#but why are you a samurai?

[stedesbonnets]

Taigen. Are you real?

[fulcrum-art-fox]

Okay there’s a lot about Mikio asking Mizu to show him all of herself and then rejecting her but like. “Unsheathe it. Show me your blade.” This from Mizu, who fully believes the whole “the sword is the soul of the samurai” thing, basically asking the same of Mikio. Show me your blade; show me your soul; show me who you are. And she even throws him her sword, because she is truly giving him all of herself in this scene, and she wants the same of him. Honesty. Openness. Truth. And ultimately he does show her who he is, and it fucks them, because who he is is a man who cannot handle her as she really is. Unsheathing their blades ruins them, because it uncovers the truth: they were never compatible, not as who they really are. It was always a lie, a performance; a pretty dream that cannot withstand the light of day

[kagoutiss]

silly doodle i made sometime after watching new trailer 1200096268985 times

[radaverse]

silly dad and daughter antics #1:

Dad Jokes

Next >

[kaladinkholins]

yeah taimizu IS toxic and off putting actually ‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️

EDIT: TO BE CLEAR THIS IS A POST IN FAVOUR OF TAIMIZU!!! I AM A DIRTY TAIMIZU SHIPPER!!!!!

[sad-endings-suck]

At the end of season 1 of Blue Eye Samurai, Mizu and Taigen and Akemi have all essentially turned away from one another to individually find themselves.

I wonder if at some point they will all return to one another, and be able to fulfil their respective wants and/or needs together instead of apart.

[scholar-of-yemdresh]

The TERF brigade in the BES fandom makes my skin itch. God forbid you interpret Mizu as transmasc. Like having a different interpretation of the character is somehow taking anything away from cis women. Musty asses already castigated any HCing Mulan as transmasc are you not tired of harassing asian transmascs by now???

Anyway instead of getting cis "people" in your mentions crying about the "evil [white*] transes taking away wombmyn stories". Protect your peace and stan a book series that's got a transmasc asian(fantasy Korean not Japanese) swordsman as one of the main characters, his name is Keun-ju and he's so pookie ☺.

It's called The Crimson Empire trilogy by Alex Marshall. It's a batshit heavy metal dark fantasy trilogy with pretty much every queer imaginable. Also If you can handle the gore/violence of BES then this shouldn't be an issue. The Main character(there are a lot of important characters) is a scarred up brawny bi woman who's in her late 50s/early 60s.

Oh and all those ot3 Mizu/Akemi/Taigen shippers I see you...so Keun-ju is bi and gets into a throuple with a feisty(Low key a dumbass tbh 💀) princess(who's his childhood friend and he's her bodyguard because I know yall eat up that shi) AND a cis guy who he starts out with a pseudo antagonistic/rivalry relationship.

Caveat unlike BES these three do start off the series as teens (16-17/18) but by the end they're all firmly adults.

*Totally ignoring the trans POC specifically the East asian trans people because "transness is a taint forced by white people" or some other bullshit. And it make it easier for the TERFs to pretend they're fighting the "oppressor" if they act like trans poc calling them out on their shit don't exist.

[keyblack]

"FOOLS, all of you! Here you're boasting as if having single-handedly returned with the five ronins' heads!"

now see this, THIS is the STUFF

[sea-jello]

@nyaskitten tumblr ate your fucking ask uhh ignore how this is months later BUT i finally watched dr s2 AND

I GET IT NOW. I UNDERSTAND.

[skitskatdacat63]

Hey do you remember all those videos of Fernando smelling flowers? Haha yeah....

[icantbeseenlikethisonmymain]

My mom just said to me "I know why you like that blue eye samurai show" and I PANICKED bc how did she find my mizu whimper audios how am I going to explain myself uhhhh but on the outside I was like "oh? 😇😃" and she said "yeah it's because you like the idea of a woman going incognito in the world, unharassed for her gender"

and let me tell you the instant relief i felt could rival twelve horse tranquilizers

[pastelpaperplanes]

the tumblr lot never rly gets wips so I’ll THROW THIS YOUR WAY >:]]

psspss this is a good time to pls consider checking out my instagram scribblescribbles if you haven’t already!! I post the wips I share over there FAR more often ;)

[abijahfowler]

Where's your heart at when your hands are so unsurely all over me? Fed me lies 'til I was starving, You know what you wanted, it just wasn't me. Why is it so hard for you to love me, And why is it so cold in this room? Is it something I did, and did I do it to you?

