#definitely blue

[tinytracys]

When present in the UK in May, it would have been rude of the Tracys not to seek out a bluebell or two…

Guys… have we got this right? These are kind of purple?

Alan!!! You can’t say that!

I thought they’d be more… y’know… BLUE!

Sssssssh if Penny hears you she’ll have you executed for high treason.

I’m just saying…

Purple is just a variant of blue really if you think about it.

I think I’ve been missold.

*rugby tackles Alan off the branch then calls out from undergrowth*

If I don’t make it out of here alive tell Penny I died defending British honour!

[miothle]

iudex of fontaine⚖️🌊

[chloesimaginationthings]

every time u draw in-game william its over fopr me...hes so sjkdjkl???

Fun fact: For my in-game William design I heavily tried to make him resemble Michael, down to very small features and quirks

[secondbeatsongs]

hey, don't cry

tumblr is the new pdf! ok?

[batcel]

he literally just studies her face every second he can... like HE'S CRAZYYY

[mortysmith]

eye color hcs

[queerbuckleys]

Rwrb Marketing: enemies to lovers!

Rwrb in reality: absolute fucking idiots to lovers

[kaladinkholins]

Very interesting to me that a certain subset of the BES fandom's favourite iterations of Mizu and Akemi are seemingly rooted in the facades they have projected towards the world, and are not accurate representations of their true selves.

And I see this is especially the case with Mizu, where fanon likes to paint her as this dominant, hyper-masculine, smirking Cool GuyTM who's going to give you her strap. And this idea of Mizu is often based on the image of her wearing her glasses, and optionally, with her cloak and big, wide-brimmed kasa.

And what's interesting about this, to me, is that fanon is seemingly falling for her deliberate disguise. Because the glasses (with the optional combination of cloak and hat) represent Mizu's suppression of her true self. She is playing a role.

Take this scene of Mizu in the brothel in Episode 4 for example. Here, not only is Mizu wearing her glasses to symbolise the mask she is wearing, but she is purposely acting like some suave and cocky gentleman, intimidating, calm, in control. Her voice is even deeper than usual, like what we hear in her first scene while facing off with Hachiman the Flesh-Trader in Episode 1.

This act that Mizu puts on is an embodiment of masculine showboating, which is highly effective against weak and insecure men like Hachi, but also against women like those who tried to seduce her at the Shindo House.

And that brings me to how Mizu's mask is actually a direct parallel to Akemi's mask in this very same scene.

Here, Akemi is also putting up an act, playing up her naivety and demure girlishness, using her high-pitched lilted voice, complimenting Mizu and trying to make small talk, all so she can seduce and lure Mizu in to drink the drugged cup of sake.

So what I find so interesting and funny about this scene, characters within it, and the subsequent fandom interpretations of both, is that everyone seems to literally be falling for the mask that Mizu and Akemi are putting up to conceal their identities, guard themselves from the world, and get what they want.

It's also a little frustrating because the fanon seems to twist what actually makes Mizu and Akemi's dynamic so interesting by flattening it completely. Because both here and throughout the story, Mizu and Akemi's entire relationship and treatment of each other is solely built off of masks, assumptions, and misconceptions.

Akemi believes Mizu is a selfish, cocky male samurai who destroyed her ex-fiance's career and life, and who abandoned her to let her get dragged away by her father's guards and forcibly married off to a man she didn't know. on the other hand, Mizu believes Akemi is bratty, naive princess who constantly needs saving and who can't make her own decisions.

These misconceptions are even evident in the framing of their first impressions of each other, both of which unfold in these slow-motion POV shots.

Mizu's first impression of Akemi is that of a beautiful, untouchable princess in a cage. Swirling string music in the background.

Akemi's first impression of Mizu is of a mysterious, stoic "demon" samurai who stole her fiance's scarf. Tense music and the sound of ocean waves in the background.

And then, going back to that scene of them together in Episode 4, both Mizu and Akemi continue to fool each other and hold these assumptions of each other, and they both feed into it, as both are purposely acting within the suppressive roles society binds them to in order to achieve their goals within the means they are allowed (Akemi playing the part of a subservient woman; Mizu playing the part of a dominant man).

But then, for once in both their lives, neither of their usual tactics work.

Akemi is trying to use flattery and seduction on Mizu, but Mizu sees right through it, knowing that Akemi is just trying to manipulate and harm her. Rather than give in to Akemi's tactics, Mizu plays with Akemi's emotions by alluding to Taigen's death, before pinning her down, and then when she starts crying, Mizu just rolls her eyes and tells her to shut up.

On the opposite end, when Mizu tries to use brute force and intimidation, Akemi also sees right through it, not falling for it, and instead says this:

"Under your mask, you're not the killer you pretend to be."

Nonetheless, despite the fact that they see a little bit through each other's masks, they both still hold their presumptions of each other until the very end of the season, with Akemi seeing Mizu as an obnoxious samurai swooping in to save the day, and Mizu seeing Akemi as a damsel in distress.

And what I find a bit irksome is that the fandom also resorts to flattening them to these tropes as well.

