#Fujiwara no Fuhito

[kyotodreamtrips]

The Goma-do (護摩堂) and Bell Tower (鐘楼) in the precincts of Hokke-ji (法華寺) in Nara City, Japan.

[inversionimpulse]

There are a lot of fanon explanations for why Mokou’s Perfect Memento is so blatantly misinformative, but I think an underappreciated possibility is that Mokou just showed up to the Hieda manor and went “Hey, it would be totally badass if you made people think I was some kind of ninja!” and Akyuu, being the good(?) parent(?) that she is(?) said “Sure, dear” and wrote that in even though it made no sense.

[whencyclopedia]

Fujiwara Clan

The Fujiwara Clan (Fujiwara-shi) was a powerful extended family group which dominated all areas of Japanese government during the Heian Period (794-1185). Founded by Fujiwara no Kamatari in 645 CE, male members held on to key official positions, many acting as regents to the emperor, and ensured their daughters married into the imperial line. By the 12th century CE, Fujiwara power declined as successive emperors abdicated in favour of their own chosen heir while still maintaining their hold on power in retirement. The Fujiwara were ultimately replaced by the rival Taira and Minamoto clans.

Fujiwara no Kamatari

In the 7th century CE the court official Nakatomi, later to become Fujiwara no Kamatari (614-669 CE), became a useful ally to Prince Naka no Oe, and together they staged a coup in 645 CE which deposed the powerful Soga clan who had hitherto dominated government positions and were threatening to usurp the power of the emperor. A series of political reforms were then initiated, known as the Taika Reforms (Taika No Kaishin). These reforms were based on the Chinese model of strong central government and they nationalised land, reorganised the court ranking system, forbade the ownership of unauthorised weapons, and attempted to root out corruption. When the Prince became Emperor Tenji (661-671), he gave Nakatomi and his descendants the surname Fujiwara and made him his special minister.

Kamatari's son Fubito (aka Fuhito, 659-720 CE) married the daughter of Emperor Mommu, and his four grandsons each formed the four branches of the Fujiwara clan: Nanke (Southern House), Hokke (Northern House), Shikike (Ceremonials House), and Kyoke (Capital House). The Fujiwara line was now firmly established and they would keep a tenacious grip on power as they not only dominated policy and government bodies such as the household treasury office (kurando-dokoro) and Council of State but also managed to marry off their daughters to emperors.

Further weakening the royal position was the fact that many emperors took the throne as children and so were governed by a regent (Sessho), usually a representative of the Fujiwara family. In total there would be 21 Fujiwara regents from 804 CE to 1238 CE. Even when the emperor reached adulthood, he was still advised by a new position, the Kampaku, which ensured the Fujiwara maintained their influence. To guarantee this situation was perpetuated new emperors were nominated not by birth but by their sponsors and encouraged or forced to abdicate when in their thirties in favour of a younger successor. Thus, for example, between 858 and 956 CE there were 10 different emperors. As a consequence, key Fujiwara members could act as regent to three or four successive emperors in their own lifetime.

Continue reading...

[fistfuloflightning]

Just discovered an Edo period genderbent version of Beren and Luthien—The fable of Tamatori-hime 玉取姫 "Princess Jewel Taker" and the Tide Jewels:

The legend of Princess Tamatori (Tamatorihime), or Ama, developed around the historical figure Fujiwara no Kamatari (614–69), who was the founder of the powerful Fujiwara clan. Upon Kamatari’s death, the Tang dynasty emperor, who had received Kamatari’s beautiful daughter as a consort, sent three priceless treasures to Japan in order to comfort his grieving lover by honoring her father. One of the treasures, a pearl, was stolen by the dragon king during a storm on its way to Japan in the inlet of Fusazaki. Kamatari’s son Fujiwara no Fuhito (659–720) went in search of the pearl to the isolated area where he met and married a beautiful pearl diver named Ama, who bore him a son. Ama, full of love for their son, vowed to help recover the stolen pearl. After many failed attempts, Ama was finally successful when the dragon and grotesque creatures guarding it were lulled to sleep by music. Upon reclaiming the treasure, she came under pursuit by the awakened sea creatures. She cut open her breast to place the pearl inside for safekeeping the resulting flow of blood clouded the water and aided her escape. She died from the resulting wound but is revered for her selfless act of sacrifice for her husband Fuhito and their son.

and

The story of Princess Tamatori, which was highly popular in the Edo period. In this story, Tamatori is a modest shell diver who marries Fujiwara no Fuhito of the Fujiwara clan, who is searching for a pearl stolen from his family by Ryūjin, the dragon god of the sea. Vowing to help, Tamatori dives down to Ryūjin's undersea palace of Ryūgū-jō, and is pursued by the god and his army of sea creatures. She cuts open her own breast and places the jewel inside; this allows her to swim faster and escape, but she dies from her wound soon after reaching the surface.

