#eightfold fence | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whimsical-lullaby · 8 months ago

Note

Would you write a Toranaga x reader who was traveling with John Blackthorne?

Untethered, floating aimlessly

Standing before the great lord, your head hung low with your eyes trained to the ground and unable to meet his gaze. But your ears bore witness to your surroundings; the howling winds of nightfall, the crimson tent's flap flying in the breeze. Had your feet not been covered, you would have felt sand cling to your toes. For a moment you are thankful you are in this clothing .. but the weight of it hangs on your shoulders.

Just like the weight of his silence, you think inwardly as you waited patiently for whatever words would come out the Lord's mouth.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you finally raised your eyes to see the scene unfold before you. Yoshii Toranaga, holding his infant daughter in his arms .. he looked down at her, his lips upturn in a small but recognisable smile of content. Moving slightly in a motion of rocking the child who rests in her peaceful slumber. You've never seen him this peaceful before, not ever since you met him.

The girl seemed like she was too little to even fit in his arms but she did, perfectly so. An image too good to be true.

Toranaga lifts his had and his eyes rest on yours. "You did well."

You did well. At those three simple words, you gleamed softly.

In your time in Ajiro village, you had taken up the task to learn as much of the Japanese language as you could. Ten words a day, you had requested of your teacher, Lady Mariko. But she adjusted them to five, less you wanted to go to sleep with a headache and forget the pronunciations which was most likely what happened.

"What have you decided to name her?" Toranaga quarries in a hum.

Yes, it is true. You have excelled in learning as much words as your brain could handle. But you were still new to stringing up sentences with said words. Your head turned to Lady Mariko, awaiting his translation.

Swallowing up every anxiety you had in you, your eyes interlocked with his. "I have." Your voice began, leveled. "Mariko will be her name. For she has stood by me like no one else has since my arrival."

Toda Mariko blinked, hesitating her interpretation for her Lord as her heart swells with gratitude. Her eightfold fence rattled but she charged on, guarding it dutifully. She dips her head in a bow. "You honor me greatly, N/N-sama."

Lord Toranaga's eyes narrowed lightly, brows contorted in confusion and they rested as Lady Mariko translates for you. He didn't dare miss the warmth the two women shared and found it endearing that you were finding a footing in his country, a home in the form of one his most trusted people.

A small smile settles on his lips, looking at you. "A fitting name indeed."

The Lord comes over to you, carefully placing Mariko in the safety of your arms. Your heart swells with wonder of her being here .. for a long time she had been but an imagination, a dream. And now you're finding it hard to believe she was actually here.

You had expected so much from Toranaga's arrival. The first image of him that came to your mind when he saw you, was him raging and speaking so quickly in long sentences you didn't even understand. And you just staring at him like a deer, surveying for any predators in the area.

However, you weren't going to lie because you deserved his anger, his lecture. Hiding a pregnancy wasn't a small thing...

Still, you couldn't take your mind off of the day you two parted. You had argued with him on the ship sailing to Ajiro village after the escape at Osaka. Needing to let out your pent up emotions to the sole purpose of your anguish and frustration. Him.

When you were first brought before him along with John Blackthorne, you had been but a stranger to him. A barbarian. At first you had no knowledge as to why he had strike up the deal to set John and his crew free in exchange of you being his concubine.

It seemed like a deal for his own personal gain which you righteously refused. But just as John had a slippery tongue when it comes to vile words, he did so when telling lies. Like the lie he told Toranaga of you being his sister, to ensure that you were close to him whatever the circumstances was.. a lie in which still is hidden til today. And then he goes on to accept the offer on your behalf.

Some brother he was.

Lady Mariko was there to help you in any way she could and you were grateful in that aspect. Yet that still didn't mean it was sunshine and roses from then on.

The escape from Osaka took place.

You had thought, since you were Toranaga's concubine he would protect you, at the very least. But when you climbed on that Portuguese ship at the bay, and the captain said he wanted you and Blackthorne out and back to the shores of Osaka, Toranaga came out of the captain's quarters and relied his words.

Betrayed.

You were no stranger to betrayal. It was the root cause of you coming here in the first place. The son of a lady you were serving had his eyes of for you, one day gifting you his grandmother's ring on Christmas. A little bird tweeted in the kitchens you were working in and you found yourself in front of the Mistress who had her son beside her, questioning him on the jewellery. The bastard denied ever giving it to you.

