#cuz this is honestly really funny

[marlynnofmany]

Hm yes I see. Today we make our own luck.

[taffypointby]

my Bill in handyman AU... wanted to give it a try too! + normal Bill edits of that bust bc i really like how it turned out...

[crabsnpersimmons]

Happy Halloween from the "New 'Do, Same You" Boys!

later:

[essektheylyss]

Okay I'm not normally one to comment publicly on ship portmanteaus but we seem nowhere near a consensus and I've been reading basically nothing but taxonomic theory with a side of organizational management for like seven weeks straight so: why is verleth not the default option. It cannot be because it's too close to vexleth when everyone's been using it next to vaxleth for years. Obviously we could go to keyrin, but a) every other Keyleth ship name is [other person]leth, and b) it's going to be annoying as hell with autocorrect for being one letter off of a real word.

But most critical, we cannot use "thelyss" as Verin's part of the portmanteau, on account of the fact that Verin has been on screen for like three minutes, and his older brother, with whom he does still share a second name, has been on screen for like fifteen hours. I know Essek's ship names usually use his title but Verin ALSO is not the most obvious Task Hand (rip Adeen Tasithar, you probably would've loved being a shady bitch in Vasselheim but honestly, I don't actually know well enough to say).

Think of new fans trying to figure out who the fuck is in this ship. Think of the tag wranglers. Think of me, local taxonomy nerd who will one day just lose it and start yelling on the dash about authority controls and the absolute inadequacy of disambiguation by committee.*

[oceanwithouthermoon]

THE FACT THAT THE ONLY INSULT SHE COULD THINK OF FOR HIM WAS THAT HES QUIET AND GLOOMY, AND SHE HAD TO LIE ABOUT THE REST OF IT..

[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.

[astranauticus]

link click yingdu ep 1 is truly the gift that keeps on giving the more you think about it the more layers you unlock. at first i thought the 'video call with phone in shirt pocket' trick is a pretty effective way of replicating their dives with like.. normal human technology without their powers and then i realised that's probably because lu guang specifically thought 'this is a situation that would call for a dive except cheng xiaoshi doesn't know about the whole time travel powers thing yet, what would be a good and reasonable approximation of that that i can spring on him rn'. also, we know this is not the first time he's experiencing this day because he was checking the clock before he proposed the whole video call phone camera thing, implying that he had the 'script' for this day just like he did with the anime convention, but even then he could only warn cheng xiaoshi about the guy behind him with the bat right before he was about to get hit - probably because cheng xiaoshi kept 'doing unnecessary actions' and messing up the timeline/lu guang's 'script' and forcing him to improvise. once again, lu guang's trying to protect cheng xiaoshi while also hiding information from him and cheng xiaoshi's failing to follow lu guang's instructions and putting himself in danger because of his own kindness and impulsivity - their entire dynamic moving forwards, captured in their first (arguably more like.. the 0th) 'job' together.

[a-substantial-trash-pile]

the more i learn about this luigi guy and the whole story in general the more i wonder if we really are living in some wild offshoot of the main timeline because you can't make this shit up

[felixravinstills]

Felix Ravinstill — Moodboard — Gray

Coriolanus wondered if Lepidus’s high praise had more to do with Felix’s being the grandnephew of the president than anything else, but he didn’t begrudge it.

— The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 14

[cozymochi]

I started following you recently, I think Tia is very pretty and your drawings are beautiful, is she in a romantic relationship with some character?

(💕💕💕💕)

Well, no but technically yes. But also yes, but technically no 🫣 I’ll explain as best as I can because Tia and romance is complicated.

Tia isn’t actually in any romantic relationship at all. So, my first gut answer is just “no, she isn’t.” (Which is the most concrete definitive answer, I suppose.)

She was kind of built from the start to just be her own character to put in a version of the twst story I’d wanna see (As any usual MC does.) 😩 So, romance just wasn’t really on the table. Though, mind, Tia is also just … the way she is. She’s a “princess tiana” type. It’s not a priority for her, so naturally it’s rarely- if ever- brought up.

THAT SAID!! I’m just really casual about shipping Tia in general, so she’s just sort of shipped with almost everybody without any real commitment on my end. I just like dynamics being explored should they go in that direction. So, it’s not completely out of the question.