It’s very reminiscent of Beren stealing a silmaril from Morgoth on behalf of his love Luthien, and being pursued by Carcharoth to his death even though he returned with one of the silmarils in hand (literally…)

[eleemosynecdoche]

Touhou Character Ages, an imperfect and incomplete and provisional guide:

Part 1: Over a thousand years old.

Eirin Yagokoro: predates the formation of Japan (Omoikane is the child of the primordial creation god Takamimusubi in the Kojiki), so depending on how you date this, she could be over 130 million years old (beginning of the subduction of the Izanagi Plate) or as young as 2 million years old (date Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku separated from the mainland). Neo-Traditionalism of Japan says 25 million years for the Izanagi Object mentioned.

Hisami Yomotsu: A yomotsu-shikome with a grape motif, she presumably is one of those who chased Izanagi and would be of a similar age, 25 million years or so.

Keiki Haniyasushin: Haniyasu is another god from Izanagi Times.

Junko: Her euhemerized backstory with Hou Yi places her as dating back to the Xia, traditionally dated as ruling 4000-3800 years ago.

Chang'e: Must be at least as old as Junko.

Yukari Yakumo: Of uncertain age, definitely 1200+(Merry's age at time of disappearance) thanks to Akyuu, implied to be the oldest youkai in Gensokyo and thus would have to be older than Tewi, so a minimum of about 3000 years old.

Hecatia Lapislazuli: attested to by Hesiod in the Theogony, is already an established mythological figure, at least 2700 years old and probably significantly older.

Suwako Moriya: Older than Kanako by their backstory, and a Jōmon goddess. At least 2300 years old if we use the current dating for the end of the Jōmon period, 2700 if we use the traditional date for the arrival of Jimmu, probably much older.

Tewi Inaba: If she's literally the Rabbit of Inaba, then she's as old as Ōkuninushi and thus older than Kanako.

Sagume Kishin: A Kojiki figure from the same period of heavenly gods conquering Japan. In the same age bracket as Tewi and Kanako at minimum, quite possibly older.

Kanako Yasaka: Dates back to the conquest of Japan by the heavenly gods. At least 2700 years old with a slightly euhemerized interpretation, possibly older.

Seiga Kaku: Might be as old as the Eastern Han (so 2000-1800 years old), given esoteric Taoism being popular then, but more likely is visually intended to be from the Tang, another period for esoteric Taoism. She must be old enough to be an established corrupt immortal when she met Miko, though. So at least 1400, probably at least 1500 years old.

Okina Matara: From her comments on Eternity Larva, she was Hata no Kawakatsu and so appeared sometime in between the years 509 and 571, though quite possibly had some kind of preexistence as Matarajin. Definitely older than Miko.

Eternity Larva: The tokoyo god's cult was defeated and exposed by Hata no Kawakatsu.

Toyosatomimi no Miko: Has a defined birthday (February 7th, 574) from being a historical figure and so turned 1,449 this year.

Mononobe no Futo: Contemporary of Miko.

Soga no Tojiko: Contemporary of Miko.

Hata no Kokoro: Made by Miko for Okina.

Saki Kurokoma: Was Miko's horse before she was sent to the Asuka period glue factory and became an animal realm gangster.

Watatsuki no Toyohime: Eirin's pupil before she left in exile, older of the two sisters, almost certainly much older than this.

Watatsuki no Yorihime: Younger than Toyohime by definition but the rest applies as well.

Kaguya Houraisan: Definitely existed for some time before being exiled to Earth when Fujiwara no Fuhito was alive. At least 1400 years old, almost certainly much older.

Fujiwara no Mokou: Presumably a child of Fujiwara no Fuhito and thus about 1340-50 years old.

Minamitsu Murasa: Had been a phantom for enough time to become a local legend before Byakuren arrived. At least 1100 years old.

Byakuren Hijiri: Sister of Myouren, who lived in the 9th century. At least 1100 years old.

Shou Toramaru: Follower of Byakuren, must be of roughly similar age.

Ichirin Kumoi: Follower of Byakuren, must be of roughly similar age.

Nazrin: Attendant of Vaisravana/Bishamonten, is at least of similar age to Shou and possibly older.

Nue Houjuu: At least 900 years old going by her being the nue Minamoto no Yorimasa shot at, but knew Murasa and so is at least old enough to have interacted with her before Byakuren's followers got jailed.

Suika Ibuki: Fought the ara ara lady with balloon tits from Fate franchise media, which makes her at least 1000 years old. At least a little older, most likely.

Kasen Ibaraki: Contemporary of Suika.

Yuugi Hoshiguma: Contemporary of Suika.

Aya Shameimaru: Over a thousand years old according to PoFV.

