#heko obi

[tanuki-kimono]

I just found your blog and I am absolutely enamored by all these designs! I did have a quick question though

I'd love to one day visit Japan, and I love the idea of attending a festival in a rented yukata. However, I'm concerned about if I could wear one or not due to the sleeves. I'm disabled and get around using forearm crutches, and have difficulty fitting larger sleeves in them.

I guess I was just curious about if either the sleeves could easily be pulled back to my elbows, or if maybe there are yukata with shorter sleeves (I've never seen them myself at least.)

Hi! I am so happy you fell in love with kimono fashion <3

As for your question, there is a fantastic way to accomodate your crutches: tasuki 襷 sleeves holders. Those are cord used for holding up sleeves out of the way (when doing chores, physical/messy activity, etc).

You can see below how tasuki are tied: basically think of an ∞ with the crossing on your back and the loop up front gathering up sleeves on your sides:

Depending on your mobility, you can pre-knot the cord beforehand then slip it around your body.

The "right" way of doing it is this one:

Though to be honest, most people do like this and call it a day xD:

I am not sure how your mobility is so I'll also add other options to mix and match in order to nicely enjoy summer festivals in kimono attire:

Happi 法被 (festival coat): if you don't feel confortable strolling all day/night in yukata (the tighness of around your legs might be cumbersome), wearing a coat like those over your "normal" clothes is a good option to still be in festival mood :) Some are sleeveless, some have tube sleeves, and if not pair them with tasuki sleeves holder and you'll be good to go!

(pic below from)

Nibushiki kimono 二部式着物 / nibushiki yukata 二部式浴衣 (two parts kimono/yukata): exactly what it says on the lid, those are kimono/yukata tailored in two parts, a skirt and a top one. Those might be harder to find in rentals, but have the convenience of being super easy to put on while being less prone to unraveling :) The two parts are also gentler on the figure as you can more easily adapt tighness etc. If you're are able to shop for a yukata beforehand, altering is pretty easy: chop in two, add ties and you're ready to get dressed ;)

Tsuke obi 作り帯 (two parts belt): in the same spirit as above, those are pre-tied obi belt, with a wrap-around part and a knot part. They are super common for children, but also exist for adult. Altering a pre owned obi is also super easy, see for example this past note (for nagoya obi styled taiko knot).

Yukata can be worn with hanhaba obi (half width belt), heko obi (soft belt), or kaku obi ("men" belt). Heko obi would be my recommendation as those are unisex, comfortable, and suuuuper easy to tie.

If you want to try hanhaba or kaku, I'd advise for karuta musubi, a flat, sturdy, and unisex knot pretty easy to tie.

Hope your travel project will come true and that you'll have fun :D

[prince-rosalium]

you know those posts that are like "i love it when i see a dead eyed, miserable woman gain a soul and turn into the hottest man i've ever seen"

yeah. anyway i made this

[honeykaes]

not a fairytale

pairing: ayato x femme!reader II 3.1k

warning: smut, 18+ content, minors do not interact, hurt/comfort, angst, arranged-marriage au, based on queen charlotte, reader is from fontaine, fingering, cunnilingus, virginity loss, creampies, unedited

synopsis: to improve relations between inazuma and fontaine, focolors and raiden shogun arrange you and ayato to get married much to your dismay. As you try to be hopeful about the situation, you find yourself getting angrier and lonelier as ayato completely distances himself from your life.

A small lit candle on your vanity illuminated the dark room as wax soon dropped along its golden holder. Your obi, decorated in navy and sewn with silver cranes was thrown to the ground, leaving your robe barely covering your chest and stomach.

Your eyes gazed at your reflection in the mirror, darkened eyes watching you back. You looked completely different than you did in Fontaine three months ago before you had sailed across the lands for weeks to reach Inazuma where you would reside for the rest of your days with a man you had never met before.

It had been three months since you had married Ayato Kamisato, the head of the Yashiro Commission in Inazuma.

The archons, Focolars and the Raiden Shogun had chosen your families to wed as to improve relations between the two nations—your family, hailed for its international politics and diplomacy matched with his family’s managing shrines, festivals, and other cultural events. You had traded your bodices, frills, and corsets for robes, obis, and haoris. 

You hated being a pawn in a game you weren’t even playing, but how could you fight against two all-powerful archons? When you first met your husband, he had seemed kind as you battled with yourself whether you could run away without your family being tried by Focolars for “breach of contract”. Ayato offered reassurances, that you wouldn’t be forced to do anything you didn’t please, that you’d be free how to go about life in the estate.

It comforted your heart and made you hopeful that you had an ally, someone to rely on, someone to eventually trust and love. Yet, after you said your vows in front of the people of Inazuma adorned in a white shiromuku kimono you didn’t get to choose, he distance himself from you and ushered off to attend to whatever with his retainers flashing a sad look to you. 

