#teen mizu

[interneteclipse]

little teen mizu doodle

its her party and she'll cry if she wants to (thankfully she did not)

[1k-nives]

Instagram requests part 2

[biibini]

hiiii i love ur writing!!! if ur doing requests... can u do high school au teen mizu (like 16 or 17) x reader where the reader and mizu are in the same grade (preferrably with an artist/nerd reader) (this is very self indulgent) i would love that so much!!!

high school!mizu AU x artist!reader

tags: high school AU, teen mizu, reader is an artist, assume this AU is completely different from college!mizu that i usually write, cringy, vines are mentioned,

a/n: hs was a while ago but ooo i just have some thoughts on teen!mizu. writing this and looking back on high school made me internally cringe but i was free. currently tweaking from job apps like pls pls hire me plssss

teen!mizu is kind of… how to put in… an awkward loser mess of a student

in college, she def grows up more and becomes her own person and fades out of that awkward phase-ish

but in high school?

kinda maybe sorta pathetic loser behavior

(she’s just an awkward kid, like most ppl in high school… trust me, ive been there too)

but she won’t really make small talk with other peers that she doesn’t recognize,

awkward with eye contact,

she never really nailed that down until later on,

when called on, she doesn’t really pay attention so she ends up saying the wrong answer half of the time

and when she does get called on, all of a sudden she can’t get her hand up without having to fight for a say against her friend akemi, little miss know-it-all

teen!mizu references the most niche tiktoks, most notably, niche vines.

yes. u read that right. vine compliations on youtube.

there’s at least a playlist of 1 hour compilations with titles starting with “TRY NOT TO LAUGH Best Funny Vines of the Year!”

she would probably in one of her classes goofing around with ringo and rip a “whoever threw that paper, your mom’s a hoe”

(iykyk)

does it make ringo laugh? yes.

he would also be spitting the same thing, word for word, bar for bar with her.

but she would never reference that outside of her friends

teen!mizu would not care ab classes

yes, she’s smart but she wont apply herself too hard because at the end of the day, its whatever

don’t worry, eiji would always berate her ab her work ethic despite the A’s and a rare B he would see on her grades

taigen would always be a pain in the ass, constantly nagging her to at least try and “lock in” so he can get a better score than her

he ends up losing to mizu every time by 1-2 points

“This cannot be real, chat.”, Taigen yells.

The buzz of the school bells ring over Taigen’s bitching, thank god. The signal of the end of the school day meant to stop all thoughts about calculus, chemical reactions, or the meaning of the green light emitting from the lighthouse. Time to go home and be away from everyone, minus Ringo, of course.

Mizu shrugs, showing off her grade on the recent pop quiz. Written on her quiz was a 96%, circled in a bold red pen.

“It’s real.”, she claims, waving the quiz in front of Taigen’s beet-red face.

“Every fucking time bro.”, he groans.

In front of Mizu’s tracks was Akemi, waving her paper around like a flag, with a smug look plastered on her face.

“Oh, it’s real.”

She pushes her paper in front of Taigen and Mizu. Circled on her paper was her result: 100%.

“I can never win.”, Mizu sighed.

teen!mizu would NOT know how to act around crushes

a cute girl would pass by and she would end up staring too long,

get caught looking at their direction,

or end up bumping into the wall

totally doesnt happen often it happened 3 times

she has confidence in herself but the second she gets to the point of a real conversation, it’s out the window and dying on the floor

and when she does get a chance to talk, it typically doesn’t go the way she thought it would

and she’d end up asking the same question again

“What did you get on the quiz?”, Mizu asks, placing her hand by her scalp oh so nonchalantly.

“Didn’t you just ask me?”

Her eyes widen in panic, realizing her idiotic mistake.

“Shit, uhhh…I just uh… thought you couldn’t hear me.”

yeah she never talked to that girl for the rest of the school year…

although when it came to you, things were a lil different

teen!mizu kind of… maybe… lowkey… had a thing for you

not necessarily a huge romantic crush, but more of a friendly crush that stemmed from the little moments of interaction during art class

yes she would replay those moments again and again in her head

and prob go crazy over how idiotic she sounded

at first glance, you didn’t stand out to her

just another person she didn’t know

but your interest and focus on your artwork got her attention in a rowdy environment

while everyone else during the free period was ditching school, hanging with friends, or on the rare occasion: seeing their teachers for help, you were patient amidst the chaos in the art room

with akemi bickering with ringo over which glaze they should pick for their project

and on the other end of the classroom, taigen and his posse of bros cursing at their work

there in the middle of the classroom was you

Among the swarm of curses and bickering, the art room was usually the rambunctious classroom during free period. At Kyoto High, teachers and students were never familiar with the concept of peace and quiet.

