#its not even that i dislike shipping

[livingislands]

They day people start to enjoy media outside of making it solely focused on romance and shipping (even if the media in question has like. Little to nothing of it) is the day I die happy

#its not even that i dislike shipping #do what you want more power to you #hell i have some myself #but then there's a point when i go into a tag and it's filled to the brim with romance and shipping and “spicy” stuff #and then the thing itself has it be a B plot or barely there #like there's liking a ship #and then there's making an entire fandom JUST that #i am looking at some fandoms but i shant name any #if you think this is about you that's you thinking it 😭 #again ship to your hearts content #but it's a bit depressing to see that be the only thing offered in the fandom 💀

[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.

#blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #akemi blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai meta #just in case... im gonna tag this as #mizukemicritical #akemizucritical #though this post isnt actually criticising the ship itself but rather fanon's portrayal of the ship and the characters #for that reason lemme also tag this as #wank.mp3 #feel free to disagree of course but please be civil #and if you need to rant about how wrong i am without any convincing evidence kindly feel free to make your own post. peace and love <3 #fandom.rtf #meta dissertations.pdf #shut up haydar #edit: for full disclosure. i do rather dislike this ship. but obviously it's fine for anyone to enjoy it. please do! have your fun! #it's just that as usual! popular fanon and fandom around a ship is what has completely deterred me from any sense of enjoyment of it #it's a shame too because i was very open and even eager for some mizu/akemi romance in the future #but out-of-character fanon + the rudeness of certain fans has definitely soured it for me #but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it obviously! ship and let ship!!! #plus it has its appeal which i DO STILL see and enjoy!!!! #i would even go as far as to call them soulmates because their narratives and characters are LITERALLY intertwined!!! #but. yeah. my gradual distaste for this ship is indeed very unfortunate.

[tigergendermoved]

I love krusie but I don't think they would do normal "couple's" stuff even if shipped romantically. Susie chomps Kris's head every day in the lunch room and huffs their apple hair all day during class and brawls them in the hallways and nobody knows they're dating until 6 months in when Toriel makes some remark about "Kris's girlfriend" and everybody loses their shit

#i used to really dislike krusie but i've become such a krusiehead lately. friends to lovers has such a grip over me its the only #ship trope that i even like #realizing that they would act near identically whether they were dating or not dating has endeared krusie to me immensely #two bitches who are so gay(?) for each other and are wildly inseperable and are one of the very few ppl the other can trust emotionally #never says i love you or puts any label on their relationship ever. they smooch for the laughs and nobody's willing to say anything #about how genuine it might be. i love these bitches so much #like if kris and susie never dated i can still imagine them smooching just for the lolz. susie bets kris shell rip half their face off with #her teeth and kris is like. Bet #krusie #fuck it im tagging it lol

[weirdmageddon]

sorry for liking davejade in 2023 btw its in a cool way though

#hs #davejade #like that one person said bi4bi cool silly girl and her lame ass court jester bf who enjoy each others company a lot #“its boring” well not everything has to be conflict sometimes it can be two people really vibing #and being good foils to each other and just sort of being like a lock and key #i dont dislike davekat but i felt like they bickered too much which is Funny dont get me wrong #but i like davejade for different reasons #in that i feel like dave is at his most heartfelt with her #bc jade doesnt do anything to warrant snarkiness. she doesnt make him uncomfortable and that earns his trust like a lot #ppl say its boring cause its a mf ship and they dont get them like i do #and my answer to that as an agender person is who the fuck cares #i hate ppl dismissing mf ships out of hand like…hey bi ppl exist. and even if they were straight they still got a good dynamic #of care and interest towards each other #hes not her knight in shining armor bffr. she has uhhh fucking GUN #they are Equals #jade slaps the shit outta people on more than one occasion lol #they infodump to EACH OTHER and they both listen #remember when jade wanted to infodump to john about physics remember that #dave would eat that up like oh damn that so dope and tie it back to time or whatever. special relativity #since space and time are fundamentally related #sorry im running on fumes rn i didnt sleep last night #ALSO THEY HAVE MATCHING ALCHEMIZED OUTFITS #jade’s dead shuffle dress and dave’s four aces suited both use a midnight crew poster as ingredients #i should draw them together in that mspa style #maybe theyre not even romantic. who said ships had to be. its short for relationship #well theres multiple kinds of relationships. what if they were queerplatonic

