#i sense a dislike

[theminecraftbee]

honestly I think an interesting martyn character trait to poke at would be the watcher lore as an expression of grief. as an attempt to rationalize and explain a terrible thing that keeps happening to him. to give it a reason, to give himself an enemy, to both give agency to the situation and to help temper his survivor’s guilt and tell himself he could never have stopped it anyway. as a construct of stories to build around himself so he can understand.

after all, that’s sort of what we do, isn’t it?

#secret life smp #trafficblr #martyn inthelittlewood #anyway like. the watchers as literally there is ALSO good #I do not dislike his lore or something #but as a fandom we use watchers and curses and lore to make a story out of the events of the games #…and as humans we make stories to make sense of tragedies. #it makes sense that maybe martyn would as well.

[kaladinkholins]

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.

#blue eye samurai #mizu blue eye samurai #akemi blue eye samurai #blue eye samurai meta #just in case... im gonna tag this as #mizukemicritical #akemizucritical #though this post isnt actually criticising the ship itself but rather fanon's portrayal of the ship and the characters #for that reason lemme also tag this as #wank.mp3 #feel free to disagree of course but please be civil #and if you need to rant about how wrong i am without any convincing evidence kindly feel free to make your own post. peace and love <3 #fandom.rtf #meta dissertations.pdf #shut up haydar #edit: for full disclosure. i do rather dislike this ship. but obviously it's fine for anyone to enjoy it. please do! have your fun! #it's just that as usual! popular fanon and fandom around a ship is what has completely deterred me from any sense of enjoyment of it #it's a shame too because i was very open and even eager for some mizu/akemi romance in the future #but out-of-character fanon + the rudeness of certain fans has definitely soured it for me #but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it obviously! ship and let ship!!! #plus it has its appeal which i DO STILL see and enjoy!!!! #i would even go as far as to call them soulmates because their narratives and characters are LITERALLY intertwined!!! #but. yeah. my gradual distaste for this ship is indeed very unfortunate.

[jannecapelleart]

trans/enby menace solidarity 💞💞

also con and vico in the tiktoks give me life

#ofmd #con o neill #our flag means death #izzy hands #ofmd2 #vico ortiz #jim jimenez #yeah izzy is definitely trans to me #it just makes sense lmao #i still strongly dislike the season2 ending #but i still love the characters the way they are in my head #i just wish they were utilized better and written better/more consistently

[amygdalae]

Harrier DuBois is the funniest possible way to write an everyman videogame protag character. instead of being a humble, bland template to project yourself onto, he’s a deeply troubled person whos got so much fucked up shit going on you’ll probably relate to at least a few of his problems, or, barring that, you’ll feel bad enough for him to start empathizing anyways

#in the 21st century the most effective fictional everyman is someone who is so so so sad #idk if its really correct to call him an everyman per se but #i find it interesting how i constantly fluctuate between really relating to his struggles and feeling a deep disgusted sort of empathy #a second hand embarrassment so profound it turns into a kind of love #i mean there are plenty of moments where i have genuine distaste for him but thats more cuz hes a cop and stuff #(i got the 'sorry cop' archetype. the game could sense my dislike of police so strongly it made Harry sad lmao)

[flipomatic]

What about her?

She’ll find herself, one way or another.

#rwby #rwby spoilers #neo #neopolitan #neopolitan rwby #rwby volume 9 #rwby volume 9 spoilers #rwby 9 #spoilers #I don't dislike this for her #it gives them a lot of flexibility for if she'll return or not #they can choose to have her never appear again #and that would make sense #or have her reform and come back #which could also make sense

[arson-09]

Tamlin is actually such an underrated character in acotar. Because of feyres very biased narrative she forces readers to ignore the complexity of his character and man. its sad

Tamlin is a character who is genuinely GOOD at his core. He changed so much of the spring court for good, eliminating slavery within the spring lands and mortals having more protection. Hes a morally good character that made a few mistakes and is boiled down to just those mistakes. Locking feyre in the house and the magical/emotional blow up, which are both pretty decent fuck ups (i dont think siding with hybern fully counts as he was a double agent all along and tamlin was decently justified in thinking feyre was being kept against her will. lets be fr here) and even after he’s extremely fucked over by the nightcourt, his lands and court burned to shit, he still saves rhysand. Saves rhysand and tells feyre to be happy, even when he has every reason to NOT do that!

Hes a character that clearly holds himself to a higher standard. throughout acotar he puts lucien and feyres safety above his own, even sending feyre away when she was the only one who could save him. Even though what he did to her wasnt great its not completely irredeemable, rhysand did much worse things to feyre and other people but hes living his best life while Tamlin seems to find himself unworthy of being a person (acosf wheres hes been in beast form for roughly over two years) hes a perfectionist who now doesnt even think he deserves anyone because he accidentally hurt the people he loves most.

Sjm accidentally created a beautifully rich and morally righteous character who is so extremely fucked by the narrative. Which doesnt even work half the time as sjm cant seemingly commit to making him a full villain (seemingly by accident again she gave him quite a reasonable explanation to everything he did ‘wrong’ but still chooses to make him a punching bag)

If Tamlin was genuinely a morally evil character he wouldnt have NEARLY the amount of fans as he does. Hes a character that requires the minimum amount of media literacy and comprehension to understand and i LOVE him.

