#master's call [ ic ]

[stromblessed]

Mizu was wrong to let Akemi be taken because they both deserve better

First, a confession. When I saw this for the first time:

I was relieved. I knew that was what Mizu was going to say and I felt like it's what I would have said in that situation too.

When Akemi does this:

I cringed, because if we know anything about Mizu, it's that she (1) isn't quick to make friends (though to be fair, even though Akemi did try to kill Mizu, so did Taigen - multiple times! - and look how that turned out lol), and (2) doesn't take orders.

So when Akemi and Ringo and later Taigen get angry at Mizu, are they being unfair?

Sure, Mizu isn't obligated to treat Akemi - or Taigen or Ringo or anybody else - nicely, or to serve them, or to be honorable, or be a hero to them, or whatever. No human being is obligated to any other human being. We all have the choice to do whatever we want to anybody else. But the point of flawed characters in storytelling is the tension between those characters and their potential. Their growth into someone who can choose the higher, harder path, who chooses to be obligated to others, who chooses kindness and compassion.

Because Mizu's problem isn't revenge. Nobody is preaching at Mizu that revenge isn't the answer. Her circumstances do suck, her life has been incredibly unfair, she is marginalized, and as far as we and Mizu know for most of the season, she is a child born of violence and no one is saying that that violence doesn't deserve to be repaid in kind.

Mizu's problem is isolation. And the fact that she thinks she has no responsibility toward her fellow human beings, because her hatred of her own circumstances and her having no life outside of her quest devours everything else. This is a problem because it turns Mizu into the worst version of herself. A version that hurts the people who like Mizu, the people who care about her.

Practically, Mizu has just taken on an entire army almost by herself. She's hurt. She's exhausted. If she were to defend Akemi now, it'd be yet ANOTHER fight, this time against horsed and armored samurai.

But that's not the reason Mizu gives Ringo. Mizu's ability or willingness to fight isn't even on her mind. All she says is, "She's better off."

"She's better off" is Mizu deciding what's best for Akemi. Akemi's entire story is about her being a caged bird longing to fly free.

One after the other, every man and woman in Akemi's life makes her decisions for her. She has to grovel and smile prettily and lie through her teeth just for the chance to be heard. Mizu judges Akemi for being a rich princess who isn't being more grateful for what she has, all without understanding Akemi's situation, and without any curiosity for why Akemi feels the way she does. From Akemi's perspective, Mizu is just one more person (one more man!) in a long lineup who ignores Akemi's wishes and (casually!) makes a decision for her that impacts Akemi's life greatly.

In the end, even Seki concludes that Akemi should get to decide what's best for Akemi. What others think that Akemi SHOULD want does not matter compared to what Akemi wants for her own life. As Madame Kaji said - Madame Kaji, who despite calling out the weirdness of Akemi's situation as well as the childishness of her decision to run away - is the only person Akemi meets who doesn't try to make decisions for Akemi, but instead only challenges Akemi to work for and be worthy of what she wants - she needs to decide what she wants for her own fucking self, and then take it.

Mizu being born female does not make her automatically wiser for letting Akemi be taken, and it does not preclude her from having a hand in giving Akemi back to her jailers. A patriarchy that Mizu knows full well would stop Mizu from achieving her own goals if she didn't present as male.

Mizu is still understandable here. She just had to kill Kinuyo, a disabled girl sold by her father into prostitution, a girl in a situation so far beyond Akemi's worst imaginings that I can practically feel Mizu's world being rocked just by comparing them in her mind the way she most likely is. That still doesn't make it right for Mizu to let Akemi be carried off to be sold into marriage by her father against her wishes. Those "good options" Mizu thinks Akemi has don't exist, no more than they ever existed for Mizu. Akemi and Mizu both have to get creative, make the best of their circumstances, take dangerous risks, and break rules in order to have any control over their own lives.

Even on my first watch, when at first I thought that Mizu had made the right decision and that Akemi was being unreasonable, Akemi screaming Mizu's name while being dragged, LITERALLY DRAGGED, back to her father was haunting as hell.

Mizu had the power to help Akemi, and simply chose not to.

Mizu lets Akemi be taken, Akemi who has just begun to trust Mizu. Mizu calls Ringo weak and quickly - seemingly easily - turns her back on him. Mizu values her quest over Taigen's life, after Taigen has endured days of torture to protect her, and she not only risks his life in the process, but doesn't tell him that Akemi is engaged to someone else, or that she came looking for Taigen, or that she is in danger.

Mizu's sword breaks because it is too brittle. Too pure. Too singleminded. Mizu only melts down the meteorite metal when she mixes the metal with objects from parts of her life that have nothing to do with her quest. Objects from the people she cares about, and who care about her.

