#indeed that is a shame

[hauntingsofhouses]

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.

[jonesywrites]

There are folks on this hell site that champion incest shipping and the disease has spread to TWD, Rick and Carl. I’m telling you now if that shit crosses my dash I will berate the fuck outta you and then block the fuck outta you.

[cusale]

“you cry a million times before sunrise. you think your pain is unprecedented, then you are reminded, with a photograph or a headline, that your agony doesn’t compare to that of those who are marching, limbless and orphaned, under the rain and rockets. shame is too soft of a word.”

— mohammed el-kurd

[pretzcorn]

I love that if you turned into a cat, the moment you 'meow', Minthara will come to you and stay there for a good long while (as opposed to others just leave immediately). EVERYTIME. No matter what she's doing, you will always have her attention.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Godzilla, holding Mothra Astra (larva): This is my precious Princess Astra going for her first swim. Be careful Ast-

Mothra Astra (larva): *swims deeper into the sea*

Godzilla, traumatized: Astra? ASTRAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

[moeblob]

ok now I'm p sure no one remembers me drawing for this game bc I think everyone who I talked to about it left the tumbles but. hello, have some Lost Dimension fanart in 2023.

[cosmic-hoboandthehighlander]

It’s all fun and games until you try to say “I’ve fucked up” and your phone autocorrects it to “I’ve fucked Jo.” 🤦🏻

@lifeaspect

[yepthatsacowalright]

"Reality Takes A Holiday" as the finale for Eerie Indiana is so important to me and I'll tell you why.

First off, I'm pretty sure it was the first time I ever saw what a set looked like, what a script looked like, and how many people work behind the scenes to make a show. It got me curious to learn more, which then sort of altered the whole trajectory of my life, so that's a weird and fascinating to think about. Specifically, I really liked the fact that studio lots had golf carts, and one of my longest standing childhood dreams was to drive one. I didn't even need to be doing anything important. I just yearned to be, for a brief moment in time, a golf cart person on an LA back lot.

Then, years ago when I moved to LA and got my first ever production assistant job, I GOT TO DRIVE THE CART AROUND THE STUDIO! It was everything I hoped it would be, and easily the best part of that job. And that job, by the way, was at CBS Radford Studios. Which I remember even at the time thinking, 'Hehe Radford, like Mr. Radford.' Not realizing THAT'S WHERE THE CHARACTER GOT HIS NAME. Eerie Indiana FILMED AT RADFORD STUDIOS. I was living my golf cart fantasy at the EXACT SAME PLACE that I had seen and dreamed of golf carting, which is such a strange fact that I wish I'd known when I was working there because what are the fucking odds? But, to bring it back to the actual storyline of the episode (spoilers ahead btw), I love that there's the line, "'If he's not back by the final shot, the network's gonna cancel all of us!" Because Marshall writes himself out of the reality where Eerie Indiana is a TV show. So he isn't back by the final shot. And the network does cancel all of them. I love the implication that the town being a fictional place watched by an audience was just another part of Eerie's weirdness. That the brief time it was on the air was a blip of realities connecting and Marshall fixed it by choosing to go back. He and Simon continue their investigations, we just don't get to follow along anymore. It is the most satisfying ending to a short lived series I've ever seen, and I think that's why it's stuck with me for decades. It feels like an honest way to end something that no one working on it wanted to end. Were it up to them, they would rewrite the ending and go back, too.

[tofangirlonly]

Me then:

Me now:

Has looked into the man's eyes and said "Can you sign him too?" about a tiny cardboard cutout of himself.

[spirit-tracks]

I just started Hyrule Warriors (the og) for the first time!!! I got the game secondhand and dusted off Ol' Reliable (WiiU) so I can finally see what the fuss is all about. I know it's a Fighting Game about an interdimensional war and watched like one video of gameplay maybe five years ago? But that's all I know going in.

(I also played a little bit of Age of Calamity on my brother's switch back when it came out, but I never could understand what the hell was happening on the screen at any given moment, so this is fairly fresh of an experience for me.)

Some thoughts!:

The game's art style, fighting gimmick, and cutscenes reminds me a LOT of Super Smash Bros for the Wii, specifically story mode

Link is indeed just as Sexy as everyone makes him out to be. His voice is nice to listen to and the Blue Scarf is quite fetching

Shiek is SO FUN TO PLAY AS and I love being in the Know about their identity because Impa keeps going "I sure do hope Zelda is okay :(((" and I'm giving Shiek the eyeballs 👁👁 like "when are you going to tell her"

I only know the barest barest bare minimum about Lana and Cia going in but I am liking Cia as a villain so far, the reality breaking is awesome and also her bird mask is cool as hell

A lot of people consider this the non-canon explanation for the converging of the timelines, and although I'm not really on board with the Timeline Convergence theory, I DO See The Appeal of this explanation because the cutscene where all the different worlds started to collide and Skyloft was on the same map as Twilight Princess's Bridge of Eldin,,, my inner nerd is screaming

The game unloaded a LOT of mechanics on me all at once, which was a little overwhelming, but I think I'm getting the hang of it just by way of spamming the hell out of my attack button and hoping for the best. I'm starting to learn which button patterns make for my favorite attacks and how the item switching and special attacks help in certain areas. I also read through the tutorials like 5 times each. Despite how much STUFF is going on at any given moment, Im getting the hang of it surprisingly quickly.