78Fahrenheit- Miss Anhedönia cw: nudity, highly suggestive. 18+ under cut.

the first time i draw more then just a headshot for her and it's with fucking ab*jah. because OF COURSE it is. ANYWHO!!! i love randomly scribbling and calling it rendering!!! so fun 🫶🫶❤️🫶 i'm trying to figure out how to actually share her lore... but i've been listening to this song on repeat and it makes me think of them!!! so i blacked out and made this.

she loved him so much...

[sirwow]

ITS HERE, ITS DONE;

The Connections Converged AU Kibou and Gojib Master post!

Click here to read the 17k words of insanity!

I’m gonna ramble a bit more under the cut because man I got out of hand with this!

So first off to point out the obvious. Yeah it’s long. It’s reallly long. I originally gave myself the estimate of 4000 words but I blew past that obviously.

I can completely understand if anyone does not wanna read that much because this is unhinged but it gives a basis for how long everyone else’s docs are gonna be.. whew boy. If you do read it though it means the world to me. This is the largest writing project I did and I did this only what?? 3 months after my last one which was Rose Apocalypse at 12.5k? Tbf that one was all dialog which is significantly harder but still.

As long as this document makes ONE person enjoy them then I call that a total win. And if I get any art of them I will print it and put it on my wall unironically. Enjoy reading ya lot

[kaladinkholins]

BRB thinking thoughts about Taigen's character, the TaiMizu ship, and a big chunk of fandom's perceptions regarding both those things.

(Inspired by @farintonorth's post related to this topic that just got my brain going brrrrr)

OK so let me just... start off by saying that I think that reducing stories to their tropes is seriously detrimental to the way some people are interacting with fiction, and while that honestly warrants its own post about the subject, I wanna talk specifically about how this affects the way some people in the fandom talk about Taigen and TaiMizu.

Because yeah, tropes are useful shorthand to refer to certain dynamics or archetypes etc, and they are indeed the building blocks to any story. But in a well-written story, characters and their relationships, actions, and motivations, are much more complex than just tropes. Because in a story that has characters who are more than just cardboard cutouts, their behaviours, backgrounds, motivations and all of that, are inseparable from the context of the overall story they exist in.

So like, sure, you can say Mizu and Taigen have an enemies-to-lovers or rivals-to-lovers dynamic. I also use those terms because it's easier. But I also think this is where things start to get a bit twisted, especially from an intertextual sense. Because "enemies-to-lovers" is also commonly used to refer to other ships in other media, whereby it tends to be rooted in an imbalanced power dynamic, such as oppressor-oppressed and bully-victim.

And while that's a whole can of worms that I won't be getting into because it can quickly derail into a whole separate sort of fandom discourse, I'd just like to make it clear that Mizu and Taigen, in particular, do not have an imbalanced power dynamic. They are not bully-victim or oppressor-oppressed. The only understandable reason why someone might actually think their relationship is imbalanced is if

A) they only watched the first episode, or

B) they cannot grasp the slightest bit of nuance in a character, or

C) they're being obtuse on purpose simply because the Mizu/Taigen relationship, or Taigen's character in general, just doesn't suit their tastes.

While yes, Taigen, along with his whole gang, had bullied Mizu when they were children, that dynamic does not exist between them whatsoever in adulthood. Whatever imbalanced bully-victim power dynamic that had once existed between them was decisively ripped apart the moment Mizu beat him in that duel in the dojo, and then completely obliterated by the end of the season.

Mizu is not a defenseless victim at Taigen's mercy. Mizu can beat Taigen's ass any time she wants (and she DOES, repeatedly in fact), and could even kill him if she felt like it. She taunts him openly and without fear ("I like your hair"; "I can beat you with any weapon you choose") and all he does is bark back, because that's pretty much all Taigen ever does. Time and time again, he yaps about how much he wants to kill her, but time and time again, his actions prove that all of it is just an empty threat. Because though his words say "I hate you", his actions demonstrate the complete opposite. He's shown how protective he is of Mizu, how unhesitatingly he sacrifices himself up for her, how loyal he is in enduring days-long torture to not give up information about her, how even when near-death and in pain, he's still willing to keep standing back up so he can fight by her side and help her win against her enemies.

And Mizu is not an idiot! She sees that too. She does not see him as a threat, an enemy, or even a bully. Especially not by the end of Episode 3, and definitely not by the end of the season. When she finds him in the dungeon in Episode 6, she smiles from relief, and doesn't think twice to take him with her. Mizu finds him, at best, an annoyance, or at worst, an infuriating hindrance on her quest for vengeance. Which is why, when Taigen is about to say, "It's a shame our duel's set for tomorrow; I have to kill you before you get your revenge," Mizu whacks him on the head without a second thought before he can even finish his sentence, and leaves him lying unconscious, face-down, in the snow.