The two of you haven’t even consummated the wedding. How utterly embarrassing. The man had not provided a shared bedroom with him. It was separate rooms, separate lives, separate people. 

You hardly saw him at all.

You gripped your fists tight, nails digging in the flesh of your palms. Tears pricked at your eyes watching your hardened eyes fill with them.

“It’s not fair. I didn’t want this. I never wanted a marriage like this…” you muttered out loud. You heard a timid knock on the door as one of your personal retainers, Ayato seemed to assign her to, peaked her head out of the door. 

“My l-lady? Are you crying?” she stammered out. You narrowed your eyes at her, quickly wiping your cheeks to hide any stains or residue your tears could leave behind. Shifting under the weight of your cold gaze, her eyes leered away momentarily before gazing back at you.

“I’m fine,” you muttered. “He missed my dinner invitation again despite the numerous attempts to get his attention. I’m not going to try anymore. I’m tired of feeling like this.”

The retainer hesitantly leered behind her again before letting out a soft sigh.

“I see, my lady. But, my lord is actually here at the door with me wishing to speak with you,” she answered, opening the door further to reveal Ayato’s somber form peering over at you. He was dressed casually in a pale blue yukata, purple heko obi wrapped around his waist. His lips pulled themselves in a frown.

The sight of his eyes gazing at you pitifully caused bubbles of anger to rile deep in your chest. You turned your head around glaring at the pair through the reflection of the mirror.

“I don’t care. Va-t’en!” you barked. The retainer shrunk as you yelled, looking up to Ayato as he silently lifted a hand up signaling she could leave. The retainer rushed out as Ayato walked fully into your private chamber, closing the shoji behind him. You hear his heavy footstep creep closer to you as you shut your eyes, knowing he was now right behind you.

“(Name), I believe I owe you a long-deserved apology,” he murmured. You napped your eyes open, whipping your head around, and scoffed, seeing his frown deepen. 

“Oh? What makes you say that?” you sarcastically ask. You rose from your seat, jamming a finger into his chest. Ayato could feel the daggers digging into his eyes from your gaze.

“You said we were in this together. That’s what you told me on our wedding day! That’s what you even said in your vows to me,” you barked. Tears were beginning to prick at the corners of your eyes once more, as Ayato’s eyes softened.

“You made me believe that this shitty situation would be hopeful! That I’d be happy despite being a sacrificial pawn to my nation,” you yelled out. Ayato briefly closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh from his chest.

“...It seems my own judgment about you was incorrect,” he replied, reaching out and placing his hand on your shoulder. A fire lit under you as the rage that developed for months finally reached its boiling point. You shrugged away his hand, Ayato’s mouth opening in surprise.

“Don’t act like my husband now, my lord,” you cooly reply. Ayato closed his mouth, taking a sigh once more to collect himself and retreating his hand back to his sigh.

“When we first met, and I saw you at the docks strategizing with yourself on how you could wiggle yourself out of this situation, I couldn’t help but smile. It comforted me that I was also not alone in feeling like a pawn to the archons, to the nation,” he confessed. You sniffled, crossing your arms tight. He thought you would interrupt him, curse at him, beat on his chest but you stood there, silent tears streaming down your face, and simply glared at him.

“You told me your wish for independence. I knew that you did not want this, so I did not want to force you into a role you had no choice to do. I wanted you to be able to do as you pleased and work on your efforts of diplomacy and international cultural teachings Inazuma needs after the Sakoku Decree lifted—”

“No, Ayato! I WANTED LOVE!” 

Your eyes widened surprised by your own outrage before drifting your arms to hug yourself. Your blurry vision darted to the floor, shame bubbling inside of you as you finally admitted the core issue of your frustration. Ayato’s lilac eyes widened, taking a step back surprised at your outburst too.

You turned your body around, trying to escape his eyes peering into your own. The two of you briefly sat in silence, the candle still burning briefly alerting you that Ayato still remained there, paused as his shadow did not move.

You wiped your eyes once more, sniffing loudly to prevent any snot threatening to peak from your nose, and took a shaky sigh before turning around to face your husband. His eyes had narrowed, not from anger or disappointment, but from thought. 

“...As a child, my favorite story was Cendrillon. Although I did not have an evil stepmother or step-siblings, I related to that poor girl so much,” you confessed. Ayato took a silent step forever, getting closer to you.

“Yes, I wanted my independence and freedom but I also wanted to share that with someone that I loved,” you uttered, voice beginning to get shaky. Ayato still had not said a word, same expression outlined on his face.

“...I…” Ayato trailed off before, closing his mouth once again.  He took a deep breath, an attempt to reassure himself against your own watchful eyes.