Branded a thief, you knew sooner than late that you would be sentenced to transportation.

Your nan always told you to be wary of men, they will take advantage of you if you don't.

That's why you descended upon the Portuguese ship in tow behind John, because you were just a pawn in whatever game the Lord of Kanto was playing.

You both narrowly escaped. That was one thing about you that you shared with John. Your drive to live ...

For the few coming hours, you had Mary that drive nor will ..

Unable to face Toranaga after his betrayal, you went to the back of the ship that courses through the waves. Somehow, you ended on the other side of the helm of the ship, the heal of your legs balancing on a protruding beam. Your mind had conjured up a peaceful oblivion, that was enough to make you do that.

As you gaze down at the reflection of the starry littered sea, that's all you wished to be engulfed in. A gleaming heaven, a calm nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Not a raging cold ocean that would drown you the moment you let go.

The moment you let go ..

It never came. Because Toranaga was there.

He stopped you. Obviously it didn't work. You were a stubborn girl from the day you were born.

Your mind was made up. You nothing here in these, you had no one, you were no one.

By the time you reached Ajiro village, no words were shared between you and Lord Toranaga. You stood next to Blackthorne as the formalities went on with Toranaga inspecting his vassal's army.

Then you saw him sailing away on the boat, gracefully raising his fan as the army cheered him on. Nagakado had said he had urgent business and that for the coming months, the gun regiment needed to be trained.

There was only a moment where you interlocked eyes with his as the boat took him away. A foreign feeling tugged at your heart and you ignored it as you wondered beneath all that anguish inside you. Was he ever feeling it too?

Now how were you to bring up being with child in all that whirlwind of pain and betrayal and loneliness?

Thankfully the loneliness was cured.

You found a friend in Usami Fuji. She had orders from Toranaga to be John's consort and you knew a great deal about him spending time on the Erasmus, in that long, excruciating voyage. She was thankful for you immensely.

With time, she helped you adjust to the life growing in your womb as she was once a mother too.

Lady Mariko was there, too.

She was your translator, your closest confidant. You had begun to accept her as the older sister you always wished and dreamed you had. Most of your siblings you had to see go because of famine. You were much accustomed to death around you.

So when a new life came, your heart was heavy with joy. Your eyes shed tears of content for the very first time since you arrived in this island country. In your daughter, you had something that was yours and a purpose to keep moving forward in this godforsaken journey called life.

Life seemed a little brighter with her here now. And that only hope you held, was the reason you stood before Toranaga today, without having to fall to your knees and wallow in self pity and embarrassment.

Toranaga nods toward Lady Mariko and she bows, taking her leave. Your heart sinks as you watched the departure of your interpreter but you do your best not to show it. Now, all you had was your broken Japanese to communicate with him.

There was silence, only the winds whispered, filling the space between them. As if they too were anticipating who would break the silence of suffocation.

"That day .. no goodbye." You tried piecing together the words you could only describe were like million puzzle pieces to create one image, while the clock ticked in your eardrums.

The clock being the unflinching gaze of Toranaga.

Toranaga replies, "I'd assumed you were angry with me."

"I still am." You confirmed, catching onto the last three words he said. The lessons you spent with Mariko giving you hope that even though broken, you could still communicate and reach and understanding.

Your gaze fell on a lamp, finding it interesting all of a sudden. You harboured enough strengths and courage to do a great many things but looking into his eyes was not one of them. He was the most frustrating yet undaunted man you had ever met in your life and you didn't know whether to see that as a blessing of a curse.

"Can .. can I trust you?" Your voice came out in a whisper.

"Trust is a powerful word."

Of course he would say that. I mean, what were you hoping? He was a Lord, for crying out loud. And you .. you are just a girl from a small town that courageously paved her way through life and then royally fucked it up after you trusted someone you claimed to love.

Still not meeting his eyes, yours closed as you let out a shaky breath. You just needed the clarity. "Then, can I lean on you? Until the storm is over?"

He knew exactly what you meant. This war. You wanted clarity on whether he would protect you should anything happen ..

Toranaga nods. "I will you give you a shelter untill this storm is over." His lips upturned and your eyes finally found his, your heart fluttering as the burning on your cheeks stung.