You, however, were the rare few.

Mizu’s gaze went across the large industrial table, observing your calm movements amidst the chaos on your left and right. With Ringo pointing out all the flaws of each project choice and Taigen’s friends screeching in stress, you were focused on your carving as if no one in the world existed in that moment.

Your face, calm and focused, struck a dry chuckle out of Mizu. Her eyes glanced up to your eyes, gentle yet determined, while your head bopped to whatever song you were playing through your wired headphones. She then got distracted from the gloss from your lips, making them look rather soft and plump.

Maybe even kissable.

Wait what?

Mizu shook away the thought, placing her hands on her own project in order to distract her mind.

With a deep breath, her mind cleared. The scene in front of her was a comical one, regardless of your pretty face. However, this was the time to be focused…

Right?

teen!mizu would practically pray that you were there in the art room during every free period

hoping to find you at the same seat, surrounded by chaos every time

and every time, mizu would sit across from you in silence, partially in awe as well

although you’ve kept your focus on your handiwork, you weren’t oblivious to her presence

every free period would run like clockwork

it was comforting to know a familiar place but you never shared any classes with her

teen!mizu , eager to know you more, ends up confining in akemi ab her little art class crush for the sake of information

after getting another pep talk by akemi about how to just “relax and be yourself”, she finally spilled the beans

“From what I know, her name is Y/N and she’s a transfer.”, Akemi answered.

“From where?”

Akemi quickly types on her phone, her nails clanging against the screen. Before Mizu could even read the text, the phone immediately buzzed.

“Tokyo High…”, Akemi quickly responded, “Damn, you picked a smartie and a hottie.”

Akemi quickly whipped around her phone, showing Mizu a golden treasure: your Instagram account.

“How did you—”

“Don’t question my ways, just get to know her a little before you stumble your words.”

Mizu huffed in response, trying to focus on any signs of a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, if she’s lucky.

Thank god for Instagram highlights.

It didn’t take long for Mizu and Akemi to find your love life. An old highlights section with a little heart as the title, showcasing your history of significant others, including a girlfriend.

A smug smile grew on Akemi, always proud of her spy work.

“Bingo.”

teen!mizu, now filled with hope, interacts with you more, little by little with a “you’re here for free period again?” or a “how was your day?”

those little interacts continued to grow her crush on you

although its a friend crush, she couldn’t help but grin a little when you asked to sit next to her during the free period

after finding out you were in the same grade, teen!mizu‘s heart definitely exploded in glee

“Are you okay? You look a little hot?”, you question in concern, looking at her flushed cheeks.

“Oh, um… yeah, it’s a little hot in here.”, Mizu quickly responded, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

Underneath her totally normal response, she was in panic because:

A. You’re in the same grade as her. That increases the chance of you guys potentially spending more time together.

B. You just called her hot.

C. Your leg is currently 4 inches away from her leg…

“It’s okay!”, you reassure her, “It’s probably from this weird heatwave. The art room can get a bit stuffy from the shitty AC.”

She somehow thanked the universe and the sun rays at that moment. Mizu zipped down her jacket, pulling the entire thing off and playing along with her response. Little did she know a pair of familiar eyes next to her was watching.

Did you also have a crush on her? Maybe.

Did you want to talk about it? Absolutely not.

Did you stare at her arms, well toned from fencing, as if they were the last piece of juicy meat on earth? Mm…Yes.

You quickly whipped back into place as Mizu fixed her posture, now facing her upcoming project. However, Mizu caught a glimpse of your gaze without notice. Her heart skipped a beat.

One quick glance at your stiffened posture confirmed her curiosities: mutual (potentially romantic) interest.

She looked up at you to meet your gaze. Although everyone was talking, it had felt like time had slowed down between the two of you.

Before Mizu could open her mouth, the bell buzzed, signaling all students to move on to their next class.

You quickly gathered your things, before basically sprinting out the doorway.

