#also not sure why I keep posting these.

[knackfandomarchive]

slowly getting there

[illusioncanthurtme--art]

Dibs shitty jacked up car!! In all it's glory! For YOU! :D

This is your reward for giving me Crud to "decorate" Dibs car with in this post. It was really helpful! Ignore the fact I'm giving you this well over a month later... I forgot to share this at all. 😅

His car interior + exterior is black, but the lighting is very warm in this scene, because it's supposed to be the late afternoon/early evening.

I've many more backgrounds to do. I'm gonna draw this car like ten more times.

(also in case you're wondering what that weird ass thing is in the first one, that's the yumberjacks drive through microphone. They're in gravity falls. this is a crossover thing)

[just-null]

HELLO HANTENGU NATION (5 people)

I'VE MADE AN [unofficial] HEIGHT CHART FOR MYSELF

Hantengu: 5"5 (166cm) Sekido: 5"9 (175cm) Karaku: 5"9 (175cm) Urogi: 5"9 (175cm) Aizetsu: 5"9 (174cm) Zohakuten: 5"3 (160cm) Urami: 8"5 (257cm)

[little aftermath under the cut]

they're so annoying. peace is nonexistent... they're the best ever.

[khaoala]

it's the way khaotung immediately perks up when first brings up his beloved, now second favorite, p'yok.

[kithj]

some stories are written precisely to elicit strong emotions from the reader INCLUDING negative ones. some stories and characters are meant to be upsetting, they are meant to challenge you and make you uncomfortable!! when a story makes you feel Big Feelings sometimes you are meant to sit in those feelings and ask yourself why! fiction is a great space to explore these emotions in a safe environment. you, as the reader, are meant to think critically about the art you are enjoying and that includes asking yourself questions like why has the author presented their art in this way and what are they trying to tell me. and then you get to have fun picking it apart and figuring it out and deciding what, exactly, the art means to you.

[kinetic-chaos]

Iblis is so back guys

Inspired by one of the memes on this post!

[luck-of-the-drawings]

EDYN TIDESTRIDER, CHALLENGER OF THE UNDERSEA, RIVAL OF THE DEEP. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR BROTHER WAS CHOSEN TO BE A WEAPON OF THE GODS? HOW WILL YOU UNDO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO HIM?

[gamebunny-advance]

Oh.

Nintendo out there just casually (kinda) confirming the "descended from humans" and "the wraiths are involved in all of the spaceship crashes" theories.

(source)

Okay, they're not really "confirmations" but more like they're officially addressing the different theories that people have about the true nature of PNF-404 and are telling you to keep on speculating on your own time.

Take these translations with a grain of salt since they're machine translations.

[koifsssh]

gender envy

[ch1zzie]

The original in the bottom

Plus the picture I mainly drew but decided to draw the rest for funny

[that-butch-archivist]

source: The Little Butch Book by Lesléa Newman

[franky-y]

finally managed to finish this

[wickmitz]

— THE ELECTRIC-FEVER REMEDY.

[son-of-the-sun23]

Hearing the news about Sam's recovery from tonsil cancer made everything make sense as to why C3 was taking so many breaks. I mean, at the same time they're also branching out as a business and creating new series but spreading things out to pace the production of C3 while Sam got the treatment he needed makes me a lot less inclined to get irritated about the frequent breaks as I've seen people on Twitter are. If anything, I'm glad about this mini-hiatus C3 is taking with having Brennan Lee Mulligan DM another EXU spinoff for a bit.

[tyttetardis]

Macbeth Donmar Supporter's Zoom Conversation

On the 9th of May 2023 Donmar Warehouse held a Zoom "meeting" for supporters where Michael Longhurst talked about their two newly announced productions - Clyde's and Macbeth. This was a week before tickets went on general sale and before they announced that Cush Jumbo would be playing Lady Macbeth.

At the time it was all, of course, quite exciting since everything they revealed during the talk was brand new info! Most of which wouldn't be known at large until the play was being perfomed (or later). I think only about 80 people participated, most of which I think either worked for the Donmar or were members at much higher levels.

Today it's no longer new information as such, but I thought it might still be interesting to make a post about what was said during this talk :)

Michael first spoke about Clyde's (which I didn't actually listen much too) and then introduced Macbeth as their Christmas show (using the word Christmas "incredibly tenuously") saying the cast was yet to be revealed, but called it a beautiful ensamble piece, and that they were in the process of casting with the cast to be revealed "shortly".

He then went on to say that the casting that was revealed the week before made a bit of a spark - David Tennant coming to the Donmar to play Macbeth :) He mentioned it being directed by Max Webster since Michael was so impressed with how he did Henry V the year before. He said they had a joyful process of going to their favourite actors trying to match slots and titles to the actors that they love - and that they were thrilled that Mr. Tennant was stepping up to the Scottish play - "we felt it was time!"

