#im not tagging it with the ship or fandom

[wanwanriveter]

lowk forget i have an acc here

[raddestrose]

happy valentines day to the doomed yaoi and doomed yuri that plague my thoughts, may they live together in peace and happiness in a nicer timeline

[greatbananaboat]

im actually losing my mind at this.

tw: death and abuse threats under the cut

so i got banned from the arcane community after defending a couple posts i made talking abt caitvijinx, vijinx, and zaundads. if you want to know exactly what my offending posts were, you can look for them yourself.

i jumped through every hoop they gave me. i put trigger warnings above the cut and in the tags, i put a cut before the actual content of the post. and it’s worth mentioning that my posts weren’t even explicit. one of them was literally just “caitvijinx is so interesting to me”.

i tried my best to be respectful of other people’s sensitivities and feelings, despite feeling madly disrespected. i joined the community to make friends and meet other people that like arcane as much as i do. i got death threats, comments telling me i was deplorable and vile, and all manner of filth.

how can y’all even live with yourselves lmao

i know none of them are gonna see this bc they’ve all blocked me atp but i just wanted to put this out there bc honestly it’s so hurtful to me that theres such horrible people in this fandom. sorry for posting abt ships i like.

[canaryy15]

ok i promise glados isnt the only thing i have for valentines

some aren’t mcyt and from stuff i like :3

The mcyt duos for people who arent in the fandom since im tagging some other fandoms

Flower husbands: Smajor1995 (Scott) and Solidarity gaming (Jimmy)

Mean gills: Smajor1995 and Martyn Inthelittlewood (Martyn)

Desert duo: Grian and GoodTimeswithScar (Scar)

Jizzie: LDshadowlady (Lizzie) and Smallishbeans (Joel)

Also the F! and M! for the jesses are for the gender (female and male)

[hinamie]

back on my free! brainrot

[whalefill]

i'm gonna be so brave and post about my stupid hyperfixation and everyone's gonna be really nice about it ok. thanks. here are some walkingdead sketches

[stiffyck]

I WISH ARO HEADCANONS WERE MORE POPULAR IN FANDOMS

[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.

[cheebuss]

a vicious fight to the death… maybe

[s1ck-pupp3t]

I love, Ms Paint. CHEERS!

OK real art dump over. Click MORE for Real dumb stuff

something something They faces killing me why nobody gaf. Its a Transparent .PNg! You can put them any where to Not Care About.

[mamawasatesttube]

the timkon fans who shit on bart are annoying, the konbart fans who shit on tim are annoying, and i don't actually know if there are timbart fans who shit on kon, but i sure hope not, because they'd be annoying. the three of them are a set!!! do NOT separate. red tornado literally assigned them one shared brain cell. what is not clickign

[eternalera]

i hate when people go "why cant people just be friends :((( why cant we have strong platonic bonds anymore?" to ships

and do you wanna know the reason? like do you really wanna know the reason. okay well here we go ig-

(click read more for an actual analysis of why this doesnt happen)

no one writes strong platonic bonds well anymore.

at least they cant do so without it seeming romantic because of one thing.

shipping and romance.

without a doubt it has taken over our society as a whole and this is for quiet a few reasons, we literally have a holiday about romance, one of the many things moments people experience in high school is taking out their crush to a dance (of course many people take friends and make just as fun if not longer lasting memories), influencers share their lives on the daily, most fans are teens going through puberty so yknow what that means, and hollywood.

the main reason being of course hollywood.

with all of these reasons combined hollywood sees this and basically goes "oh look at all of these opportunities for romance and most importantly drama!!" and then they take it, make a romantic bond, get you attached and then proceed to put you through hell with it getting you addicted to it. but why a romantic bond? why not platonic? because its simple, when tv and stuff started pushing out they wanted to get people heavily attached and they didnt think or care about platonic bonds because why have platonic bonds when you can instantly take it to the much "juicier" step? aka romantic bonds?

now im gonna lump in all of our previous reasons together. its no big surprise that our lives TYPICALLY (most likely not for people on the ace spectrum) are heavily centered around romance and sex and so in order to relate to the MAJORITY (from what large companies can tell) of people they tend to make that platonic bond romantic to get people swooning over it and thinking 'oh thats what i want in a partner'

so we tend to perceive these actions as romantic when in reality... theyre typically not, not unless youre kissing or actively having sex these actions arent all that romantic. even holding hands isnt really that romantic. ive had several friends who desire no romantic relationship with each other hold hands and jokingly press their faces close together as if they were being 'romantic' with each other. ive in fact shared a bed with my friend a few times and found that yeah... theyre just my friend. these actions are not romantic. so why do we think that they are?

