#who better to ship them! who!

[ocshowandtell]

Hiii! Found your Tumblr yesterday and was so happy to see a Tumblr dedicated to OC sharing! We all know how hard it is to be an OC creator as people tend to overlook OCs a lot so having a space for them here was such an amazing idea!

I, myself, love to share my OCs around and see other's OCs so I would love to share these two cuties from my original story with you all!

This beautiful art was a commission I ordered from the sweet Calmomila, one of my favorite TLK artists.

If you don't mind I'd like to take advantage of this piece to explain a bit about these two girls (more of an info dump, I'M SO SORRY FSKJFKDJS) because I am totally crazy over them. *screams* The one standing is Thabisa, the leader of the Jabulani pride, which is a pride that consists only of females, they are seen as atypical and other prides don’t appreciate their ways, however, they are also feared because they are extremely capable lionesses and are known to drive away males trying to invade their territory, especially the ones who still follow the old ways as they do not approve these (my story happens during a period of change, prides are slowly appropriating the new ways, basically the old ways are just like how lions work in real life, while the new ways work kinda like the The Lion King world, but with a few differences). The Jabulani pride is a very unique pride, with their own culture and rules.

The one lying down is Matimba, she is a trans lioness that had a very rough past and wasn’t well accepted by her previous pride. She was kicked out of the pride after she finally got the courage to face them about their acts of prejudice towards her, especially towards her incomplete mane, for which she was bullied. Unfortunately for her, their territory wasn’t far away from the sandy lands where the Jabulani pride lives and she ends up getting lost into a totally different biome than what she was used to, not being able to thrive alone due to the lack of experience and adaptation. She was found by Thabisa and some of her lionesses weeks later, she was severely dehydrated and malnourished, could barely get up. Together the females were able to move Matimba to a safe place within their territory and took care of her for the next months.

Once Matimba gained some of her strength back, she finally started to introduce herself, she wasn’t sure if she could trust them yet so she still presented herself as Mavuto, her now dead name, quickly she started to realize there was no need to hide her true self, Thabisa knew the signs and to Matimba’s surprise, she was totally fine with her being trans. She was loved and cared for since the day she was found and it didn’t take too long for her to finally feel at home, a home where she could finally be herself. The name Matimba was suggested by Thabisa when she decided she wanted to get rid of her birth name, not only because it was a male name, but also because it gave her some sad memories that she wanted to let go, she didn’t feel right with it anymore. The name means “strength” and that was how Thabisa started to see her after finding out about her past: a representation of courage and strength. I am an avid shipper of these two, I don’t care if I am the creator and if people find it cringe for a creator to ship their own OCs, I'mma shipping them until the day I die, I love them so much.

Thank you so much for creating this blog and I hope you are having a great week! :D

i'm telling you guys there is no cringe only joy here!!! im glad you're loving this, this is the whole point!

[llamahearted]

two people will go through similar things & learn to cope in different ways

print ♥︎ song

[eatingsomegreeneggos]

My uh- My hand slipped 🌟

[bixels]

Bit of a weird question, but what is your overall least favorite thing about MLP? 

Sparity.

[francy-sketches]

sorry I got posessed by the wattpad demon I'm normal now (lying)

+alt version that didnt fit the #aesthetic but it better represents my #vision of them ^_^ hashtag couplegoals

[ineed-to-sleep]

So I've had this wip sitting in my folders for months now and decided to ressurect it to satiate the urge to draw these two again

[comradekatara]

I’m curious if you have any thoughts about Ty Lee and Mai re: their reasons for and willingness to follow Azula during the course of the show? Their introductions — with Ty Lee initially reluctant and joining out of fear, whereas Mai was all in the moment she showed up in Omashu — contrasted with their endings — Mai growing resentful and eventually betraying Azula, and Ty Lee staying close to her right up to the moment she spots an opening — are so fascinating and emblemic of their characters

yes, exactly. ty lee has to be coerced whereas mai doesn't need to be told twice. more specifically, ty lee had the initiative to run away at some point (it's also far easier to leave your home when you have six identical sisters) and has settled in an environment that she actually enjoys, whereas mai is trapped with her family and takes up azula's offer specifically as a means of escape. that doesn't mean she particularly enjoys the prospect of hunting down the boy she used to like, but she gets to see the world and use her knife skills and hang out with her besties. it's not perfect, but it's still a far better deal than being stuck under the thumb of her controlling mother and scheming father in a foreign city that is essentially a ghost town (now that its entire native population is literally living underground). mai doesn't like being bossed around by azula – or being bossed around by anyone, for that matter – but she knows better than to question the commands of her princess, so she sticks to side-eyeing her as she complies, and only ever denying her requests when azula is too far away to notice ("she can shoot all the lightning at me she wants, i am not going in that wall sludge juice." "just take the bear." etc etc).

