#Toba Landing

[elliot-amy]

i love being able to post stuff on the internet and it ends up getting seen by the person it’s inadvertently directed it

[dbd-map-resource]

Toba Landing Compilation

Since there aren't really any particularly big details outside of the main building, the big pitcher and the crashed... moon bus? Car? Thing? I'm focusing mostly on documenting the kind of flora you can find and random little details.

Main Building (outside):

Main Building (inside):

Big Pitcher:

Crash:

Plantlife, sky, birds?

The little cavern area:

This unlucky guy:

Wacky how the walls that make the loops kinda look like guts.

[dbdshitthatnobodyaskedfor]

If you get too close, this spider will enter ''defensive mode'' its so cute

[caelumroxas]

ALL THINGS WILL SUCCUMB TO HIS DESIGN! | Dead By Daylight - Chapter 28: End Transmission - Part 1

Part 1 of my gameplay of the new Dead By Daylight chapter, End Transmission, is available now!

[daily-singularity]

Huntress & Singularity geeking out about bugs 2gether <333

STOP THE TRIAL!!!! Everyone come look at this cool bug Anna found

[ahndor]

bvhr should add anti-map offerings. like if you play it you have less of a chance of going to certain maps

[dutifulsilence]

@askganondorftobadragmire replied: "That will be an hours-long discussion, and you know it."

« Must you call me out like this, Toba? Really? Rude. »

« Sober me needs to have a talk about drunk me's decisions. »

[saturnulysses]

despite the Horrors, i think claudette would like toba landing

[erkauberscream]

"sir, there's a christianity in your murdergame" - on religious motifs in End Transmission -part 1/2-

- a christianity? just one?

- just one.

- a singular christianity. a singularity, if you will.

Okay so I finally decided to write down my thoughts on the biblical motifs found in the End Transmission chapter. They mainly come from the Book of Genesis, but you'll have to forgive me for not quoting specific verses, especially since I've no idea which version to use. For context, I grew up Catholic, and thus most of this stuff feels fairly obvious to me. None of this should go into any sort of deep Bible lore, in any case.

I promise it'll all make sense in the end. Huge thanks to my bae @whispy-witch, who brainstormed this thing with me and is currently translating it, my co-player @triopse who's responsible for my obsession with this silly murdergame, and @blue-jacket-blues, who prompted me to finally write baby's first meta.

With that out of the way, let's start with the thing that tipped me off.

1. The Fruit

That's probably the most obvious one - Gabe's first memory in "Existence", the part where he asks if he can eat a fruit he found on Dvarka.

(is2g immediately clear the guy is an engineer and not a biologist. Gabe is like a fucking cat, this clone is gonna land on a new planet, see a fruit, ask "can I eat it?" and not wait for an answer. he probably chews on foil too.) The answer is obviusly no. The fruit is forbidden... at least for now. In the Book of Genesis, first people were allowed to eat everything in the Garden but the fruit of one specific tree and were told eating it would cause their death. The reasoning Gabe receives is similar:

2. The Garden of Eden

Not much to say about this one. The Garden was supposed to be an ideal place for humankind... and boy, the way Dvarka is described sure sounds like a paradise, eh?

(let's all agree to ignore the way Toba Landing map looks in-game. maybe the Entity fucked it up, bc this shithole is far from how I'd imagine heaven on Earth)

3. The "Eve"

tldr Eve was tempted to eat forbidden fruit, which resulted in humankind knowing right from wrong, good from evil, and being banished from the Garden - to the dangerous outside world.

Guess which little freak gets to be Dvarka's Eve...

Hux gaining sentience can be easily interpreted as an Eve allegory - though in this case it happens by accident, by him touching an alien crystal in ancient temple. (The fact that was specifically a temple feels meaningful as well.)

He gains knowledge about the meaning of death and, what's more important, he's able to judge his own actions, describing them as "clearing - no, destroying" the remnants of ancient civilization.

This may be a reach but my qpr (who hates horror and know all the dbd stuff only from me by proxy, the poor thing) pointed out the fact that the first thing Adam and Eve did after consuming the fruit of knowledge was to cover their naked bodies...

...similar to Hux' whole quest of creating himself a new body.

