#The Great Pretenders

[magicfroggo]

guys wut if makoto met makoto and makoto and makoto and makoto and makoto and makoto and makoto and makoto

due to popular request i added all the other makoto characterz y’all listed

#makoto naegi #danganronpa #danganronpa v1 #raincode #makoto kagutsuchi #makoto niijima #persona 5 #persona #persona 3 #makoto teruhashi #saiki k #Makoto Karaki #makoto edamura #The Great Pretenders #Death Come True #makoto kino #sailor jupiter #sailor Moon #Makoto Nanaya #blazblue #Makoto Yuki

[skippyangel16]

The Great Pretenders…

(well nothing great about it 🤢 just well practiced🥱)

They pretendeth too much? 🤫

Well not so much after start of season 7 it seemed, a short diversion, pushing the boundaries, or was it time to throw some crumbs to the believers?

As with the bluebells we hoped an end in sight…

But then back to pretending…🙄 😔 August happens and it’s just sad…life events happened… but it’s back to all the BS and games because there’s a book to sell that says he’s single.😢 So out come the Vegas videos and posing with cucumbers. All to sell fake Sam and manipulate their fans again! It’s embarrassing…they know exactly what they are doing, it’s all them imo😢

October, the books out… he’s now sealed in print as single Sam who finds it hard to commit, unless it’s Cait of course. Pick a lane Sam?

Never seen anyone more committed to a married co star. 😏

Really who are the crazy ones here?

#tumblr #samcait #@skippyangel16 #post Nov 2022 #the great pretenders

[leogichidaa]

The Great Pretenders: Remus and Regulus

To note at the outset: this post is going to rely heavily on my personal characterization of Regulus, which I feel is supported by canon, but is also largely speculative.

Alright, so this has been bouncing around in my head since I got the ask about Regulus’ opinion of Remus. As I said in my response, they share some defining features in common: a desperate need to be liked and a core belief that they are unlikeable. It’s an unpleasant mix and it leads to them being good at putting on a show--and pushing people away.

Remus feels the need to project a certain image because of his lycanthropy. Some of this is strictly practical: if people were to find out about his condition, he could lose his position in school, his livelihood, his friendships, etc. Some of it is more deep seated.

Remus’ condition is a punishment. His father is said to regret the derisive comments he made about werewolves and he just "parroted what was the common view". It's clear we're meant to think of Lyall as someone who paid for his bigotry and totally learned his lesson, but I think that bigotry lingered in a more covert form and had an impact on Remus beyond the bite (one clear example being that he is not allowed to have friends growing up in case he tells someone he's a werewolf). In many ways, Remus is molded into the anti-Greyback. Whereas Greyback becomes the monster that society is determined to make him out to be, Remus is turned into the “good werewolf”. He is passive and well educated and treats his condition like a burden he must constantly apologize and compensate for. He is just happy to be included.

As a result of his condition and the societal condemnation thereof, Remus despises himself to a maddening degree. He is so convinced that he is not worthy of anyone’s love or approval that he carelessly tosses away the love and approval he is given. He is so certain that no one would care for him if they knew his true self that he hides under a carefully constructed mask and refuses to let people peek beneath the surface. He’s a fake ass hoe. He twists the truth, lies, and withholds information to craft a narrative that both works in his favor and successfully holds people at arms-length. Wait, am I describing Remus or Regulus here? Yes. Both.

Regulus has a less obvious and tangible reason for his protective tendencies, but he comes from a family where image is everything and when his older brother starts bucking tradition he fills the role of traditionalist to protect the family's homeostasis. I think about that painstakingly carved Black family crest in his room often: that is a carefully constructed mask that he created for himself if I ever saw one. He hides within the role that his family expects him to play so that he does not ever have to be himself.

Both Remus and Regulus end up fighting in the war, which is interesting because both are portrayed as passive (although capable of aggression when motivated by threats to the things they hold dear). If you were just handed character sketches of these two chuckle fucks without context, you would not likely think, “ah yes, I can see them signing up to fight guerilla warfare”. But because of their need to project a certain image, to follow certain people, to protect certain ideals that in turn protect them, they end up joining the fight.

And it's not just an external presentation either. We see examples in PoA and DH where Remus is lying to himself as much as he lies to other people. He is protecting his self-image even as he strives to control the way others perceive him. I see Regulus’ presentation, too, as in part for the benefit of his family, but also a way to protect himself from having to look in the mirror and say: “who am I?” and “is this who I want to be?” Neither Remus nor Regulus can afford to be anything other than what they pretend to be, either outwardly or within their delicate ego.

The tragic thing about this (and I touched on this before when talking about the “sickening look of faux pity” line) is that if you are always putting on a show and no one, not even you really, knows the real you, then nothing can counteract that maddening self-loathing. Everyone and their grandmother can say “I love you, I appreciate you as a person” and shower you in praise and it wouldn't matter because they’re praising a fake version of you. They love your mask. Which is, on one level, the whole point of having a mask in the first place. But internally, it serves to reinforce the idea that the real you is unlovable and that no one will ever treasure your true self the way they treasure the fake you.

