#yeah obviously i love them

[landofartandcraft]

I REALLY like them OKAY

They are so funny together and it's so obvious they care even if they can't stop bickering like a pair of silly dudes

#zosan #yeah obviously i love them #in the canon i think zoro is the brother sanji deserved #in fanon obviously it's very interesting to have them together in a lot of way #they're just interesting #and both are great characters on their own #one piece #art tag

[greykolla-art]

@cirilee made me realise this was essentially their dynamic, and now I’m going insane I love them!😂❤️

This poor old cat getting dragged around Hell by a weird psychopath.👌

#grey art #fan art #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin alastor #hazbin husker #obviously I’m not shipping them tough I love my aroace Alastor #crazy power dynamics are just SO delicious to me #old men in hell being weird #yes I toned town Husker’s design a little #I find him a bit busy visually #but also fuck yeah crazy character designs love it!

[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.

[turtleblogatlast]

I think about Leo’s “I’m your least favorite” comment to Splinter in “Down with the Sickness” a lot. It’s likely just a throwaway comment, a way to get Splinter to leave him alone before Leo gets sick too, but I can’t help but wonder if Leo believes it on some level.

Obviously it’s not true, Splinter loves him as much as he loves the others, but…it wouldn’t be shocking if Leo believed otherwise. After all, just in “Many Unhappy Returns” alone, Splinter has, with no hesitation, said comments like “my other sons would have taken this seriously” and “I knew I should’ve brought purple”, said “no” to Leo’s “I love you”, and pretty blatantly didn’t extend any trust in Leo’s plan even after Leo was fairly effortlessly defeating their opponents.

It was only after, when they’d already won, that Splinter finally gives him a “it was all you my son!” And…that’s basically it. Raph is the one who announces his trust in Leo. Not their father, even though Splinter is the one to witness Leo lowering his walls for once (which Splinter doesn’t react well too, because Leo only lowers his walls in the most hectic of times, and because he lowers them only then, either no one is around or no one is in the right state of mind to respond properly, leading to Leo building his walls back up, and the cycle continues.)

Again, it’s not because Splinter doesn’t love Leo, but Leo…can’t be feeling too good about all that. The way he never reacted surprised about any of Splinter’s words too…

He may know that Splinter loves them all, as a group, but individually…I don’t think Leo believes he ranks all that high with that love. Gives another meaning to “I’m nothing without my brothers” huh?

(Of course, I’m willing to bet the invasion changed that understanding, but with that comes the potential misunderstanding that his father’s outright love is tied to Leo sacrificing himself.)

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt leo #rise leo #rottmnt headcanons #again OBVIOUSLY SPLINTER LOVES HIM DEARLY #but I wouldn’t blame Leo for thinking he’s loved the LEAST #Splinter also blatantly thinking Donnie is funnier doesn’t help #Leo being a Leo and thus being a Daddy’s Boy at his core doesn’t help #man splinter if you tell Leo he was the first one you held he’d be riding that high for MONTHS #but yeah I just think that with all of Leo’s insecurities…this all isn’t all that unlikely a conclusion to make #and I’ve said it before but…Leo and Splinter don’t really have a softer moment between them unlike the others #that must sting #this isn’t to say that Splinter was WRONG in being upset with Leo in Many Unhappy Returns #because Splinter had no way of knowing Leo’s plan would work out #but again - Leo has to be so confident and cocky because goddangit SOMEONE has to believe in him #so he lets it be himself #hell even the hug that comes after they incapacitate the shredder was more of a ‘Leo was there but it’s to all of them’ #I want them to have a good father son talk so bad #is it any wonder why Leo imprints so quick on Hueso #when the man sees him break and decides to help? #can you imagine how much that means to someone like Leo #that someone with all the reason in the world to leave Leo to deal with things alone #chooses not only to help him but to actively protect him after as well #I bet with Splinter there’s always a voice in the back of his head #that says his dad’s love of him is more obligation than anything #and if they didn’t have that DNA connection it wouldn’t be there #so Hueso having no connection but still sticking by Leo’s side in Leo’s moment of weakness…it probably means a lot #it’s a shame we didn’t truly get that with Splinter and Leo #now I want Hueso and Splinter to meet bc like…they’re both dads! and it’d be interesting

[rebellum]

The whole transandrophobia discussion thing is weird bc it feels like it's a bunch of poc and jewish trans people being like "here are my experiences of how specifically being MASCULINE had affected me, and the discrimination and violence I experienced based on that. And here is how that relates to me being a racial/ethnic minority"