“See you tomorrow!”, you waved goodbye, smiling at Mizu.

Mizu waved back, her heart practically palpitating from whatever just happened 30 seconds ago.

Oh, how she couldn’t wait for the next free period tomorrow.

[kisses4mizu]

(current) mizu as your childhood friend + lover

this is actually based on my self-insert oc’s story so i hope you guys don’t steal this oc lore idea for your own ocs 😭🙏 btw, these are much more longer headcannons just so you know!

- Both of you first met at Master’s Eiji home.

- Let’s edit the story a little: When Mizu snuck into Master Eiji’s home, you noticed her and tried to tell Master Eiji about it. Of course, he was well-aware (bro practically has super-hearing) about it but just brushed you off, wanting Mizu to make the first move for interaction.

- As she was hiding, you just ambled up to her and would hold her hand when it was freezing. God, just imagine two tiny kids holding hands like the amount of innocence in that is so 😭

- Secret! Secret! Master Eiji smiles everytime he hears you too running and laughing in the field outside

- When you guys play hide-n-seek, she would always hide at somewhere above your eye level so she could jump onto your back to surprise you

- You were her teenage crush but she was too afraid to confess because she was afraid of you seeing her more as a ‘brother’ and of ruining the friendship

- You try to help her out a little in her sparring like leg placement and hand positioning etc *

- Bro, the amount of physical contact is enough to make her explode… like she is NOT listening to you AT ALL when you teach her that

- Master Eiji always comments (when you weren’t around), “hm.. the big boy has a crush, I see…” + snickers just to annoy her further LOL

- He’s literally the gossip guy in an alternate universe 💯

- She hates that she feels this way about you… like she should be devoted to her goal of revenge but her mind was so clouded with you it was difficult to balance her focus 😕

- She’s either (1) trying to impress you by slashing the air in random directions with an unnecessary amount of force and swiftness OR (2) she’s feigning that confused look on her face so that you’d come and assist her >:)

- She adores how you were so set on ensuring her sword fighting skills were the best they can be

*

Your fingers brushed down her wrists, shifting the palm further from the other on the hilt. At one glance at her, the redness blossoming on her cheeks was a clear sign of her embarrassment—was she insecure? With a soft sigh, you trail your fingers delicately on her arms. with a soft reassuring smile, “Hey, hey, relax.. make sure not to tense up when you’re fighting.”

At the same time, Mizu was practically internally screaming. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! Her little teenage heart was practically about to explode from inside of her chest at the amount of embarrassment and nervousness stirring inside. Her cheeks would flush, her breathing would grow heavy, her fingers slightly shaky.

“Mizu? You okay?” Your voice snapped her out from that daze.

“I—.. I’m alright..” she mutters as you shift her legs back a little to maintain her balance. Her skin tingled as if tiny ants were crawling on her and before she knew it, she just blabbered out, “your hands are nice and warm.”

Her own words took her a second to process and she could not fucking believe she said that.

“No wonder you liked to hold my hand when we were younger, hm?” You giggled, running a hand down your hair as Mizu watched you with adoration, trying to imagine your hand caressing her own head.

[isitwrongtotrytopickup---dragons]

The funniest thing about Mizu pretending to be a man is how it's perfectly believable just from their height. Bro was the smollest bean as a child 😭 how tf do you grow up to be 5'9 😭

[mahlersgirl]

one of my favorite bes hc's is that a great part of mizu's money came from selling knives and farming tools under master eiji

and she would go happily (as much as mizu can) sell her creations to the nearest non-kohama village while covering her eyes (still trying to think of something that's cheaper than glasses)

and there's a whole generation of village people with blades by master eiji's apprentice

I want her to be doted on by elderly women whose eyesight is so bad they could never see she's mixed

I want said elderly women offering their granddaughters in marriage because mizu is a strong young gentleman and it would be a match made in heavens

[craurpuri]

yall yall I just imagined something in my peanut brain

so this is some modern au shit but like, the girlies meet by pure coincidence, at a hospital of all places 😭🙏

oinao is finally getting checked out and just sits in the waiting room and mizu is there after being excused from school that day for an appointment for smth, and they just glance at each other like "don't I know this girl from school?"