#acotar #a court of thorns and roses #tamlin #pro tamlin #sarah j maas #rhysand #sjm #anti rhysand #feyre #sjm critical #and most tamlin haters are so shallow #calling him tampon (which has so many misogynistic issues) is not the serve the girlies think it is #GOD hes so complex and its so good #i usually like the morally gray characters but this series writes them so poorly i go back around to loving the hero esq characters #tamlin has a certain ‘hero’ complex to him where he expects himself to save everyone and that its his duty #he said himself that hes only good for fighting and killing. he sees himself as subhuman or subfae whatever #and that level of self loathing/belief that others mean more than him makes him infinitely better than rhys or feyre #feyre and rhys are characters who are so full of themselves #obnoxious and hypocritical #i like feyre in the first book and basically dislike her in the rest of the series because she becomes so hypocritical and self obsessed #its 3am idk if this makes sense i just love tam :(

[ruler-of-thorns]

Malleus having older sibling trauma. Malleus resenting how Lilia is able to openly express being Silver's parent but had to keep Malleus at arms length because of their roles. Malleus having to know someone who was presumably initially very cold and softened only as he was growing older while Silver had a very openly loving father immediately. Malleus being the child who taught Lilia how to parent and love. Malleus never feeling like Lilia truly loved him after seeing how he was able to love Silver. Malleus loving Silver because they're brothers and at the same time resenting him for having the father he always wanted.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst spoilers #am I projecting? yeah definitely #but honestly I feel like it could be really interesting in relationship to how Silver and Malleus perceive each other #what I hate is when people make Malleus ridiculously jealous of Silver though #like do I think Malleus resents the relationship between Silver and Lilia to an extent? #DEFINITELY! But again TO AN EXTENT #Malleus isn't going to hate Silver for this lol he knows that doesn't make sense #he still loves his brother yk #but yeah Malleus not being able to openly experience love and then Silver receiving allat has got to sting #his role as prince determines he will always be held at a distance from his world and that's best conveyed thru his relationships with dias #especially as a child with lilia #anyways I also dislike Maleficia and the BV senate because it's definitely their fault such roles even exist between Malle and everyone #okay that's. ramble done. #twst malleus #malleus draconia #twst silver #lilia vanrouge #twst lilia

[uncanny-tranny]

Please intentionally attempt to see the magic in everything. Everything is magic, even if you understand the "boring" reasons why things happen. Look at the magic in growing plants, the magic of your muscles flexing and retracting, the magic of your eyes and skull, the magic of a cat's purr.

It's all magic. Understanding the "why" is just understanding what makes things magical, it doesn't change that it's all significant and magic.

#positivity #this has helped with my sense of aimlessness personally. it isn't even about belief in religion or gd or anything like that #it's about genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for the world and universe you live in #i personally always disliked the 'why feel awe about [thing] when [long technical answer about how it works]' #yes a plant grows through chemical reactions. but that's still magic. why deny yourself awe and wonder? #i can tell you the chemical reactions which make your arm flex. but that doesn't mean it isn't magic💛💛💛

[kaiiscottage]

Arajin appreciation post bc I genuinely like him <3

#i get why people dislike him or find him annoying #but he feels like an average teen anime protagonist to me #it’s just the start of the anime so i do have faith that he will change his attitude in the next episodes #and he will maybe give up on Mahoro that would be great for both of them :3👍 #maybe I’m not too annoyed by him since I’ve seen way worse protagonists…… #i have watched many new isekais and romcoms intended for a male audience….I’ve seen all kinds of main characters….. #okay he may be annoying and a coward and a loser and #but at least he’s trapped in a Hiroko Utsumi anime and not a generic high school romcom anime ;3 #bucchigiri?! #bucchigiri #arajin tomoshibi #anime #live kaii reaction #kaiicore #also sorry if any of this doesnt make sense i'm writting this half asleepwbefckjvcf

[wistfulpoltergeist]

Якщо прислухатись, то можна почути як від'їжджає мій дах...

#my sims #I'm not okay #Probably will change his eyes lately T__T #why there's so little hazel eyes cc? #Gotta make those eyes myself #I like and dislike him at the same time #i'm going mad #My sims are gonna be the end of my common sense #WistfulR&D #WistfulArtSims4 #sims 4 render #sims 4 #sims 4 art #my sims 4 characters #sims 4 ocs

[captain-astors]

Creature. (The rendered ones are referenced from manga panels)