And this further emphasises how he does not hold any power over her. There is no abusive power dynamic between them. She is more powerful than him, he knows this, and all he's ever done after they've met up again in adulthood is get his ass whooped by her, get mad about it and pester her and follow her around, get his ass whooped by her some more, and put his life on the line to protect her.

"OOoooOOoooH b-but he called her a demon at the end of Episode 7 and threatened to kill her again!!!" Oh my god. He called her that because he's calling her out on her selfishness to stay silent about her knowledge of Fowler's plans to attack Edo. Because to him, loyalty and honour as a samurai is more important than anything. So in his own brash-and-immature Taigen way, he felt betrayed that Mizu did not hold the same principles. That's why he got angry. He wasn't even that mad about letting Akemi get dragged off by the Tokunobu guards. It was about saving the Shogun and the Shogunate as a whole. That's why the first thing he does in Edo is not find Akemi, but try to warn the Shogun about Fowler's attack.

Look, I'm not defending his stupid ass, of course. Because calling her a demon especially after their cute little wrestling time was obviously rude and inappropriate, especially since words like "demon", "monster" and "Onryo" have had such a deep effect on Mizu throughout her life, and continue to contribute to her self-hatred. But like? That's the fun of realistic and flawed characters, and realistic and flawed relationships. They're not perfect, and it's why we as an audience root for them, wanting to see them work through their shit and find a way to prevail despite it all.

Also, him saying that was in the heat of the moment. He was angry, he felt like his initial belief of who Mizu was—a strong and loyal samurai, just like him—was shattered, and so he lashed out. Was it rude? Definitely. Was it immature of him? Yes, incredibly. But it's also very much in line with his character, because even though he's grown a lot over the course of the season, the show isn't over yet, so obviously his character arc is just beginning, as that is also the case for the other three main characters: Mizu is beginning to accept herself, Akemi is beginning to grow into her position of power, Ringo beginning to train under Master Eiji, while Taigen is beginning to simply be a better person.

On that note, when speaking of Taigen's immaturity, I think that's also one of the main things that people tend to gloss over when it comes to his character. Because when you boil everything down to its bare essentials, Taigen is, essentially, a boy. I've talked about this before, but to reiterate, Taigen very much behaves like an unhealed child. Even as an adult, he is insecure, prone to throwing tantrums, and is desperate to latch onto some material goal in hopes that it will make him feel better—initially he was chasing status/glory/greatness, and then when Mizu tells him that "Nothing comes from being a samurai but death," he immediately decides he wants to run away with Akemi in hopes that he will be happy.

And it's a big step, acknowledging that he doesn't truly want greatness, but had always just assumed it was his only path to a good life. But it's clear he still hasn't really figured it out. Because if he did run off with Akemi to get married and live in the countryside, he still wouldn't be happy. Because he still doesn't know who he really is, or what it is he really wants. Marriage at this moment is the last thing he needs, and as he is now, he would be a pretty awful husband. A simple life would be good for him, but would he be good at a simple life, when he still has so much he needs to work through?

So anyway, what I'm getting at here, is that he's trying and he is learning and growing. So yeah, he is flawed, but honestly? So is Mizu. And the funny thing is that they're flawed in very similar ways.

Because Mizu is also an unhealed child. That's why she's so angry all the time. That's why she pushes people away. That's why she, just like Taigen, is so happy when given the chance to playfully wrestle in the forge, laughing and rolling around like children without shame or pretense.

Again, this shows there is no imbalance between them. They had grown up together as peers from the same town. And while Taigen had had the upper hand back then, because he'd had a gang of other kids with him, that is definitely not the case anymore. Today, they are equally flawed, equally strong, equally skilled swordsmen, and equally bull-headed.

However, yes, Mizu is definitely leagues more mature than Taigen. But she still holds a lot of childhood wounds that mirror Taigen's own. And we see this especially in relation to her mother. Similar to Taigen who had an abusive and alcoholic father, Mizu's Mama was an opium addict and had hit her, berated her, had shaved her head without her consent as a child, and as an adult, had constantly emotionally manipulated and guilt-tripped her. Mizu's love for her Mama was what had driven her to a path of vengeance in the very beginning. And when she'd found out Mama was still alive, she had wanted nothing more than her Mama's love, and it was this alone that pushed her to agree to the marriage with Mikio in the first place. And now, knowing from Fowler that her birth mother is someone else entirely, is what makes her agree to keep him alive and haul his ass to London to seek answers.

