no-seven

[no-seven]

you hate alice . No i dont. yeah . u despise her u complain constantly about how vapid and annoying she is. You hate her. it's pitiful , how u wont stop making fun of her stupid little podcast. Let Her Have The Podcast. i don't know what ur talking about. U hate listen. To her podcast. wait.... what???? and u made a swear on our lives not to tell anyone. Jordan is that true??? i like your podcast alice :) what is ur podcast about ? hanging out with your smartest and funniest friend . (jordan groans) Did you just.... Groan??? no. when i said "hanging out with your smartest and funniest friend" 🙄 oh my god LIKE THAT. LIKE thAT Fuck! YOU JUST DID IT AGAIN. NO I DIDNT. First of all, A PODCAST TAKES A LOT OF WORK OK . you have to organize the guests u have to do a google calendar and and and you Build a following IT TAKES A LONG FUCKING TIME .AND IVE BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR A WHILE OKAY . and then... let me say THAT NOBODYLIKESYOU. OKAY. NOOOOOOOOOBODY LIKES YOU NOBODY LIKES YOU do you know when ur drunk and u cry to me "Ohhhh im afraid nobody likes me coz im mean and a bitch and i suck!" well you do OKAY you fucking Suckk and i only hang out with u out of pity and the suffocating weight of our shared history And That is all... ANDDDDD youre just sooooo in love with your RAGS to riches narrative like ur the only fucking person in the world who didnt come from money , You know what??? Ur parents. are Upper. Middle. Class. no theyre not. jordan.... they are. They teach. at a university. it's public . Oh... my god OH MY GOD i mean. no wonder sophie od'd... Who could date a fucking Spreadsheet with a superiority complex . its like. you're such a BI- (GUNSHOT) OWW. What the fuck??? what the Fuck jordan??? oh my god ARE U SERIOUS?? Did u just fuckinf shoot me??? No. U FUCKJGN SHOT MEEE . WITH A GUNNNNN!!!!! No i didnt shoot u :( YOU FUCKING MURDERED THEM U FREAK . UR THE MURDERERRRRRRRR I KNEW JT I KNEW IT . YOURESUCH A BITCH UR SUCH A FUCKING BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i didnt murder anybody:( YES YOU DID. JORDAN put the gun down IVE NEVER BEEN SHOT BEFOREEEEE IT REALLY FUCKING HURTS

[no-seven]

My favorite thing about learning that the creators of blue eye samurai are a mixed race couple whose mixed race daughter inspired them to create the show is that it means they, like many parents, were like “what should we do if people are mean to her because she’s mixed race” and the answer was “well we probably can’t just let her kill them all. but wouldn’t that be nice”

[no-seven]

taigen is sooooo funny. bitchiest man i've ever seen. he fucked and ran. he's obsessed with honor. he's the only one allowed to kill his rival. he makes silly little sarcastic jokes. he endured torture because his rival "deserved better" than being killed by the men torturing him. he got a boner from homoerotic wrestling. he's pathetic and i adore him.

[no-seven]

BLUE EYE SAMURAI Maya Erskine as Mizu

I have no interest in money or power. I have no interest in being happy. Only satisfied.

[no-seven]

Mizu, femininity, and fallen sparrows

In my last post about Mizu and Akemi, I feel like I came across as overly critical of Mizu given that Mizu is a woman who - in her own words - has to live as a man in order to go down the path of revenge.

If she is ever discovered to be female by the wrong person, she will not only be unable to complete her quest, but there's a good chance that she'll be arrested or killed.

So it makes complete sense for Mizu to distance herself as much as possible from any behavior that she feels like would make someone question her sex.

I felt so indignant toward Mizu on my first couple watchthroughs for this moment. Why couldn't Mizu bribe the woman and her child's way into the city too? If Mizu is presenting as a man, couldn't she claim to be the woman's escort?

However, this moment makes things pretty clear. Mizu knows all too well the plight of women in her society. She knows it so well that she cannot risk ever finding herself back in their position again. She helps in what little way she can - without drawing attention to herself.

Mizu is not a hero and she is not one to make of herself a martyr - she will not set herself on fire to keep others warm. There's room to argue that Mizu shouldn't prioritize her quest over people's lives, but given the collateral damage Mizu can live with in almost every episode of season 1, Mizu is simply not operating under that kind of morality at this point. ("You don't know what I've done to reach you," Mizu tells Fowler.)