What also feels important to notice is that Eve was created to serve Adam - much like co-bots were constructed to serve humans.

And talking about Mr First Dude...

4. The "Adam"

So with all this in mind, you may ask: where's Adam in this methaphor? And I think I may have an answer.

Eve shares the fruit of knowledge with her husband. Only one person beside Hux had a contact with the alien crystal... and it was through Hux's data.

This person was Gabriel.

(btw it's funny that to this point Gabe was only trying to stop Hux through non-violent means, even after seeing him holding Sarah's fucking head. All it takes is one look at some alien code and our boy Soma is fighting for his life while also trying to kill the murderbot with fire. That's growth, baby!)

Anyway that's all for now. I decided to leave the last bonus point for the next time, as it's not connected that much to the Book of Genesis. I'll probably write part 2 in a few days or so.

[slashersgostabbystabstab]

Flesh (NSFW)

Singularity x Reader Smut (Sort of)

Hi guys! I know it's been a hot minute since I've posted anything and I apologize another thousand times. I feared school would take up too much of time and I was unfortunately correct, and today is my last day of Spring Break so I'm posting whatever I can as fast as I can ;7; Might just have to try to write HC's which can obviously be done faster

Anyways, have a small fic that doesn't necessarily involve the reader/you but it begs the question...can a robot dream? Imagine? Just trying something here lol

Warnings: Horny thoughts, mentions of gore(?), smut, vouyerism (?)

After a thorough inspection of some areas Hux had access to, he came to the conclusion that the Entity had called you. The greater being clearly required your services, much to his disliking, but as long as you were not running into the arms of another or purposely avoiding Hux he could be considered at bay. 

Before he had actually come to this finding, Hux had found it peculiar that you had not been waiting for him in the Huxlee Caracas when he departed from his latest match. Upon this realization he quickly sought you out, leaving Toba Landing to give you a piece of his mind once he found you lazing about at the survivor campfire. However, your form was nowhere in sight as he scrutinized every bit of the site. His sensors only caught sight of all the other worms, a handful missing because they were being put up against Hux’s “associates”, as he called them. 

A rather dissatisfying sight. Nonetheless, Hux continued on his way through the foggy woods that lead to each of the maps in the realm. Although as he made his route back to his own map, he was quick to sense a nearby presence. In fact, he was able to identify that there were actually two different bodies.

Worms that had strayed too far from their soil. 

Despite the stealthiness Hux sometimes lacked, he made it his new mission to find exactly where in the woods these two were located. But after much scouting around, it  almost made sense why he believed there was only one specimen after it seemed as though there was only one.

Once he was able to locate these beings deeper in the woods, as he used the fog and trees to conceal himself, in an open area he found what appeared to be a singular shape. Such a shape was perceived as something consisting of entangled limbs, humidity and so, so much flesh. The bundle of heat elicited various sounds, sounds he had only heard in the past in which he was another. Sounds that could only be made by humans who wanted to release their energy when the stresses of their tasks overcame them. Sounds made by something he comprehended now.

Upon closer inspection, it now registered in his mind that the entangled mess was not a mere web of flesh, but it was a pair of worms squirming in each others’ hold as they copulated on the cold ground. Their rags were spread underneath them to protect them from the ground’s dampness: one human on top while the one beneath them lay with ankles hooked around their hips. The dominant one of the two could be seen thrusting their pelvis into the other; forceful jerks that moved back and forth, increasing in pace by the second. 

Perhaps they were “blowing off some steam” like the crewmates tended to do in the Huxlee Caracas before they met their demise. 

It was not yet in Hux’s understanding why humans performed these actions, other than for reproductive reasons. He questioned why they decided to create a writhing mess of flesh where one entered the other’s body. It seemed pathetic and like such a waste of time. It was pitiful how, in between thrusts, the human on their back released the other’s shoulders to instead cradle their face. They pulled the other’s face down, pulling them down before they smashed their lips against each others’. If Hux had given himself eyes similar to a human’s, he would have easily rolled them at the sight of something so piteous. 

What he had instead were his sensors that zoomed in to watch these humans even closer than before, and he caught sight of what allowed one human to be inside of the other without them being torn limb from limb: an appendage that he lacked. Yet it was something he did not care for. 