Thus, integral to Mizu's self-hatred is also Mizu's intense longing for love and family. Just like Taigen, whose pompousness comes from his insecurity about being the son of a poor fisherman, Mizu's goals are also shaped by who her parents are. Remember, her vengeance is not against just anyone who's corrupt or evil, but specifically against the men who she believes had assaulted her mother, the men she believes had made her a monster, the men she believes had abandoned her to die and continue to try to kill her. Her vengeance is against a father, on behalf of a mother. In The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride, Mizu is not merely the Ronin, the Bride, or the Onryo, but also the Child.

This is also why Ringo is so good, not only for Mizu, but for Taigen as well. Ringo is wise and caring and considerate, but above all, he is in tune with his inner child in ways that Mizu and Taigen are not. He is always earnest and positive, he sees the world with childlike wonder, but is not naive or blind to its ugliness. His whole life has been a battle. Ringo brings out the best in Mizu, consistently acting as her moral compass and conscience, and Mizu's choice to save Akemi in the final episode is only because she promised Ringo that she would. Because it's the right thing to do. Ringo inspires her to be a better person, and to think outside of her narrow-minded goal of revenge. At the same time, Ringo also brings out the best in Taigen. While at first Taigen had looked down on both Mizu and Ringo ("Half-limb to a half-wit"), by the end of the season, he's proud to have Ringo as a friend and ally, he listens to Ringo's advice ("What would Master do?"), and asserts to the fucking Shogun that Ringo is a worthy warrior to have by his side.

Okay, I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, but my main point is that Mizu and Taigen are incredibly similar. They are equals. They are both flawed, unhealed children who are chasing some impossible outlandish goal in hopes that it will fill the void in their hearts. They also both have a long way to go in terms of character development if they were to ever build a healthy romantic relationship (either with each other, or even with anyone else). So while I believe things will be rocky (because duh, it's a story, we all live for the drama, etc), I think with Ringo's help, they'll get there eventually.

[flannelepicurean]

YOOOOO!!!

WAS NOBODY GONNA TELL ME FOOLS WAS OUT HERE SHIPPING MOTHAFUCKIN SAMURAI JACK AND JOHNNY FUCKING BRAVO?!?!?!?!?!

Granted, I have been summarily informed, and driven further insane than I already am. But FOR REAL!!! I'm upset that it took this long. Or maybe not, maybe I wouldn't have been ready. 😂😂😂

And like...AAAUUUUGGGHHH💖💖💖

You know for a FACT that Jack would see Johnny throw like three poses and be like, "😳 Fuuuck, he's so fast, so precise, his hips are like lightning..." And Johnny would see Jack do LITERALLY ANYTHING and be like, "Hey now, that's pretty keen! Is that a real sword?"

Next thing you know, they're basically riding a tandem bike through the park. And then Johnny invites Jack over for dinner because, well, Mama's gotta meet his special friend, and when Mama opens the door she's like, "Oh. Uh...I thought you were gonna be a lady, for some reason," and they're both like, "HAHAHAHAHAHA, NOOO, WE'RE JUST...uhh...hmm...HMMM...😳" and then Mama's like, "Let's eat!"

And she adores Jack because he's so sweet and polite, and maybe he's not as handsome as Johnny, but he's a darn good-lookin' kid. And eventually someone points out to Johnny that he and Jack are basically dating, or at least that Johnny's acting kinda like an awesome boyfriend would. And Jack obviously likes him, because he's started acting like a total doofus dork when Johnny's around--it's subtle, because of course it is, but trust me, dude.

And at some point they're, like, playing Donkey Kong Country 2 or something, and Johnny's just like, "Hey, are you into guys?" And Jack's like, "...wut.😳" And Johnny's like, "'Cause everybody thinks we're dating." And Jack's like, "...Uhh...is...that...?" And Johnny's like, "I think I'd be okay with that. You're hella cool and I like you a lot. And Mama was right." [SUNGLASSES/EYEBROW] "You're a good-lookin' guy."

Which, indisputably, it's a perfect moment for them to kiss, and they both know it. But Jack's like, "So, uh...I've...I've never," and Johnny's like, "Yeah, y'know what, me neither." And they decide to do some research, and start watching a ton of cheesy romance movies together, and agree to just take it slow.

THERE. DONE. PRINT. BOOM.

😂😂😂😁💖