Because Mizu is not some cool, smooth-talking samurai with a big dick sword as Akemi (and the fandom) might believe. All of that is the facade she puts up and nothing more. In reality, Mizu is an angry, confused and lonely child, and a masterful artist, who is struggling against her own self-hatred. Master Eiji, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

And Akemi, on the other hand, is not some girly, sweet, vain and spoiled princess as Mizu might believe. Instead she has never cared for frivolous things like fashion, love or looks, instead favouring poetry and strategy games instead, and has always only cared about her own independence. Seki, her father figure who knows her best, knows this.

But neither is she some authoritative dominatrix, though this is part of her new persona that she is trying to project to get what she wants. Because while Akemi is willful, outspoken, intelligent and authoritative, she can still be naive! She is still often unsure and needs to have her hand held through things, as she is still learning and growing into her full potential. Her new parental/guardian figure, Madame Kaji, knows this as well.

So with all that being said, now that we know that Mizu and Akemi are essentially wearing masks and putting up fronts throughout the show, what would a representation of Mizu's and Akemi's true selves actually look like? Easy. It's in their hair.

This shot on the left is the only time we see Mizu with her hair completely down. In this scene, she's being berated by Mama, and her guard is completely down, she has no weapon, and is no longer wearing any mask, as this is after she showed Mikio "all of herself" and tried to take off the mask of a subservient housewife. Thus, here, she is sad, vulnerable, and feeling small (emphasised further by the framing of the scene). This is a perfect encapsulation of what Mizu is on the inside, underneath all the layers of revenge-obsession and the walls she's put around herself.

In contrast, the only time we Akemi with her hair fully down, she is completely alone in the bath, and this scene takes place after being scorned by her father and left weeping at his feet. But despite all that, Akemi is headstrong, determined, taking the reigns of her life as she makes the choice to run away, but even that choice is reflective of her youthful naivety. She even gets scolded by Seki shortly after this in the next scene, because though she wants to be independent, she still hasn't completely learned to be. Not yet. Regardless, her decisiveness and moment of self-empowerment is emphasised by the framing of the scene, where her face takes up the majority of the shot, and she stares seriously into the middle distance.

To conclude, I wish popular fanon would stop mischaracterising these two, and flattening them into tropes and stereotypes (ie. masculine badass swordsman Mizu and feminine alluring queen but also girly swooning damsel Akemi), all of which just seems... reductive. It also irks me when Akemi is merely upheld as a love interest and romantic device for Mizu and nothing more, when she is literally Mizu's narrative foil (takes far more narrative precedence over romantic interest) and the deuteragonist of this show. She is her own person. That is literally the theme of her entire character and arc.

[plaguedocboi]

Neptune escaping was the final push I needed to convince everyone to get the rare lobsters out of the crates and brought inside (there has always been an excuse before; big sand filters not running, lack of space, the aquarium isn’t open anyway this year so why bother) so everyone meet Sunny and Speckles, our yellow and calico lobsters!

[alliwantistowearcomfypants]

I fucking love that young royals really highlights the fact that no one can fix you but you. They have Wille and Simon trying to work around the horrible things going on together, and it doesn't really work because the biggest problem is that Wille is suffering so much under what the are trying to push through. At the beginning of s3 they have the "as long as I have you" kind of mentality and we see how quickly that falls apart. Having each other is not enough, and it shouldn't be. Wille needs to leave the life that is destroying him. Having simon in that life made it better, but it still was not enough. Simon recognizes that at the end of s3e5. Wille thought that all he needed was Simon because he has been so horribly mistreated by every adult in his life that the moment he is shown some unconditional love, he clings to it. Because, let me remind you, this kid is 17 years old. The ending is so incredibly impactful because Wille is finally choosing himself and his happiness. Not Simon's, not his moms. His. And that is beautiful.

[chaosgenasi]

On the good side, I think [Percy] finally at least realized that he has a family; that he wasn't alone… And I think he understands that now, because he feels very guilty and ashamed for being such a burden to his family, and that he's been screwing everything up. He's going to spend the next few episodes trying to make up for that very badly. From a place of deep shame and guilt, which is the greatest place to try and be helpful and remind everybody that you're more than a demon that tried to murder them. It'll go great. It goes great. Really helpful. He's going to be super helpful. Nothing bad is gonna happen.

[gaycrittercentral]

BEHOLD!! I made an entry to Skunkape's 2023 Holiday Contest! :'Dc I worked so fuckin hard on it hhhrhrhrhgdhsjglshgjdjfh and let me tell you, I do not at all hope to win but I do hope it makes Steve snicker. Just the thought that he'll be seeing it is wild. Hope it makes y'all snicker too ehehehe!!

[myrwrbblog]

It's a good thing Henry didn't see Alex wearing a strawberry costume telling a story to kids with two plush animals or he would have proposed on the spot

[moeblob]

I just would text him for literally everything and exaggerate everything I wasn't sure about.

[arabellas]

Coriolanus Snow + 🧿👄🧿

[itsdefinitely]

Can you draw Boy Jerry and Richie? That last one you did had me laughing for far too long.

they have the silliest dynamic in my head