#lyzen

Right from the start, I love ship dynamics where an energetic and warm person gets along with a hard and reserved one. The brightest of smiles tinting stony faces rosy with a soft blush, the laughter and touching, the gentle movements. The strength withheld for affectionate caution. The hardness washed away for them, and them alone, or the light they bring brightening their whole personality. There’s little like the feeling of literal heartwarming when their enthusiasm melts the ice and invigorates the tough partner. Perhaps one is a protector of the other, perhaps a touching moment has the soft protect the hard. For Lyzen, we’re blessed to have two strong women who are both capable of that.

And as much as I relate to being drawn to something of that stern type, I also find that while it is often clear what draws the cold to the warm; it’s less consistent what draws that light light to the dark. Perhaps they protect or rescue them, some may react well to wit and merry, others shore up their partners faults. Maybe they are a guide or an adviser, a supplier or heroic call.

So this is One part of what I really strive to fully understand in appreciating Lyzen. Ozen’s feelings and motivations are clear, but Lyza is ever mysterious; she seeks out Ozen as a child, and stays with her through her life, fiercely attached. Taking care of her, taking vengeance for her, and relying on her to watch over her. Neither protected nor protector, not solely caretaker or helper. She was trained, but was not called, and surpassed her mentor with no loss of closeness. Surely their manzai routine is not the primary draw- so What draws Lyza to Ozen so strongly? What keeps her by her side for years and years, through thick and thin? That inspires such intense passion, such deeply reverent smiles, such faith to entrust her with the future of her beloved daughter?

We’ve only seen Lyza in memories, but the anime gives us her narration, striking a drastically different tone. In contrast to Her bright and cheery reputation, It’s somber, ponderous, philosophical. Lyza is a smart woman, and she’s a brave one, but as much of a legend as she is to the world; she knows herself well enough to be human; to be fallible and fragile, to be drawn by whims and ideas. Though she tackles them without fear, she understands the cruelty and hardships of the world, both human and inhuman.

I contend that an aspect of Lyza’s love for Ozen is intertwined with inspiration within herself. In a simple sense, Ozen is a stabilizing factor on Lyza; A ground that she can fall back to, but also a limit that keeps her from venturing too far. She initially admires Ozen for her tenacity; remarking on her hair and scars of the abyss as merits that she survives and endures, she jokes about Ozen’s tolerance for drink, she is enraged when Ozen is hurt.

It’s less that Ozen is there for the purpose of comforting Lyza when she does fall- in fact, we see quite well in the Caves and after that Ozen is not particularly good at that; it’s a sense of preemptive assurance in herself that keeps her from losing her feet to begin with. Lyza believes in Ozen the Immovable because of how swiftly she moves herself. When everything changes, Ozen does not. And that allows Lyza to push herself further without fear.

It allows her to conquer greater depths, to rise to greater heights. To stand on the shoulders of a literal giant who will nether stand to see her back down, or to see her fall. She loves Ozen for her lack of compromise, that she is not easy on Lyza where it counts. A tender affection here and there, but if Lyza were to betray herself, Ozen would not stand for it. And that is the ultimate support that she could receive.

They drive each other onwards, strengthening and inspiring each other, two mythical women who are surely connected by greater fates, and who love each so deeply, but struggle to be true to themselves. Even in belief of their embrace, Ozen stumbles to what she means, and Lyza hesitates to mean what she says, lest their connection by strained by change.

That’s one part of how I feel about Lyzen essentially, a ship which first in a while instantly invested me deeply enough to drive myself to new things, in only so many words and images. Not long or loud, not in the center focus or dramatic and tense. Simply soft smiles, old memories, a quiet, private story between the hearts of two larger than life women, but deeply meaningful to both.