[enden-k]

do urself and me a favor

dont follow me if you genuinely hate al haitham. dont follow me if you dislike kavetham. im gay and rlly like hthm so if you feel disgusted by this or my ramblings or when i draw kvthm or any other queer stuff, unfollow me and get well soon

#too tired to even explain what prompted this just read this and go away if anyones a homophobe/transphobe/etcetcetc #ill never understand why some ppl are like “WELL i dislike this character/ship/gay ppl in general but ill follow anw” #you dont have to like them (hthm/kvthm) but it makes no sense following me then #and if you genuinely hate them even less (especially hthm) so just go #also not liking character ships is absolutely valid and understandable but dont tell queer self shippers to stop “turning” ur favs queer #“this character is not gay stop making him gay it makes me uncomfortable as a self shipper 💔” #ah okay so im not allowed to ship myself w him bc im gay and it makes het self shippers uncomfy seeing their favs “turned” bi/gay #let ppl hc and dream its lit not harming anyone #and if harmless/queer stuff bothers you sm im sry but then it sounds like youre just an asshole #babbles #tbd

[bisexuallsokka]

'divorced zukka is toxic' 'divorced zukka is unnecessary angst' you fundamentally misunderstand the entire concept i cant help you <3

#i get it they are in love but also. IT IS SO MUCH MORE NUANCED THAN THAT BECAUSE OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT ROLE THEY PLAY IN A POST WAR WORLD #wouldnt it be so funny if we started real discourse over this? #oh you think this ship that has been living in my head for four years deserves to be happy? JUMP OFF A CLIFF FR #jk anyway it is very clear which divorced zukka dislikers dont even know what its about they just see the phrase and make assumptions #but peace n luv <3 <3 <3 <3 it is definitely not for everyone #divorced zukka

[satorugojoswiife]

What do you think about gojo ships

I feel like I'm pretty indifferent to most of them. This is super cringe of me, but whenever I fall super in love with a character I don't often like shipping them romantically with anyone. 💀 (im delusional I know)

It doesn't help that for some reason the jjk fandom (especially twt) is weirdly aggressive about ships. I know it isn't all the shippers and it's mostly just the loud minority, but seeing so much of the discourse has kinda put me off and I don't really engage much with the ships in the fandom except for rarepairs and selfships bc alot of the time those communities are more wholesome and cozy (if that makes sense LOL)

#satofie best ship #andnajdjskdjksnfksndjdj im sorry im cringe 😔😔 #anyways i honestly have no idea #its not even about not liking seeing him with others bc i enjoy seeing other ppls gojo × oc/selfships #i just for some reason dont really vibe with any of the existing gojo ships in the series #weirdly enough if i had to choose one i feel like sukugo is the most interesting one LOL they are so funny with eachother #i feel like in a different life they really couldve hit it off #i feel bad for gojohime shippers sometimes #like i personally dont like the ship but oh my god ppl on twitter are so mean about that ship i dont even know why ??? #is it bc alot of them prefer him shipped with a guy ?? or they dont like seeing another woman that isnt them with him?? i dont know #but i see so much hate for it and it makes me sad bc like just move on or mute the account so u dont have to see it if you really hate it #the amount of times ive seen some big jjk account qrt a fanart dissing the ship while also getting more likes than the artists post is craz #why do ppl fight over fake people kissing....... #i remember this one account specifically that was obsessed with gojo but they were so snobby about it and like gatekeeping other fans #and they really hated gjhm and for some reason felt the need to make it into a problematic ship instead of just saying #i dont like this and moving on #but they made this whole thing abt how toxic they actually are bc utahime hates gojo #only to (in the same thread) gush over their fave ship which was nanago #and i felt crazy bc its......literally the same dynamic what #like am i missing something ????? #anyways this got a bit wild but pls be nice to eachother and respect eachothers ships #you dont have to justify why u dislike a ship you can just not like it #no need to turn it problematic

[buddieinmybeddie]

People who only like and support ONE ship and go around sending hate to other ships/shippers are so weird , I as a multi shipper cannot understand..