“When my parents passed when I was a child, the stories that I loved…I began to hate them. How could these fairytales, love like that even exist even when I would never be granted those privileges? I couldn’t shrink my responsibility, I had to take care of my little sister and the clan my father had left for me,” Ayato recalled, closing his eyes.

“I didn't understand because I had the legacy of my bloodline, my family on my shoulders; however…” he trailed off, reaching his hand for your palm. He lifted the appendage up, pressing his lips against your palm.

“...I need to at least be willing to learn with you. I cannot promise I will be a prince from those stories, but, as I said in our vows, I will open myself to you, in my heart…if you’ll still let me.”

You froze as Ayato gave you a soft smile, letting your hand go and placing his large palm against your cheek. It was warm, his touch gentle as if he was handling cracked glass. As more tears cascaded down your cheek, he wiped them away with his thumb slowly leaning him and placing his lips on top of your own. 

And to both of your surprise, your eyes fluttered close—pressing your lips back with the same fervor.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, deepening the kiss and closing an inch of space between you two—lips desperate and clinging on to the hope of reassurance of the future of your marriage. A low moan reverberated from Ayato’s lips, drifting his hands to your waist, and pulling you closer. You gasped feeling something hard beginning to nudge your upper thighs, before he gripped your robe—already exposing much of your body to him—and took it off, leaving you bare to him

Embarrassment fills your form remembering the little clothes you did have on when you confronted Ayato, but it didn’t matter at this moment; his hands gently brought your body down against the large plush futon on the ground. He laid on top of you, breaking the kiss momentarily to let his eyes wander across your form before claiming them once more. Ayato’s hand brushed against your thighs, pinching the plush skin of your upper thighs.

Ayato breaks the kiss once more, grunting in brief frustration, at the lack of contact his skin was having yours. With his obi and yukata joining your attire, your eyes fell to his hardened cock before he laid on top of you once more, pressing his lips against the shell of your ear. His hand snaked itself between your thighs, cupping your slit as a soft sigh escaped your lips. 

“Ayato, please,” you begged.  He sucked a breath in and felt his cock throb at the low seductive nature of your voice. Two fingers brushed themselves along your fold, gathering up the slick drooling out of you You gasped as they sank themselves inside, inching deeper into your core. Ayato struggled pumping his fingers inside of you from how tight you were, walls clinging against him as if they didn’t want them to leave.

“You’re beautiful and already dripping this much for me. I didn't take you for the innocent type,” he hummed in your ear. Your nails harpooned in the soft silk of your sheets, feeling hot precum smearing against your leg as Ayato absentmindedly ground himself against you. 

“I see you’re feeling confident now, my lord,” you muttered in response. Ayato clicked his tongue, pressing his lips against your neck.

“I thought I told you when we got married not to call me that. I want to hear your voice, especially like this, call me by my given name,” he whispered. You choke out another moan, his fingers scissoring themselves to stretch you out further.  Ayato leaned over, stealing another kiss from you, before parting his fingers. The digits were illuminating under the dim light, caked with your arousal before Ayato briskly lapped them up.

His lips moved down from your neck, leaving a trail of burning kisses along your body.

“W-What are you doing now,” you stammered out as he reached the valley of your breasts. His hands propped up, fondling the pair with a tight squeeze as you whined. 

“Something you’ll enjoy, I promise,” he reassured, lips curling to a smirk. He flashed his eye up briefly at you, admiring your embarrassed expression eating up every move and tease he was showing to your body. A soft laugh escaped him before continuing to kiss down your body until he reached your naval.

“Did they not explain what consummating truly meant?” he hummed in amusement, lips moving towards your inner thighs. You ball your hands into fists, pounding them down against the futon.

“I know what it means! I’ve read books about it, Ayato! It’s not like I had anything else to do stuck inside of here all day!” you barked back. Your husband, who was nipping at your inner thighs, paused hesitantly before offering you a regretful smile.

“Hence why I want to give you the best experience possible. To help atone for my cruelty,” he replied. He set his sight on your entrance, watching your sweet hole puckering on nothing, and leaned in further. Opening his mouth, Ayato pressed his tongue along your slit, sliding the muscle up and down. You whined, pleasure shooting through you as his tongue nudged against your clit ever so often.

He slurped the abundant slick pouring from you, wrapping his lips against your swollen clit and sucking with passion. His name yelled from your lips, drifting your hands down on Ayato’s soft pale blue hair—pushing his head further against your crotch. Your ground your hips against his face desperate for more friction on the bundle of nerves.

“Heh…our retainers probably know what we are doing from how loud you are being,” he cooed, giving your clit kitten licks as your hips bucked for more. He quickly released your hands that were pressing against Ayato’s hair covering your mouth in embarrassment. He clicked his tongue, corners of his lips turned downwards before gliding two fingers back inside of your warmth, curling themselves inside of you as if they were determinately searching for something.