"He [David] has obviousley given amazing Shakespearean performances - Hamlet, Richard II at the RSC - I, yeah, I think his verse speaking is frankly unparalleled, it's a thing of beauty. He's quicksilver, but he can push himself into the most extraordinary characterisations."

He went on to say that David and Max were deep into discussions about what this production should be. He said there's always Macbeths, but he thought what they would do so spectacularly would be to allow it to be a deeply psychological take on the play (facilitated/inspired by the Donmar's space).

He said they had a very exciting Lady Macbeth who would be announced in a week. He said she was a Donmar alumni who had a great Shakespearean set of works under her belt. He was thrilled to reunite her with David, saying that they had just done a TV series together. "So you can go do some subtle googling, but please don't share it" :P "It's amazing, they are gonna be a fierce combination!"

Someone then asked about whether the show would be streamed to which Michael said they were having conversations about it since there was a LOT of interest and they knew demand for this show with David would be incredibly high. So they would be doing everything they could to get the show streamed, it was their absolute ambition. Not least since it would be amazing to be able to share it with students. So they were in those conversations "as we speak". He later talks about it again - saying that streaming is a way of mass sharing, even if it can't recreate the experience of closeness at the Donmar. That they would try to secure screenings of it since they were aware it would be very popular "It's almost a curse of having such an intimate theatre - that when you program a star like that, it becomes huge".

Choosing to stage Macbeth was down to Michael and Max having a conversation about a short list of Shakespeare plays Max was keen to have a go at and them talking about various leading actors (later he expands on this as Max having had conversations with potential leading actors on which titles they were inspired with/ to perform - sorta like an Actors dating spree, 6 months ago) to decide which one would be the best one for this moment - "David's availibity created this window between two massive screen projects and it felt like the one to grab". Macbeth hadn't been staged at the "Donmar" since 1976 - with the legendary Dench and McKellen version. Michael said he thinks that the Donmar stage is the perfect space for Macbeth since "it allows the director and the lead actor to utterly hold a room of people in a way that'd be thrilling and terrifying, that you can't necessarily do in other spaces". He then said that he didn't think Max was interested in the witches and the supernatural as real entities but rather looking at psychological, trauma related reasons to explore those devices within the play. He also said Max was very passionate about making it very Scottish and that he had already been meeting with Scottish folk musicians to create his ensemble team. Also that he was very interested in Lady M being from outside the Scottish hiearchy - that she's be unafraid to challenge that Scottish status quo.

For Michael it's about "the synergy of an actor who should be playing that character - and that is Mr. David Tennant because he is one of our greatest verse speakers, let alone the greatest Scottish verse speaker".

He said that the production would definitely be a contemporary set. A modern dress Macbeth.

He then said that the reason he wanted to back Max as a director is that he thinks he offers a brand of total theatre that is really exceptional. There was a question about the music used in Henry V, and Michael said he just knew about the Scottish folk music and that music would be a part of the show, and that music is always a big part of Max's shows.

Someone then asked if they consult with scools on what plays they are studying in order to choose what they put on. Michael says they were obviously very aware of Macbeth being part of the curriculum and that being one of the reasons they thought this was "the text. And obviousley with David and his DW background, he brings a huge appeal and accesibility for young people who might find Shakespeare challenging - and you know, being brought into that story by someone they know and love so well is...you know we saw the effect happen on Henry V, 40% of people coming to the Donmar were coming for the first time when we had Henry V on - and it's thrilling to expand that connection, and we know David will do the same".

[applestorms]

i don’t think people give ciel nearly enough credit when it comes to his emotional intelligence/how self-aware he is.

like, yeah— ciel is a brat, he’s a stuck up little privileged rich kid, he’s pampered and spoiled and struggles massively when he’s forced to live without the luxuries he’s always grown up with. but he also recognizes that, in a way that is actually quite mature for someone of his age and class. he’s cynical, he’s pessimistic, he has incredible little (if any) respect or hope for humanity left— but this is something he applies to himself and the others at his same social standing just as much as anyone else, if not more. he clearly connects and empathizes with finny (and honestly all of his servants) because he sees himself within him, trusting him like a (his) brother during the emerald witch arc. he understands where joker is coming from with regards to his desperation to take care of his family and doesn’t pass judgement on him, to the point of even planning to take care of the very family he thought he’d left behind after joker dies. he even seems to have some degree of genuine respect for lizzie, assuaging her insecurities by trying to see her for who she is and not who she wants to be or feels like she must be.

honestly, i think that in most of the cases where ciel is being a full on Brat™ it all goes back to one thing— ciel trying to asset his Power, and take back control over the situation.

ciel is a character who is very very very easily underestimated at first glance by most people who have just met him, and even a few people who know him longer than that. he’s literally a sickly victorian child with asthma and CPTSD-motivated panic attacks, the kid is frail as fuck, not to mention— a kid. the fact that ciel might have something of an inferiority complex is obvious enough even if you don’t bring the whole lesser-twin thing into it, his minute stature is something literally every fucking character brings up upon first meeting him.

