#i can't feel my eyes

[kishibeswh0re]

Living the life rn

[clarisimart]

tfw you realize the mortal you where planning on using and discarding, is a little unhinged actually, and matches your freak so you scrap that plan and start planning to rule the universe together

AKA bill realizes Ford "is just like him fr"

The page in The book of Bill that started this nonesense

commission info here

Transcript of text from the page of TBOB under the cut

Text reads: "Unfased, F has been making hot cocoa and welding rivets while playing christmas songs on the radio. (These songs make no sense. Why did Rudolph forgive his tormentors for their mockery of his facial deformity? He should have used his red-hot nose to burn his oppressor's workshop to the ground. A lesson to all!)"

[ineed-to-sleep]

Collection of bg3 sketches I've been nibbling at over the month. teehee

[bree-paints]

My copium where they all survive and they are an iconic one eyed trio

Also some random sketches because 266-267 have been killing me emotionally thank you

[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.

[old-desert]

Trying to remember how to Clip Studio Paint again

featuring: Loop

[palskippah]

Hi!

Thinking about the differences between both Goldenheart babies and the relationship with their fathers ajsdkas there's some other drawings under the cut :y

(love when artists make different fankids from the same ship interact ajsdk)

-Btw he/they pronouns for both fankids asjdkd

-Baby has beautiful dark eyes (got the eye-shape from Ambrosius and the 🥺 energy from Ballister) and Cyrus got 'stares into your soul' eyes (got the blue from Ambrosius, and the intense staring from Ballister)

-Also, see that Baby is taller than Ballister (like Movie Ambrosius is) and Cyrus is shorter than Ballister (like Comic Ambrosius is) waa

-Also, I've been thinking that maybe the 'Baby' nickname was given by Ambrosius, and that's why Cyrus doesn't have it, because his fathers hadn't been too close during the pregnancy, mainly because Ballister hadn't wanted them to be.

>Comic Ambrosius referred to him as Baby once and Ballister stopped that right away with 'his name is going to be Cyrus, don't call him Baby'.

>Movie Ambrosius called him Baby once, given the lack of a name from before they had even known that he was a boy, and it just stuck right away.

-Comic Cyrus' reaction is based over the phrase 'when I remember I'm my father's daughter' that I saw once in a meme 😭

>Ballister said it just as a passing thought, but it didn't leave Cyrus' mind for years.

>Also, he's been hearing stuff from both Nimona and Ballister since he was a little kid, and that really warped his perception on Ambrosius.

>(Y'know with like the smallest of comments made by an adult about someone else, it can stay forever?) Ballister had thrown some comments that he didn't think twice about, and didn't think that Cyrus would pay much mind at either, BUT THEY DID and yeah

>I find it so interesting how easy it is to plague a kid's mind with stuff, even if unintentionally 🧍 (also I love how that was used in the Nimona movie WA)

-And Movie Baby's reaction is when you're compared to someone you deeply admire ajsdaj

>After that, they'd occasionally think about his abba (the most trustworthy of sources) saying that they were a lot like Ambrosius.

-Random thought but Baby's love language is being an annoying little shit. He could pretend to box with Ballister when he's busy working on something (not interrupting him, mind you, he's a good son). Or be like 'daddy. daddy. daddy. daddy. Papa. Dad. Father. Progenitor-' while Ambrosius' like 'what? what? what. what. what do you want? what is it? One more and I'll smack you. I warned you (pretends to smack him)' and then Baby says I wanted to say I love you :C and Ambrosius' like oh, love you too son <3

-I drew this thing to see the differences between both asjdk it mostly being that in their movie version it was always teamwork, and in the comic version it was all Ballister (+ Nimona, but the point is that Ambrosius wasn't there to parent too) (thinking if that'd be because Ballister didn't want him around or what, I don't know🧍)

That's it! :D

[linktoo-doodles]

dig me up, let me go

[shenzhiheng]

The Spirealm 致命游戏 | Episode 13/38

[icewindandboringhorror]

I made a few new wax seal stamps out of clay (like the ones I did for my worldbuilding stuff forever ago), this time just of random symbols that I thought might look good done in the style of painting over the raised part of the wax or etc. :0c Some of them aren't carved deep enough to really show up that well, but overall they worked okay for being clay lol

[markantonys]

– Langston Hughes

[slight-gaming-addict]

found this post on pinterest by @rum_0609 on twitter and needed to say it made me absolutely FERAL?? LIKE HELLO???? WHERE HAS MY DIGNITY GONE

[silusvesuius]

nnnnnnnnnnnnno maa'am

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Dean Winchester of Supernatural fame is NOT reading parenting books he is putting on Cheaper By The Dozen, Daddy Daycare and Honey I Shrunk The Kids taking notes.

[peachymaryobrien]

[fun-esta]