I know. finding your future high school crush at a damn hospital is peak ✨ romance ✨

[toomentalitypeach]

[hydranomago]

Samatoki being easily surprised from the back + MTC’s trademark “we are a family so as a dad I will pull you two in by the shoulders” pose 

[kisses4mizu]

childhood trauma has been healed

I’m obsessed with Mizu getting hugs. She needs all the love.

[maemaealltheway]

Sunglasses | Blue Eye Samurai

Modern Teen AU where Akemi helps Mizu to find her the right sunglasses.

[mt-oe]

𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴…—𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘶

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

Hey dears!

Here's a fic that I hope I post just in time for Valentine's day. I am currently writing this inebriated out of my shit. My cheeks are so hot and my world is spinning like I'm a dishrag in a bucket of water. I pray that my quality of writing doesn't plummet because all of you deserve so many good things and the world, and none of you deserve a shitty fanfic.

Every one of you deserves to be loved as softly as you need to be and as rough as you want to be.

I hope everyone will enjoy and I hope that everyone continued to love Mizu this day dedicated to love <3 Mwa mwa :*

warning/s: not proofread, i do not know, she/her for mizu, implied afab reader

What is love?

Even way back then, when you were still young, you've always wondered about what love is. You've heard it all over the teen magazines you bought monthly, on the newest romance film, and even in your parent's old film cassettes. Yet, still, you couldn't figure it out.

Your curiosity even reached a point when you'd pester your next door neighbor about it. The image of Mizu, your best friend, frowning at you as if you were asking her some kind of dumb insignificant shit would never fail to make you laugh.

"Could you stop pestering me about this and just go on," her annoyed voice would growl through the call. You distinctly remember her putting you on 'deafen' every time you started talking about it while the two of you were on Discord. But honestly, who could blame her? You were teens. Still kids. All she wanted was her LP and a new rank this season, not to hear you ask her what the hell love was.

There would be times when you'd ask your parents. But honestly, asking your parents about something that can give you incredibly subjective answers is never a good thing. You'd always be greeted with a ' just focus on your studied first' or a very vague try-hard-to-be-poetic-or-sentimental answer. They're answers were always either so lacking or so dramatic that it never quite hit the spot.

Searching on the internet was also an option. Your teen self would sit in front of your computer, searching and reading articles about love. Honestly, the answer varied so much it didn't satisfy you at all. More feel-y types of articles would tell you that it was a 'once in a lifetime special feeling that made you absolutely the happiest you'll ever be' while more logical sites would tell you that it was a chemical reaction in your brain.

You could remember Mizu scoff at them. Both of you were hanging in your house while her mother was getting high in their living room again. She walked up to your house one night with a small frown, tired from the smell of drugs and smoke.

Now, she had something else to be tired about. And that was you showing her all these articles were all the same level of ridiculous to her.

For the nth time that night, she rolled her eyes as you read out the contents of the article, both of you under the blanket with only the dim light from your phone illuminating your room. "We're almost done with high school and you're still hooked on this?" she asked, a rough huff leaving her throat. "Isn't this for kids?"

You immediately shook your head and let out a small whine, moving closer until your shoulders touched. "Oh c'mon, Mizu! Have a little curiosity in your life!" you grumbled, refreshing the website when the pictures wont load.

"I could think a hundred things more significant and worthwhile learning," she replied, hands adjusting the blanket, pulling it closer and making sure the chilly night breeze couldn't reach you. "This is nonsense."

"Reasonable nonsense, that is," you said with a slight smile. Her sapphire orbs scanned over your face, tracing over the excitement on your face and the twinkling in your eyes. A little part of her brain was filled with some sort of mushy happy feeling the more she stared. And before these feelings could take over, she rolled her eyes again, annoyance clear in the way she sighed.

"Whatever. It's your phone anyway," she grumbled, looking away. You giggled softly and shifted your weight further against her side, fully leaning against her shoulder. Mizu would never have admitted this during her teens, but your warmth, the feeling of your weight against her, and mutual feeling of comfort definitely made her heart beat faster than it ever did or could during fencing training.

Each article the two of you read together caused your curiosity to grow. Maybe, somewhere along the way, so did Mizu's.

What is love?

Love is a mystery, you thought to yourself.

In college, the two of you were still inseparable, attached by the hip as they say. Thankfully, both of you had decided to go to the same university under different programs. While you were buried in student debt, unsurprisingly, your best friend had managed to acquire a scholarship.