I can't help but feel I'm missing some.

[dream-meister-translations]

AKASEKA TRANSLATION MASTERLIST 

DONATE : HERE. If you’d like to help us out! Would be much appreciated & will help us keep banging out content faster! 

CHARACTERS

FUJIWARA NO FUHITO

HIRAGA GENNAI

INOU TADATAKA

MAEDA KEIJI

NATSUME SOUSEKI

OKITA SOUJI

ONO NO IMOKO

SADAAKIRA

SUGITA GENPAKU

YAMAZAKI SUSUMU

EVENTS

"Sakura Spectrum: Welcoming Delegates from Afar"

(please like or reblog posts to support the work we do! :D keep in mind that the two of us on this blog don't speak japanese nor are we professionals. these translations aren't going to be perfect. but we are trying our best to portray the chars accurately & get the story across so that english-speakers can enjoy it <3 ) 

[ask-the-equestrians]

Alt. Title: 伝説の宝石狩り:玉取姫 Hello Everyone, welcome to another addition to the Yokai Bijinga Series. Today I have a more heroic tale about this Yokai. Today we are taking a look at Tamatori Hime. Tamatori Hime Literally translated as "Jewel-Taking Princess" is a well know Yokai whose stories been told throughout numerous of noh plays, novels, and Yakuza body tattoos. Tamatori Hime's legacy is Preserved by temples around Lake Biwa. Tamatori Hime's nickname was given to an Ama, a pearl diver who dove deep underwater to the bottom of the ocean to steal back a priceless jewel form a Dragon King name Ryūjin. Tamatori Hime is usually depicted wearing a tradition Ama dress and is bear-breasted carrying a tanto sword or a knife. One of the more popular stories of Tamatori Hime Legend is about a woman name Tamamo who went below the surface to retrieve A Legendary Jewel called "Menkōfuhai no Tama" from Ryūjin. The Jewel once belonged to her husband Fujiwara no Fuhito, and after Fujiwara told his wife Tamamo why he first came to her homeland and about Ryūjin and his stolen Jewel, Tamamo decided to dive deep underwater and steal back the Jewel from The Dragon King. Tamamo sacrificed her after fight numerous of monsters that Ryūjin sent after her. Tamamo used her knife to cut open under her breast to hide the jewel before pulling on hope rope to single her husband to pull her to the surface. Before she died, Tamamo told Fujiwara where she hide the jewel and had him to promise to rise their son to become a noble man for her. This by far one of my favorites Yokai story wise, comes to show what someone will do for the sake of their love ones, so naturally I want to make my own rendition of it, so here we are. Sorry for this post taking longer than usual, stuff been happen in IRL and I want to tell a brief story behind this one. I will send you a link to this Yokai if you're intrested to learn more about her. Until next time! Tamatori Hime Axel Doi Website

[crestfallenwanderlust]

I'm surprised how I got lucky with the gacha here

I'm very glad I managed to pick the ones I've never seen with an event variant at all

Except for Fujiwara no Fuhito and Magoichi Saika(especially the latter but hey, he's cute so why not)

[dizzyhslightlyvoided]

Bad idea: an adaptation of the Princess Kaguya story which seems to have a couple of odd details -- Kaguya is slightly a jerk who treats living on Earth as a game, Prince Kuramochi is explicitly Fujiwara no Fuhito and has an illegitimate child running around, Omoikane is transgender, etc. -- but slowly the story keeps giving more and more details until finally "Omoikane" descends to earth with Gensokyo Millennium as the BGM and calls herself Eirin, and Kuramochi's kid murders Iwakasa and we learn that her name is Mokou.

[venicepearl]

Empress Kōmyō depicted by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai

Empress Kōmyō (701–760) was the consort of Japanese Emperor Shōmu (701–756) during the Nara Period.

A member of the Fujiwara clan, her father was Fujiwara no Fuhito and her mother was Agata Inukai no Michiyo. During her life she was also known as Asukabehime (安宿媛), Kōmyōshi (光明子), and Tōsanjō (藤三娘), literally the third Fujiwara daughter.

In 716, Kōmyō married the future Emperor Shōmu when he was still the crown prince. Two years later, she gave birth to her daughter, Princess Abe, who would later rule as Empress Kōken and Empress Shōtoku. Her son was born in 727 and was soon named crown prince, but he died as an infant. Rumors circulated that Prince Nagaya cursed the infant prince using black magic, and Nagaya was forced to commit suicide in response.

Kōmyō was named queens-consort or "kōgō" in 729, a position that prioritized her offspring as heir to the throne. An extra-codal office was created for the queen-consort, the Kōgōgūshiki; this bureaucratic innovation continued into the Heian period. She was an influential political figure in her own right and helped balance tensions between Fujiwara and non-Fujiwara factions at court.

