#<- for future posts for shipping them

[sea-webs]

Two lost dragons don't make a found one, or maybe it does? Who's to say.

Oc - Cirque | Dragon Chosen by the Shadows | & Alca | Dragon Chosen by the Stars |

(I love these two so much don't even get me STARTED)

@/sandarafreedompark / anthony oliveira / sufjan stevens / unknown / carol ann duffy / nayyirah waheed / taylor bayas / danez smith / kim quindlen / chelsea dingman

[rendevok]

“Take my hand” a comic for NaruMitsu Week 2023

day 1 - lies & secrets - 2 - 3 - 4

[grezzirossi]

Silly Bloodweave Sketch with my fave armors/robes for them (golden star for u if u can read my writing)

[wildflowercryptid]

i'm about to pass out at my desk, but have this stupid ass doodle i did before i go sleep.

[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.

[lunar-years]

At this point RJK is simply so engrained in my brain space that when people still complain about how they “didn’t go canon” I’m genuinely confused. Like, what do you mean? They literally did?* Here they are right here! Skill issue.

*for legal purposes this is a joke

[esprei]

emmet is a very hard worker - after all, there are a lot of logistics and things you have to manage when you own your own railway business good thing he has someone around to remind him to take a break every once in a while

[booyahhstormz]

Selfship shit art dump because I'm going absolutely insane and I don't care anymore RAAHH 🦅🦅🦅‼️‼️‼️⁉️

...but it progressively gets sillier

Ramshackle if it was 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓴𝔂 /J 😭

SHE LOOKS LIKE SHES HIGH 😭😭

Selfinsert OC check btw her name is Pixie and she's silly and I don't like her /j

I have wayyyy more stuff about these two but I don't feel like posting it today, this is already enough cringe for y'all 😞

[the-enjoyerrr]

Boxten x shrimpo? Boxten x shrimpo.

shrimpo got a hold of teagan's lipstick, huh

[heartorbit]

WAOT WERE U THE ONE TSUKASA COSPLAYER AT MIKUEXPO GIVING OUT MIKU STICKERS TO THE PJSK FANS

THATS ME!!!!! i didn't mean to just give them to pjsk fans help but i severely underestimated how many i should've made and cut out .. so i just ended up giving them to cosplayers or people who said hi to me .... T_T

THERE'S ALSO THIS SUPER CUTE BRACELET SOMEBODY RAN UP TO ME AND GAVE ME AND I TREASURE IT SO I NEED TO ADD IT TO THE POST AND SHOW IT OFF .. WAH!!!! ITS SO CUTE LOOK!!!!!!

[feeling--pink]

Day 8 (pink) - Love Händel 💕

They are THE gay men polycule of all time- to me :)

Anyways a bunch of people did this screenshot redraw a while ago and I didn’t do it then so I thought it would be fun to do now!! :D

Sketch + Screenshot

[accirax]

i know you hate anyone who isn't you, but dragging everyone down with you by getting us all executed is a low blow, even by your standards.

[epiphainie]

.

[scarrunner05]

Honestly if like. Isafrin or isilloop or any of them had kids in any way one day. Loop would be the shovel talk parent and they would throw a mug at whoever the kid brought home.

Not even necessarily like. Because they’d be strict I just don’t think anyone else (besides odile) would do that and they’d decide someone had to at the very least.

It’s just. It’s set in my mind loop would give the most intimidating shovel talk ever to some poor kid. Imagine talking to your partners parents and everyone’s really nice to you and it’s scary cause they’re the saviors but otherwise okay and then this fucking creature pulls you aside and threatens to hunt you down if you fuck up even slightly (or kiss in front of them cause loop voice. Ew). That’s terrifying.

[cerealmonster15]

images that bring me peace. u simply dont understand. !!!!

[thestobingirlie]

i just think it’s actually so fucking stupid to reduce steve’s desire for a loving family down to him perpetuating a “nuclear family”

ITS ABOUT STEVE BEING DIFFERENT FROM HIS PARENTS!!!!! WANTING A FAMILY THAT ACTIVELY SPENDS TIME TOGETHER!!! THAT LOVES EACH OTHER!!!!

it’s meant to show the impact that caring for the kids has had on steve. to show how loving the kids and robin and nancy has opened steve up. how he’s more honest. how he has HOPE for the future.

s2 steve thought he’d just end up working for his dad. s4 steve has hope!!!! he wants!!! he dreams!!!! it keeps him going!!!!!

to turn that into “steve wants a nuclear family” “steve just wants to force nancy to carry his six square headed children” is fucking sick to be honest. just admit you fucking hate him and see the worst in everything he does and aren’t making a real attempt to understand his actions or thoughts or desires.