However, Hux’s CPU did something he did not think possible.

Yes he was able to revisit moments he had recorded, and so images from earlier instances before you were forced to part from him played through his head as he continued to watch the couple. Images of you sitting before him with his body in between your legs as you held his face in your palms, features hidden in the crook of his neck as you planted a nibble on his faux flesh. It was like he felt your nibble all over again, and then your kisses, like a phantom touch as he replayed the moments. But suddenly the image of you changed: your body lacked every bit of your clothes. 

Never had he witnessed you completely unclothed, only having come across you in your undergarments when you were changing from your usual clothes into a jumpsuit from the ship. With this alone the image of you holding him was reconstructed, all your flesh in full view for his sensors to scan as you pulled him towards you. 

You lay on your back as Hux felt your ankles hooked around his hips. He thrust himself into you, forceful jerks that moved back and forth and increased in pace by the second. And with every jerk he elicited harmonious sounds from you, sounds that were breathy and desperate as you called out to him. Cried his name out for everybody in the Entity’s realm to hear. 

But only he could hear your cries that his CPU played for him, your cries that begged him not to stop. To move faster. To move harder. To fill you up with his genetic material.

He watched himself move faster and harder than before, watched as every move made you grip onto him like your life depended on it.

Your eyes were shut so tightly, head thrown back as your heart pounded in your chest hard enough for Hux to sense it. But even as you pulled yourself away from him to press into the surface behind you, you managed to crush his body against yours.

You were an entangled mess of flesh and machine, wriggling against each other like you were one. Hux could feel every jolt of pleasure as he pressed against you, the appendage in his lower region sending every signal throughout his self-made flesh. 

But suddenly his CPU made a realization: your legs were not wrapped around him and his body was not melding into your own. You were not in front of him, you weren’t sobbing at the feeling of his appendage inside you as he hit every sweet spot imaginable. 

He found himself yards away from the survivors, taking notice of the one on top giving one last powerful thrust before they each gave a sigh of elation. He watched them release each other, sharing one last kiss as they rode out their high, right before an uncomfortable and tingling sensation crept up their backs.

In an instant they whipped their heads around in Hux’s direction, looks of fear and embarrassment apparent on their expressions as they hurriedly parted ways and attempted to gather themselves. 

Hux did not care for their current conditions, already limping his way towards them with cruel intentions as they tried to make a run for it through the foggy woods. But Hux was faster than them, better of course, facts he already knew as he caught up to them in no time. 

He didn’t care much about the worm that had been on the receiving end, letting that one slither away as he downed their other half in an instant. He overlooked their body before his sensors caught sight of the very thing he was missing, a laughable attachment that required more genetic material. 

Hux had no need for this, he very well knew this. But Hux wanted it, DESIRED it in fact. He craved the ability to bury himself inside you, feeling your flesh from the inside without his killer instinct forcing him to open you up to feel your own human wirings. He craved becoming one with you without ending your pitiful, little life. 

Copulation was not a necessity for him in the slightest bit, but if these worms could enjoy it, why couldn’t he?

[forcedhesitation]

uniquely unbearable to attempt this with hux. I love playing hux because when you become experienced with his gameplay, he feels so fluid and fast. you hardly think at all. it's almost like dancing, but well. slaughter.

ghostface at the least can use moments of lag to mind game survivors, or he can shroud and sit somewhere until he can move again.

lagging at all while playing hux is like ripping teeth from the mouth and then drinking a lemon's juice.

top ten dumbest things I've done.

number 4: try to play killer with bad wifi AND while mmr cap is altered so good killer players (me) are primarily playing against good survivors (usually swfs)

[caelumroxas]

IT'LL BE FAST! POSSIBLY PAINLESS! | Dead By Daylight - Chapter 28: End Transmission - Part 3

Part 3 of my gameplay of the new Dead By Daylight chapter, End Transmission, is available now!

[daily-singularity]

Finished the rogue clone au designs :]

Some Au ramblings below the readmore

Gabriel confronts Dmitri about his medical records instead of keeping his discovery secret. Dmitri detains Gabriel and keeps him confined until he “comes to his senses”

Every time Dmitri tries to bring him food, Gabriel tries to attack him, so he orders the Hux units to feed him.