And then a few loud white trans people going "ohhh you wanna be oppressed so bad you *slur*. This is why there aren't any poc in your movement it's because REAL poc understand intersectionality"

#hot take white culturally christian or athiest leftests do not properly interpret white jewish ppl #like as a poc i and other poc understand that white jewish ppl often get racial privilege #but a) not always b) they experience oppression based off of their ethnicity #idk from my perspective it seems like white goyim either see jewish ppl as 'the disgusting exotic enemy' or 'basically WASPS but they #wanna feel special' #with no nuance. no recognition #look maybe this next part is bc i didnt grow up with jewish ppl and therefore didnt know until I was 18/19 that jewish ppl can count as #white. but like. idk how to say this. i dont wanna speak over white jewish ppl. but like. #jewish ppl that have obvious jewish features (whether Ashkenazi facial features OR they dont have those but wear eg kippahs) #arent like. white. idk pls correct me if this is antisemitic or incorrect or something. #but like. light skinned =/= white obviously. #i just struggle to see how my bestfriend with her lovely dark eyes and curls and nice nose counts as 'white' when ppl call her the k slur #across the street. ykwim? #like white doesnt mean light skinned. it means 'part of the in-group of white ppl' #like my ex who is white and jewish? yeah hes white. if he didnt wear his necklace then goyim wouldnt know. you know #like obvs he still experiences ethnic oppression but he doesnt experience racial oppression #but other ppl with more prominent eg ashkenazi (im singling them out bc most jewish ppl here are ash.) like i dont GET how they have racial #privilege.

[charlieconwayy]

Top 50 OTPs of All Time ☆ #46. Lucas Sinclair & Max Mayfield

"Okay, look. I don't need a letter. I don't want a letter. Just talk to me, to your friends. We're right here. Okay? I'm here."

#lumaxedit #strangerthingsedit #stedit #lucas x max #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #50otps #* #gifs: stranger things #was never invested in them until s4 came and obviously turned that right the fuck around #i just love the amount of pure joy and comfort they bring each other #my fav line delivery of st4 is “i thought we lost you” the way caleb says it hit straight into my soul #and i love sadie's face/delivery on “yeah you might've been there”

[wi1dshxpe]

gortash sets up a lending library at his estate after seeing durge’s in the bhaal temple. they both know they’re the only people who use them so it turns into a sort of game. durge loves music, so after enver’s last visit a book about viola has appeared in the temple library. enver fancy’s himself a jeweler so it’s only natural a scroll about gem welding would end up in his library. books relating to their schemes, hobbies, pasts, futures, inside jokes and aspirations get passed back in forth. the only extended pause is when a novel about star crossed lovers gets dropped in the bhaal library. it’s weeks before the favor is returned and enver receives a scroll about bhaalist marriage ceremonies. he doesn’t know whether to take it as an advance or a threat, so he accepts it as both.

#dark urge #durgetash #enver gortash #durge #i ​love enver’s boldness to hear durge say ‘nobody whose been in a relationship with me has left alive’ and respond ‘yeah but i’m different’ #he is but not enough to change his fate #they would also be like varying levels of straight forward- at times they’re coming up with entirely new cipher systems for simple messages #100% being way more open they would be normal. gortash would almost never be open about about his time with raphael but he will leave a book #alluding to his treatment when he was at the house of hope #my durge was a cleric of ilmater in their youth and is incredibly ashamed of it by the time they meet gortash. but they do leave him a book #of his teachings with a chapter about meditations they still use to quell their urge #and obviously bhaal hates everything about this. not only is durge besties w his enemy and doing stupid stuff that has nothing to do with #murder they’re being unashamed of things he very much wants them to be ashamed of

[heuffopla]

Comic for @eternalglitch and their terribly yet wonderfully painful fic "Like father like son" Ahah I am in pain :)

#Honestly I had a moment like that last year where I was basically a completely different person due to my phobias and. Stuff #And it felt like I was disappointing my past self and I could feel them staring and yelling at me that I ruined them #DOING A LOT BETTER NOW!!! TEEHEE!! but yeah this is inspired by this!! And obviously the mirror scene with Leo #Although it's not exactly how this scene goes #Like father like son #Lfls #Lfls fanart #Rottmnt #Scars tw #Scar tw #Tmnt #rottmnt leo #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #unpause rottmnt #LOVE THIS FIC!! I NEED LEO TO HEAL OR ELSE I'M GONNA EXPLODE!!!!!! OK BYYEEEEE💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💙💚💙💚💙💙💚💙💙💚💙💚💙💚

[little-pup-pip]

Giraffes!!