hollywood, from our past memories and "experiences" (experiences in quotations because lets be honest... its just movie watching) we see these actions as romantic because theyve been dont with romantic undertones. for example let me put the absolute stupidest thing thats been romanticized.

giving someone your jacket or umbrella when its raining. especially when its friend.

yes. hollywood was romanticized basic human decency towards someone that you care about. im 90% sure that anyone reasing this would gladly give their jacket to their friend if it was raining and they didnt want them to catch a cold, or if they had an extra layer to just simply give them. OR if they had an umbrella they would share.

because thats what you do for someone that you care for

but in hollywood this was romanticized by the enemies to lovers trope or the rivals to lovers or... whatever you want to call it- it was romanticized and soon enough they began doing it with everything. friends to lovers. (i dont know which trope made it romantic first so dont quote me on this the main point is that they made it romantic when the gesture itself is NOT)

point being, like it or not romance is something that was heavily implemented into your mind as a child and will always be there. and its why we cant perceive friends as 'just friends' anymore or whatever youd like to call it. the implication of past experiences with media will always be there and guess what? suck it up. its always going to be there and theres nothing you can do about it.

so yeah. thats why people cant perceive things as just friends and why strong platonic bonds quite literally cant really be written well anymore. unless of course they shove it down your throat with the constant 'oh youre my best friend!' but even then- oops it was romanticized by hollywood...

so thats my take on the whole situation. personally i think you should just let people ship whatever they want as long as its legal lol

[shrimpmandan]

Legit I think the reason why so many indie fandoms end up so fucking rancid so quickly is because you people are TERRIFIED of consuming anything on your own terms. In trying your hardest to "respect creator boundaries" you VIOLATE them by badgering them about things like ships and NSFW content which they can't control the existence of, and by constantly asking them loaded questions about what you're "allowed" to do.

Guess what? You can do literally anything you want. The bottom line is you don't involve the creator in it. Sure, yes, some creators like to be involved in their fandoms, but that's them bringing THEMSELVES into it, not the fandom thrusting itself onto them in a desperate plea for validation. Stop asking creators for validation. Stop showing them potentially triggering content to ask how they feel about it. Stop white knighting for them because you've taken it upon yourself to assert a boundary on their behalf. S T O P I T .

[cosmicourple]

list of EPIC! rarepairs / crackships & crack friendships I fw / some I made up (very few tho I think hdvff)

°— Odysseus x Poseidon (Seamonsters)

°— Odysseus x Zeus (Thunderclap)

°— Odysseus x Poseidon x Zeus (Wetthunderthighs)

°— Polites x Circe (Springblooms? or Smilingsoul?)

°— Thanatos & Telemachus (Death & The Dodger duo)

°— Penelope x Circe (CunningEnchanter)

°— Penelope x Amphitrite (Pearltears)

°— Zeus x Polites (Lightningreflective? or Sullied?)

°— Poseidon x Eurylochus (Stonefish? or Stormydepths?)

°— Aeolus x Telemachus (Smokey)

°— Circe & Hermes (Divine Perfume + ‘Perfume’ duo)

°— Penelope & Ctimene (Warrior Power Women duo)

°— Scylla, Odysseus & Ctimene (Feral Wolfs & the Big Bad Sea-Dog trio)

°— Ares & Ctimene (Shadowed Siblings duo)

°— Sirenelope x Odysseus (shipped onesided lol) (Azurescales) (edit: ship it fr now wth 😭)

°— Ctimene & Telemachus (Full Speed After My Dumbass Brother/Father duo)

°— Hera & Odysseus (Loyalty First duo)

°— Apollo x Eurylochus x Helios (Dimsunlight? or Scorchedsteelinhand?)

°— Hermes, Odysseus & Ctimene (✨HERMES✨ and Grandkids duo)

°— Antinous x Calypso (Scarletsand)

°— idk what else (for now mwahhaha-)

[acertifiedwitch]

My favorite relationship dynamic is a healthy straight couple befriending a dark haired fella and then proceeding to accidentally create the most powerful queer polycule in existence

[arolegos]

im way too scared to say this on main but icl i love lloyrumi n' i love ur lloyrumi art ... can u draw them more for me ... maybe dr harumi meeting sora and jordana like 'damn lloyd they js like us fr fr ???'

i love when the relationship dynamic is "kiss marry kill? all of the above"