“That’s not to say to be quiet, love. Please…I want to hear your voice. Let me know how my actions are making you feel,” he breathlessly groaned. You shakily let your hands go, pitch rising as Ayato went back to toying with your clit as he pumped his fingers inside of you. Your stomach churned, thighs trembling as you crawled closer to your high.

“Ayato! Ayato, fuck!” you cursed out loudly, overwhelmed with the pleasure he graced you with throughout your body. As you shivered in pleasure, hips rising without control, Ayato pressed his hand down—trying to control your writhing form.

“Easy there. Shhh, I got you,” he cooed, helping you ease down from your climax. Your chest heaved, catching your breath—half-lidded, tired eyes peering up at his soft ones. You drifted your eyes away from his gaze as he leaned up, wiping his mouth of the slick that clung onto it. 

Your attention was now on his cock, twitching impatiently. Although it wasn’t girthy, it was long and looked heavy as it curled up. Precum budded at his flushed tip; a few moles littering along its base.

Ayato lined himself up against your slit, the sensation feeling foreign to you as he reassuringly nudged his tip against your burning clit. You wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders, trying to internally prepare for what was to come. 

“I won’t sugarcoat it, this is going to be painful,” he murmured, offering you a kiss on your cheek. “But, just let me know when you're ready for me to start moving. Don’t worry about how long that will take. I’m a patient man.”

Ayato slowly slid his cock inside of you. You suck a sharp breath in, walls burning as you feel him slowly stretching you out overtook your senses. As he inched further, Ayato found gnawed on his bottom lip fighting the urge to immediately bottom out. Your walls were soft, tightly clenched around his length. Your nails dig into his pale. Broad shoulders as tears develop in your eyes.

As he finally bottoms out, he peppered kisses along your tear-stained face, softly moaning at your pulsating walls trying to milk him.

“You’re taking me so well. It’s hard to control myself when I have you like this,’ he confessed, drawing shapes on your hips to distract yourself from the pain. His fingers eventually move away finding themselves against your clit while it rubbed tight circles, trying to ease the torment into pleasure

Time eventually passes and you whine, offering a shaky nod. Pressing his lips on yours one more time, his hips begin to move. His pace is powerful, clearly overwhelmed by your cunt. You could hear him grunt against the shell of your ear, muttering your name repeatedly. 

Your legs wrapped around his thin waist, allowing him to plunge himself deeper. Ayato’s tip brushed against the spot he had found earlier and you yelped out in response. Your head had thrown back, sliding your nails down his back as he clenched his jaw at the sharp pain. He increases his pace, as the sound of skin slapping against one another echoed throughout the room.

With his balls slapping against your ass, his eyes focused on his cock continuously disappearing inside of you, glistening in your slick. Your stomach churned, walls fluttering down as you crept closer to your high once more.

His patience had sadly thinned too much, shutting his eyes tight and grunting loudly. His hips stifled, cum shooting deep inside of you.

“I can’t stop myself, I’m sorry,” he slurred out, pressing his face tight against the nape of your neck. He continued to rut against you, thrusting his cum deeper as one hand stroked along your thigh to try to wake him up from this spell.

As his thrust slowed and then halted, sheathed completely inside of you, he lifted his face from your sweaty nape—capturing your lips once more. The two of you moaned before he leaned away again.

 A blush had decorated Ayato’s face, lilac eyes darker and focused as if you were the only person on the planet. His head clung onto his forehead, his lips, glossy, as a string of saliva connected them with yours still. You let your hands fall to the futon before Ayato weaved his own with them and gave you a soft smile.

He was beautiful like this, vulnerable. It was different from his usual distant, calculating self. 

“What made you come tonight,” you whispered. Ayato sighed, letting your hands go and leaning his head to rest on one of your breasts.

“My sister and one of my closest retainers, Thoma. The pair held an intervention for me and put the mirror to my face on how I was treating you. He paused briefly.

“As I said, I’m truly sorry. You won’t have to worry about me leaving you alone anymore,” he whispered. You smiled.

Although it would not make up for everything he put you through, it was at least a start.

A glimmer of hope.

You brushed his hair with your hand, closing your eyes—a peace you haven’t felt in months overtaking you.

“We’re in this together. Never forget that.”

[talesofedo]

I don't know whether this is of interest to anyone (writers? artists?) but here are some wear patterns on a well-loved yukata.

This particular garment is about four years old and made from cotton. I wear this a lot, primarily to sleep in, but also often around the house, especially in summer.

Occasionally I wear it in the backyard doing some light gardening, playing ball with my dog, or for getting the mail from the mailbox at the end of my driveway.

I pretty much only wear this with heko obi (soft obi). I'm not sure whether the wear pattern in the waist would be much different with the stiffer kaku obi.

The heaviest amount of wear is to the sleeves, particularly to the sleeve openings and the armpits.