Everything was going well between the two of you. Both of you still hung out and still caught up with each other weekly or over a few games online. The frustrations and moments of joy mended your bond with each other every time. Each hour that passed the clock was worth the grogginess you'll inevitably feel for staying up too late. It felt like nothing could get in between the two of you.

That was until...

Some time during your sophomore year, Mizu's mother had waltzed her way into your lives. With her, she brought an arranged relationship for Mizu and another man. He was apparently an alumni of the same scholarship program Mizu was under and was pretty wealthy.

Both of you knew this was some ploy for her to get money, but whenever your best friend confronted her mother, she'd be greeted with excuses saying this was the best for her dearest daughter and how she knows what's best for her. You could only scoff at her words, knowing she never really cared for her past her childhood.

And for a time, Mizu believed you. She detested the idea of being forced into a relationship for money. Relationships in general were a waste of time for her. You thought everything was going to go well, that she'd still be by your side, that the fun would never stop.

But, somewhere along the way, your weekly gaming sessions turned into nights of doing your projects alone. Your best friend was apparently invited by her boyfriend, Mikio, to some new restaurant.

It didn't matter.

The weekly hangout sessions in either one of your dorms turned into a solo trip to the library to finish something or to mooch off of the campus wi-fi you paid for from your tuition anyway. Mizu was apparently going to go with the old geezer to some movie.

It didn't matter.

Your bot-support duo turned into you playing top or raging in jungle alone. He was apparently inviting her to play duo and she'd play with you some other time.

It didn't matter. It didn't hurt.

Just a pinch.

It was college anyway, people are bound to lose friends, right? Maybe you could go back to finding out what love is. Maybe the deeper academic pursuits in college and the wider range of educational materials could grant you a more extensive selection of literature regarding the matter.

You could drown yourself in writings from the library, books you've never even heard off, more knowledgeable goons trying so hard to explain love through neurotransmitters and electrical signals in the brain. Maybe the pursuit of this knowledge would allow you to move on from the person of your affection.

Affection? What a stupid word.

It was college and you've made new friends along the way. You'd get invited to parties and merriments and meet more people. Maybe this night, you'd take a shot more than the usual, a cig more than the usual, and you'd repeat that to yourself until the squeezing tightening feeling in your throat retches over to the toilet.

One more shot. One more cigarette. Rinse and repeat.

Over and over until you were in Akemi's arms crying about your blue-eyed best friend who she already seemed to dislike. Apparently, they'd known each other and Mizu had apparently wiped the floor with Akemi's boyfriend. A soft bitter chuckle left your throat.

"Yeah, that's definitely something she would do," you whispered, voice rough from vomiting the intoxication out.

One more shot. One more cigarette. Rinse and repeat.

Over and over until Akemi was starting to feel like comforting you was her own Sisyphus. You'd go on about how you were there first and how cruel the world was for making you realize your affection a bit too late.

"Affection? That's a stupid way of putting it. I think you're in love," Akemi would say, cringing as you buried your tear-stricken face against her hair.

Is love supposed to hurt?

You could not accept it.

Love tastes like pure coffee beans without any cream or sugar. Strong, bitter, almost tasteless, gives you migraines, could send you into palpitations, and can kill you. Slow and unknowingly.

Maybe it was the time to stop pursuing love. Maybe those old people in journals and books with a hundred million different titles from all the licenses they have were right. That it was all just neurotransmitters and electrical signals going the synapses in your neurons that'll inevitably deteriorate with age. It'll go away.

Is this really what love is?

What was love?

Love is a kind of bitterness that aches, you thought to yourself.

Semesters passed and you never got to bond with your best friend again—if you would still call her that.

The ache made you grow cold, but you preferred to call it mature. You continued on with your life, her name sounding like a distant song whenever the winds whispered. Every blue in your life felt like a strike of undescribed nostalgia. A memory that could have been a novel but ended a bit too early.

You weren't a god but you sure had the ability to summon a personal raincloud over your own moments of happiness. It wasn't bitterness. It was called choosing practicality over emotion, you said.

And maybe, that's how life works. Maybe you should just go on and be like those old geezers with a shit ton of masters degrees and doctorates who'd tell you that love was just hormones and your brain going overdrive.