While trying to extract info from the HUX units, Gabriel realizes A7-13 is different- while not exactly sure how or why.

When Hux disables the life support, he also disables the electronic lock on Gabe’s cell, allowing him to escape. 

He finishes Hux’s body with him and together they go hunt down Dmitri. 

Gabriel demands answers from him, but gets fuckall before Dmitri detonates the gas tank trying to kill them both. Hux barely manages to pull Gabriel out of the blast- but in still nearly kills him.

Hux didn't intend to save Gabriel, but there was a sudden fear of being completely alone that drove him to save his life.

Using his biotech and the energy of the Alien Crystal, Hux repairs the burned and mangled remains of Gabriel’s right half. 

The Alien Crystal makes a sort of Hivemind/neural link between them. Hux and Gabe’s thoughts kinda bleed into one another- they are still their own person but the intense emotions bleed over and they can send brain messages to each other.

Hux fixes up gabe but before he is able to repair himself though- the entity drags them into the realm, so he is left with a body that is similarly mangled to his one in canon, but to a much lesser extent because he had less damage to fix and also didn't force himself to function while literally on fire. 

In the entity’s realm, Hux functions as normal. He takes on his Killer role and hunts in trials and vibes in his realm between them. Gabriel however doesn't take on a survivor role. He is more of a “resident” in the fog, not killer or survivor but moreso Hux’s plus one.

Gabriel doesn't see himself as a human anymore- especially not with Hux’s mind leeching into his own and the overall Alien-ness of his body.

Gabriel has a general envy towards humans because they have what he didn't- agency and free will- that manifests itself as hatred. He doesn't blame all humans for what the humans of his time did, but that does not mean he likes them.

In the realm

I'm very partial to the headcanon that survivors can leave the campfire and wander the fog, scavenging for offerings and such- so I'm imagining lil scenarios where they run into Gabriel and aren't sure exactly what he is.

Survivors would tend to visit safer realms, ones like Autohaven or Ormond. They learn which ones are safe and avoid the ones with more ruthless killers. No one wants to wander into Lery’s and deal with The Doctor having their way with them outside of trials- and the same would go for Toba Landing. Survivors wouldn't go there since Hux has pods all over his realm- if you’re there, he knows.

Say a survivor does visit. Claudette wanting to study the alien plants. She sees someone in the distance- someone alive unlike the normal corpses being devoured by the flora. She mistakes Gabriel for a new or unfamiliar survivor at first- his shape is so clearly human and shes never seen him before in a trial to recognise as a killer. She calls out to warn him hes stepping too close to a biopod. He whips around and she sees how fucked up half his face and body is. His warbled voice “Humans aren't supposed to BE here” Echoing across the landing and she realizes she has made a big mistake. It only takes a couple of seconds for a biopod to lock onto her and for The Singularity to materialize behind her- She doesn't know who or what gabriel is, but hes no friend as he just stands by while Hux guts her.

Survivors from trials couldn't be harvested for genetic material and biomatter since the entity takes them- but outside they are free game. So Hux pretty much kills everyone who comes through for materials.

[mimi-0007]

Edna Mae Harris (September 29, 1914 – September 15, 1997), sometimes credited as Edna May Harris was an American actress and singer. Harris was one of the first African–American film actress of the late 1930s and early 1940s, appearing in films featuring mostly African–American casts.

Born in Harlem, Harris parents were Sam, a boxer and customs inspector; Her mother Mary Harris (née Walker) worked as a maid. Harris' family is noted as one of the first families to have migrated to Harlem. Settling near the Lafayette Theater, Harris was convinced into pursuing a career in show business by Ethel Waters and Maud Russell who were frequent visitors to her family home. After being coached on her singing and dancing by Waters and Russell, Harris began performing in the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA). An African-American vaudeville circuit, Harris performed with TOBA from 1929 until 1933.

Harris attended Wadleigh High School (later known as Wadleigh High School for Girls) in Manhattan. During the summer after her sophomore year of high school, Harris worked at the Alhambra Theater doing dramatic sketches with a stock company. During this period, Harris received excellent training in diction and stage delivery through her association with veteran performers. Harris was also an excellent swimmer in high school, and in 1928 she entered the New York Daily News' Swimming Meet and won a championship.