All I'm saying is - Mizu doesn't have to be a hero. But she is the better version of herself when she reaches out to help and connect with others. When she's just a decent, kinder human being. And I think that's what this story is telling us that we should want for Mizu.

[mothiidae]

just met the main group and it the dynamic feels as if yakou is the babysitter to a bunch of errant detectives.

close ups of each of the characters are below because damn, i did not plan for how long this would be

[thecreatorfromgallifrey]

Tensimm fanfictions make me cackle

[jaxxsoxxn]

That one scene from Hercules the Disney movie

Captain cold : I can’t believe you’re getting so walked up about some hero

Captain boomerang : this one is different. He’s honest and sweet. Captain cold : oh please 

Captain boomerang : he would never do anything to hurt me 

Captain cold : he’s the flash 

No, 'cause Boomer is probably so defensive about it. Cold would rather die than admit he cares, but he saw how Speedster can and will fuck you up, so whenever the two r just chilling around him, he gets full-on nitpicky.

Because of Flash's speed healing, I honestly doubt he has a lot of scars, especially from Digger, but the other way around? It's never anything too dangerous, usually a smaller cut that healed badly in the prison or something alike, but he has more than many scars from our fav Speedster. It's nothing that's too noticeable usually and his biggest harm was breaking his nose once or twice, which with how many times it was broken already makes it less than worth noting...

...for anyone, but Leonard Snart himself and his picky nature. Does he intend to make Flash feel bad with his snarky comments? Not exactly, but he's happy with it, even if they won't break up. Golden Glider absolutely adores it and tries her best to comfort Digger by saying "It's just in his big brother nature", but she's also not sure about what Flash wants from this relationship.

I wrote before that the JLA would need some time to understand that Digger is dating him without a second reason, but the Rouges? Some of them would eventually accept that Captain Boomerang and The Flash are dating just because they like each other and no-one is planning on changing their sides, even if Boomer is already on the grey-ish spectrum (tho most Rouges enjoy being on the grey-ish spectrum), some of them would never understand.

Trickster, for one, adores the fact that he can now hang out with the Flasher and just fool around! He's pretty fond of it and Boomer looks 100 times happier than before, so he's okay with it as long as it won't mess up anything.

Mirror Motherfucker- I mean, Master likes that he can annoy Barry more, but his fun is usually cut short because if there's one thing this man can do, it's running. The second Boomer is ready for their date or just happy to get somewhere else, he disappears. Him and Mirror boy ain't becoming besties any time soon, sadly. Lisa, who adores M&M(s), is a little sad because of it.

I feel like Captain Cold could warm up to the idea- (haha, get it?) but over all, he would not be a fan. You can see your totally-not-friend get his ass handed by a guy this many times before not trusting him with said totally-not-friend.

Weather Wizard would take a hot moment to warm up to the Speedster, but in the end, he'd be happy for the two (CC: Et tu, Mark?). He is the one and probably only Rouge that is willing to listen to Digger's rants about speedy. He's not trusting Barry per se, but he's not unhappy about the two together - even if there's no gain for him in it.

Golden Glider, a sour sweetheart she is, acts way more happily about it than she is - if she'll learn that Mark gets the juicy info from Digi, she's silently seething. Might be a little too much like her brother sometimes...

Heatwave, gods bless him, is slightly bitter about the fact that the Suicide Squad knows before them. Like, what do you mean people that kidnapped you know before us, your friend- he means, coworkers! He sulks a little, but as he's pretty happy for Digger, he is not as happy for Flash.

Also, a lil thing:

(expect possible ColdWeather/Hail aka CC x WW in the closest future <3 bc i lov 'em

Also the chatfic will happen!! I'll post the link to it, bc this mf is going to be on ao3, sorry <3 ships expected: Boomerflash, HarleyIvy, Flag x Deadshot for fun, Mirror Master x Golden Glider possibly, ColdWeather/Hail probably

It will be a chiller, easy to read and write ff! More info later <3)

[diaryofawallfly]

gently hands renfield a box with a little kitten inside

"No-- oh no," he carefully take the kitten in hand, "I can't, really," he tries to hand it back, distraught, "I can't."

[sclfmastery]

"Call me 'babes' one more time. You won't listen to me, you never do, because I don't flatter you or indulge you in your ludicrous illusions."

Coward.

"But it's creepy, and that's coming from me, 'honey.'"

When you pet-name an enemy at the end of your direct or indirect gun-barrel, it's creepy. And when are you not in control of me?

"So before you get back to your Bridgerton beat-off fantasy, take note."

A shrug.

"Or be the bigger monster. The biggest! The thing you're always scared you've already become."