Maybe you should grow old and into a boring life, not affected by the blue eyes that were staring back at your with a sad old smile.

Maybe you can be Ms. Practicality again and ignore how beautiful she was when she walked towards you.

Maybe you can finally control the electrical signals in your brain so your heart could stop beating so fast as she greeted you, placing a hand on your shoulder, feeling the warmth you missed so damn much. Her long hair against her shoulder and the cold aura of her eyes warming as her eyes squinted with that precious smile of hers.

Maybe the hundred million academic titles you planned to pursuit would give you an early lesson and tell you that you'd know what love was some day.

And maybe...that some day was today.

Maybe the crazy romance books and magazine articles were right. That love would waltz into your life one day and maybe love had already waltzed into your life from the very start.

You'd soon find out that your best friend had some how made a reputation for herself, getting into a fight with her ex over some betrayal. She didn't really want to talk about it since the wounds were still fresh. Rumors of her violent tendencies grew and now she was trying to lay low again.

They'd call her a dangerous fellow

Well...they were neither right nor wrong. This fellow was dangerous indeed.

Dangerously sweet.

Dangerously funny.

Dangerously understanding.

Dangerously charming.

Dangerously lovely.

After decades of asking the question, "What is love?", you'd finally get your question. The bells of heaven can finally ring now because your lifelong journey of finding out what this mystery was can finally end.

Love wears orange-tinted glasses. A gift she got from you before both of you went to college together. The sight and the knowledge of it being her favorite tugging your heart strings and warming your cheeks.

Love continued her fencing training and was somehow better than the instructors in uni. She'd be so cocky and call their techniques trash, so much so that they think of her more as a competition than a student.

Love doesn't laugh a lot but when she does, it sounds like what an angel would sound like. She thinks you're exaggerating but you could honestly drown in the honeyed sound.

Love incurs the wrath of her professors by passing projects late, but her work is so good, they could never give her a fail.

Love is called so many horrible things. They'd call her a demon, an onryo. You'd ask her if she was okay and she'd just look at you with a soft smile and tell you that she didn't mind.

Love was lying. She definitely minded and you could never figure out why she'd always act okay while she smile so genuinely at you.

Love always puts her hair in a bun and is lowkey ticked off about it going allover the place when she takes it out.

Love is always mistaken as a man. If she was a man, she'd be the prettiest man you've ever fallen in love with.

Love secretly likes stuffed animals but would never buy one for herself. Love likes to playfully rough house and lowkey beat the shit out of her friends.

Love wakes up before the sunrises and goes to the gym. All the equipment were available and it was quiet. She loves the peace.

But love also feels guilty whenever she accidentally wakes you up. Your groggy whine would make her heart beat faster and make her suddenly feel hesitant to go.

Love would get into arguments with you, but she'd still try her best to be understanding. Her patience wasn't big when it comes to anger and negative emotions, but for you, nothing was impossible.

Love was incredible. Love was all-pursuing.

Love made you realize that love wasn't a 'what' but a 'who'.

What is love?

Love is a person.

[sophswritingthings]

Mizu x fem reader where reader finds out mizu has bangs like on the boat it was wooshing in the air. Reader encourages Mizu to wear it like that more often and reader plays with it? Reader calling Mizu handsome and pretty. Mizu has a little self reflection where if she was a teen again she would want to have had someone to treat her like reader is at that moment. So cute!

pairing: mizu x fem!reader

warning(s): mild swearing 

a/n: I LIVE BITCHES. sorry I know I said I’d be back sooner by the new year hit me like a truck and I have finals this week but guess who got Covid!! IM STILL DOING THESE DW!!

word count: 343 words / 1,893 characters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

you were walking around the ship, brushing your hand across the sides of it. 

you were staying clear of fowler, you didn’t want to be anywhere near that damn prick. he had died to kill mizu—and you, personally, we’re not having any of that.

you slowly lifted your head up, catching mizu’s gaze. you smiled softly, approaching your partner.

you wrapped an arm around her waist, resting your head on her shoulder.

“hello,” you murmured.

“hello,” she whispered back, reaching down to place a kiss atop of your head.

“how are you feeling?” you lifted your head, gazing up at her. her bangs were flowing free in the wind. she looked beautiful, like that.

“sore,” she responded. “but.. otherwise, I’ll be fine. how are you feeling?”