We see how this plays out for Remus with Tonks. It doesn’t matter how many declarations of love she gives and how much she insists that she cares for him despite the realities of his situation, he does not believe her. He insists to Harry that Tonks, and Harry, and everyone, just don't understand what being married to him really means because they don’t actually know him and his reality. And it’s easy to read that as Remus being completely wrong and blinded by pessimistic self-hatred, but on some level he is right. They don’t understand because he won’t let anyone understand because he’s terrified that if they do understand then they will hate him, so he might as well just leave now before it gets to that. He can’t bear to give anyone a chance to really see him and accept him for who he is.

I see a romantic dynamic with Regulus playing out much the same way. He would be too afraid to talk about the real stuff, he would keep too much of himself locked away and hold his partner at arm’s length. He would run when things got hard because he would assume that his partner doesn’t really love him anyway, so they probably wouldn’t even miss him. He would convince himself that they're better off without him and find an excuse to jump ship.

This is getting long, but I also wanted to touch on how I imagine this plays into my hc that Regulus figured out that Remus was a werewolf at some point during their time together at Hogwarts. I imagine that it would be relatively easy to sleuth out for someone who is paying attention (the moon phases make it a bit obvious and it’s not like Remus and co are super discreet). But if Regulus did find out, why would he not tell everyone? Wouldn’t he be thrilled to bring down one of Sirius’ friends?

I’ve thought about this and the conclusion I came to is that, even if Regulus does not like or respect Remus, even if he sees Remus as a filthy half-breed half-blood who stole his brother, he understands Remus on some level. He knows the importance of keeping a secret (in contrast to Sirius). I imagine he kept the werewolf thing in his pocket, rationalizing that he’d use it if he ever felt sufficiently provoked, but he never did because deep down he saw a bit of himself in Remus. (This is especially true in my Every Other Freckle AU, in which Regulus himself is carefully guarding a secret love affair, so outing Remus would hit too close to home for him). It's either that or Sirius has something on Regulus and there’s an unspoken mutually assured destruction thing going on, but I'm partial to the first theory.

#make up something to believe in your heart of hearts #so you have something to wear on your sleeve of sleeves #Remus Lupin #Regulus Black #the great pretenders

[agoodsongeveryday]

Day Nine Hundred and Forty Three

What's the line, where's your mind, what's it for? What's the time, did you find what you're dying for? What's the night, where's the light from the door? What's a life, where's the knife you keep hiding for? Where's the rhyme from the line sung before? Was it mine, just the kind you've been fighting for?

Some RX, are you next, are you more? Where's my mind, what's that knock on the door?

#mini mansions #the great pretenders #alex turner

[sassypantsjaxon]

There's just something about Zoro sleeping half in Sanji's bed while Sanji's mostly on the floor

#and then igaram having to tuck them in properly #one piece #roronoa zoro #black leg sanji #zosan #<- no its not. but yes it is #this arc was great #literally everything Sanji did #Nami being in love with Vivi and trying to pretend it's about the money #so good

[neytui]

I never guessed how close you were to me 🧚‍♀️❄

#httyd #fairy au #hijack #httyd hiccup #rotg #jack frost #hiccup haddock #how to train your dragon #hiccup #frostcup #art #rotg jack frost #my art #this took me long wth #I think I would be doing only silly drawings of this now on tho #letS PRETEND I DIDNT CONFUSED HICCUPS BAD LEG ALRIGHT #It was too late for me to correct it #acorn instead of a flower bc its hiccup #the great divide such cute song but listen to it in spanish #anyways them :)

[theclaygolem]

Bepo *smiles wide*

#one piece #clayart #trafalgar law #bepo #again posting late on tumbl :) and again pretend you have never seen this before and it is brand new wow what a great piece of new art clay #I made law extra handsome in this one with the limp wrist #do you guys think hes a lil... ya know #I shant say it #its v charming in all seriousness that Law likes bepo so much #thats his best friend and hes a giant polar bear #got a soft spot for the guy :) brings a tear to my eye :_)

[petridumps]

😴 after the holidays 💛🩵

#nanago #i'm late but happy holidayss! #they don't exactly look like holiday pieces but just pretend they are #(also bc I am pushing the fur parents agenda lol) 🥹🫶 #tysm for all the support this year!! #Have great year ahead!! 🥹💖💖 #petri art

[sentientsky]

you idiot, we could have been…us.

#one intense bout of hyperfocus later and here we are #i have so much to do what am I doing here #again not super entirely happy w this but my brain won’t let me stop until this is done and for the sake of my wellbeing #here ya go #i can’t draw clothing so pretend the monotone colour blocking is purely ✨artistic✨ #im so dehydrated omg I love having adhd it’s great (LYING THRU MY TEETH) #good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #good omens 2 #aziraphale #aziracrow #go2 #ineffable lovers #ineffable wives #good omens season 2 #gomens #gomens 2 #Michael sheen #David tennant #gomens season 2 #good omens fanart #crowley fanart #art #fanart #good omens 2 fanart #david tennant fanart #anthony j crowley #my art #ineffable divorce

[9ndreus]