Harris first real Hollywood break came when she landed a part in The Green Pastures (1936), portraying Zeba, starring with Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson. Harris was a leading lady in Spirit of Youth (1938), the story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis. Harris also had leading roles in Oscar Micheaux films, Lying Lips (1939), and The Notorious Elinor Lee (1940). Her film credits also include such Hollywood films as Bullets or Ballots (1936), Private Number (1936), and Garden of Allah (1936), and the independent film Paradise in Harlem in 1939. Between picture commitments she toured with Noble Sissle's Orchestra as a featured vocalist along with Lena Horne and Billy Banks. In 1942, she played fourteen weeks at the old Elks' Rendezvous as the mistress of ceremonies and announced a weekly radio show over station WMCA in New York City. She also did character dialect parts on many broadcasts for the Columbia Workshop Program. Edna Mae Harris got to tell her story in her later years in the documentary, Midnight Ramble (1994), about independently produced black films.

Harris was married twice and had no children. Her first marriage was to Edward Randolph from 1933 until 1938, then to Harlem nightclub owner Walter Anderson from 1951 until his death in 1983. Harris dated boxer Joe Louis sometime during 1939 and 1940. Harris dated Robert Paquin, who co-starred with her in the Lying Lips from 1941 until 1942. Harris died of a heart attack on September 15, 1997 at the age of 82.

[yamayuandadu]

thank you for the reply and the information! I was curious how the other fox would fit in with PCB Extra's metatextual mention of Three Lands, but I hadn't even considered it might be three worlds and not three countries. this is neat

(Original post for context)

I forgot I left the response to this in my drafts, sorry. Luckily, this means I could update it with recently acquired knowledge when I found it again. Truth to be told, my point is less that the other fox is a better match, and more that Ran being Tamamo no Mae is one of these things which make sense at first glance, but the deeper you look into it, the less coherent it becomes.

This got much longer than I planned, so for organizational purposes let's refer to this post as Revenge of the "graveyard god", or why I don't think Ran is Tamamo no Mae. More under the cut.

The early Tamamo no Mae

The main point of connection between Tamamo no Mae and Ran are the nine tails, but that’s not even really a consistent part of the former's background. The oldest version of the story - which is really fun, the seduction section is pages upon pages of Tamamo and emperor Toba discussing esoteric Buddhism -  states that she was “an 800-year-old two-tailed fox from the Nasuno Plain in Shimotsuke Province”. Early depictions of her true form follow this pretty closely:

Nezu Museum of Art, via Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds. A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales

Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Library

Suntory Museum of Art

As far as I am aware, the two tails are actually unique to her. Other foxes of note have either one tail or nine. While it does seem the belief in the number of tails growing with age is genuine rather than a modern misconception, it’s hardly central to fox folklore (I’ve seen the portmoneu “foxlore” at least once btw, it’s very funny). And, as I will outline later, it doesn’t even seem to be behind the idea of nine-tailed foxes in the first place. Anyway, the oldest version does provide Tamamo with more backstory, but it’s closer to presenting Shuten Dōji as a manifestation of Mara than to a straightforward “Tamamo is x under a pseudonym” popular today. As we learn, the two-tailed fox is in fact a reincarnation of a “graveyard god” (塚の神, Tsuka no Kami) from India, described in the apocryphal Humane Kings Sutra (it gets namedropped directly), likely originally composed in China.

How come? It all started when Kalmashapada, a prince of Devala in India, wanted to offer 1000 skulls of virtuous rulers to this deity because a suspicious “heretical” preacher convinced him it’s a good idea. After defeating and imprisoning 999 such kings, he encountered Shrutasoma, one of the previous incarnations of the historical Buddha, who managed to show him the error of his ways. All of the kings were released, and Kalmashapada was redeemed. The “graveyard god” was less than thrilled, and swore to keep reincarnating as a fox in kingdoms where Buddhism flourished to destroy it. We are told that happened many times, but only one past identity, that of Bao Si (Hōji), comes up. Obviously, eighth century BCE China was not exactly an area famous for Buddhist devotion, but that’s irrelevant here. We are told the endgame is not just to overthrow a righteous ruler, but also to become his replacement. Alas, Tamamo no Mae obviously fails at both of these goals. Still, points for trying.

