#this is just my take on things

[jedi-enthusiast]

ok, so I saw a post- (for the life of me I can’t find it again now 😭) -where they said season two of Black Butler actually wasn’t that bad and that they liked the introduction of more demon characters, so I figued I'd add my two-cents.

Personally, my main issue with Season 2 wasn't the addition of new characters, but rather the...strange way they chose to deviate from the manga---which is also the same issue I had with Season 1 of the anime.

Like Season 1 and the whole story with Ash/Angela, instead of deviating from the original in order to add something to the story, it seemed like the whole Season 2 storyline was just...idk fanservice for Sebaciel shippers? written by someone on crack?

Either way, it was just too messy for me to even enjoy the good parts of it.

(Long ass tangent below, you have been warned)

In Season 1 I actually enjoyed the Barrymore Manor case, I enjoyed the case with the two ghosts who had to move on, I enjoyed the Frost Fair/Drossel episodes, I enjoyed the idea that angels also existed in this universe---since it just made sense.

Some things I didn't like, however, were:

▪️ They added in useless characters- (Pluto) -for no reason.

▪️ Instead of keeping things low stakes and ramping up the ante later like the manga, they decided to make things crazy high stakes- (setting London on fire, Ash/Angela trying to "cleanse the earth or whatever the fuck they were trying to do) -earlier, which completely messes up the pacing.

▪️ They stole things from other arcs- (him rejecting his parents in Season 1 for revenge is basically what happens in the Emerald Witch Arc when he rejects the idea of giving up on his quest for revenge, which is given by his family) -which also messes up the pacing by rushing Ciel's character development.

▪️ They made Lau betray Ciel??? Even though Lau has been shown to consistently help Ciel out??? For no reason???

▪️ They made Sebastian literally abandon Ciel and ignore his orders, even though Sebastian would never do that---like, it goes against pretty much everything established about Sebastian. Even if he doesn't like/agree with the orders, he still does them unless those orders go against the contract itself.

So, for me, the bad outweighs the good in that season, so I have a hard time enjoying it when it gets to those deviations---it's just too messy.

----------

Similarly, in Season 2 I liked the addition of more demons, I liked the idea that souls have different tastes depending on their trauma/personalities, I liked the idea of demons sometimes not having a contract and serving a human anyway, I liked the addition of more things that can kill/harm demons besides Death Scythes.

However, I didn't like:

▪️ Ciel losing his soul/memory??? Like, what the fuck was that all about??? I've tried rewatching Season 2 multiple times and I still have no idea how that was a thing or how it worked.

▪️ Sebastian basically just being able to lie to Ciel via him saying that Alois killed his parents even though he knows that he didn't, just so he and Claude can fight for the soul instead of Claude just stealing it---like, that's one of the rules of the contract, Sebastian can't lie to Ciel.

▪️ The weird as fuck way that Claude was pervy towards Ciel---like, demons are never shown to act that way even if a soul is really good, it was just creepy. I get why Alois was trying to "seduce" Claude, since hypersexuality can be a trauma response to SA, but Claude being that way to Ciel was just...ew.

▪️ Them just adding Lau back after they had him betray Ciel in the last season??? Like, if you're gonna deviate, at least make things consistent.

▪️ The whole swapping souls/personalities/memories thing??? Like idek how else to describe how Ciel got after he wore Alois's ring, so that's what you're getting, but the whole idea of souls/personalities/memories just being able to be swapped out is weird.

▪️ CIEL TURNING INTO A DEMON??? THE FUCK???

So, once again, Season 2 was just too messy for me to enjoy it fully---there were aspects that I liked, but the majority of it was just bad imo.

----------

So yeah, while some aspects of those seasons are good, I just found them too messy and I didn't enjoy how some of the deviations broke established canon within the series.

[ace-of-clubs]

I don't mean to pile on where I may not be welcome, so please tell me if I'm overstepping my bounds here, but I'd like to answer that question "what can Christians hear in this song?"

I was raised Christian, bounced between a few denominations before ultimately abandoning the faith when I was about 13 (still have not told my deeply religious family, but they know better than to try and drag me to a church early in the morning). Most American Christians, in my experience, have a persecution complex that is at odds with a comorbid savior complex. That is, they both want to save the world but feel as if the world is out to get them. It would not surprise me if many practicing Christians hear it as a song that depicts someone entrenched in their beliefs fighting against an uncaring world as opposed to that "sadomasochistic relationship". The interpretation being that the perspective of the singer is one of strong faith and the listener is one of weak or no faith that the singer is attempting to 'uplift' to a degree of success that is likely up for debate.

Now, for ex-Christians (again, in my experience), the sentiment brought on by the song is a bittersweet mix of having left something you no longer believe in but losing that comfort of faith. Personally, especially when I was younger and much less educated about both the origins of Cohen's Hallelujah and the Jewish faith, I interpreted it as someone who so fiercely desired to believe in something but couldn't bring themselves to without actual tangible intervention. Knowing what I do now, I would not interpret it this way, but at the time it resonated with me for that reason.