Do you think Aziraphale is the literal origin of the damsel in distress trope or did he get the idea from reading books

#good omens #aziraphale #ineffable idiots #aziracrow #ineffable partners #I see it going one of two ways: #someone saw Aziraphale pretending to be in danger to get Crowley's attention waaaay back in human history and thought 'great fic idea' #or Aziraphale read a book about some princess locked in a tower waiting for a pretty knight to save her and thought 'this is perfect' #wouldnt put it past these two silly beings to be the ones who started a lot of tropes #fic idea? #ID in alt text

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Assisting Acquaintance Acquired.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wen ning #wei wuxian #Ignore how Wen Ning's hair looks here because I messed it up. Let's pretend he just sported a different hair style for a brief moment. #I am not exactly great at consistency but I am trying very hard to work on that (immediately messes up again). #Absolutely *love* how Wen Ning clearly remembers and admires WWX...who does *not* recognize him. #This is the best day for Wen Ning and it means *nothing* to WWX. A painful one-sided crush made worse. #It is bittersweet to realize that we care about someone more than they care about us. Sometime we pour love into a relationship- #-with someone who just can't reciprocate. It isn't always a conscious things either. Some people just aren't aware we care. #And painfully - so painfully - You can't make them aware. No act of kindness or gift or self sacrifice will make someone care about you. #You can martyr yourself for someone and they will continue on unchanged. #I think a lot about the parallels between WN and LWJ. Not foils - just reflections. A theme repeated. #People who give so much of themselves to someone who doesn't have the capacity to give any part of themself away. #I will die on the hill of 'Wen Ning would be the love triangle romance if that trope wasn't being avoided'. #And to be honest - thank the stars above that is the case. I do not know any good love triangles in media. #We are skipping some of the sad Jiang Cheng content because I really want to finish season 2 before May. #Sorry JC emo moment lovers...I'll deliver another time.

[imsofrancey]

put them in a room who's getting cooked

#bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #nicholas d. wolfwood #trigun #askeladd #vinland saga #laurent thierry #great pretender #reigen arataka #mob psycho 100

[secondbeatsongs]

makerrcat made me watch John Wick, and my hot take about it is that the entire plot of the movie is impossible, not because of the action sequences and cool fight scenes, and not because of the awesome mob hotel run by a dude named Charon, but because it's illegal to pump your own gas in the state of New Jersey, so John never could have had that interaction with Viggo's son at the gas station

#sbs rambles #keanu reeves #john wick #great movie! #can't wait to see more of them #but also I was giggling a lot of the way through it #because of dumb stuff like the gas station thing #it's okay #don't mind me #we can pretend this takes place in an alternate reality NJ #where it's okay to pump your own gasoline #and also there's a cool mob hotel

[redundantz]

Some of my anime art style inspirations 💕 Mononoke - (2007) Demon Slayer - (2019 ~) Hellsing - (2001 / 2006-2012) The Record of Lodoss War - (1990/1998) Pokemon: Gotcha! - (2020) Cybersix - (1999) Trigun - (1998) Mushishi - (2005-2015) Vampire Hunter D - (2000) Panty & Stocking - (2010) Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun - (2014) Inuyasha - (2000-2010) The Great Pretender - (2020) Angels Egg - (1985)

#inspiration #anime #some of my fave anime and anime styles #redundantz speaks #mononoke #trigun #mushishi #inuyasha #engels egg #cybersix #hellsing #demon slayer #pokemon #panty and stocking #record of lodoss war #vampire hunter d #the great pretender #monthly girls nozaki-kun

[quisters]

This entire show is my problematic fav

#great pretender #ik this is late #this was my first time working w a palette like this 💀 #laurent thierry #all my homies hate Laurent #fuck Laurent fr fr #makoto edamura #he my baby #I hope he doesn’t show up at all in the new season #I love him but he needs to retire #Quisters #great pretender fanart #gp fanart #gp #grepre #grepre fanart

[s-aint-elmo]

digging out my eah content part 3: the monster/fairytale culture shock we deserved

ID: a set of sketchy digital comics of c.a. cupid using monster high slang in ever after. set one features cupid popping up behind cerise hood.

cupid: hey, beastie! cerise: what. cupid: what? cupid and cerise hold an awkward silence. cerise, snapping her fingers: ohhhh, is that slang? cerise: ahaha okay don’t mind me (louder:) haha cedar wait up

set two features ashlynn ella showing an excited cupid her sketchbook.

ashlynn: what do you think of my new designs? cupid: oh, total freak chic, ashlynn! ashlynn: ashlynn, tearing up: you could have just said you didn’t like them...

the final image is blondie lockes thoughtfully tapping away at her mirrorpad as cupid, off-screen, exclaims “fangtastic!” “clawsome!” “furricious!”

#ever after high #c.a. cupid #cerise hood #ashlynn ella #blondie lockes #doodles #mine #quality once again down bc these are the remnants of the great collapse (of my old laptop) #i simply think cupid should not have made such a seamless adjustment <3 i simply think it should have been addressed in the first place <3 #imagine how funny cupid would have been actively pretending to not be a monster #up there w cerise with the juiciest reveals we never never got to see