I love to explore the dynamics my favorites would have with other characters, there are of course ships I don't like but I'm not gonna go around hating on them who DO like them for no reason

#Edit to my wording cause it seems some people were taking it the wrong way </3 #Its okay if you want to only ship one pairing but don't ruin the fun for the people who multi ship #Obviously I love buddie sm and would prefer if they were end game but bucktommy is cute #even if they ended up as end game that would be fine cause buddie wouldn't suddenly disappear from fanon if they don't become canon #I've seen quite a few posts tagged “anti Bucktommy” okay but why #thanks to bucktommy we were able to get canon bi buck #some fans of things are silly just let everyone enjoy what they like and dont bring them down for being interested in something you dislike #okay thanks for soming to my little rant #911 fox #buddie #evan buckley #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #tv: 911 #tommy kinard #mpost

[masukisjacket]

Crazy how I just saw someone calling sefikura "romanticized abuse and nothing more" in the year of our lord 2024

Like....... tell me you don't understand what the ship is about without telling me you don't understand what the ship is about

Also I don't think op is going to see this because they said they hate this ship but if u somehow do: please don't interact and just move on🙏 if u have any rebuttals I honestly don't wanna hear them

#like you can dislike a ship. you can even think its toxic #you can even think its shippers are bad people (which is also a little ehhh but personal opinions and boundaries) #but this fandom has enough ship negativity as it is can u #can u just let people have fun #like u dont have to slander all the shippers by saying u want them out of the fandom entirely #not saying op is a bad person but its so easy to just not say things like thay #also we all know it would be toxic in canon??? hence why there are aus and fix-its and shit #plus its just interesting to explore #i dont think enjoying toxic ships is bad but thats a whole other can of worms #(and before u say anything im not a proshipper. i have lines) #sefikura

[dragon-wisteria]

I don't hold to the idea that all intense/deeply meaningful relationships have to be romantic

BUT I do think it's bad if a character has a much more intense and meaningful relationship with their friend than they do with their actual romantic life partner.

#if your main character has a super intense relationship with their 'best friend' #but their literal spouse is treated like an afterthought #you're probably doing something wrong #and i honestly can't blame fans for shipping the friendship instead in that kind of situation #even if i do still dislike when fandoms will erase an important platonic relationship in favour of obsessive shipping #its 2024 time to clean out my drafts (this one was written in july '23) #rambles

[mamawasatesttube]

just remembered how megfitz made tim think about how bernard is so much better than all the other relationships he'd "settled for" and was once again briefly consumed by rage. meghan you apologize to zoanne wilkins right the fuck now

#rimi talks #like also apologize to ari and steph and all but. i specifically am a zoanne wilkins stan blog until i die. so #i can't lie. this line alone made me dislike tim/ber significantly more than i did before reading it #and the rest of tdr did Not help with that. #protip: if you have to put down women in order to prop up your m/m ship i WILL hate that m/m ship out of spite immediately #especially when you do nothing to sell me on the ship other than going HEY THEYRE PERFECT BTW. THEYRE SO PERFECT TOGETHER. like... ok #can you tell me why they even like each other tho. (she cannot bc she doesnt know how to write a mediocre romance forget a compelling one) #god i really just. that comic was a trash fire. lord. the mentions of kon in it made the kill bill sirens go off in my head #anyways. its fine tdr isnt real it cant hurt me. but meghan does still owe my girls an apology lmao

[hiemaldesirae]

woe is me to have come from asian fandoms that always specify ship dynamics no matter how stupid it makes the ship names sound and to integrate into western fandom where i play russian roulette every time i open a ship tag

#ran rambles #its not even about the less child friendly work either im just pissed as hell to see a dynamic i dislike #yeah ill still see one i dislike even w proper ship tags because of oocness or whatever but at least ive got the freedom to cater to myself #anyway theres my pet peeve #also radioapple is such a popular ship for some reason every other thing my moots rb is filtered out #im sick of twink4twink i need adamsapple #radiostatic doesnt count as twink4twink because vox is my wife so he gets a pass

[grimalkinmessor]

Big BNHA ships that I am literally begging people to tag for even if they're background:

Dabihawks

Shinkami

Erasermic

Endhawks

Shigadabi

Bakutodo

Tododeku

Kamijirou

+ literally any other ship please tag your posts and fics properly I am begging you