She is buried in Nara Prefecture's Hōrenji-cho in the mausoleum Sahoyama no Higashi no Misasagi 佐保山東陵 near Emperor Shōmu in the southern mausoleum.

[claudiosuenaga]

Takamatsuzuka: o kofun circular com um mapa astronômico na vila de Asuka em Nara

Estive também pela segunda vez no monte funerário de Takamatsuzuka (que em japonês significa “Monte de enterro antigo de pinheiros altos”), um antigo túmulo (kofun) circular de duas camadas na vila de Asuka, dentro do Parque Histórico Nacional e Governamental de Asuka, na província de Nara, a capital do Japão durante o século 8.

Descoberta acidentalmente por um fazendeiro local na década de 1960 quando cavava um buraco para armazenar raízes de gengibre, a tumba de Takamatsuzuka foi construída em algum momento entre o final do século 7 e o início do século 8, dentro, portanto, do chamado período Asuka (de 538 a 710 d.C. ou 596 a 645 d.C.), que recebeu esse nome justamente da região de Asuka, a cerca de 25 quilômetros ao sul da atual cidade de Nara.

O período Asuka ficou marcado pelas suas significativas transformações sociais e políticas, pelo vicejamento das belas artes e da arquitetura, e por ter sido bastante influenciado pela chegada do budismo da China através da Península Coreana – os estudiosos sabem há muito tempo que o Japão antigo emprestou grande parte de sua filosofia, religião e tecnologia da China e da Coreia. Foi no período Asuka que o país mudou de nome de Wa (Yamato) para Nihon (Japão) e a filosofia de Confúcio se tornou predominante.

O kofun de Takamatsuzuka, com seus cerca de 5 metros de altura, uma camada inferior com 23 metros de diâmetro e uma superior com 18 metros de diâmetro, atualmente recoberto de grama, foi erigido com camadas alternadas de argila e areia.

Escavado na década de 1970 por uma equipe liderada pelo arqueólogo natural de Asuka, Aboshi Yoshinori (1927-2006), professor associado da Universidade de Kansai e pesquisador do Instituto Arqueológico de Kashihara em Nara, finas pinturas ricamente coloridas foram desveladas nas paredes de gesso da câmera funerária em 1972 e logo viraram uma sensação. Designadas como Tesouros Nacionais, a fim de protegê-las a tumba foi selada e somente se pode ver réplicas no vizinho Museu Mural Takamatsuzuka, construído especialmente para exibir as reproduções dos afrescos em larga escala da cripta, juntamente com vários artigos funerários, como um caixão de madeira lacado (medindo 199,5 cm de comprimento por 58 cm de largura), pregos de metal, um ornamento de florais de bronze e um espelho chinês da dinastia Tang. Alguns ossos também foram encontrados, e as análises atestaram que pertenciam a um homem em idade madura.

Não se sabe exatamente para quem o kofun Takamatsuzuka foi construído ou quem foi ali enterrado, já que foi saqueado, mas as decorações sugerem que teria sido para um membro da família real japonesa ou para um nobre de alto escalão, provavelmente para o príncipe Osakabe no Miko (data de nascimento desconhecido e falecido em 705), o nono filho do imperador Tenmu (631-686), o 40º Imperador do Japão (a partir de 672). Osakabe no Miko que ajudou a escrever o Código de Taihō em 681 d.C.), ao lado de Fujiwara no Fuhito. O Código foi essencialmente uma reorganização administrativa, que serviu como base para a estruturação governamental do Japão durante vários séculos. Especula-se ainda que pode ter sido na verdade o túmulo para o filho do último rei de Baekje, ou ainda para Isonokami Ason Maro (640-717), um importante oficial e parte do clã Mononobe.

Há quatro espíritos guardiões guardando as quatro direções pintados nas paredes da cripta, algo um tanto comum em túmulos desse período encontrados na China e na Coreia. Estes são Genbu, uma tartaruga-cobra preta no norte (Black Tortoise), Suzaku, um pássaro vermelho no sul (Vermilion Bird), Seiryu, um dragão azul no leste (Azure Dragon), e Byakko, um tigre branco no oeste (White Tiger).

As referências astronômicas são nítidas. Vêem-se imagens do sol (na parede leste), da lua (na parede ocidental) e de constelações (no teto). A imagem do sol está coberta de folhas de ouro e a imagem da lua, de folhas de prata. O mapa astronômico no teto da câmara de pedra de Takamatsuzuka foi afixado com círculos uniformes cortados de uma folha grossa de ouro para representar as estrelas, conectadas com linhas vermelhas para incluir constelações.

