#<- 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

[priceofreedom]

this makes me so sad and angry

John is easily one of the best voice actors in the game, but because Barret doesn't get enough appreciation, he doesn't either. i'm so tired of the Barret erasure man, and so is he, understandably. Barret is one of the MAIN!!! characters and he gets nothing every fucking time. WHEN will this change.

[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.

[hauntingofhouses]

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.

[kit-screams-into-the-future]

drawing your favorite guys being silly is very effective at keeping The Horrors at bay

bonus doc from a different canvas:

[aurorangen]

"I was a lost guy on a lost ship, but there she was every time I looked up. Renee, the sunshine of my life."

Transcript & Bonus:

...And what if this pain comes back again?

...

[Eventually, I stopped thinking about Nancy. There was no communication on her part and it felt like a one sided effort, where I was the only one who believed we would meet again. Time drifted us apart and I ended up lost in the vast sea of my thoughts. Did all the moments that we spent together mean anything to her?]

[Nancy must have moved on and decided to end everything by ghosting me. I was only her first love and nothing more, so naturally, my heart sank. All this time, I was salvaging a relationship that had ceased to exist. But time helped to steer me in the right direction and to move on from her too]

[I focused on finding myself again, through university and my friends. And there was Renee. Renee…I didn't know when it started, I couldn't help it…but I was falling for her. At first, we spent more time together as friends. I made no moves, except that time when I called her cute. The words just flowed out of my mouth]

[I was a lost guy on a lost ship, but there she was every time I looked up. Renee, the sunshine of my life. How I want to see her every morning. The way she brightens my day. My ray of hope during hard times. A beautiful soul inside and out. I wanted to tell her my feelings soon, but I was afraid of rejection…and heartbreak]

[When debate day came, I was fully prepared for it. And when they announced that I had won, all I could think about was telling Renee. Amid all the chatter and congratulations, I excused myself to go and find her]

[As soon as I saw Renee, I picked her up and spun her around. Then out of nowhere] Renee: Vince, I think I'm falling in love with you. [My words escaped from her mouth and I just wanted to kiss her]

...

Nancy: [quietly to herself after recognising Vincent from afar, tone changing from optimism to despair] Vincent??? Ohh…so you've found someone new [sighs] I'm happy for you. [blinks away her tears] I guess that's why you've been avoiding my messages. I was waiting for you all this time…

...

I admit this post was hard to create. I just didn't know how to approach it. I'm not the biggest fan of how my reblogged Vincent posts were executed, like there should be stuff in between to build it up. I ditched the idea of making them separate posts in the backstory (they are small unnecessary events). So I ended up working my way around that and summarised things here. Then I was able to write my text and I became inspired by all this lost at-sea terminology! Now the Nancy reveal at the end, I'm throwing a 360 at you! Turns out she has been waiting all along and thought VINCENT hadn't been replying to her because HE moved on (see this? Same as what Vincent thought). Miscommunication. Or something must have happened to one of their phones, right? All I'm saying is this situation sounds way too familiar (spoiler).

[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

[firestorm09890]

thinking about how fucking amazing Bari is. she’s so kind. she wished to give a group of lonely and empty undead something to truly live for, and whether she did it out of pure altruism or if she just wanted to inspire (original) Don Quixote enough that he’d be able to end a war, it's still a very admirable thing to do.

and every single letter Sancho sent to various fixers, she answered. there never was the opportunity for crushingly cruel responses or the despair of waiting and waiting only for no one to answer because someone was always there, gently watching over you and breathing life into your dreams. so the world may be cold and cruel and fixers aren’t what you thought they would be, but does it matter? in this terrible world, someone cares about you. you’ve never been alone

[moonilit]

people sometimes assign the ‘girlboss x malewife’ trop to Dickkory, when really i don’t think thats them, they both equally badass and equally traumatize, Kory is very feminine, and outside of her perception of modesty is lady like while Dick is fairly masculine, Kory was put in the damsel in destress position before while Dick is this man in command and leader all the time, what works for them is that they actually respect each other, communicate together, and let the other do what they are good at doing

Kory is a girlboss she is a worrier princess who is growing to be a strong and powerful but compassionate leader who would literally one day be a Queen! Dick is not really a malewife, a malewife would be taking on a traditionally feminine gender role leaving the more masculine ones to his wife etc. Dick doesn’t really, he didn’t even organize his apartment until kory showed up. no Dick is a king, a powerful ally, an incredible leader and a brilliant mind capable of gaining the trust and respect of the world superheros to the point they will follow him anywhere. They complement each other, they are a power couple, a King and Queen!

other tropes i could see them fall into are that add extra flavors are

Star Soulmates obviously

Favorite human

married Couple lol

(if you ship them all the way Dick would have like 17 new siblings, so: Big family older brother with many siblings plus the one who lost their own)

You can also insert extra flavor depending on how you like writing them like both are touch starved but specifically for a kind touch because they been hurt a lot. sunshine and sunshine protector but mutual because they are both each others sun and its very cold snd dark without the other around laughing and smiling. Traveling through time and space to find each others in every universe. Looks normal… but when you get to know them… they both a special kind of insane. Hot couple. Etc.

[chiquilines]

op you are the only person on this entire website feeding me Miryumi. Bless, and keeep making more jbsjhbcsbcjkdzb its so fucking gpood and ima soa hungry

My one job is keeping the miryumi community well fed and by god am i committed

[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

[kaiju-krew]

I hate to be a massive Debbie downer/party pooper but I really don't like this idea of polyamorous shipping because Mothzilla is just too perfect for that kind of thing. Didn't you say some time ago you didn't like the idea of Mothra cheating on Goji and vice versa? Like when you drew Zeuszilla and said that unlike Zeus Goji is actually loyal to his wife haha.

(You can thank Miss Queen B's Monsterverse AU fanfic series for that. If you've read them you can understand why I don't like cheating/poly shipping)

i understand where you're coming from but i think it's worth saying

alternate polyamorous ship =/= a ship cheating on each other

i've always put down a delineation between these things - in my own main au of the kaijuverse, mothzilla is 'exclusive', or as close as you can get to that when we're talking about giant interspecies monster relationships. but i've also been very open about being a multishipping creature at heart, and don't view mothzilla as any less 'perfect' just because i play with the idea of another version of my personal au where they're open/poly. it doesn't take away from, or denigrate their baseline ship dynamic just because i'm willing to explore different dynamics i find interesting.

they wouldn't ever 'cheat' on each other, because they'd never do something outside the pairing without the other's consent. hope that makes sense

[the-enjoyerrr]

Boxten x shrimpo? Boxten x shrimpo.

shrimpo got a hold of teagan's lipstick, huh