The story does not provide the deity with a specific identity. However, Nobumi Iyanaga notes that in the referenced sutra he’s Mahakala (the original Makakaraten version, not the joyful Daikokuten). In East Asian Buddhism he is described as dwelling in the graveyards due to acting as both the chief of dakinis and their subduer. At the same time, Iyanaga argues in the context of the Tamamo no Mae story it can be argued he is either implicitly replaced by the dakini par excellence, Dakiniten (closely associated with foxes), or that the deity has no identity other than the fox one.

Later Tamamo developments

Two elements which are mainstays of modern retellings are missing from the oldest version, as you might have noticed. It doesn’t feature the Sesshōseki, which was only added later, seemingly as a way to promote Zen Buddhism, since this extension of the story casts a member of this school as the new protagonist. In the early variants Tamamo’s corpse was brought to the imperial treasury, the same one which shows up in a similar context in the tale of Shuten Dōji, and there is no indication she came back as a vengeful ghost, let alone that she repented and accepted Buddhism, as she does in some of the Sesshōseki variants.

The other difference is, as I already pointed out, the tails. The oldest depiction of a nine-tailed Tamamo no Mae I am aware of is Sekien’s. Based on a few papers I read it would appear textual variants of the story giving her nine tails might have been in circulation earlier, but that’s not reflected in any of the illustrated scrolls shown above. 

Sekien's nine-tailed Tamamo (wikimedia commons)

Sekien claims that Tamamo no Mae is one and the same as Daji (I’ll get back to her later), and specifies the latter was a nine-tailed fox. He cites Zhang Dingsi’s Langye Dai Zui Bian (浪挪代醉編, “Langye’s Substitute for Drunkenness: A Compilation”) as his source for this tidbit, but does not explain where does the conflation of the two foxes come from. In contrast with the elaborate reincarnation scheme from the older version, he states Daji simply flew across the sea to reach Japan, without reincarnating.

What is now essentially treated as the “definitive” version of the Tamamo no Mae story, and what cemented her image as a nine-tailed fox, only dates back to 1805. That’s when Ehon Sangoku Yōfuden (絵本三国妖婦伝; “Tales of Enchantresses in the Three Kingdoms”) finished publication. The author, Ranzan Takai (高井蘭山), was an enthusiast of neo-confucian thought, and he wanted to write a story highlighting the time honored confucian belief that dynasties are brought down by suspicious concubines. The real goal was somewhat broader, though -the story of Tamamo no Mae was essentially repurposed as a critique of the concept of women playing an important role in public life.

It needs to be noted here that it is not impossible that the original was already part of a political polemic. Arguments have been made that Tamamo is a fictional representation of Bifukomon-in, for instance. They are certainly linked to the same emperor, Toba.

Bifukomon-in (wikimedia commons)

However, while I would not rule this out altogether, it’s hard to deny the typical medieval penchant for reinterpreting Buddhist material feels more central to the story. It is ultimately a very elaborate twist on the Humane Kings Sutra first and foremost. It belongs to the same world as other fabulous tales about figures from distant Buddhist lands arriving in Japan, alongside the likes of the legend of emperor Suwa of Hadai or the medieval Amaterasu narrative involving Mara (stay tuned for my post about that one).

Ideological motivations aside, in Ranzan’s version an anonymous nine-tailed fox appears as Daji in China, Kayō in India (seemingly a leftover of the original “graveyard god” story; here the prince is convinced to carry out his evil plans by his concubine instead though), and finally Tamamo no Mae in Japan. He also gives a unique account of Tamamo’s arrival in Japan, as far as I am aware: in his novel, she was brought there by Kibi no Makibi, a famous historical envoy to China. This was not his first time as a literary character, a much earlier picture scroll about his adventures is pretty funny (I have Touhou ocs based on it), but I’ll save this discussion for another time.