ty lee, however, doesn't just comply with azula's commands, she comports herself into the very image of obedience, she forces herself to embody exactly what it is azula wants in a loyal servant, but also in a best friend, and in a beautiful girl. because, like, the thing about mai is that she is really very normal. she uses apathy and sarcasm to mask her true emotions, whether they be fear, rage, or a combination thereof, but she's also quite sincere and blunt and kind. mai adapts to her environment in the sense that she knows to comply with the demands of her family and azula, she knows how to play the part of fire nation noblewoman, but she's not closed off from her feelings, she just presents that way. ty lee, however, is a complete and utter chameleon, to the point that she's somehow the one who seems more sincere out of the pair, even though nary an honest word comes out of her mouth throughout the entire show.

mai expresses her disagreements with azula when she knows that the moment allows for it, and she expresses her irritation, her vulnerability (to an extent), and her emotions when she can. but even when ty lee could choose to be honest, it's like she doesn't actually know how. the most honest ty lee ever actually gets before her betrayal is when she insults mai's makeup, and she's still putting mai down in azula's presence as to establish a hierarchy of affection. even when she's lovingly teasing mai by demonstrating how their friendship is genuine enough that she can insult her instead of vapidly praising her like she does with all those shallow, stupid boys and a certain princess, she's still strategically positioning herself in azula's favor. she operates in a coded language, simultaneously communicating to mai the sincerity of her affection and communicating to azula that they are in fact a pair, teaming up to put down and bully mai as they have been doing since they were children. in the beautiful words of shiv roy, ty lee has never eaten a grapefruit without an agenda.

even though ty lee does seem more loyal to azula despite having to be coerced into joining her, whereas mai seemingly agrees immediately, ty lee is an acrobat and a circus performer; contorting herself to suit the needs of others and appear a certain way to certain people is literally her wheelhouse. whereas mai is a thoughtful yet impulsive, apathetic yet sincere teenage girl. and the cracks in mai's agreeability begin to show as early as in her introductory episode, when azula decides to sacrifice tom-tom to keep bumi, and mai has no choice but to comply with her princess despite obviously wanting to save her baby brother.

mai's loyalty was always on a razor's edge; it was never an ideal situation for her, she just never found a better option. mai lived her whole life in an extremely stifling gilded cage, and she craves enrichment in her enclosure. but then she sees potential beyond the bars, as demonstrated by zuko, and she takes a stand for something she believes in. ty lee doesn't do that, because ty lee does not truly have beliefs beyond her own immediate survival. you can say she values entertainment, laughter, violence that doesn't kill, but i think she'd become anything the world demanded of her without a moment's hesitation. and in this moment, the world demands that she choose. choose between the girl she loved to put down and ostracize within their little trio so as to better curry azula's favor, or the girl who threatened to burn her alive if she did not comply with her every demand. and it should be so obvious, shouldn't it? of course ty lee would choose mai over azula, it's so clear in hindsight. but it shocks azula, and it shocks mai, and it even sort of shocks ty lee herself. because she has done such a good job of hiding her personhood so far beneath her facade that even mai, the one person she cares about more than her own survival, doesn't actually know it.

"anything to get me out of this place," is mai's response to azula's offer. mai was always looking for a better situation, striving for the best possible scenario within a very limited array of options. but ty lee knows what she wants, and she knows she cannot have it, and so she denies herself. denies her own agency, her affections, her desires, her personality, her intelligence, her values. she would do anything to survive, even if it means killing every single true part of herself. mai's betrayal against azula is decidedly a declaration of love, not only for zuko, but also for herself. but ty lee's betrayal is the greatest declaration of love there is. her willingness to throw away her so deliberately, carefully cultivated, precarious security and safety for the sake of someone who doesn't even know that ty lee loves her is such a resounding confession that it actually shocks mai into perfect stillness. mai, who is always so quick to act and react, frozen to the floor by the cosmic weight of this revelation, this paradigm shift. mai had always assumed that she was the discarded, neglected, bullied friend of the trio, the one who would always be second best to azula (and keep in mind ty lee never actually says that azula had to coerce her into joining, she simply says "azula called a little louder," because she is always making mai read between the lines). but here, ty lee proves that there is one she values over her own life and everything she has done to keep it, and it is mai.

"why?" asks azula. "why would you do it? you knew the consequences." i think that mai would gladly throw her worthless life away if it meant dying for something real, something true within a world of masks and lies and manipulations. she knows the consequences, but they no longer matter, now that she has sight of something that she truly, actually cares about. but ty lee is different. ty lee excels in the world of masks, lies, and manipulations, thrives in it to the point that azula, so-called "people person," doesn't even realize that the girl she loves is nothing more than a carefully cultivated phantasm. ty lee truly cares, far more than mai, about the consequences. and yet, when it comes down to it, when she weighs all her options, she not only hurts azula to save mai, but she stays by mai's side through it all. the girl who could effortlessly subdue every guard holding her in place and jump up onto the gondola cord and run across its length to the other side of the volcano within minutes stays next to mai with no resistance, merely sheds her mask to finally glare at azula with her true face. so it is not entirely accurate to say that ty lee's values are conditional and fabricated. there is, in fact, one thing ty lee values above all else, but only when it is true.

