#broken eye blue

[devonrubinart]

.. the onryō

kiss me on the mouth pls

[ceruleanskies48]

The Broken Blade & Mizu’s Femininity

It’s Day 4 of @taimizuweek! For the theme of Blades, I thought I’d share my meta about the broken blade and its incredibly rich symbology. 

Mizu has two main struggles throughout the series: grappling with 1) her mixed race heritage and 2) her gender and femininity. Her two swords represent and break due to these struggles. Her space sword was brittle since it was too pure, representing Mizu’s inability to accept the strength of mixed metal, which in turn mirrors her inability to accept her mixed race identity. The broken blade snapped since Mizu’s mind was not at peace during the firing of the blade. She had just been confronted by her burgeoning femininity and the dangers associated with it (Chiaki calling her "soft"), leading her to bind her chest too tightly. 

The broken blade is thus not only special because it’s the first sword Mizu ever made but also because Mizu sees its imperfection as being a result of her own impurity as a woman disguised as a man.

“The broken blade fits well in your hand,” is thus symbolically a very touching thing for Mizu to say to Taigen, showing the progression of their relationship. When Ringo remarks that the broken blade is a good fit for Taigen, Mizu is initially annoyed that the blade that has so much personal meaning for her is now being wielded artfully by her former bully, who incidentally doesn’t seem to view the blade as defective at all. While Chiaki uses the blade to almost kill Mizu, Taigen uses it to protect her when Okiyama first finds them and also when the arrows are raining down on them. When Mizu gives the blade to Taigen as a surety for their duel, she leaves him with what is the closest to a love letter that we can imagine Mizu writing at this point in the series. She compliments his skills as a swordsman and promises to meet him again to provide him the duel he deserves. 

The broken blade also captures some of their relationship dynamics. Taigen awakens a part of Mizu that she has repressed since her marriage—a more vulnerable, even romantic side to her when she lived as a woman. Taigen is the only character that Mizu is completely unfiltered around. She also subtly shows her attraction to him when she takes his scarf in exchange for the blade and wears it around her neck. My guess is that in future seasons we’ll see Taigen trying to revitalize this softer side to Mizu. 

The association between the broken blade and their relationship also makes it especially sad when Taigen throws down the blade after calling Mizu a demon and storms off to Edo. He is throwing away the one gift she has given him, one that has much more symbolism than he realizes. It is also poignant when Mizu places the blade into the fire. While she tossed the other items in easily, she pauses with the broken blade, holding it up with a mournful expression on her face before letting it fall into the flames. 

Given all of this symbolism, I’m sad that the broken blade won’t be around in Season 2. I wish Taigen could have learned more about its significance to Mizu. But hopefully we get more richly symbolic Taizu items in subsequent seasons!

[azertyrobaz]

If you do not invite the whole, the demon takes two chairs.

[mumblelard]

slow ghosts go go goes or azimuth

yesterday, i learned that some pieces of light spend the first ten thousand years after they are born, battered by crushing forces, struggling to escape the core of the sun, before they make the eight minute journey to my eye

last night, i dreamt that i was poking an icepick into my leg over and over, but instead of tearing flesh and spilling blood, it was chipping off brightly luminescent fragments of blue gemstone

i was awoken too early this morning when my four eyed cast iron friend lost his grip on the wall and crashed onto the stainless steel sink

today, i'm going to buy a loaf of coarse brown bread and eat it with butter and sour cherry jam

[lunarriviera]

[adelphenium]

roope but in the cadence of a hearty "youpi !" as exclaimed by a little québécois boy

[starlight-bread-blog]

She wasn't, not until he came along.

But it became a self profiling prophecy. And now, even when someone can accept her, she'll ruin it.

There's no room for that. She's too far gone.

[rhea-sunshine]

Is this what you wanted?

[abijahfowler]

someone come GET this diva already

[bipolarbabyyy]

gonna be a soft girl summer 💓🎀🌸

[spock-smokes-weed]

The twist that Akemi’s new husband is actually very sweet, and that she’s starting to take charge of her life within the power she holds, ONLY TO TURN OUT HER DAD IS IN ON THE PLOT AHHHHHHH

this show keeps you on your fucking toes

[ovcii-doodles]

[REDACTED]: You're writing down an awful lot there. Counselor: Just my observations. Does this evaluation make you...anxious?

washed hands interview my beloved

[unironicallyresurrected]

I GET: thanksgiving break

YOU RECEIVE IN RETURN: hyperfixation lineart

[gummi-stims]

Lenticular fursuit eyes from blackcat3452 on tiktok!

[yoinkschief]

Sorry there's only two but OH MY GOD MY HAND IT SHOULDN'T HAVE PUT THAT MUCH EFFORT INTO THAT FUCKING PICTURE JESUS CHRIST

[bxleeding-bxunni]

I just saw your oc Oona and I’m definitely looking (ahdhdh ty for your love and support ur cool)

UR LITERALLY COOLER WHAAAAT??!!! I will love and support ALWAYS, your art is so cool and I love your characters. BFFR.

ALSO IM SO GLAD YOU LIKE OONA!!! My sopping wet emotionally inept girlfailure of a pirate Capitan. I’m gonna kill her istg.

I promise I will make a proper lore post for her detailing how fucked up she actually is but uhhh- I suppose I’ll share alittle bit now just to put a person to her ugly face !!!😋

Oona stands about 6’0 and has an ego so big it almost puts Abijah’s to shame. She’s a fairly rowdy and playful person so you will most likely be able to hear her before you see her. She’s mean as fuck to pretty much all men, and fairly nice by default women. Oona is the definition of a bisexual menace, but she definitely leans more towards the girlies. Have a girl bite back at her and she’s belly up like a dog. Looser behavior tbh.

SHES PRETTY SILLY IF YOU’RE ABLE TO FORGET THAT SHE SMUGGLES DRUGS AND HAS KILLED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE!!!

Some other silly things is uhhh- she frequents Kaji’s tea house VERY often, but has a rule about not sleeping with hookers. (She won’t sleep with anyone that doesn’t genuinely want to, she’s very much a girls girl) So she pays like- 4x their usual rates to just kind of chill and talk with someone who’s not trying to kill her!!

Hip hip horray for the pirate captain with eyebags so deep you can store treasure in them!!

HERES SOME DOODLES!!!

Okay I totally started rambling but please enjoy 💌

ILL DEFINITELY POST SOME BETTER ART AND STUFF FOR HER SOON I PROMISE ‼️