I don't know how many times I've managed to snag the sleeve openings on something.

Maybe I'm more klutzy than the average person (though I don't think so?), but it's so easy to snag them on things in a modern house. Some places I've encountered specifically include: the stairway banister, the kitchen island, and assorted door knobs.

I expect there would be plenty of things one might snag their sleeves on during the Edo period as well, such as the handles or corners of andon lamps, for example, or bamboo fences.

The armpits tear surprisingly easy. Every so often I've caught my hand on the sleeve doing things like getting up if from bed or from sitting on the floor, and putting that pressure on the sleeve then rips the stitches in the armpit.

Interestingly, I've found that the collar likes to fold over on itself after washing, and the white line you see here is wear and tear along the collar's folded-over edge.

That wear would normally be found at the actual edge of the collar, which will start to fray and disintegrate just from the friction of everyday wear.

I'll probably replace the entire collar on this one day if I don't choose to just keep patching it.

One thing I found interesting about wear patterns are these two spots at the back, just underneath the collar on either side.

However, these make sense if you look at how a kimono drapes when it's worn.

In the picture below, which is from an NHK story, you can see how the sleeve basically drapes from the top of the shoulder, on either side of the collar. Over time, that causes wear to those spots and can cause them to thin or wear through, as it did on mine.

[fatechose]

if it were any other day, he would be out here in his casual wear, strolling through seemingly ENDLESS rows of flowers using his nose to search for the human gardener; searching without haste as he intended to spend his free time to give the girl hell. but he isn't here to harass her and he isn't in his robe of the fire-rat. inuyasha is wearing his formal wear as he storms through the gardens, his red and blue heko-obi standing out brightly against his white robes. he wouldn't usually wear his formals outside in worry of ruining them, but today he doesn't give a shit. his father's wrath be damned, he couldn't care less about his father's wishes after what the daiyoukai lord had just pulled. a low growl reverberates deep in his chest at the reminder of what daddy dearest had done to him. inuyasha can feel his youkai CLAWING at the edge of his mind, threatening to take over. stunning blue marks flash on each side of his face, just under his cheekbones, warning any passerby from getting too close to him.

inuyasha is too lost in his thoughts to notice that he's ventured close to the human gardener. he doesn't even recognize her sweet voice as it yells at him from across the path. his youkai acknowledges it as a THREAT and spins towards her, bareing his teeth. he's met with familiar dark eyes, her sweet scent of the flowers she works with, laced with sharp tones of earth, and sweat fills his nose. his youkai falls silent, blue marks fading away. though his demon blood cools, his anger does not. ❝ I'm not in the mood, wench. ❞

@fatechose

As a gardener, Kagome took great pride in her work. Every single bush, tree, flower, and shrub was cared for with the utmost delicacy and precision. It didn't just take anyone to ensure these flora maintained their health and beauty. Gardening was a difficult skill to learn!

Her work often went underappreciated, though, it seemed. Most notably by the bratty prince who, just like his dog demon guards and other nobles, always made an effort to mess up something whenever they step foot in this place. And nobles or not, she wasn't about to let this stand, especially not when one of them just trampled the bed of pink posies she spent so much time breeding and planting!

"Hey, royal jerk!" She calls out, standing up from her position on the ground to get right up in his face. "How many times have I told you and your posse to stop trampling my flowers?! Don't you have any respect for nature?!"

[mischief-maker-me]

Trying something new to finish the ends of some of the bjd heko obi (soft kimono sashes) I've been working on. These will likely be sold individually at @resinrosebjdexpo , rather than incorporated into a set... unless a kimono comes together that REALLY needs it!

[kimononagoya]

This Heko-Obi available at Dita on Yahoo looks like a big explosion of crepe, and that’s pretty much what a heko obi is!

Here it’s used with a simple, adult blue yukata and plain white obi to give a blast of color to both front and back of the coordination.

Because yukata are generally worn without obiage or obijime, this is a fun way to enliven the obi, add volume and interest to an outfit that’s otherwise kind of flat.

Have a great summer and enjoy yukata season!

[linssikeittomies]

Memoir Of A Moment

AO3

I guess the good thing about being an idiot and DELETING ALL YOUR FILES is that you're forced to go through your handwritten notebooks and rediscovering stuff you never fleshed out on the computer. I love Mononoke, the art style is wonderful and the stories tickle me just right. I would've loved to write a casefic, but I just couldn't come up with a good mononoke, and also I'm terrible at writing action and mystique, so I never finished it - and now I think that even incomplete, it could work as a Missed Opportunity type of story. Just imagine the adventure Kayo could've had if she stayed!

--

Figured it would be raining on the one day she was able to check out Harajuku. She had been planning this trip for almost a year, and took it  well before rainy season for this exact reason! Now there were only a lousy few people on the streets, and barely any of them worth photographing! And with such shitty lighting the photos would’ve turned out terrible anyways. Why had she even bothered leaving home? She’d seen the forecast...