[sunlightrays]

How I didn't realize I was poly before 21 even though my go-to reaction to love triangle drama in media is "Why don't they just all date" is beyond me.

[veinsfullofstars]

You can't tell me their first meeting didn't go something like this.

(ID: Kirby series fanart of Dark Meta Knight and Daroach in a recreation of the Princess Mononoke "You're beautiful" meme. Original screenshot below the cut for comparison. Top panel - DMK hovers against a starry sky facing forward, his wings breaching the edges of the panel and spread to make himself look more intimidating. He glares down, one angry glowing eye visible in the visor of his mask, gripping the handle of his sword in both hands as if to stab downward, subtitled "I'll cut your throat! That'll shut you up!" Bottom panel - Daroach lies on his back at a slight angle on a nighttime grassy plain, his body and cape breaching the panel in places, his paws palm-up at his sides, his wand dropped beside him. He looks upward, unperturbed by the several sharp points of DMK's sword hanging over him, eyes half-lidded and brows lifted in interest, mouth drawn open in a smile and blushed at the ends, subtitled "You're beautiful..." Of course, every metal and/or shiny surface is lightly touched with rim light and sparkles. END ID.)

Started 03/26/24, finished 03/29/24.

Original: Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, 1997)

[cheekinpermission]

I'll go ahead and admit that Leona? Not my favorite.

HOWEVER

The way he smiles in the background of Ruggies groovies is adorable.

[shesalewa]

Been reading eleceed bc lookism is so fkn slow.

ALSO

I would like to point out a few things.

She feels like a forced female loved interest. IDC. IDC what y'all think. She's older than Jiwoo. Not just a couple but a few.

Now the difference between few is that it's not a couple.

A couple means 2. Because obv. When you see a couple. It's 2 people.

And a few means. Well. More than 2.

Jiwoo Is 17. And it's stated that she's a few years older than him

So obviously she's not 18 or 19. She's 20 above.

And in Korea 19 is the age of an adult.

I DO NOT CARE IF IT'S JUST BY A FEW YEARS. IDC. SHE'S AN ADULT.

Also. He's a decent guy. Legit.

These 2 are hot. They act like gay dads who aren't really gay but act gay and are on the verge of getting a divorce and fighting over Jiwoo's custody. Genius+Genius = Stupid.

These two have 1 braincell. Legit. Just one. And it's not even in their brains. They use Bluetooth to use that one single braincell. And I love them together. They're a stupid duo. Stupid +stupid = genius.

(This might be hypocritical of me but they are a cute ship)

Best boy.

YES I SHIP KAYDEN AND KARTEIN. DON'T FIGHT W/ ME RN. YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

Also they give off Gungoo vibes, but less aggressive and more father like figures.

Fathers' ✨✨ ✨✨✨

[parasocialcelebritycrush]

t4t team up of the century

[ot3heaven]

whatever this type of character is,

i want twenty of them.

[triaelf9]

hey folks who interact with creative works online! just a tiny PSA

If you don't like a character, that's totally fine! If you have a different reading of a situation in a show & have issues with stuff that's going on, that's also fine.

What is NOT fine is to ACTIVELY SEEK OUT fans of the characters you don't like and talk shit about them, the characters they have feelings about, or the content they've posted b/c you, Freddy McHatesalot really needs to tell everyone how much you dislike a...fictional character.

You are totally welcome to consume content in your own space in whatever way you see fit. It is disrespectful of the fandom space to try to drag other people into your space and interact with you if they don't want to. And dunking on a character in writings or art of them is fucking rude as hell to the person who put work into into the creation they made out of some feelings they were having.

Also. side note, it is possible to enjoy a character who is Wrong About Some Things or Isn't Doing The Right Stuff In The Right Situation. Sometimes it's possible to like a character and disagree with them, and shitting on people b/c you can't see what they see in a character is pretty trash garbage and is 90% of why I just make silly little art for me and my own silly feels and hope folks get a chuckle or some enjoyment out of it too.

[toriowlfluff]

When one grumpy boi and one snarky gurl tire themselves out after bickering and end up using you as a time out zone, cuteness aggression is assured… to the dismay of the two aforementioned fools.

[galedekarios]

people need to start understanding that blocking someone is a way to curate your online experience in a mature and healthy way.

it's not a moral or a character failing to block someone.

it's not "aggressive", it's not "bizarre", it's not a "lack of respect", it's not "throwing a fit", it doesn't mean you can't respect different opinions and it doesn't mean you should get "off the internet" to "get some air".

it's simply a 'i don't vibe with your content and don't want to see more from you.'