“me?” you chuckled, “I’m fine.”

“you sure?” she cocked her head.

“absolutely fine, mizu,” you gently grabbed her waist, pulling her a bit closer, “I like your bangs, my love.”

she let out an almost surprised chuckle, “really?”

“you look rather handsome,” you smiled, twisting her bangs around your fingertips.

mizu could feel her heart pounding a bit, in her chest. nobody was ever sweet with her, never complimented her. hearing you do so made her feel like she was flying.

“thank you,” she mumbles.

“you should wear it like that more often,” you release your grip from her waist, placing a quick kiss on her check before you retreat back into the cabin of the ship.

mizu watches as you go, letting out a breath. she turned back to watch the waves, the sight of the waves calming her.

she would have loved to have someone like you when she was a teen, always encouraging her to be.. her.

maybe if she had someone like you when she was young she wouldn’t be her now.

but then.. maybe she wouldn’t have met you.

she loved you, she loved you with all her heart. no matter where she was— london, japan. no matter where, no matter what.

she was yours, and you were hers. through and through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[elsinoreechoes]

the transphobia surrounding the conversation of mizu being a woman is.. concerning.

speaking as transman, the idea or theory that mizu is transgender in anyway is… not factual whatsoever. but the discourse around it is borderline terf-ish.

please keep in mind that a lot of the fandom of bes contains queer teens, that project on to their favorite characters in hope to see someone like their selves in media. there isn’t a lot of rep for these people, but, let me illiterate the fact that mizu is representation for biracial women. there is next to zero representation for mixed woman in our media

don’t be transphobic. thank you for reading, take care of yourself

ps — tags are just for reach🤓

[olderthannetfic]

Until I read the comments on that one post I had no idea the Bechdel Test was a joke and wasn't supposed to be a serious measuring stick by which you gauged if something was feminist or not. Everywhere I'd ever heard it brought up, it was brought up as a very serious thing, and it was a failure of media if it didn't pass it. I remember the debate about Mako Mori from Pacific Rim and if she was a character you were "allowed" to like as a progressive person despite the fact that Pacific Rim doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, the discourse, the discussion of if the director was sexist for not writing in another woman for her to chat with about non-men related stuff, the camp of people trying to insist that having a fully realized character arc and being as developed as any of the male leads = good writing even if she doesn't talk to another girl...

And I've also had the remark about my writing not passing the test, just not to my face. I searched my fanfic's name once, curious to see if anyone was discussing it outside of tumblr and AO3, and found a Tiktok complaining about it not passing the Bechdel Test. The top comment was "motherfucker YOU don't pass the test but we still watch your ass". I cackled and moved on, but neither the commenter, poster, nor I had any awareness this wasn't Feminist Media Critique 101 theory and was, in fact, a goof.

Right now there's a segment of fandom debating if Blue Eye Samurai is feminist since when Mizu and Akemi talk, they do bring up men, since, y'know. Women aren't considered people with rights in their era in Japan and thus it's something they mention instead of only talking about being cool girlboss badasses who never bring up gender. If something doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, a smug segment of the internet high-fives itself and congratulates one another on being More Feminist Than Thou.

They then get really angry if you disagree, even though by this metric, Sleeping Beauty (the original animated one, where Aurora has only 16 lines of dialogue) is more feminist than Blue Eye Samurai.

--

*DYING*

Okay, so, nonnie....

Dykes to Watch Out For (1983-2008) was a long-running comic and major piece of lesbian media. I grew up buying compiled volumes at the bookstore. To be honest, that kind of 90s-ish lesbian culture isn't really my scene despite me being bi, but it was very nice to have this slice of life-y somewhat realistic, occasionally somewhat parody, look at the queer communities around me. It's up there with Tales of the City for me in terms of being a window into a particular culture and time and place.

If anybody is interested in queer history, in addition to looking up factual info, I think a read of the complete Dykes would give a really good overview of how people were thinking about things and what issues came up a lot. You'll see things like Barnes & Noble increasingly putting feminist bookstores out of business in the 90s, attitudes towards porn in lesbian circles—all kinds of cultural issues of the day.

I drifted away as I got later in my teens and found more genre fiction I cared about, but at one point, this comic was a very welcome antidote to the glurgey coming out stories that made up a lot of the more realistic media.

