#please.. please do not tag as any ship

[knife-filled-plushies]

so i saw a video of a cat getting thwacked in the face by a wagging dog tail and got this idea jfksjgjds

this probably happens quite often because catnap keeps forgetting to NOT rest in the crossfire of dogday's tail

[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.

[mikkiina-mikina]

I've always wanted to do animations... I might reconsider tho 💀 my respect for animators just broke its limit.

Original:

[crowskullls]

More of these freaks in the world please

[agrebel18]

I saw this last night and thought “hey maybe Twitter isn’t THAT BAD” but anyways, here’s for the people that like parallels (me) 

[ID: three screenshots of a tweet that says “the category is blonde boys who are controlled and manipulated by a ‘family member’ who is technically not even related to them but their first true friend is a small cute creature that gives them magical powers and +” which then show two pictures of Hunter from The Owl House and Adrien from Miraculous Ladybug.

the second tweet says “their beautiful blue haired girlfriends is one of the most sweetest beings in the world <3″ which then show pictures of Willow from The Owl House and Marinette from Miraculous Ladybug. Then there is an addition to the tweet which has a picture of Hunter and Willow holding hands in their timeskip designs, and then a picture of Adrien and Marinette holding hands at their school. Then it shows a close-up picture of Hunter and Willow holding pinkies and Marinette and Adrien holding hands. 

then there is another tweet which shows a picture of Hunter carrying Willow bridal-style, and another one of Cat Noir holding Ladybug bridal-style. Then it shows a picture of Hunter reaching out to Willow in “For The Future” and then shows Cat Noir reaching out to Ladybug in “Miracle Queen.” 

The last tweet shows a picture of Hunter giving a dirty look at Flapjack, and then a picture of Adrien glaring at Plagg. The last pictures show Hunter laughing and talking to Flapjack, who’s on his shoulder, and then there is Adrien smiling affectionately at Plagg and hugging him with his hands. END ID] 

[nostalgia-tblr]

"are people not into that?" i ask, after posting my weird niche shit to the internet, despite knowing it to be weird niche shit.

[clopinasworld]

Prompt from the dbh discord - where Hank brings Connor to the aquarium and also buys him a whale shark plush, and later catches him sleeping with it

The idea was so adorable I couldn't not draw it

[ninjasmudge]

Could we see a picture of Entanglement SWK being a campfire dad, please?

campfire dad

[das-a-kirby-blog]

kirb fusions

[tomee--bear]

_(:з)∠)_

[goldenworldsabound]

ASEXUAL SELF SHIPPER POSITIVITY POST!!!

No matter your comfort level, your f/o respects your feelings and your boundaries, without question, even if they themselves aren't asexual.

Asexual but still enjoy sex? Your f/o doesn't accuse you of faking - they understand that asexuality is different to each person.

Asexual and not interested in sex? Your f/o doesn't push you to do it anyway.

Asexual and are uncomfortable consuming media with sexual content? Your f/o will always make sure to check content warnings so you never see something you don't want to.

Your f/o loves you, so no matter what you feel, they love and respect you and do everything to make you happy ❤

[knife-filled-plushies]

unfortunately, 'love' isn't a proper baking ingredient jdfhskjgs

i have a headcanon that Bobby cannot cook or bake whatsoever-but she always walks into the kitchen with full confidence every time that she's gonna make something amazing-

i can imagine that there's one episode where Bobby insists on cooking and baking for a period of time and everyone just pretends to like her stuff to spare her feelings-but then there would probably be some moral lesson about telling the truth despite it potentially hurting the other's feelings- and luckily for everyone, Bobby is completely fine when they tell her, she just wishes they would have told her sooner

[sinnbaddie]

I’m starting to hate STSG so much solely for the fact that I cannot consume any content of my faves without them always being brought up or inserted into the conversation in some type of way

I just wanna hyperfixate on Hikara and Itafushi yet the most toxic and unhealthy ship is brought up more in their tags than them themselves

[feelingthedisaster]

remember when spn writer called out the fans shipping wincest

[bugswarm]

Ive never been really into the fandom side of stardew valley before but my brain got infected with a ship and i checked AO3 and apparently no one else just about has been infected with this ship and it's tragic 😭

[flyingbuddiies]

the day osc tumblr stops fighting over tacomic is the day we all heal [adding my personal opinion in the tags]