sometimes, ciel can use this to his advantage, so he does. he puts on the cute little boy face and flutters his eyelashes and uses other peoples’ empathy against them to achieve his own goals (see: arthur, and also like the entire public school arc, etc.).

most of the time though, ciel doesn’t really want to do this, not only because it’s somewhat demeaning but also because he Does have a reputation to uphold. ciel needs to constantly be both on guard and on the attack for his job as the queen’s watchdog, he is basically obligated to constantly stand as the biggest threat in the underworld. much of ciel’s Brat behavior to other people comes down to this— him asserting his status, not really out of any pride for the title, but because he is a Threat and other people need to fucking know it. sometimes, this means shoving his (and sebastian’s) power in their face until they get the fucking picture and/or die trying to understand it, particularly in the case of more asshole-ish characters like all the random evil businessmen with criminal agendas that ciel puts through the evil haunted demon house schtick. other times, this manifests more in the form of a kind of genuine empathy— you Should get the fuck away if you actually care about the things you claim to care about cuz i will not hold back, etc.

speaking of— in the case of sebastian specifically, the fact that this is ciel’s desire to take back agency becomes even more clear.

sebastian and ciel’s dynamic is one of, if not the most compelling aspects of this series to me, in large part because of how goddamn codependent they are while simultaneously being inherently at odds with one another. this series Will end with sebastian eating ciel’s goddamned soul— i honestly think that even if the rest of the cast eventually becomes more aware of the specifics of sebastian’s demonic nature or their contract, ciel himself will stop them from trying to save him or break the deal somehow, and sebastian himself certainly doesn’t have nearly enough of an attachment to humanity as a whole to bother actually stopping himself from chowing down, even if he may regret it somewhat more than he expected afterwards. yet at the same time, right up until we reach that exact point, they have every reason to need and want to collaborate with each other— something that they do, even if it is with full knowledge of the exact sword hanging over their heads the entire time that they’re playing nice.

i really love the analysis from this post, which points out the fact that all of the three core rules ciel establishes for their contract are perfectly designed to turn sebastian into someone that ciel can trust. highly recommend reading that essay, but to elaborate a bit more in my own words— ciel knows that sebastian is going to eat him one day. he is incredibly physically fragile and aware of this, perhaps even aware of the ways in which he has been made mentally weak due to his traumas, and especially of the fact that he is vulnerable specifically in comparison to sebastian. every single time that sebastian saves ciel, it is another reminder that This is who ciel is going to die to. he is chained to this starving, rabid monster just as much as the monster is chained to him, and one day, those roles are going to flip. he’s not going to be in power forever, and he knows it.

therefore: when ciel is a Brat™ at sebastian specifically, i read this less as ciel actually being unaware/childish/stupid/etc., and more as ciel tugging on the proverbial chain to make sure he is still the one pulling the strings. ciel has a habit of emphasizing the fact that he is Ordering sebastian when he is in a stressful situation or panicking for any given reason, focusing on the language that he Knows sebastian will respond to. and it’s a trauma response. IT’S A TRAUMA RESPONSE!!

what i think ciel Hates, above all else, maybe even more than he cares to consciously admit, is not having power. he can’t stand to not be the one in full control of a situation. he can’t stand having his agency taken from him, not after Everything that he’s been through.

if there’s one thing that watching his entire family be killed while also being viciously abused by a cult taught (not) ciel, it is the feeling of having No power. he was helpless to stop his parents’ murders, he was helpless to stop the cult from violating and abusing him, he was helpless to stop his own brother’s death. ciel connects more easily and often more deeply on an emotional level with the lower class characters in the story because he knows what it feels like to be completely powerless in the face of the absolute worst of humanity. thus, when ciel acts like a Brat, when he asserts his title as an Earl, someone Respectable, or as The Queen’s Watchdog, someone Threatening, when he demands that everyone bend over backwards to serve his will— it is ciel taking back all the power that he can and gripping it as tightly as he possibly fucking can, because he knows what can and will happen if/when he lets it all go.

and there is no character for which this is more true than sebastian. one of the most powerful entities in the series, easily the one closest to ciel, who he depends on so incredibly— but who is also Destined and Required to bring his end once all this is over. ciel kicks sebastian around, treats him like shit and shows him rare moments of kindness and care, all for the affirmation that He is still in control. absolutely nobody can ever meaningfully hurt ciel again, so long as sebastian is there— and sebastian won’t hurt him either. not yet. but, instinctively, he needs to keep testing that bond. just in case. just to be sure.

honestly, i think that’s where the real tragedy of the series comes from— ciel never really grows, never really changes, because he Can’t. he guaranteed that for himself. at his absolute lowest point, ciel lost all faith in humanity and god and Himself. he lost his childhood naïveté, and the ability to believe in goodness in any form. ciel knows that one day, he’s going to be hurt again, that someone is going to snatch him up and chew him alive— all he wants now is the control to dictate for himself when that inevitable end will happen.