#mizumiko

[llucico]

Yearning of what might have been

[artofmimi]

sweet dreams are made of this

[bt79207]

that screenshot moved me so much quick

[meldelmew]

🩵🩷

[vagun1ka]

two yokai women enjoying each other's company

[ehatnow]

gayass

[agodthatcantpayhistab]

[onelastchorus]

raiden ei and yumemizuki mizuki are both essential characters to understanding yae miko. to understand the significance of either relationship, you have to take the other into account. in the context of miko's story, ei is an embodiment of all the loss she had endured and mizuki is a symbol of the loss of who she was, the girl she will never be again. they have both become the grief that weighs on her and proof of why miko became who she is.

ei, as far as we know never even really acknowledges how the cataclysm affected miko. their experiences are actually really similar. miko lost her mentor figure and friends, had to take up a heavy mantle in their place (despite being much too young for the role) and lost her anchor, finding a lifeless doll in her place with not even a goodbye to soften the blow.

despite all this yae is clearly still very much devoted to her god, but it's a strange push and pull. she doesn't care to pull ei out of the plane of euthymia until the traveler shows up and causes her to take action. she accepts ei's decision until ei shows weakness through her interest in the traveler.

the fact of the matter is miko was abandoned. a servant with no master, living in a world that touted eternity, but was filled with fragile creatures who left the world as soon as they came. she tells the traveler she wants to protect inazuma, but it's very clear her higher priority is ei and the human individual does not hold significant weight. she protects inazuma because she is a servant to eternity. she ensures the big picture of the nation stays intact, but didn't make any moves to stop the atrocities of the vision hunt decree or the shogunate, despite all the pain the was causing for so many people.

so obviously miko is happy ei is back, but it stings that she was the one that had to make it happen. she welcomes ei, but also keeps her at a very calculated arms length. she had five centuries to stew in her resentment and loneliness and ei is a symbol of all that pain now. she looks at ei doesn't see someone she can trust with her vulnerabilities because miko waited patiently for ei to deal with her grief and return to her of her own accord and she never did. they're undoubtly still close, but miko is more likely to tease and scheme than be genuine with anyone, even ei. she doesn't know how to anymore.

and then there's mizuki. if ei represents all miko no longer has, mizuki is a living symbol of all that miko no longer is. mizuki and miko are peers, they grew up together. during the cataclysm they were both devoured by their responsibilies. the baku were essential in healing the traumatized people of inazuma and miko had to take kitsune saiguu's place in the grand narukami shrine. with the lifespan of immortals, decades went past without them seeing each other. the children that met up every day just the share stories and make mischief disappeared and their distance made any attempt to reconnect fall flat, too much having changed for them to ever find that spark again.

mizuki personally witnessed the shift from a youthful, witty youkai to the impenetrable guuji yae, but they never shared the pain and resiliance that led to that transformation. the worst part, is mizuki adored that young youkai. they were best friends. now they try to speak and it's poisoned by trepidation and unfamiliarity.

mizuki still admires miko, but it's now weighed down by a need to prove herself, miko makes her feel an insecurity she never used to. the thought of miko used to get her through her worst times and in a twisted way it still does. the girl she loved has drifted so far out of reach, she's now just an aspirational point, a far-off goal she intends to surpass. so mizuki refuses miko's attempts at kindness and miko loses the chance to be vulnerable with the one person who really remembers and loves the child she once was.

they both care for each other in their own ways, but mizuki is just another person miko will never get back. a living ghost haunting an island already filled with phantoms of miko's past. there's a devestating wistfulness to their story, but none of it is portrayed in their interactions. they poke and prod at each other with an ease that shows how well they know each other, but they'll never go farther than a clinical acknowledgment of their history together. what they had is gone, their friendship just another death they've had to endure.