and grooming tactics to get the desired flavour of ciel's soul.

just because ciel was aware of the terms and conditions of the contract, aware of his impending doom, it doesn't make sebastian's actions of preparing a child for death any more morally fine. the foundation of the contract was never fair; ciel had no choice. it was either sebastian left him to die in the cage, or he was to form a contract with him to gain the power to come back. all the power ciel has is not his, and one day, that power will be stripped from him, and he will have to face the one who gave him this power. it is the reason why ciel does not choose to pursue happiness after coming back, as he knows that if he even gives into the idea, sebastian will automatically assume he's abandoning his revenge and kill him. i'm not saying ciel is devoid of faults either, everyone in this show is morally grey and he can cause his own suffering too, but this is a sebastian-focused rant so i'll go deeper into this some other time.

i think the reason why dadbastian is such a popular headcanon, especially on tumblr, is because it subverts the unhealthy, grotesque aspects of their relationship and provides ciel with a healthy parental figure which he has been needing, giving him the solace he deserves from all his trauma. not to mention, there are scenes in the series where sebastian does act as a parental figure towards ciel. don't get me wrong, i ADORE this headcanon and will go down with it but i think the darker reality of their dynamics in the manga is the reason the headcanon is even more upsetting as we know it will never happen and this child will never get the peace and happiness he deserves.

TLDR; sebastian is a hyper narcissist and is there for nobody's best interest but his own, the only reason he goes to great lengths to preserve ciel's soul is because their contract wouldn't be sustained otherwise. the fandom tries to justify and defend his actions too much due to how well he's built his facade of desired human behaviour and his attractiveness. sebastian contributes to ciel's trauma, subtly manipulating him and mocking him for being taken to his limit. their relationship is extremely unhealthy. dadbastian reigns supreme because it subverts the grotesque factors in their relationship.

thanks for taking the time to read this if you've made it this far! i'd love to hear any of your guys' opinions and takes on their characters.

[hobnob-moth]

Wait… aren’t directors usually supposed to be the silent voice in stories? -Jesse

Oh, tons of directors are in their own work. Hitchcock, Harold Ramis, Mel Brooks, M Night. Shyamalan, Uhh ███ ████. -Emily

Who? -Jesse

—

Had a silly idea pop into my head when I heard the dlc for Alan Wake 2 would have Jesse in it, and the idea kept tormenting me enough to finish this drawing. I wanted to work in something with The Director vs a director, but wasn’t able to make it concise enough to fit sadly.

[chiaraeliz]

some people were talking about green eyed ventus on my last post which then led me to think about how i draw ven and roxas differently, which THEN led me to go on a lil character analysis tangent (below the cut if you wanna read!)

but for how i draw them differently, i still try to keep them pretty much identical in physical appearance! minus green eyes for ventus, but that’s more because he just feels like he needs green eyes. the main difference i think is fun to play with is how they carry themselves, which leads into my ven and roxas character analysis ramblings:

i haven’t been the most active in the kingdom hearts fandom in recent years, but i remember the big headcanons for roxas and ventus always were that roxas is really angry/a little shit, while ventus was always seen as the pure/sweet one. i like to think of them as a bit more nuanced than that based off of canon, though!

i think roxas is more mellow/not extremely outwardly emotional unless provoked to be. i mean, there’s a whole game where roxas learns to understand himself, his relationships, and his emotions. i get how the angry headcanon came about from canon, but really all the moments where he is REALLY pissed off, it’s super warranted and not necessarily a main personality trait of his. instead, he just gives off a sort of quiet maturity to me (even though he’s one of the youngest characters lol. bros been through a lot)

in comparison, ventus always seemed more… energetic with both his positive and negative emotions. we see that right from the start with him in bbs with the meteor shower, and when he gets a lil salty over being told to take grown ups to disney town (i could definitely think of better examples but it’s 12 am and i’m tired). he feels a bit more immature, especially when put next to terra and aqua. hell, ven reminds me of sora way more than roxas does. we see the ups and downs of his emotions very clearly. in a way he feels younger than roxas with the way he carries himself. (this isn’t me saying he’s an uwu baby who Needs To Be Protected, but more that he projects his feelings in a more direct way imo). also, jesse mccartney voices ventus with a higher pitch and more energy than roxas (i love this detail so much)

all this to say, while i do think the angry roxas and super sweet ventus content is great and i enjoy seeing it from time to time (i might even play into it with my art sometimes tbh), i personally see them as less of those extremes. i like to see ventus as the high energy one, and roxas as the lower energy one, without dictating one emotion as their default. this isn’t really anything groundbreaking (and could probably just be a “duh chiara we all knew this” moment) but i just felt like rambling about them because i like to think about them a lot! (i’m sorry if i got anything wrong or if things are worded weird, i’m about to fall asleep rn)

[fisheito]

I started reading beastars so now HE's reading beastars .wait

THEY'RE reading beastars

[yazthebookish]

Ruhn about Lidia vs Azriel about Elain

I don't even have to analyze the text, this immediately pinpoints to the issue I have with Elriel. Sexual attraction is absolutely normal but what else is there? and that's what we don't see with Az when he thinks about Elain.