#Giraffes #!!!! #i love them #no one asked for this #but i had a bunch of giraffe baby stuff sitting in my gallery #and obviously no one can request a giraffe moodboard #so here's one anyway!! #sfw interaction only #moodboard #sfw agere #agere #age regression #sfw littlespace #agere moodboard #age dreaming #babyre #baby regression #oh yeah and #i hope you like it!! #as always

[batfamdcposts]

Men will literally partner with an assassin cult and use its resources to track down evidence that their dead father is lost in time rather than go to therapy

#this is about tim drake in case that wasn’t clear #the red robin comics are wild #I love them #but yeah my boy needed therapy and instead he went ‘HOW ABOUT I RUN AWAY INSTEAD’ #like there were obviously other factors #dc #tim drake #batman #dick grayson #dc comics #batfam #bruce wayne #red robin #nightwing

[businessmango03]

Sorry I had artblock but Decided to draw James and Edward because I love drawing them two and they're both my favorite characters <33

Theyre good best friends....yeah...They're friendsss....

(Also, I might only draw them humans since I can barely draw trains yet 💔)

#ttte human au #thomas and friends #thomas the tank engine #james the red engine #edward the blue engine #idk lol #Holyyyy molyyy #James is mexican in my headcanon btw- #Edward is British obviously lol #i love them so much #They smooch...cuz they're friends #Yeah they're friends #They're very close... #Holding them cherishly #James and Edward forever <3 #art #Business Mango #Exploding #RAGHHHH #gijinka

[wizardsix]

i guess i have to say it a million times since people insist on being dense: gale is just as much of a victim as the other companions. this isn't the trauma olympics. everyone has been through shit and deserves healing and redemption.

gale is not the self entitled, manipulative abuser people are painting him as. he's a lot of things, but nothing so heinous. he was groomed by a goddess who has a history of preying on wizards that threaten her power, and as a result, gale's ambition and faith was what drove him to discover the netherese orb. what he did was for mystra - in his mind, it was to prove his love by restoring her missing power - and by extension for the betterment of mortals. his actions were never malicious or selfish, in fact he puts himself so low on the priority list it's pretty much non existent. he was never going to use that power to usurp her, but mystra definitely saw it like that, which is why she didn't hesitate to present suicide as his only solution. he never crossed her personal boundaries in the way people are twisting it, he only wanted to cross the boundaries she put on wizards and their power.

people who insist he's all of these things and more clearly only spoke to him once or lack the reading comprehension to see past how much of an unreliable narrator he is. i can understand first impressions might put some people off, but you can say the same about the other companion introductions. i don't like comparing but since people insist on doing it; gale is one of the easiest companions to get along with just by being a good person, yet his honesty and selflessness makes people think he's secretly evil? while the companions with the capacity to be evil don't even try to hide it? how are people being so backwards about this? it's genuinely baffling and tiring to see people continuously spit out incorrect takes all too confidently.

no one is forcing anyone to like him, but it's unfair to completely mischaracterize him because you refuse to learn critical thinking. i promise using your brain is not as scary as it seems, or you can just. not talk about things you don't understand.

#all of them have issues but that doesn't mean they're irredeemable monsters. unless you push them to but that's on you #people are shocked that astarions ascended ending is so bad. yeah what did you expect from a soul sacrificing ritual for power lol #i cannot stress this enough. i don't care if people don't like gale. i care and am annoyed about the complete lack of media literacy skills #to the point where people are ruining such interesting characters. its a shame people can't appreciate good writing when we finally get it #anyway whatever idk if this makes sense its like 4am and ive looked at this post for too long #i have so much more to say but again its like not worth telling if it falls on deaf ears #gale dekarios #baldur's gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #six speaks #and no obviously im not saying the others are worse im just saying how do people accept astarion when hes Actually manipulative but not gale #i love star but we cant pretend hes not like that . and we cant pretend that gale is

[commsroom]

other than eiffel, minkowski is easily the person hera likes and trusts most, as well as her biggest advocate, so it's kind of a travesty how little they get to just be friends (in a way that does not also include eiffel.) hera shows more interest in minkowski's love of musical theater than anyone else! multiple times! they could bond over it. hera agrees it "was a pretty great week" when minkowski drugged eiffel and hilbert, and they didn't even get along at that point. surely hera could have enabled her more. at the very least, in a better world, minkowski would've called hera as her funzo partner in time.