Na China antiga, o céu estrelado, que se move regularmente com o pólo celeste como centro, era considerado uma nação centrada no imperador. No centro da hoshijuku (constelação), está desenhado o “Recinto Proibido Púrpura”, que era considerado o lugar onde o imperador vivia na China antiga. É um grupo de constelações que não desaparece, com a Estrela do Norte no meio, em representação a figura do imperador. À noite, se você olhar para o céu ao norte de Takamatsuzuka da Praça Hoshijuku, poderá ver as várias constelações girando em torno da Estrela do Norte, bem na direção do topo do kofun, assim como as pessoas do período Asuka a viam!

Em cada caso, os desenhos foram feitos através de um processo de primeiro cobrir a superfície da pedra com gesso e, em seguida, desenhar os contornos preliminares com tinta fina, seguidos de uma coloração brilhante em azul, vermelho e verde, etc.

Desses murais emergem uma impressão vívida da cultura e da história japonesa daquele tempo: grupos de figuras humanas (quatro homens e, separadamente, quatro mulheres) da corte, ricamente vestidas com mantos coloridos no estilo Goguryeo (um dos Três Reinos da Coreia, juntamente com Paekche ou Baekje e Silla). As mulheres são vistas segurando leques, prendedores de cabelo e cetros, enquanto os homens seguram guarda-sóis de seda (kinugasa) de cabo longo, uma espada, uma lança, uma cadeira e um gitchō (item semelhante a um taco de hóquei). A mulher vestida de vermelho e carregando um cajado é chamada de “Asuka Bijiin“, ou “Beleza de Asuka”.

O povo de Asuka estabeleceu as fundações do Japão como um estado-nação, adotando as mais recentes influências culturais por meio de trocas com as nações do leste asiático. Os muitos túmulos, templos e estruturas de pedra restantes na área atestam a força dessas influências. O estilo Asuka incorporado pelos templos da cidade e pelas esculturas budistas, representa a base sobre a qual a cultura japonesa foi construída.

Um lugar de rica história e beleza natural, Asuka, centro político, econômico e cultural do país por cerca de um século, cercado pelos inúmeros palácios e templos budistas,é merecidamente conhecido como o lar espiritual do povo japonês.

Muito mais se poderia saber sobre os kofuns do Japão se a Agência Imperial do Japão, que controla rigorosamente a investigação dos mesmos, permitisse o acesso de mais arqueólogos e pesquisadores, sem os inconvenientes de praxe, alegadamente para preservar a santidade e a integridade dos locais. Pensemos no quanto ainda subjaz enterrado à espera de finalmente ser conhecido, aspectos de uma civilização tão avançada que nos deixa estupefatos.

Há um paralelismo transcontinental inegável entre o monte circular de Takamatsuzuka e as mamoas ou tumulus, o montículo artificial circular ou oval que cobre as câmaras dolmênicas europeias. Essas tanto podem ser de terra, revestida por uma couraça de pequenas pedras imbricadas, ou ser apenas constituída por pedras, sendo então designada usualmente por cairn, do escocês càrn (que se pronuncia ‘kern’). Na Escócia, os cairn encontram-se sobretudo sobre relevos de terreno e no alto das montanhas. E, como existe o costume de transportar uma pedra até ao alto da colina para a colocar sobre eles, estes vão ficando cada vez mais altos. Um ditado antigo escocês diz “Cuiridh mi clach air do chàrn”, ou seja “Colocarei uma pedra sobre o teu cairn”. É interessante que ainda hoje há uma tradição judia que recomenda que se ponham pequenas pedras em cima de um túmulo que se visite.

As mamoas (nome dado pelos romanos quando da sua chegada à Península Ibérica, que chamaram de mammulas a estes monumentos, pela sua semelhança com o seio de uma mulher), tinham a finalidade de esconder e proteger o dólmen ou a sepultura, recobrindo-o completamente e conferindo-lhe, ao mesmo tempo, maior monumentalidade. O dólmen, sob uma colina artificial (a mamoa), afigurava-se como um “útero” abrigado do olhar, onde se colocavam relíquias “no seio da terra”. Em termos de significação simbólica, essa deposição era como que um regresso de um humano ao útero do ventre materno da Terra Mãe.

As mamoas eram estruturas de tamanho variável, podendo atingir quarenta metros, e que tapavam completamente a câmara e o corredor, quando este existia. É possível que tivesse também, em certos casos, proporcionado um plano inclinado para o transporte da tampa da câmara até a sua posição definitiva.

A técnica de construção das mamoas demonstra geralmente uma hábil solução arquitetônica feita para durar, sem usar argamassa. Encontram-se pedras especialmente cortadas para melhor se inserirem no espaço que preenchem e interstícios preenchidos por pequenas pedras angulosas, partidas intencionalmente, para reforçar a estrutura.

Estas sepulturas megalíticas monumentais eram destinadas a abrigar antepassados importantes e não pessoas comuns, com cada grupo correspondendo aos antepassados míticos de uma determinada família ou linhagem.