It's a very simple thing that could've been mentioned, it doesn't spoil anything but the fact that we didn't is very telling. He doesn't even makes a comment about her joy or smile when he gives her the necklace. We don't get what Az thinks about Elain as a person and that's the issue a lot of readers have with this pairing.

I just found this to be a very interesting example.

[puppyeared]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[apocalyptic-byler]

and if i said byler’s first kiss deserves as much passion as jancy’s first kiss then what

[roomba-mangga]

thoughts on thistle and yaad's dynamic that i vomited in the tags of another post but will now try to articulate here: they're not actually family, or at least they shouldn't be. not in a conventional sense anyway. framing them as uncle and nephew (even in a non-literal, silly fantasy world way) rides more on technicality than anything concrete.

what i mean by this is yaad calls thistle by name and says he and delgal were raised "like" brothers. he talks about thistle like he's an outsider imposing himself into the melinis' space, and it's clear that thistle was never legitimized as a member of the family. for thistle's part, though we don't know how he would treat yaad pre-demon brainrot, it's safe to assume based on the way he punishes him—turning him into a doll—and how little is shown in the way of any sort of relationship between them that thistle only cares* about yaad as an extension of delgal (otherwise i'd expect something like kabru and milsiril, because it's not like another complicated interspecies family dynamic would be out of place, yet there's next to nothing on them even in bonus content, just their scant interactions in the main story).

in essence, they're strangers to one another. thistle's desperation to preserve the illusion of a family, a model where he doesn't even fit, was the snare they were caught in for the past thousand years of stasis. yaad-as-nephew is a prop to uphold that illusion, and thistle is playing a role he's unfit to play. in the context of post-canon interactions, attempting to reconstruct that facade would only be a reenactment of trauma for them both (in a deeply compelling way i'd love to watch unfold, tbh), as that "uncle and nephew" framing places thistle in an implicit position of power over someone he's already traumatized through misuse of authority in the past, a role which also perpetuates his adultification and yaad's infantilization in turn. it'd mostly be an obstacle to any real connection.

best to burn the melini family bridge, i think, and if there's still anything salvageable left in the rubble, let something different supplant it.

[evermorepeyton]

maybe you would think so but no, they actually like each other that much

[theerurishipper]

I took upon myself the herculean task of compiling all Dick and Diana interactions.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #16

Nemesis: The Impostors #3

Nightwing (2016) #100

Titans (2016) Special 1

Titans (2016) Annual 1

Justice League (2011) #51

Wonder Woman (1987) #161

Wonder Woman (1987) #166

Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #4

Nightwing (1996) Annual 2

Some honorary mentions:

These two ones where Diana doesn't interact with Dick one-on-one and is only a part of a larger group, but it's still a good way to show that she respects and trusts him as a leader.

The Brave and The Bold (2007) #15

Justice League: Generation Lost #1

This one where Dick isn't here but Diana shows appreciation for his skills and is very quick to accept that Nightwing should be honored by being in the League (also this isn't about him but I love Clark's "finally, someone easy." That's a proud uncle y'all).

Justice League of America (2006) #2

This one where Diana isn't here but she lets Dick use her Lasso, I think that counts.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #17

This one where Diana gifted Dick the fastest horse in the world, apparently.

Justice League (2018) #53

These from the 1966 Batman and 1977 Wonder Woman shows' crossover comic.

Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 #5

Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 #6

Batman '66 Meets Wonder Woman '77 #10

And then—

Then...

Yeah. That's about it. It's an unfortunately short list. But what little we do have shows that they have a bond of mutual trust and respect for each other. It's very interesting and I wish they explored it more.

[shimmershy]

Take it back to the start...

I've had a change of heart!

[necrotic-nephilim]

in lieu of having posted any writing/headcanons/asks in the past few days because i have been *so* busy and unable to do anything fandom-related which is terrible and evil, i have a poll out of morbid curiosity and self-indulgence. i've been meaning to ramble here about how i feel about DC's lack fo Deaf representation and which Batfam members i would personally make Deaf, but i am mildly curious about the larger opinion and now i will subject you all to the question, i would love to hear thoughts/opinions/headcanons on any specific choices. (would love d/Deaf/HoH opinions esp but i'm mostly expecting this to reach the hearing crowd, so opinions from hearing ppl are ones i'm very curious about. if you've never given it thought before you are going to now or else /lh)

[arttsuka]

Guess what movie I watched yesterday (it was 'Chicken run: dawn of the nugget')

Anyway British chicken am I right 🐓 (I know that this is a rooster but I didn't like the chicken emoji)