Well, at least the trip wasn’t a complete failure. Despite the bad weather, some scattered groups and inidividuals were still around, and let Kayo take pictures. The gothic lolitas had been largely unbothered by the rain under their black, lacy umbrellas and safe from the puddles with their high platform shoes. The small group of ganguros had tried not to look bothered, not very successfully though... With their shorts and miniskirts you could see the goosebumps from the cold right away. Kayo had even seen a few angura kei girls, smartly dressed in kimonos to shield them from the chill. The cafes also let her take photos inside, as long as she also bought something - she was starting to feel ill from all the tea she'd been forced to consume and the excorbitant prices those places charged for absolutely everything.

Who knew when she’d be able to make a more successful trip? With her financial situation, it had been hard enough to scrounge up the funds and free time even for this one-day trip. In the morning, it would be back to work, back to scrolling through fashion blogs and online stores. Never contributing to those blogs or buying anything from those stores.

-o-

As midnight approached, Kayo finally decided it wasn’t worth the effort to keep looking for more subjects - she only had a few hours before her early morning train back home, and she needed the sleep more than she wanted the photos. Sighing, she put away her camera - her most prized possession, a genuine professional-grade DSLR, bought used from a relative who ran a photography studio - and headed for the capsule hotel. Leaving behind the chic, neon-lit fashion highway felt like such an appropriate metaphor for Kayo’s life - ever the visitor in such splendid places, never allowed to stay for longer than a few hours. The dim side streets were much more her place, getting dingier and smellier the further she walked. Only some hundreds of meters from the hotel, Kayo stopped. Ahead of her stood someone with a large wooden backpack, and a colorful haori. Perhaps she had found another subject, after all!  Must’ve been making their way back home from Harajuku, like her, another sorely disappointed fashion fan. Not old-school, with such unorthodox patterns and garish color combos, but clearly taking inspiration from traditional garments. A paper umbrella and geta, paired with what might have been an exceptionally long heko obi, since the ends were long enough to dangle past the knees. Kayo didn’t know that much about obi knots, not being all that into kimono herself, but she knew the backpack had to digging the knot uncomfortably into the person’s back. The only style she ever wore was karuta musubi because it was so easy and flat.

Digging out her camera again, she took one candid photo - only one, that she would ask permission to keep - because the composition of the figure standing in the middle, faintly haloed by the rain and streetlights, the street stretching out behind him, well...  it was just too photogenic to pass up. The shot even turned out well despite the dismal lighting, and some color correction on photoshop would fix the values. She would send a printed copy to her subject, if they wanted.

“Excuse me!” she called out and started jogging up to her target. They must’ve been wearing earphones, not hearing her, since they didn’t turn around. Well, at least they stayed still - a man, it turned out, and a beautiful one at that. But not wearing earphones, and talking to himself silently - so, a weirdo. But definitely a beautiful weirdo. A cosplayer, surely, from the markings on his face and the pointed ears. Very good quality prosthetics, looked completely real. The blond wig was just as good, a naturally plucked hairline and very fine mesh to hide the edges perfectly. This person had a lot of time and made good money. Also pale, flawless skin, and long, elegant fingers, and mesmerizing blue eyes. They didn’t even look like colored contacts, the look in them wasn’t uncomfortably staring at you with pinprick pupils. It might have even been his natural eye color. Half Japanese? If that was the case, then the hair might have been real, as well. His nose also suggested non-asian heritage, as long and pointy as his ears.

It felt like Kayo had been taking in the stranger’s appearance for minutes, him never acknowledging her until he finished his silent monologue. Only his eyes turned to look at her, a small, knowing smile on his already makeup-smiling lips.

“Good evening.”

His voice was pleasingly low and steady, his speech calm and slow. He kept looking at Kayo from the corner of his eye. The markings under his eye and on his nose intrigued Kayo, what was the story behind the character’s design? And the lavender smile, not something Kayo remembered seeing on any other -

“Ah - good evening!”

How rude, she had just kept staring!  Even if he was dressed to be stared at! So embarrassing, getting caught up in her thoughts! Just because someone looked good and strange was no excuse for bad manners. Thankfully the man did not seem to mind, just kept smiling faintly, and slowly lowered his eyes to the camera Kayo was still holding tightly in her hands.

“You are a photographer now?” he asked, not really making it sound like a question, and the now part bothering Kayo. She didn’t think they had ever met before, she was sure she would remember eyes like his even if his appearance otherwise had changed completely.

“Well, yes, not professionally - I came to take photos, but the weather - could I take your picture? Fashion is a hobby of mine.”

 “That never changes.”