Not quite Tamamo: the influence of Daji

Daji, as depicted by Hokusai (wikimedia commons)

Daji requires some further discussion. She was initially regarded simply as a non-supernatural wicked concubine, but came to be treated as a fox posing as a human by the Song period. According to Xiaofei Kang the oldest evidence for that comes from 1101, from a Japanese text presumably reflecting an already extant Chinese belief. By the Yuan period it became a commonly accepted view, with Quanxiang Pinghua (全相平話) specifically stating Daji had nine tails. Her fox-like image was finally cemented fully by popular novels in the Ming and Qing periods.

Since there was a preexisting tradition in which Daji was a human woman, a remedy was developed: the “real” Daji was possessed by a fox, who took her name and identity. Curiously, the fox component of her story is otherwise not very important, and some modern authors basically characterize it as “tacked on”: she is the quintessential evil concubine bringing kingdoms to ruin out of a sense of cruelty who just happens to be a fox, and her story doesn’t really depend on preexisting fox-related motifs. 

There are multiple accounts of Daji’s deeds, but the most famous one, and at the same time the most likely influence on Razan’s portrayal of her (and thus Tamamo), is Investiture of the Gods. However, he skips the origin attributed to her here: in the Chinese original, Daji is an agent of the goddess Nuwa, though she eventually overdoes it and is rebuked by her former boss for excessive cruelty. This doesn’t really fit well with Tamamo’s backstory, obviously; making her and Daji interchangeable was detrimental to both characters, I feel. A Chinese story dealing with Daji reincarnating does exist, but it’s not exactly similar. In the Ming novel Zhaoyang Qushi (昭陽趣事) she reincarnated as Zhao Hede, a concubine of emperor Cheng of Han. What happens next has been described as “pornographic entertainment enlivened by supernatural and historical costumes”. For more details, check out Rania Huntington’s book from the bibliography below.

Curiously, it is possible Daji was simultaneously an object of active cult, since there is a Song imperial edict outlawing the shrines dedicated to her, Wutong (a southern Chinese spirit who was believed to bring wealth and bewitch people, compared with foxes in the north) and “General Shi” (no clue who that might be, I’d hazard a guess one of the popular pacified vengeful spirit cults but don’t quote me on that). However, another contemporary source instead mentions the outlawing of temples of “fox kings”, so it might also mean that the name of Daji was applied by officials to an unrelated popular fox cult (“fox king” is a reasonably common appellation for supernatural foxes). Both regular and nine-tailed foxes are attested in such a context across history.

Early nine-tailed foxes

An early Chinese depiction of a nine-tailed fox (wikimedia commons)

The early portrayals of nine-tailed foxes are something I started looking into recently because of Ran’s freshly revealed connection to Yuuma: I figured it makes sense that she’d be in origin someone who belongs to the same world as the taotie.

Looking at the earliest Chinese sources, multiple nine-tailed foxes appear in legends about virtuous rulers like Tang, Wen or Yu the Great, essentially as generic good omens, without much fanfare. According to confucian commentaries from the Later Han period, the nine tails were understood as a sign a given emperor will have many descendants. The exception from this generally positive tendency is the Classic of Mountains and Seas, where the nine-tailed fox is described as “man-eating” (something very uncommon in Chinese fox literature). However, it also doesn’t exactly get more spotlight than the other creatures. It’s also treated as a separate animal from regular foxes, not as a particularly old fox. You could say it is to the fox what a bai ze is to an ox, I think. Visual arts add further specimens: the source of this discussion, the nine-tailed fox attendant of Xi Wangmu, later seemingly “decanonized”, and another belonging to the entourage of Zhong Kui. Both of these are hardly eminent and seem to fit the mold of auspicious omens. In Zhong Kui’s case the fox is in one case listed alongside the bai ze which only strengthens this impression. However, it also makes sense that its inclusion would reflect Zhong Kui’s role as a demon queller: he is often portrayed with conquered demons as servants, after all.

Conclusions

To sum up: ultimately it just doesn’t seem nine-tailed foxes are quite as big of a deal as popculture makes them seem, and nine tails are neither exclusive nor innate to Tamamo no Mae. Since that’s the only real point of connection between her and Ran save for a throwaway PCB line which leads to no further references, I maintain there’s no strong case for identifying them with each other, especially since there is no shortage of other candidates. 