#mediocre art #tokyo ghoul #On some level I think I should like Kaneki more than I do but there's this weird sense of detachment #I have not only from him but being able to perceive him as a character? #I don't even dislike him it's just that I can't feel any which way about him at all. He's a catalyst for events #feels more like the conch from Lord of the Flies or something rather than a fictional person. #He doesn't suffer and learn from the consequences #he just suffers and does what got him there again. It's arguable that the lack of punishment denies him the satisfaction #but if that's the case why does he end the story with everything working out perfectly for him? #Why do his friends oblige his flaws and accept his lack of change? #Is the problem my lack of understanding or his lack of good writing? #Is he well written? #Why do I like a certain character from a different anime who's a very similar person with very similar dynamics #but with a goal and acceptance by himself and those around him that his actions really are reprehensible and cannot truly be atoned for #not only more but to the point that he's actually one of my favorites? #Am I just sitting upon a throne of entitlement #because his thought process and experiences are not catered to be applicable to and understood by myself? #GOD IF I KNOW ANYMORE #I'm not pressuring myself to like him or anything I just don't understand anything about kaneki these days and I don't know why

[voidedjuice]

it's always a bit surprising to me how little stuff there is out there of Goldenglow and the women she interacts with in a light spark in darkness

Her most popular f/f pairing seems to be that pink x pink crackship with pozy?? Meanwhile in her event she's either close or growing closer with so many others, Quercus, Haze, even like, Grani.. And Yet

#ggx red avenger seems reasonably popular so i guess only the m/f fans actually read her event or something #tbh i dont dislike that pairing either but its yuri always forever for me #unknown gg yuri stocks.... i wish to invest in them #personally my fave is susie with haze bc like they meet in this whole starcrossed mutually saving each others lives way #i also like to hc that susie at least had a huge crush on quercus #just makes sense to me #arknights #text

[sweet-potato-42]

From a meta perspective bolas team did a perfect job in becoming the most popular team and marketing (whether intentionally or not). like its quite impressive to see:

they set themselves up as underdogs day 1

they had a fun insane behavior thing that people were attached to

they had awesome imagery with the gas masks and being red

they had a group of ccs who were very close to each other beforehand and had great dynamics and were great at rp

They streamed all together at the same time

I have to say they did a great job at making themselves seem like the better team and painted blue as the enemy (like its fair of them to have done but anyone can say some of their comments were kinda biased)

the BOLAS chants are peak way to rally people together

Had the advantage of bigger ccs with intesne fanbases

the rivalry with bbh was also fun to see

they were sometimes the targets and victims and losing (highlight sometimes, they were not weak, they won a lot) and did a great job and focusing on that and using it as fuel

In the end they were great at what they did, too good at it, which caused the fanbase to be super biased towards them and some elements of it was what caused so much drama.

New ccs: please be worse at marketing for our sanity

#qsmp #qsmp purgatory #qsmp bolas #I kept thinking why is that team so popular #its more than just having big ccs #It made sense #Its classic marketing and seeing how govenrments get people to follow them #A similar thing happened with soulfire #I could write a whole thing as well explaining why soulfire fans became so intense to the point of now disliking all bolas mentions #I am a big soulfire fan btw #This is all based on what i observe from ads and from historical cases of governments and organisations that had dedicated followings #bolas was called a cult for a reason

[latenightsundayblues]

Sometimes when Billy has a lot in his mind, but the night is pleasant and quiet, and a car engine rumbles softly beneath his body and keeps him warm, and it's just him and his best friend all alone in the streets, something sentimental grows like a parasite amidst the cracks on the muscles of his heart and slips out of his mouth.

A lapse in judgement. Luckily, he's always quick to bite his tongue before...

He's not entirely sure what "before" entails, but he's frankly a little frightened of finding out.

#this one sucks so bad #i genuinely dislike it #i dont know what it is #gave up halfway through lmfao #scream 1996 #stuilly #billy loomis #stu macher #billy loomis x stu matcher #latenightsundayblues art tag #recently came to my senses and remembered I should probably watermark my work lol

[fictionadventurer]

The BBC lady blowing my mind by pointing out the parallels between the endings of North and South and Jane Eyre (man brought low after losing his fortune, woman has gained wealth and comes to his rescue so they're now on equal footing).

She also pointed out that North and South is a continuation of issues Bronte explored in Shirley (to the point that Helstone is named after a character there), so I guess I may have to read that book one day.

#elizabeth gaskell #charlotte bronte #north and south #jane eyre #guess i may just have to give that book another chance #after my annoyance with people approaching gaskell as a lesser austen #instead of as her own writer #it's finally sunk in that maybe i need to do the same to these works #i still don't think they'll be to my taste #but maybe i could like and dislike what they are #instead of what they aren't #also i just need to say that the bbc lady restored my faith in literary criticism #reading the intros of some gaskell books lately just left me going 'shut up about gender!' #this lady talked about gender in ways that made sense #and put the stories in context for the time period and literary landscape #i didn't agree with everything but everything made sense coming from the text #instead of putting their own lens and twisting everything to fit it

[otaku553]

I appreciate him

#I think I effectively stockholmed myself into liking him by drawing him #this happens with so many characters actually #did you know I actually hated albedo’s design the first time I saw him and now he’s my favorite character #also disliked heizou but look how many pics of him I drew and now I love him too #tighnari’s endearing ok #anyways here are some attempts to make his outfit make more sense #and of course #there’s the scrunkly #I think every time I do one of these sketch pages I’ll add a scrunkly