I do have some pairings I ended up leaning more towards than others, to the point even I was surprised by them (y’know how when characters may take on a life of their own in a way? It’s like that), but otherwise I try to stay “hands off” with this stuff. I don’t think I’ll ever truly have her “canonically” be in any romantic relationship. If only to stay open ended. But, others are free to think what they want. I wouldn’t want to stifle anybody.

BUT - listen - I do enjoy a good romance 😩 and i like the thought of setting her up like I’m a stuffy aristocratic mom showing off her daughter to the many bachelors at a debutante ball kgjfjdulgjfh I like the hypotheticals. If a twst menu voiceline or innocuous piece of dialog in a story sends me into brainrot, then of course im going internally crazy jfhdgfhdh

Besides, Tia isn’t gonna get ANY romance if he has anything to say about it——

(she deserves love)

TL;DR: Nope.

[babybirbb]

a couple of dentist visits ago i was sitting in the chair for a few hours and i was in pain and not having fun but this was when i had just started obsessing over marvey so to cope i came up with a fic idea while i was there...

ive been having tooth pain again but i hate going so to cope again all ive been thinking about is this marvey fic idea again where hurt!mike has to go to the dentist so im gonna force yall to hear about it too

the gist is that yes even though mike is an adult, he hasn't been to the dentist in a hot second (ie since high school) bc he just didn't have enough money for it to be a priority

anyways he starts dealing with some general issues: toothache, headaches, sensitivity, disrupted sleep, etc. that just gets bad enough to the point where it's obvious that something is wrong

harvey can tell he's not functioning at full capacity: is avoiding certain foods, looks like he's in pain sometimes, and just generally seems more irritable as of late

eventually it reaches it's breaking point and harvey confronts mike and has to force him to go to the dentist cuz he's fed up (also cuz he cares about mike obvi but he's not gonna say that)

mike has general dentist anxiety (he hasn't been in a while and he's also definitely worried about the copay even tho i imagine this law firm provides dental insurance lol) but harvey’s nice enough to be there for him

anyways after finally going and figuring out the issue, mike's set up for a procedure (tooth extraction? root canal? idk yet), and after said procedure harvey has to deal with gassed up mike who's either woken up from the sedative or just heavily anesthetized

basically just harvey taking care of mike from then on, giving meds and comfort when the pain becomes too much after the anesthesia wears off. i just want harvey to be all soft and sweet with equally soft and loopy mike

i have hopes to write this at some point (my depression is kicking my ass rn) but anyone else is welcome to take inspiration from this! i encourage it cuz i'd love to see what other people come up with! <3

[feline-evil]

Master Miller time

[katiekatdragon27]

This is the only acceptable non canon Texty design /j

More below the cut:

So basically, Texty (through reality bending magic or a mechanic idc) was accidentally granted limbs. They decided to be expressive with their design now since they had the ability to do so. They made little cat and dog ear cutouts with construction paper and got their gloves and shoes customized to look like paws. Free world ig.

Yes, Liam walks with a cane, but only actively uses it when traveling "long distance" (leaving the apartment). Texty loves to go outside and see the world, and they especially love to sing. It is their favorite thing to do while walking.

And a silly comic showing the first time Liam saw Texty with limbs. Texty were scared of Liam's reaction, but he loves his funny robot daughter-son-child-that-isn't-technically-a-child-but-acts-like-a-child thing regardless.

My apologies on the shitty emotional dialogue, I tried. Also in the canon that this exists, it is my au where aircorn is canon and they have kids so that's who Calypso is.

More will be explained if I don't get jumped for this lol. Have a good day bros :)

[w1lmutt]

Honestly that tpn joke manga had such weird ass way to flanderize the characters (especially Norman,,, that wasn’t parody, that was a crime against the Geneva convention)

I do find it funny that the choice they made for Ray was to make him the most sad sopping wet cat in the world

[essektheylyss]

that's it, that's the Odyssey

[shreddeddescent]

probably oversharing at this point ive been doing that a lot. very much had the experience of everyone ive told about this going "hey. im glad youre getting whatever that is out"

hmmmmm