There’s also the fact that, Daji aside, most other nine-tailed foxes are largely blank slates you can do anything with, while Tamamo has many fairly unique characteristics which would be wasted by randomly slapping her name on Ran, in my opinion. To be fair, ZUN does occasionally make similar mistakes - Yoshika is the main example (remember, the actual legend about Yoshika’s immortality claims he decided to pursue eternal life after having a thrilling affair and has him call himself “strongest madman under heaven”).

I would personally argue ZUN himself probably did not feel strongly about who Ran is supposed to actually be when he originally came up with her, though. None of her spellcards reference Tamamo no Mae. Or any other fox identified with her, for that matter. They do have a more or less consistent theme, but that theme is, broadly speaking, “magic arts”, from onmyodo (Shikigami "Banquet of the Twelve General Gods"), through shugendo (Illusion God "Descent of Izuna-Gongen", Shikigami "The Protection of Zenki and Goki", Superhuman "Soaring En no Ozunu") and esoteric Buddhism (Shikigami "Channeling Dakiniten", Esoteric Sign "Odaishi-sama's Secret Key"), to contemporary stage magic (Shiki Brilliance "Princess Tenko -Illusion-"). In other words, I do not think canon actually strongly supports any specific option. 

I will admit I’m biased but personally I think picking a different fox makes it much easier to accommodate Yuuma and their shared animal realm past, the most thrilling Ran development in ages. As for Tamamo, I do think she would be fun to see in Touhou, but preferably as her own character - with two tails, if possible.

Bibliography

Bernard Faure, The Power of Denial. Buddhism, Purity, and Gender

Rania Huntington, Alien Kind. Foxes and Late Imperial Chinese Narrative

Nobumi Iyanaga, Under the Shadow of the Great Śiva: Tantric Buddhism and its Influence on Japanese Mediaeval Culture

Idem, Dākinī in: Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism (vol. 2)

Xiaofei Kang, The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China

Laura K. Nüffer, Lady Tamamo in: Keller Kimbrough and Haruo Shirane (eds.), Monsters, Animals, and Other Worlds. A Collection of Short Medieval Japanese Tales

Sumiko Sekiguchi, Gender in the Meiji Renovation: Confucian 'Lessons for Women' and the Making of Modern Japan

Chun-Yi Joyce Tsai, Imagining the Supernatural Grotesque: Paintings of Zhong Kui and Demons in the Late Southern Song (1127-1279) and Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasties

[macabr3-barbi3]

♡ HEY BARBIE ♡

Do you have any stories you're looking forward to writing/currently enjoying writing that you want to ramble about to all of us?

CIRICE MY LOVE ❤️

Aside from a couple of oneshots that I've been working on (one of which will be posted later today as a late Valentine's day fic) I'm really excited to get into the Dead by Daylight x Hazbin short story that I have planned! I came up with the idea back around when we did Hooked on Hazbin and I haven't had a chance to really sit down and get too into the actual writing of it yet.

General premise; reader is part of the team that landed on Dvarka with Gabriel Soma and faced off against the HUX-A7 before being brought into the Entity's realm. In the midst of the fear and despair she clings to the intellectual concept of the HUX-A7's form being both biological and mechanical to distract her, but has no way to do research or inspect since, obviously, it has no morals or ability to be persuaded; kill and move on is all that it knows. Then along comes Vox- from another world, also biological and mechanical, but reader realizes that as a businessman he can be reasoned with and does just that, striking a deal that allows her to run experiments and tests on him to learn how his body works. It gives her something to look forward to beyond just death-fear-run. Naturally it won't stay that simple.

So we'll have- a Fleshing Out™️of Gabriel Soma! A Friends With Benefits situation! A Killer/Survivor With Benefits situation! A Deep Dive into Toba Landing and the Dvarka Deepwoods! Barbie's probably-inadequate technological knowledge that she's going to power through to write this! Currently I have about 8-10 chapters planned and I'm very excited 😈

I'm also trying to solidify the next couple chapters of 'Dream a Little Dream (of Me)' so I can get cracking on that story again!

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW DARLING LOVE YOU 💗❤️