"I don't care anymore, Doctor. You finally drove me to indifference. 'It's you! Hi! You're the problem, it's you!'"

The Master briefly shimmies to the pop song perched on his tongue. He sucks air in through his teeth.

"Giiirl, cringe! Bye-bye, then."

Later days, Oncoming Whatever.

[temporarypenintraining]

Love being one of the like, 5 people who like Vex unironically (and ship him with the Ice Emperor).

[autisticmight]

thinking of him (my ninjago oc from 2011)

[bolides]

@slaughterlocked said: [TOUSLE] (sender ruffles receiver’s hair.) for james!!! | parent & child prompts

after hours clean up would be an exhausting chore to some, but at fredbear's, there was always f̷u̶n̷ to be had. it was definitely more fun than going home, for sure.

leaning his weight against the broom in his hands, laughing fills the air -- sharing stories of crazy parents populating the restaurant in days past was one of his favorite past times. while in the middle of recounting a particularly exhausted father they had to wake up at closing time, a hand presses onto his dark mop of curls, sending them to and fro, eliciting even further laughter.

"hahaha, hey!! cut it out, this hair takes a lot of work, and i won't see you trying to comb out all the tangles, pops!"

[dawnedon]

"Chief, I need this hat for my dad. He's been flaking league meetings for the last fifteen years, now—" Roark Needs the link.

"I'll see if I can find where I bought it from. It was a while back, but I knew I needed it the second I saw it. It really is the perfect hat." Sadako, in Dawn's phone, is already going to work. "If anything, if I do find it again I can just buy it and ship it to your address? Something like that. Whatever wo-"

"Wait. Did you call me chief??"

[thecreatorfromgallifrey]

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS, THREE LITTLE WORDS HAS A FOURTH WORK !!

AND IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[victorluvsalice]

-->Said location was TECHNICALLY Totter Park, but their REAL destination was over here -- Plumbite Pier! The spot that was one of the main draws for me when it came to the world of Copperdale! I’ve wanted some sort of amusement-park-themed vacation spot for the game for a while now, and this might be as close as we get from EA itself. So yeah, the minute they arrived at the park, I had them take advantage of their various teleports to pop over to the pier --

-->Where, of course, Victor and Alice had to immediately avail themselves of the little ice cream shop. Alice was hungry, after all, and Victor. . .well, I just wanted him to have ice cream. XD I really like that the ice creams you get at the pier have special little wrappers showing they’re from that specific spot too. It’s a nice little touch you don’t always expect the Sims 4 team to make! :) Anyway, Alice got a strawberry cone and Victor a chocolate one, and they gobbled them down while Smiler entertained them with some stories. Though poor Alice ended up so cold from hers that I had to change her into her cold weather wear. XD I guess it was kind of chilly on the pier. . .worth, though.

-->But hey, this is a date, meaning Victor and Smiler definitely needed some time alone to get their flirt on! Smiler set the mood with a burst of Flirty for everyone, and then Alice entertained herself by doing a bit of stargazing, telling herself stories, and going to examine the “Frank The Flying Womp Womp” statue for historical insights while Smiler hit Victor with the finger guns before cuddling up against him on the bench, aww. :) They are very cute together. :D However, seeing Alice take a picture of Frank over there made me realize something --

[fightiniumzee]

@earth-master continued from here:

Hala presses the call icon, ringing up Giovanni as soon as he replies. He waits patiently for the other to pick up, and when he does, Hala greets him. "Alola. Sorry being the bearer of bad news. I went to the shrine yesterday and talked to Tapu Koko, but it seemed rather displeased with my request." A soft chuckle, though it really isn't a funny situation. "Told me to send whomever I deemed worthy of replacing me to fight it. It wanted to see for itself if they would be worthy. Only then will I be able to retire."

[diaryofawallfly]

Eat any bugs lately, gay boy?

He sighs softly.

"Yes. Typically, I do. Do you have any other questions about my daily business? Perhaps in detail?"

[sennenpharaoh]

"Tell you what. If Edward and my Colonel want to see how the game is played in present day... I think I know someone who might show you. Her name is Hikari."

[redsnerdden]

Viz Media Announces New Slate for Summer 2025 and Spring Digital Exclusives

Viz Media Announces New Slate for Summer 2025 and Spring Digital Exclusives #Manga #DrStone #JojosBizarreAdventure #Marvel #SpiderMan #Ultraman #Comics #books

Three days ago, Viz Media unleashed its newest license slate for Summer 2025 and Spring 2025 (Digital Exclusives). The biggest announcement from the slate was the long-awaited seventh part of Hirohiko Araki’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run. While fans wait for the eventual anime adaptation, the manga will be one of the top manga titles in the summer. Another title that fans are…