#wolf 359 #w359 #hera wolf 359 #renee minkowski #like yeah obviously i love both of their relationships with eiffel. in very different ways. and i love the three of them as a dynamic #but hera and minkowski individually don't get to do stuff together very often. and they should. #post-canon hera and minkowski girls' night is absolutely crucial to me. i need this.

[welcometogrouchland]

I know it was unexpected for plenty of people but I LOVE the implication that in S3 willow is the one rocking a tough, practical jacket and hunter is the one in the cozy nerd sweater. Especially in the context of how they've always viewed each other?

Willow has always been the "leather jacket-wearing bad-boy with a heart of gold" in hunters eyes when you think about it. She's strong, plays a flashy contact sport that's essentially fantasy-roller derby, stands up to authority and fights for a cause, all the while being sweet and silly and sensitive and secretly insecure but healing from something traumatic that happened to her.

And on the flip side, willow didn't meet Hunter when he was the golden guard, she met him when he was pretending to be a normal kid. He was weird and awkward and overzealous and stand offish. His best friend is a bird and his name is Caleb Jasper Bloodwilliams. BUT as the day goes on he makes friends, acts dorky and encouraging, does something really weird and messed up but (most important to willow) demonstrates that he can mend the mistakes he makes. He's soooo the sheltered "good" girl learning to come out of her shell and willow is the risk taking beefcake who shows him the world. It's disgusting and I love it

#the owl house #hunter toh #willow park #huntlow #hi yeah sorry to shippost on main but i couldn't rest til i articulated this thought #like it's perfectly reasonable that eveyone assumed their aesthetics would lean opposite. but this idea makes so much sense and is- #-so funny #obviously this is slightly hyperbolic analysis and is mostly here for comedic purposes but i stand by the central thesis #which is that huntlow flips one of the most famous het romance tropes in a way that is soooo fuckin cute and charming i love it #this is what i mean when i call them bi4bi t4t #again i also love love edgy hunter and cottagecore willow. but those do feel more tied to their s2A characters than who they probably are- #-by the time Thanks to Them roles around #anyway yeah huntlow makes me stupid insane to think abt abdidbfk #secret fuckin sauce that they put in these two

[housh]

smashing together my current interests like a toddler w legos

#yeah i'm not finishing that background so i might as well post the rough sketch #guess who watched the last episode of tlou and bawled their eyes out #dream of the endless #the sandman #hob gadling #the sandman fanart #dreamling #dreamling fanart #tlou inspired #obviously #my art #its my life's mission now to inspire someone to write a fic about them in that scenario #a la giving sanctuary where they've both lost their loved ones to the infected and find solace in each other #wanted to give dream his signature long coat but even that man has to dress appropriately sometimes

[mattodore]

happy pride to bi people everywhere but especially to theo 🌾

#the sims 4 #sims 4 #ts4 #ts4 edit #ts4 cas #theodore doe #echthroi #river dipping #🦇 #reaching for every single strap meme i have saved to my devices and spamming them under this in 3....... #downloaded these boots and was like okay. well obviously i need to dress theo up for the occasion #also i keep forgetting to go back to my old cas lighting jfdkjng #this one is very pretty don't get me wrong i'm in love w/ it but it gives matthias's neck a weird effect b/c he's so pale #like his neck looks rlly thin bc of the light... it happens on dutchie too to a lesser degree so womp #but hey........... theo looks amazing w/ it <3 #but yeah this is all i did in sims today fdkfjnfdgnjhdnfhkjd #i really did want to start on the last two echthroi ocs but....... well. #mattodore lockdown what can i say #tomorrow................ tomorrow i swearrrr i'm gonna start on the final two ocs and i'm gonna get in game #and build the set for that second mattodore pose i made the other day and just . ignored after ijdnfghkjnfgdg #i'm hoping it actually looks good in game... that last pose i shared did nawttt go as planned #uhhhh. i have not slept <3 btw <3 so i should probably put a jerma stream on and try to sleep soon #i cannottttt keep pulling these 20 hour days #me 🤝 not getting any sleep 🤝 matthias #also that emoji isn't actually wheat but fjdkkjd