Kayo was almost regretting talking to the guy, he might have been high. He was acting weirdly enough, and his halting speech wasn’t exactly helping dispel the thought, either. It was oddly hypnotic though, with his quiet voice you had to stop and listen, and with the slow rhythm you had to keep listening, and with the weird pauses mixed in he sounded otherworldly.

“A photo in exchange for a favor, perhaps?”

He was still calm, the half-lidded gaze not threatening in the least, but no matter how unassuming a guy looked, Kayo was not stupid enough to agree without knowing the terms. She steeled her face, trying to appear as someone you couldn’t bend.

“Depends on the favor. I’m not desperate so don’t even dream of anything pervy!”

The man chuckled softly, his eyes crinkling in amusement. He finally turned to face Kayo directly.

“Some things do change”, he commented cryptically. Kayo decided not to question it, the guy was clearly either on drugs or having a psychosis. Why did he keep thinking he knew Kayo? Maybe she resembled someone he did know, or used to know?

He lifted a finger, pointing with it’s sharp claw to an alley. “Can you see anyone on that street?”

A quick look revealed the two of them were alone, everyone else having opted for the better-lit main streets, and Kayo was starting to feel more nervous. Not that the guy was looking or acting any more threatening, but being alone with a male junkie on a deserted street in the middle of the night  tends to make a girl jumpy.

“No, seems empty to me”, she said in a confident tone, like she wasn’t even thinking of the possibility of being assaulted. A strong girl like her? No one would attack her!

The stranger made a non-committal noise, and his eyes turned more serious. He looked at the alley thoughtfully. “A most troublesome form, indeed. I wonder, why do some see it while others don’t.”

“Was that the favor? Can I take that photo now?”

The amused smile came back.

“Take as many as you like. But I must keep working, do not disturb the scales.” And with a small gesture of his finger, a drawer in the backpack slid open and something flew out.

Okay, it was official - Kayo had gone nuts. First going on this trip even knowing it would fail, then talking to a total stranger in an empty street at night, then not walking away when it turned out the guy was on drugs. Now her madness had extended to seeing hallucinations.

At least the hallucination was polite - a metal thingamajig that looked like an art deco butterfly bowed to her before continuing on its way further down the abandoned alley. Its friends soon followed, a veritable swarm of metal butterflies - scales, the man had called them. Kayo couldn’t possibly say what they measured, or how. By the time she shook off her stupor, odd paper charms had also appeared on the walls out of nowhere. A staticky hum filled the hair, raising the hairs on Kayo. Some form of electricity, maybe.

“Kayo-san, is it? You came here to take photos, and your time is limited.”

A cold wave washed over Kayo. She knew for a fact they had never met in their lives, and there was no way he could know her name. They had come across each other by pure accident... It just wasn’t possible...

“Do you know me from somewhere?” she asked, stupefied, heart skipping beats here and there. This was so odd, scary, and yet she was not nearly as scared as she felt she should be.

“We know each other from several places, but we have never met before.”

“How does that even make sense! What the hell do you mean by that? Which one us has gone crazy here, I don’t understand anything anymore...”

But even so, she lifted her camera and started taking pictures. Of the man, of the scales, of the empty alley. She didn’t even care about angles, lighting, composition, she just pressed the shutter. She ended up with nearly a hundred photos, majority of them incomprehensible, before the man directed her to keep going on her way. She had obeyed without question - the atmosphere had gotten oppressive, the feeling of a storm encroaching.

-o-

All her life, Kayo often thought back to that night. It felt unreal, but the photos were undeniable evidence of the opposite. Sometimes she thought she really had experienced some sort of short-lived psychosis, but mostly she had no idea what to think of the event - of the one time something strange happened in her life, something intriguing. She only talked about it to someone twice on her life - once to her husband, and once to her daughter. She did eventually develop one of the photos into a print - the one she had taken first. The nameless man, standing alone on an empty street, rain streaking the lens. A beatiful picture, a strange memory, and a lifelong regret.

She should have stayed.

[missmyloko]

I got my first kimono a while ago and the seller sent me an around 3 meter long strip of lightweight silk(?) with a bit of shibori on both ends. It's like a huuuuuge obiage. Do you have any idea what it could be?

It's probably a heko obi ^^

[tanuki-kimono]

Summery modern obi by Mimizukuya with straw front and heko-like soft ties

[sessrin-eternity2]

I love your blog. Thank you for the caps. Sessrin is amazing. Are we going to talk about that the twins have the pattern of dad’s heko-obi when they were pups, when their mom and his wife has the colors?! Sesshomaru love language - all that face touching softness and clothing his likeness for his loves. Awwww

Thank you so much! I'm so happy you like it. ♡(.◜ω◝.)♡ Anytime, I love posting them. Oh, they certainly are, Sessrin is so beautiful and passionate, I can't wait to see more of them.