Assista ao vídeo que fiz no local no meu canal no YouTube:

[kyotodreamtrips]

The Bell Tower (鐘楼) and Goma-do (護摩堂) in the precincts of Hokke-ji (法華寺) in Nara City, Japan.

[inversionimpulse]

now, as far as I can tell, the [Hieda no Are was Fujiwara no Fuhito] theory is a far fringe theory with no serious support from historians, but I don't think it needs to be any more than that to pluck it for Touhou headcanons.

For the interpersonal drama, sure.

But also because it makes every possible Akyuu ship ten times funnier. How does, I dunno, Kosuzu or Reimu or whoever feel about suddenly having a grungy immortal step-daughter? Oh, or maybe she succeeds in wooing Kaguya this time!

There's comedy gold to be mined here!

[cerastes]

Something just dawned on me. Both Mokou and Chika both have Fujiwara as last names. Mokou and Chika could hypothetically be related, discuss.

Oh, it’s not a coincidence.

Confession!Kaguya has been directly compared to Tale of Bamboo Cutter!Kaguya-hime several times, explicitly at times, and they even have the same name. The reference to the Kaguya-hime from the Tale is pretty intentional.

Fujiwara, on the other hand, used to be a powerful clan most prominently from the Asuka and Nara periods of Japan. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is fraught of satire aimed at the Fujiwara clan, particularly the upper class dignitaries. One of Kaguya-hime’s suitors was basically a caricature of Fujiwara no Fuhito, thus, the Tale has commonly been linked to the Fujiwara clan. The fact that Fujiwara Chika is the daughter of politically powerful diplomats is no exception.

Mokou and Chika both fill the same role as the Fujiwara stand-in in the greater Tale of the Bamboo Cutter reference their respective home medias portray, albeit in different ways.

[yamayuandadu]

For the fic request thing, "stitches" for Keine and Mokou? I love shippy stuff for them, but feel free to go wherever you like with it if you decide to give this one a go

It’s my fave pairing overall, so shippy it is. Fluffy, even, arguably. Because while I generally prefer fics with more substance, it seems like short silly fluffy Mokou/Keine fics are a largely untapped market on ao3. So are fics about the fate of Mokou’s sleeves in the fighting games. The ending might be revised a bit in the ao3 version if that’s ok with you.I wrote a fluffy fic about them once already and am currently writing a longer adventure-focused one if you are interested in more.

“Would you kindly explain what did you do to yourself this time?”

“Can't you see that yourself?”

“I can see the result, but the cause is completely shrouded in mystery for me,” Keine sighed. “You were left to own devices for less than two weeks since end of the school year is an extremely busy period for me, and what I come back to is... this,” she added, pointing at Mokou's shirt. The sleeves were torn off.

To be fair, the teacher saw her clothes in much worse condition more than a few times before. Not to mention the situations where her condition was so bad there were no clothes to speak of left. However, that was long ago, and this specific shirt was supposed to be Mokou's small triumph over her hopeless nihilism. Under Keine's guidance, the immortal put her largely theoretical knowledge of fire magic to practical use and changed her favorite (or rather the only one not yet falling apart from old age) shirt into something that could withstand at least some of her spells. Wearing something that didn't look like burnt rags greatly contributed towards gaining a degree of trust among the human community of Gensokyo. This in turn allowed her get something akin to a job as a guide to the bamboo forest, and, perhaps even more beneficially, minimized the risk of being mistaken for a yamanba.

Naturally, it wasn't the finest magical article of clothing around. The charms attached on the inside were crude and most of them ended up applied haphazardly, as Keine lacked experience with mundane magic, while Mokou was not interested in tailoring. The odds that an emissary of heaven would knock at doors of their houses to discuss the issue of illegal production of counterfeit hagoromo didn't seem particularly high. But they made it together, and, more importantly, it symbolized that the last living child of Fujiwara no Fuhito started caring about her own well-being. As such, it was an important symbol.

“It's just the usual, I felt bad about myself,” mumbled the immortal.

A number of gruesome scenarios involving the loss at least of limbs flashed in front of Keine's eyes. She never witnessed any firsthand, thankfully, but any attempt at writing down Mokou's history inevitably involved some of them.

“Did you go back to fighting Kaguya?”

“No. I didn't really leave the house. Only checked on my persimmon tree a few times.”

“What did you do, then?”

“I wanted to go back to my old habits but I didn't want to make you upset,” Mokou said, looking around awkwardly. “So while I resisted the urge to seek thrills at Eientei I still felt like I did something wrong by considering to restart it.”

“I'm not quite following...?”