"And perhaps," he continues, "we can start over. From the beginning."

"I'd like that," for the first time, you beamed a smile that reached to your eyes. "I'd like that very much."

#shōgun 2024 #shogun fx #yoshii toranaga x reader #yoshii toranaga #hiroyuki sanada

121 notes · View notes

clawbehavior · 10 months ago

Text

we're five episodes into Shogun, which means we're halfway through the series and all the major plotlines have been introduced and the characters characterized. and i'm starting to notice things.

namely, toranaga is becoming increasingly unlikeable. it started when he abandoned blackthorne to die after being saved by the man hours earlier, but it reached its peak with the return of the young heir's mother and the reveal that she's using the council against toranaga to protect her son. because then what is toranaga going to war for? we were told via the dead king's widow that toranaga needs to protect the young heir against the council, but clearly that's not true. so what's he doing? it bothered me that toranaga could be so kind to the young heir, playing with him and advising him, while neglecting his own son, whose insecurity around his father was so transparent that he was easily manipulated into starting a war. but then i wondered if toranaga was showing his true self (his third heart) to his son. that scene where he says "you categorize everyone as enemies and friends when you only have yourself" implies that he sees everyone as a potential enemy, which can only happen if his self-interests are at odds with everyone else's. seeing the end of episode five, i think toranaga is not what he seems. we know he can be duplicitous. he plays uncle and nephew against each other so easily, getting rid of the problem of their growing power by doing so. i think the falcon motif that's ever present in the show represents toranaga, flying against the sun so his prey can't see him until it's too late (episode one). he's fooling everyone, including his allies, which brings me to my next point.

mariko's story is not going to end well. i didn't know why this was a limited series with no chance of a season two until we got her backstory. mariko is straight up suicidal, just looking for a purposeful/honorable way to do it. if blackthorne can see this within days of meeting her, across a huge cultural divide and despite language differences, then toranaga has clocked this about her too, which doesn't bode well for her life. the mariko-blackthorne-husband love triangle subplot serves a deeper function of revealing her psyche to us. she can't let go of her feelings of injustice and dishonor from her family's deaths. (the flashback we get of her past shows her father's haunted expression because that's how she remembers the event, with horror rather than disgust for his actions.) this is why she tells blackthorne the truth about her family when ordered to by her husband, even though blackthorne tells her to lie and tell him something else because her husband won't know. mariko can't let go of what happened to her family (and her husband doesn't let her). she's been spiritually dead for ages and the return of her husband from the dead not only means she cheated, which someone with her honor code can't live with, it means she cannot be happy with blackthorne. her tragic past coupled with her strong feelings towards honor/dishonor makes her easy for toranaga to use, though it's unclear for what.

interestingly, mariko and blackthornes' opposing ideologies are why they survived and found each other. mariko resists quietly, inside her soul (the eightfold fence), turning to her Christian faith and becoming devout and learned in Portuguese to speak with the priests. this is how she ends up as blackthorne's translator, a position of power and later romance. blackthorne, in contrast, resists outwardly and every step of the way. that scene where toranaga tells him to give up because he's outnumbered and blackthorne replies "unless i win" captures his character perfectly. he's going to fight until the last second, which is why he survives the journey to Japan, and why he gets separated from his men and integrated into a foreign culture, and why he steers the ship to safety rather than being left behind to die. that stubbornness to live shows up as a tendency for breaking all the rules, the result of which is meeting mariko and unintentionally getting her to fall in love with him. it's so fascinating how their ideologies have set them apart from their own people and brought them together while indicating their incompatibility.

the show does a good job of layering characters and keeping them consistent, so i have faith that they'll return to yabushige's scary character. him torturing a sailor to death in pursuit of an existential question in a way so barbaric that it scares even the villagers did an excellent job in setting the tone of the show in episode one and setting the show apart from other historic period dramas. so it's disappointing to see him turn into a conniving goofball. hopefully this is a short term thing.

i haven't been so intrigued by the political machinations within a show in a long while, probably since GoT. can't wait to see how the rest of it plays out

gif below courtesy of @yocalio. look at toranaga's face shadowed in the sunlight. we don't fully know him.

#shōgun #fx shogun #shogun spoilers #shogun #toda mariko #john blackthorne #yoshii toranaga #analysis

96 notes · View notes