It's somewhat difficult to keep track of what the other warriors are saying in the corner of the screen while I'm trying to focus on killing enemies, but I really like how they keep you updated on what's going on all over the battlefield, so that you can react and strategize accordingly. Speaking of the battlefield, I'm SO BAD AT NAVIGATING THE MINIMAP

It didn't take me long to catch on about how to reclaim bases and outposts, and I find a lot of satisfaction in taking back land, especially with the variety of monsters we get from across the other games. Bosses will have the same weaknesses from their og games, and I'm having a blast trying to remember how I killed Dodongo or Gohma in Ocarina of Time so that I can kill them in this game too. It's so rewarding when I get it right!

I've just completed the Valley of Seers, and I'm gonna pick it up again tomorrow maybe! I'm actually really surprised with how much fun I'm having so far, since I'm not usually all that big on Fighting Games, but it definitely helps that it's Zelda specifically 😂

[retrohockeyhell]

- "Mario Lemieux. Hockey's gentle giant" (Jean Sonmor, 1989)

- "Mario" (Lawrence Martin, 1993)

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

damn i scribbled for like five hours last night and virtually None of it is usable. the fuck, man....

[omg-hellgirl]

There was a boy in Bexley who idolized me. He was very ill. And one night — he must have known he was dying — he asked if I would hold his hand and I refused.

It was a very shameful thing. He called my name all night long but I wouldn't go to him. I was cured of my addiction but I hadn't yet seen the light.

Marianne Faithfull, Faithfull: An Autobiography.

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Me and my teacher have been talking about Robespierre and he told me that there are rumors that he might've been homosexual. He then asked me if that would've affected his reputation. Who made the rumors and who is the subject that made people think that Robespierre was possibly homosexual?

I don’t get how Robespierre being homosexual can be called a rumor when it’s really clear as day? I mean, Robespierre openly admits he’s got a boyfriend in this letter to Maurice Duplay:

Okay, jokes aside, I don’t know when exactly the claim that Robespierre could have been homo first showed up, but as far as I’m aware it wasn’t one that circulated during his life nor one that was among the slanders thrown against him in the aftermath of his death. So if today, the idea of him possibly being gay is not unheard of, I don’t think it was one that affected him and his reputation during his lifetime.

When trying to find exactly from where and when this idea originates, I actually only found somewhat recent works (that said, I know it dates back far earlier than that, I just don’t know who first came up with it). According to Peter McPhee, Jean Artarit presents the following thesis in his Maximilien Robespierre ou l’impossible filiation from 2003:

The psychoanalyst Jean Artarit is at an extreme, offering the insight that Robespierre’s misspelling in an electoral pamphlet of a shoemaker’s name Lantillette as Languillette (“baby eel”) shows a longing to cut off the penis. For Robespierre was apparently a repressed homosexual with a castration complex, a misogynist and pathological narcissist constantly searching for a good father and an all-powerful mother.

There’s also this passage from The Alyson Almanac (1989):

Although Robespierre may have never acted on his homosexual feelings, his strong attraction to members of his own sex is indisputable. His attachment to the handsome Saint-Just, known as "The Archangel of the Revolution,” was the source of frequent rumors.

There’s basically the answer to your question regarding who (most often?) is the subject who made people think Robespierre was homosexual — his nine years younger co-worker Louis Antoine Saint-Just. Although, again, I’m pretty sure the author is mistaken here and that no rumors regarding them being a thing are proven to have existed while they were still alive (right @frevandrest…?)

What makes up the idea of Robespierre and Saint-Just as a couple is mostly a bunch of circumstantials which to be boring fair can be interpreted in a bunch of ways that aren’t romantically and/or sexually linked as well. These include (but are not limited to) both Saint-Just and Robespierre being unmarried (the latter even allegedly shouting ”I will never marry!” in an anecdote, and this despite the fact that we have clues of marriage plans between him and several women, none of which ended in a wedding), contemporaries admitting a certain closeness between the two (examples: 1, 2, 3), Robespierre’s host claiming Saint-Just would go straight to Robespierre’s chamber without talking to anyone else in the family, later allegations of Saint-Just being super handsome (despite the fact that contemporaries just appear to have described him as average looking) and finally the fact that Saint-Just stayed with Robespierre until the bitter end, going out with the aim to defend him on 9 thermidor and dying with him on the scaffold one day later.

[narwhalandchill]

wait childe gets banned from popping up in the theatre lobby post clear once ur account has completed/is in the middle of fontaine AQ???? i just speedran my 1st clear and didnt stop to check the character interactions in between so i had no clue.

and customer service has confirmed its intended too??? Well this is certainly something ... bummer in terms of not getting his voicelines in there obviously but like. interesting too bc like. the fact that his apparent absence is sth they want to keep lore accurate to this degree is sooooooo curious (and idt theyve ever done anything like this before either????)

bc in the middle of the AQ i get it childes been jailed and then glitched his way to the primordial sea but for it to continue even afterwards when arles SQ and his bday letter do confirm hed be mostly up and going about as usual by this point.... so like whats the basis there????

first thought for me is that its like. a future plot thing and project stuzha related?? and hinting at his possible status in whenever he next pops up. and thats very interesting to me in that its just ajax theyre being this particular with bc. as we know the HotH is Also involved with the project and presumably relocating their operations to snezhnaya in order to cooperate with it. yet arle and the trio will show up normally . so like what is it with him specifically............... hoyo i am Looking 👁

[chirpsythismorning]

🎨📝☎️🛼🌈🚪⏪️💡🫀

Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've?) by Buzzcocks

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