“The obvious way would be to hurt myself in some way. But that's exactly what I was supposed to avoid, so I had to think of something else to not end up in a vicious circle again. So in a fit of grief I ended up cutting off the sleeves from my shirt, since we made it impervious to my powers together and it's important to me. It was not very smart, I know.”

The connoisseur of shady elixirs closed her eyes, expecting a reprimand. After a brief moment she realized that no stern words are coming and Keine instead wrapped her arms around her.

Of course, the shirt was a symbol. But ultimately a symbol is less important than what it stands for is in itself. That was the logic the teacher subscribed to.

“This means that you're making progress regarding your respect for own life, I'm proud of you”, she said, hugging Mokou. “We can stitch the sleeves back on, don't worry.”

It is known that kisses are vital for clothing repairs, though they can extend their duration quite a bit. Thus everything that unfolded afterwards was just a regular sewing session, ultimately. Just some stitching and strictly related activities.

[aardvark-123]

Gensokyo Festival Day 20: Kasen Ibaraki and the Cranky Crustacean Caper

I tried to mimic the mystery-of-the-week formula used in Wild and Horned Hermit for this story. Emphasis on “tried”.

It was a normal day in the beautiful Eastern Wonderland.

"Reimu! Good golly, Reimu, you've gotta see this!" Marisa burst into the Hakurei Shrine, carrying a large reddish-brown crab in a bucket. It had four long, spindly legs, four rather shorter legs and a pair of heavy pincers.

Slumped over her kotatsu like a human doily, Reimu groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Marisa, I'm trying to sleep..."

(Like I said, it was a normal day in the beautiful Eastern Wonderland.)

"Come on, you can sleep later! Just look at this crab!" insisted Marisa, shoving the bucket right in Reimu's face.

Reimu yelped at the sudden close-up of its eyestalks and jagged mandibles. "G-get that away from me!" she screamed, leaping up and clinging to a couple of wooden beams in the ceiling.

Marisa burst out laughing. "Reimu, you've fought the goddess of Hell! Are you seriously afraid of one little crab?!"

"...No. Of course not," said Reimu huffily. "You just surprised me. I have to be ready for action at any moment, so I always react rather intensely to stuff."

"Sure you do," said Marisa, smiling a knowing smile. "Thing is, though, you really need to see this crab from the back."

Marisa turned the bucket around. Reimu's jaw dropped.

"Oh, my gods! It's-! It's-! It's got a face! On its shell!"

A few round lumps on the back of the crab's shell formed a bulbous nose and a stout pair of cheeks. Some thick lines in the carapace formed a curly, grimacing mouth and a furious pair of eyebrows, with a couple of thin, angled whorls standing in for eyes.

"Cool, isn't it?" said Marisa proudly. "I found it curled up inside my fishing boat. It'd nibbled clean through one of the oars!"

"Since when did you have a fishing boat?" said Reimu, completely lost.

Meanwhile, the friendly hermit who definitely wasn't secretly an oni was taking a walk in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost.

"Tra-la-la-la-la-la!" Kasen was singing purely on principle. Komachi would never have bought it as a sincere happy tune, and Kasen wouldn't have blamed her, but she still had to show willing.

"La-la-la! It's a beautiful- oh, forget it." A peaceful walk in the forest was too much fun to ruin by being twee.

Kasen roamed through the cool, quiet maze of bamboo in companionable silence with herself. It really was the perfect day for a walk, and nothing could disturb her in such a maze-like thicket.

"Help! Help! Get it off me!"

Kasen started. A woman was screaming in pain and fear somewhere down the path. "Um, hello? Are you all right?!"

"The crabs are attacking! The crabs are attacking!"

Kasen could only look on in amazement as Mokou came tearing down the shady forest track, pursued by a veritable tide of beige and reddish-brown chitin. A hundred pincers snapped in the air, a thousand legs clicked and clattered on the compacted earth. Mokou's boots and trousers were stained yellowish-blue with the blood of crabs she'd stepped on, and every other bit of her was stained red.

"Good grief..." Kasen took a deep breath. "Dragon Sign: Rage of Skyfire!"

Having just shouted out the name of her attack, Kasen was forced to take another deep breath. After that, however, there was no stopping her. She spat out a blazing-hot ray of concentrated lightning and swept it over the ground in front of the crabs, sending smoke and scorched soil flying into the air. The crustacean army screeched to a halt behind the charred trench.

Safe beside Kasen, Mokou collapsed in a heap on the ground. "Gods, I'm glad you came here... And kind of pissed I didn't think of breathing fire at them, but there we are."

"What in Susano-o's name is going on here, Mokou?! Crabs don't belong in the forest!" cried Kasen.

"I don't know any more than you do. I was just taking a paddle in the stream when a crab decided to pinch my toe. I kicked it into some rapids and moved somewhere else, then a bunch more came swarming out of the woods and tried to nip me to death." Mokou spoke very casually for someone who had just been swarmed by pincer-wielding arthropods. "So I ran for it, and I may have kind of panicked a little..."