And while I still feel like Mizu has an obvious and established blind spot when it comes to Akemi because of their differences in station, such that Mizu's judgment of Akemi and actions in episode 5 are the result of prejudice rather than the result of Mizu's caution, I also want to establish that Mizu is just as caged as Akemi is, despite her technically having more freedom while living as a man.

Mizu can hide her mixed race identity some of the time, and she can hide her sex almost all of the time, but being able to operate outside of her society's strict rules for women does not mean she cannot see their plight.

It does not mean she doesn't hurt for them.

Back to Mizu and collateral damage, remember that sparrow?

While Mizu is breaking into Boss Hamata's manse, she gets startled by a bird and kills it on reflex. She then cradles it in her hands - much more tenderly than we've seen Mizu treat almost anything up to this point in the season:

She then puts it in its nest, with its unhatched eggs. Almost like she's trying to make the death look natural. Or like an accident.

You see where I'm going with this.

When Mizu kills Kinuyo, Mizu lingers in the moment, holding the body tenderly:

And btw a lot of stuff about this show hit me hard, but this remains the biggest gut punch of them all for me, Mizu holding that poor girl's body close, GOD

When Mizu arranges the "scene of the crime," Kinuyo's body is delicate, birdlike. And Mizu is so shaken afterward that she gets sloppy. She's horrified at this kill to the point that she can't bring herself to take another innocent life - the boy who rats her out.

MIZU'S ONE MOMENT OF SOFTNESS AND MERCY, COMING ON THE HEELS OF HER NEEDING TO KILL A GIRL TO SPARE HER THE WORST FATE THAT THIS RIGID SOCIETY HAS TO OFFER WOMEN, AND TO SPARE A BROTHEL FULL OF INNOCENT WOMEN WHO ARE THE CASTOFFS OF SOCIETY, NEARLY RESULTS IN ALL OF THEIR DEATHS

No wonder Mizu is as stoic and cold as she is.

And no wonder Mizu has no patience for Akemi whatsoever right before the terrible reveal and the fight breaks out:

Speaking of Akemi - guess who else is compared to a bird!

The plumage is more colorful, a bit flashier. But a bird is a bird.

And, uh

Yeah.

I like to think that Mizu killing the sparrow is not only foreshadowing for what she must do to Kinuyo, but is also a representation of the choice she makes on Akemi's behalf. She decides to cage the bird because she believes the bird is "better off." Better off caged than... dead.

But because Mizu doesn't know Akemi or her situation, she of course doesn't realize that the bird is fated to die if it is caged and sent back home.

Mizu is clearly not happy, or pleased, or satisfied by allowing Akemi to be dragged back to her father:

But softness and mercy haven't gotten Mizu anywhere good, recently.

There is so much tragedy layered into Mizu's character, and it includes the things she has to witness and the choices she makes - or believes she has to make - involving women, when she herself can skirt around a lot of what her society throws at women. Although, I do believe that it comes at the cost of a part of Mizu's soul.

After all, I'm gonna be haunted for the rest of this show by Mizu's very first prayer in episode 1:

"LET" her die. Because as Ringo points out, she doesn't "know how" to die.

Kind of like another bird in this show:

[no-seven]

[no-seven]

the reveal that mizu is not only the ronin but also the bride is so well executed. the way she walks the line between man and woman, white and japanese, victor and victim... it's good fucking writing.

[no-seven]

- I’m not the child you once knew.

- No. That child would see you and run.

[no-seven]

The Haunting of Hill House | 1x10 The Haunting of Bly Manor | 1x06 The Fall of The House of Usher | 1x05

[no-seven]

Our Flag Means Death 2.04 "Fun and Games"

[no-seven]

average 18th century vernacular

[no-seven]

CON O'NEILL as Izzy Hands in OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022— ) Episode 2.04 Fun and Games

[no-seven]

1x05 || 2x05

[no-seven]

talk to me (2023) is so real because if a cute transmasc guy pulled out a severed hand that makes you possessed when you touch it and told me to touch it I'd do it no hesitation. whatever you say handsome.

[no-seven]

Hayley is my problematic fav ❤️

Zoe Terakes was so damn good in this role, they have such a confident commanding presence that made them impossible to hate. It means SO MUCH to me as a trans non-binary person to see that representation 😭💕💘

[no-seven]

this isn't how it happened

[no-seven]

I NEEDED THEM TO TALK SO BAD UGH