#bnha #boku no hero academia #dabihawks #shinkami #erasermic #endhawks #shigadabi #bakutodo #tododeku #kamijirou #my hero academia #i know these are popular ships so people assume its fine #but please be courteous #i dont even dislike some of these they're just the ones ive come across untagged #do NOT start ship wars or drama in the notes i will block you so fucking fast #all ships are valid #but the tagging system is there for a reason please use it #i had this same problem back in the day with destiel #i give people every opportunity to block my content if they dont want to see it #we dont all like the same things and that's fine #and if i ever DONT tag something correctly i encourage people to tell me #so plz give me and others the same courtesy

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

#SPEAKING OF BAD KH FANS SAYING WE JUST WANT TO SEE SORIKU BANG #if JT wasnt garbage i would post the clip of him going 'ooooOOOOHHHHhhh' from hercules games #for context: in the second comment theyre referring to a previous one of mine #where i said how i dislike being labeled a yaoi fangirl for shipping soriku #and in the third the 'deviance' theyre speaking of is another of mine where i said some ppl interpret xion being a girl #as sora having gender envy towards kairi #(deviance is a word i see thrown around a LOT by transphobes/homophobes) #i havent bothered to reply bc its just not worth it to try and argue with these ppl but like #1. mention of light tunnel in kh3 with 'definition of romantic love' despite showing elsa and anna #2. 'there is no gay in kh' aka just straight up ignoring strelitzias canon crush on the khux player regardless of gender #anyway. i contemplated just sending the ram ranch copypasta in response #but decided against it. at least for now #this isnt even on the soriku comp btw #this is on the video 'dont worry kh3 is still gay' lol #oh uh minor tw for aku/roku mention

[milkdreamspecialmix]

if by spamano you mean “this is a result of some kinda weird emotional baggage mixed with attraction and it’s a bit awkward because of their past and not terribly sustainable” and not “this is the one true love ride or die end game ship and they both live happily ever after” then yes

#i don’t dislike spamano jsyk #i think spamano is essential for the growth of both characters #it’s hard to just retcon or ignore whatever dynamic they’ve got going on #but i also see romano being easily connected to several other nations #with bonds healthier than the spamano dynamic #because (and please give me your opinions on this fr) #imo i think they share a strong connection but are constantly held back by their former status as what #ward and master or what have you #and that isn’t to say that i don’t think they are incapable of working past that #but i think prumano or romerica or any other number of ships are more interesting to explore for romanos emotional growth #spain just bores me i’m sorry y’all #hetalia #aph romano #aph south italy #aph spain #prumano #romerica #it’s the same reason i’m not into usuk even forgoing any discussions about being related which is more worthy in its own right #it gives me the ick to think about one’s parental figure being into you when you’ve aged up even if nations aren’t human #but that is def also something that some usuk shippers like about it so i guess it’s just not my thing #i like spamano evolving into some other ship with romano #and i know i’m not alone there are a handful of fics about exactly that #no hate to spamano shippers tho i can see the appeal

[pencap]

.

#sylvie speaks #(in the tags because this isn't a complete enough though to make a proper post out of) #(and i will probably delete it anyway) #i am having Thoughts about creating and sharing and credit #and what it means to be a creator on the internet #(as much as that term has become loaded now) #i have mostly accepted that i do not get to control what people do with my words once i post them in a public forum #i will ask and i will request and i will trust in the goodness of strangers #but there will always be some people acting in ignorance or malice #and really when it comes to things like gifsets and fics and such i am so so happy for people to use them #even if it's for a fandom/media/ship that i might personally dislike or find uncomfy or some such thing #because it inspired and someone found meaning in my words and that is. all i can ever really ask #and they tend to be well credited anyway #and even if they aren't i think most people recognize that the quotes probably came from someone else #i'm not even as upset about poems floating around wholesale uncredited #(i'd have a personal vendetta the size of the pacific ocean against pinterest if i did) #but when it becomes credited to someone else #or when someone else claims credit for it #that... that does upset me in ways i find hard to articulate #and takes me by surprise in its stark contrast to how little i care about the other kinds of usage #i think it's about ownership perhaps #it is one thing to let something go #it is another thing entire for someone else to take it for themselves #it is mine; or it was; and i don't mind sharing i really don't #you don't even have to say thank you or tell me you're using it or even say it's mine #(though i much much much prefer that you do) #but it feels deeply violating for someone else to slap their name on it #i am perhaps slightly more bitter about this than usual #bc i recently discovered another piece of blatant plagiarism #that isn't worth pursuing but it does make me sad