"A little. I see." Kasen's face was completely inscrutable. "Why would the crabs want to kill you, though...? It makes sense that they might have wanted to avenge their comrade, but why would she attack you in the first place? Could it be that your feet stank?"

"Yeah, maybe..." Mokou unlaced one of her boots and took a sniff. "Oh, gods! Eeurgh! That's rank!" Eyes watering, she put the boot back on as fast as she could. "Better than before I washed them, though..."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Kasen earnestly. "We need to do something about these crabs, though. I'll go and talk to the shrine maiden-"

"Hey, Kasen! Mokou!"

"Oh, Amaterasu, it's the bossy hermit..."

Marisa and Reimu were strolling along the path, the former holding a wooden bucket and the latter looking as if she'd rather be anywhere else.

"Marisa and Reimu! There's something strange going on with the crabs-" began Kasen.

"Forget that, check out this crab I found in my boat!" Marisa ran over to Kasen and shoved the bucket in her face.

"You... have a boat? Wait, the crab has a face on its shell?!" Kasen shook her head to settle her muddled thoughts. "That's not a good sign. Marisa, where exactly-"

"Oh, my days! Look at all the crabs!" gasped Reimu, noticing the crab legion clamouring in front of them.

"Eh? There's more than one?" Marisa looked up from her bucket. Her jaw dropped. "HOLY SHIT CRABS FOR DAYS WHAT IN THE NAME OF-!"

"Let me see yours," Mokou interrupted. She leaned over the bucket. "Yeah, that's definitely a shell shaped like a- AAARGH!"

With a piercing battle cry, Marisa's captive crab leapt onto Mokou's face and started pinching at everything it could grab hold of. Emboldened, the legion of crabs surged forwards over the rapidly-cooling trench.

Kasen wrenched the crab away from Mokou's face, making her scream in pain as her nose stretched to breaking point. Kasen threw the crab into the midst of its comrades.

"Retreat to my place! The crabs'll never find us there!" ordered Kasen. She leapt into the air and soared away, only looking back when she was almost among the clouds to make sure her friends were following.

"It probably won't surprise you to learn that those were no ordinary crabs."

Kasen, Reimu, Marisa and Mokou had gathered in Kasen's airy living room for tea and fruit salad, with a little debriefing on the side.

"They are known as heikegani," Kasen went on. "The spirits of ancient warriors who perished on the sea, reincarnated as crabs who still carry the fury of their human forebears."

"Oh, you mean the angry faces?" said Marisa.

"Exactly."

Reimu chewed thoughtfully on a slice of pineapple. "I don't understand why they'd have such a grudge against Mokou. She's never exactly positioned herself as an enemy of crabs."

"I am kind of a noblewoman, though," Mokou reminded them. "Maybe the samurai who turned into the heikegani were enemies of the Fujiwara clan..."

"Indeed we are!"

The four heroines gasped dramatically in perfect unison. A tall, heavy-set woman had kicked down the door and was now strolling into the room, decked out in crimson samurai armour and claw-like gauntlets.

"I will never forget the day the Taira clan was humiliated by your sniveling Fujuwara ensemble. Hundreds of us, all dead, and for what?! So you idiots could live to feud and murder another day?!"

"Um, weren't the Minamoto clan your main rivals?" said Mokou.

The heikegani lady's face went red. "Sh-shut up! You don't know a thing about our history!"

"I was there, you idiot. I'm Fujiwara no Mokou, daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito, and probably the last surviving member of his clan. I know who the Tairas' main rivals were. Are. Whatever."

"Well, you're my rival now, got it?! And that witch, with her mighty battleship! I must have it!" snapped the heikegani. "Prepare to die!"

Kasen sprang up from her chair. Her bandaged arm blazed with pink light as she swung it repeatedly into the heikegani's head.

"Ow! Ow! Stop! Please! I'm sorry!" the heikegani wailed. "Stop hitting me! I thought the spell-card rules were sacred!"

"She's more the fighting game type," said Reimu, taking a casual sip of her tea.

Heikegani are a real species of crab, complete with angry, stylised samurai face designs on their shells. Genuinely. Legend has it that heikegani are the spirits of Taira clan samurai who were defeated at the Battle of Dan-no-ura. In reality, they probably evolved their human-like faces to dissuade people from eating them.

By the way, the crab woman wasn’t talking complete nonsense when she mentioned Marisa’s battleship. There is an actual Japanese warship called "Kirisame". Those North Koreans had better not try anything, ze: http://www.seaforces.org/marint/Japan-Maritime-Self-Defense-Force/Destroyer/Murasame-class_DAT/DD-104-JDS-Kirisame.htm