Anyway, here's the comic itself, reproduced in its entirety because I think it's important to actually understand the context.

This is from 1985, so the era of Rambo, Conan, and Death Wish, each of which you can see being made fun of here. It's based on Bechdel's friend Liz Wallace's actual rule for seeing movies.

That's it. That's the origin of this whole stupid test.

"LOL, fuck 80s action movies". That's it. That's the joke.

The fact that blockbusters still routinely fail to pass in the 2020s is shameful, but that was never the point of the strip.

[onedeadkitty]

Mizus Gender

He/him they/them she/her pronouns for Mizu

I know the writers of the show wrote blue eye samurai with Mizu as a woman disguised as a man in a way similar ish to Mulan but uh

They accidentally made it deeper than that ??

If you removed like 2 lines of dialogue in episode 5 you could even make an argument for trans masc Mizu. Or at the least gender queer.

Being transgender is not a concept in this time period. But trust. People have always wanted to be other genders, probably for the entirety of human history. And how someone would go about being trans in a world with no true understanding of the concept, might be similar to what Mizu IS DOING RIGHT NOW.

Living as a man. PERMANENTLY. Not temporarily to achieve some near goal like Mulan and the many other stories with this concept. Mizu has lived as a man nearly their entire life and no intention to ever live as a woman in the future.

Mizu admires their freshly binded chest in the mirror as a teen.

When alone Mizu refers to himself as a man.

When alone with Ringo, (someone who knows the secret) Ringo also refers to Mizu as a man.

Mizu threatens to straight kill Ringo at the the very use of the word “girl”.

When, and ONLY when seeing 2 MEN kiss does he think of Taigen.

Not to mention madame Kajis indelicate insinuation of gay sex to Mizu, something I believe wasn’t for no reason. OR Madams iconic line “you are more man than ANY come through my door” (I’m convinced she has an idea of Mizus true sex but doesn’t care to accuse or call them out for it)

They HAD lived as a woman in the past. Only for about a year, and they did it to get married for her mothers sake. To save her from a life of prostitution. She was able to be happy, because it IS POSSIBLE to be happy while not presenting how you like. It’s a strain and some can never be happy doing so but it’s possible and people do it all the time to make their lives easier or to keep the peace with family or for many other reasons.

Episode 5 gave HUGE VIBES of going back into the closet when living with your parents or just visiting. And Mizu looked SO uncomfortable and awkward in woman’s clothing and doing “wife things” (partly cause they have never done that before) and maybe it was my own projecting but I felt so uncomfortable FOR Mizu.

These things don’t necessarily mean being a transgender man specifically. Gender is actually really complicated and has ALOT to do with what society deems it.

Mizu is a masculine person. Being what Japan wants women to be isn’t in line with what Mizu is. A violent, practical, stoic, cold, masculine, confident and capable warrior.

dressing up as a woman with the makeup ONLY to try and make her husband happy. She didn’t WANT to. “To soften her husbands heart, the bride… danced” performed femininity FOR HIM. Only for Mikio to betray her for, in his eyes, being more masculine than him, by beating him in a physical fight.

Mizu is both the ronin and the bride. Mizu will be whatever they need to in order to achieve their owed deaths. They HAVE to be a man to get their revenge but that doesn’t mean Mizu WANTS to be a woman. (To be fair who WOULD in that time but I digress) and it doesn’t mean they WANT to be a man. They WANT their revenge. Everything is secondary to that.

Mizu is so different from other characters…

I grew up in a kinda misogynistic place and my mom really didn’t let me “do boy stuff” or dress masculine in any sense until my late teens. I my self don’t know if I can even call myself Trans. But I’m masculine, I like looking like a man and dressing as one but I don’t WANT to be a man necessarily. But I don’t WANT to be a woman. I feel like we as a society put to much distinction between the two and the people who don’t fit either side get left out at times.

Mizu is such a relatable character to me, like no other characters complicated feelings about their own sex and gender have ever come close.

They are for those who don’t have a strong sense of their own gender. Especially those who are biologically female and hesitant to lean into their sex because of the societal baggage.

Once people realize that how you dress, how you act, and what you do in reality have nothing to do with your bio sex and everything with what society has forced people to do based on factors out of our control is the day we can finally stop having these conversations.

Do what you want, gender is fake.

But Mizu is forever 🫶