I don't consider myself to be a great scholar of theology, I mostly just know enough to not make a complete ass of myself around friends of varying religions, but current Christian thought is something I am very much aware of. It'll vary between denominations and even congregations, but the one constant is that savior complex (at least, when it comes to American Christians). They believe that it is their duty to save people by spreading and enforcing their faith, some more zealously than others. The more complex relationship with faith that's depicted in Hallelujah is very likely lost on them, all they can pick out is the more overt religious bent and they'll run with it as far as they can. Don't be too hard on most ex-Christians if they can't see it either, it takes time to break free of the Christian-centric worldview they instill in you as soon as you can understand words. Especially if you're raised in one of the more zealous congregations.

when christian artists change the line in hallelujah from “maybe there’s a God above” to “I know that there’s a God above” >:c

[bixels]

As gen-AI becomes more normalized (Chappell Roan encouraging it, grifters on the rise, young artists using it), I wanna express how I will never turn to it because it fundamentally bores me to my core. There is no reason for me to want to use gen-AI because I will never want to give up my autonomy in creating art. I never want to become reliant on an inhuman object for expression, least of all if that object is created and controlled by tech companies. I draw not because I want a drawing but because I love the process of drawing. So even in a future where everyone’s accepted it, I’m never gonna sway on this.

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Knowledge Revenge.

[maidenvault]

Not “Only my reading of canon is correct” or “Interpretations are subjective and all valid” but a secret third thing, “More than one interpretation can be valid but there’s a reason your English teacher had you cite quotes and examples in your papers, you have to have a strong argument that your interpretation is actually supported by the text or it is just wrong and I’m fine with telling you it’s wrong, actually.”

[lazylittledragon]

can't believe we're all adults being forced into the club penguin level of censorship in 2024

[cork-run]

the names of certain mob-involved trans women have been changed

[druid-for-hire]

[image id: a four-page comic. it is titled "immortality” after the poem by clare harner (more popularly known as “do not stand at my grave and weep”). the first page shows paleontologists digging up fossils at a dig. it reads, “do not stand at my grave and weep. i am not there. i do not sleep.” page two features several prehistoric creatures living in the wild. not featured but notable, each have modern descendants: horses, cetaceans, horsetail plants, and crocodilians. it reads, “i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the diamond glints on snow. i am the sunlight on ripened grain. i am the gentle autumn rain.” the third page shows archaeopteryx in the treetops and the skies, then a modern museum-goer reading the placard on a fossil display. it reads, “when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uplifting rush, of quiet birds in circled flight. i am the soft stars that shine at night. do not stand at my grave and cry.” the fourth page shows a chicken in a field. it reads, “i am not there. i did not die” / end id]

a comic i made in about 15 hours for my school’s comic anthology. the theme was “evolution”

[hinamie]

10 years later

[moncuries]

guess what i watched on new years (a redraw kind of)

[artkaninchenbau]

A h-heartfelt reunion..?

Bonus

[eruhamster]

not to be annoying but i do think a lot of people mischaracterize falin. shes got the most drastic canon v fanon thing going on. which i guess makes sense bc 1. we dont see much of her and 2. lot of the fan stuff are anime-onlies that have seen even less

but i think like a good 90% of the time i see falin-centric art or posts im like hrm hrm hrm thats all wrong no nope no-siree

she's just a cool chick that takes life as it comes, doesn't hold grudges even against a mother that apparently was trying to beat the magic outta her, finds her older brother the coolest person in the world, and has autism about observing life (and death, she loves the ghosts she has a connection to) and nature and taking care of things (including taking care of her brother, which is why she's even in the dungeons; she saw her scrawny mess of a brother and decided she had to fix that).

and i think my favorite part that people don't talk about is... she would have done the same for marcille or laios if it were one of them that was eaten. you could see it in her eyes:

it's what shuro misunderstands about her. it's easy to see her feminine, cute, good girl pieces and forget the rest of her. but she loves things to an ends-of-the-earth extent; the kind of caring that makes you a little insane. and that's how I think she and laios end up on the same page with their weirdness. they have different interests, but they are the same level of committed to those interests.

it's easy to love her, because she probably loves you just as much, if not more.

EDIT: for the love of god stop reblogging this only to add some comment or tag or reply saying 'op you forgot [BLATANTLY FANON INTERPRETATION]'. falin as we know her is not a pushover/people pleaser/infantilized, see this version of my post. also stuff like 'female shuro was in love with laios in the genderbent comic' and 'falin was going to marry shuro because she felt bad' are just things you made up in your head

[noodles-and-tea]

Just some more thoughts on that jayvik dbh au

[inkskinned]

having good & true friends will literally save and protect you in a million unfathomable ways. like okay we have written so many times about lovers. but the way a platonic friend laughs and cries with you. the way they hold your hand at 14 years old and at 34. the way they keep a little silver tie to you, touching base over and over and over. how you can go years without talking, only to re-meet and discover: oh shit! you're still cool!

there are people who have been in my life for more than half of it, and i have loved every version of them. do you know how fucking beautiful that is. yeah love will save the world. but the way friends love you is gonna save the you.

[chloesimaginationthings]

"They call it the MANGLE" - FNAF 2 phone guy