#and isnt rude

[fascinationstreetmp3]

You have taken the whole of me. I could never accept just a piece of you in return.

[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.

[rohirric-hunter]

Genuinely amused when people who don't know anything about Christianity try to draw on it as a source for their fantasy -- "Oh this is my half-demon OC who takes damage from holy things and is stuck in a church, better hope that communion wine in the back doesn't spill anywhere!" You mean the regular. wine in the back? The very normal alcohol that is completely indistinguishable from any other alcohol to anyone at all until the actual communion ceremony? The Mogen David? That wine? Okay. Sure. *is imagining your OC screaming and running from a liquor store*

[zvaigzdelasas]

Ppl who use a generic explanation of "racism" for why westerners are so weird towards DPRK & PRC need to explain why so many aren't similarly racist towards ROK & ROC

[montygatorguy]

theatre fans that hate on any cast of a show that isn’t the original are the bane of my existence. literally just shut the fuck up do you hate joy magic and fun and seeing different interpretations of characters.

[chessb0r3d]

i cracked the code.

[lesbianralzarek]

my fellow, like, 20% of tumblr users with a drivers license

for clarification: this is not about what the law says. this is about whats courteous

[apileofmoss]

love you lesbians who are men or boys or bois or genderfucked or bigender or pangender or multigender or genderqueer or don't align with the term "non-men" cuz fuck that term

[heynhay]

you know i got halfway through this before realizing i probably subconsciously ripped the concept from an old tumblr post sorry

[cantgetworsethanthistbh]

im in the boat that f*ddlest*n (and f*dda*thor, but this is about the first ship) is just like billf*rd— better with intense stan bro tension. and stancest. but not in a fiddleford and stan are both projecting ford onto the other kind of way. i mean, fiddleford definitely is, he can't NOT do that when the guy has ford's face even as much as he tries not to see him and see stan for himself. but going off with how much stan visibly dislikes fiddleford in the show, i love f*ddlest*n in a scenario where stan is crazy jealous and bitter about the relationship fiddleford had with ford.

not of their romantic relationship either, he couldn't care less about that, what he and ford had wasn't normal for brothers anyway, and in any other case stan would be glad both him and ford can move on (cough).

no, what stan hates about fiddleford is how for a long time stan wasn't ford's best friend. fiddleford was. fiddleford was there for ford in college. fiddleford was smart and matched fords genius. fiddleford didnt see ford at all for his sixth finger, he loved ford for ford just like stan did, but he didn't hold ford back or "rode on his coattails". and stan knowing all that while he had nothing and no one? while stan was living in his car yearning for ford to forgive him, call him, offer they sail away together again? when stan misses his brother and could think of nothing but him, and wanted nothing more than to just see him for even a minute, while fiddleford had four years of living in the same room, laughing at the same jokes, be the brother in fords arms instead of his actual brother?

that hurts.

and stan only feels this way about fiddleford. even after finding out about b*llf*rd, he doesnt view bill as some sort of a threat when bill had to copy stan's own mannerisms to get ford on his side. bill is a manipulator, a conman, just like stan— fiddleford is genuine. whatever ford loved and saw in him was real. and ford willingly gave him the time that couldve gone to stan if he hadnt broken fords machine.

that makes it worse.

so in some scenario he and fiddleford get to meet and get together... like fiddleford is one of his "clients" or an au where they work together to get ford back, or a mystery trio, and stan realizes fiddleford feels some sort of way about him?

stan jumps on it, not to project ford onto fiddleford or anything. but just to unload all his bitterness onto him. he's not even jealous of the guy— he's just such a stark reminder of how much stan fucked everything up. he hates himself, but if fiddleford likes it then he can fucking have it.

of course it doesnt work, he never gets over that bitterness. and when ford, who is jealous and possesive about stan as a lover finds out about it? yeah, best believe that poor little hillbilly is gonna need another wave of memory wipes

that's my f*ddlest*n tbh

[dykedvonte]

See like the only reason I think the others seriously believed Curly may have crashed the ship is cause he basically had a 30 Rock "I lie to myself" momentary breakdown in front of them after one too many mocktails and like completely forgot about it.

[artpepkin]

Caught red-handed on the wrong savescreen...

[brofightiscancelled]

okay ill bite why do u hate kaoru sakuraba sidem aside from the fact that they went from hokuto as a main blue to downgrade to kaoru. to make it less awkward that I’m asking abt sidem on ur osomatsu side blog, what sidem idols would u assign to each matsu ?

i think sideM should collab w osomatsu-san and put them all in Beit so they can all get JOBS!!!!!!

anyways i hate kaoru from idolmaster sideM. i need all my osomatsu-san side blog followers to know that i hate this man. "i need a lot of money fast to pursue an extremely niche medical research track, which is why i quit my stable and high paying job as a surgeon to become an idol while having no soft skills, physical strength or stamina, or interest in getting along with people" are you Stupid??

he's not even using his idol clout to spread awareness of the rare disease he's trying to cure (like SEM does) so it can secure funding, he sees it 100% as a job and refuses to have fun, he is actively unpleasant and uncooperative in every interaction with his coworkers because he's trying to "rise to the top". it seems like the only thing he has going for him are his looks and that he kind of liked to sing when he was a kid. why not become a model at that point when you have the personality of a wet tree trunk. or better yet why not STAY A FUCKING DOCTOR!!!!!

also, i don't like meganes, so write that down.

[beneaththebloodylake]

edgeworth always using plain/rude speech in court but switching to polite when hes talking to will powers lol

[donewiththisshitplsstop]

When I was talking about how f1 and the fia and fans are racist and a lot of you were like naur but now they've literally admitted they police Lewis different but instead of calling it racism/discrimination they call it him being a role model 💀. Yall do know this is the insidious way racists have operated since like forever like do you guys get it now orrr do I need to pull out more facts/recipes bcs I've got a lot yk.

[pleasuresoftheharbor]

when a mutual unfollows without soft blocking.... you will be killed