We're gonna talk about a lot, I'm actually working on the post right now, it'll be a two parter because I'll be using the images from the trailer. Sesshomaru's love language is so amazing and touching, I almost cried. He literally touched the cheeks of his sweet pups. (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

[rcris123]

you're safe now - isamu and nagato :3

1651 words  tw: death; 

Ushi busted the door down and led theminside. There was a farmer inside and he would almost have tried to argue withthem, but when Kazue’s bear trotted in and settled in the middle of theliving-room to lick the blood off his paws, the farmer took steps back:

“You’re those Muhōmono fellows...”his voice quivered.

Nagato stepped forwards: “We mean you noharm. Is there any way the four of us can get out of the town for now.”

“You wanna take this town to the grave,this country like you did others.” The man stumbled backwards and grabbedwhatever larger object he managed to find around; a pot. “You think you’re sorighteous! Fuck off!”

The bear grunted displeased with thenoise and the man stuttered. Kazue smiled next to the door.

Isamu stepped next to Nagato, shakinghis coin purse.

“We’ll pay for your troubles.”

Ushi wanted to complain about Kaikeibeing miserable, but Nagato shushed him.

“No harm will come to you from us or theSamurai. It is a promise I intend on keeping.” Nagato spoke, confidently andsoftly as always. He’ll bear the world on his shoulders Isamu believed.

The farmer mellowed, lowered the pot andcame closer as Isamu took out coins to pay him.

“Can I have a name?”

The man hesitated: “Why?”

“So we’ll know who to thank andprotect.” Ushi pursed his lips.

“... Fujioka Daisuke...” And Isamuhanded him the money, and he grabbed them and shoved them inside his leather hekoobi belt. “... There’s a shed in the field. You can hide there until nightfall.Samurai don’t like to stay up that late.”

Nagato and Isamu thanked, Kazue mutteredone too and Ushi more or less barked in response, and soon all of them, thebear included, slipped by the backdoor and through the empty field towards theshed.

The faint clanking of metal; Nagatotwitched.

“EVERYONE DOWN!” he shouted.

Gunshot.

Ushi’s flesh stopped the bullet, and theman fell where he stood. Blood splattered on the snow, drenched it and the Muhōmono in red. TheSamurai must have noticed the Muhōmono entered the building and followed them round.

“Isamu...” Nagato plead, eyebrowsfurrowed and stern, and angry. It started like a fire insidehim and Isamu knew what he was asking; to hurt himself, stop the Samurai withhis own pain. Yet his shins and bullet-wound were far from healed even if the blizzardoffered him some reprieve.

Isamu took out his tantō, cutting hisown left hand, deep, from the tip of the finger to the edge of his wrist andhanded then handed it to Nagato. Shocked at first, the man then mimicked hisactions. There was a flare in his body; his right leg shot up with pain as welland he couldn’t help notice that pain spread through Nagato as well.

They staggered up, because while theywere wrestling their sentimentalism Kazue and the bear already headed into thesamurai, attempting to have them not recharge their riffles.

“Kazue!” Nagato beckoned; she whistledfor her bear.

And Nagato and Isamu rushed between theSamurai screaming, hoping to have them stutter. And they did, then yelped and screechedand groaned as pain took them over.

It took them to their knees as well.Nagato held him; Isamu could barely breath, his ribs burned with every gasp.

They had little time to think as Kazue’spained bear tried to rush towards them. Nagato held their heads down and thebear hopped over them, sinking its jaws in the downed Samurai. Kazue came tohelp them up, but Nagato sprung, limping, ran towards the house to ask if thefarmer was alright.

Kazue strung Isamu’s arm around her neck:

“That was terrifyingly impressive...”Her heart drummed.

“We still need a place to hide... Only afew were left now and they still-” Isamu gulped down his fear and pain. “We’llneed to regroup with the rest.”

Nagato ran back, out of breath. A singlelook at Ushi’s corpse.

“We’ll have to leave him.” Kazue pointedout and Nagato bit his lip mournful; he shook.

“Nagato, look at me.” Isamu tried tostand on his own, his knees bucked under his own weight, yet his arms outstretchedto rest on Nagato’s shoulders.

And he looked at Isamu, with thosewashed out, angry, grieving eyes, inhaled sharply and stepped forward.

“Can you walk?...” Nagato asked, voicesoft for his lover.

“Yes.”

Hand held his. Kazue whistled for herbear and they ran the fields, as much as Isamu’s painful leg would carry him.

An abandoned building; looked like itused to be a stop for travelers until it burned down. The roof was caved in,snow pouring in.

They took shelter inside, looked forsome intact rooms. The kitchen was the only one still standing. They could geta fire going in the ovens if they could find some wood.

Isamu more or less collapsed next to acounter, his leg throbbing incessantly.

“So you produced that pain, right?”Kazue asked, while Nagato seated himself next to his partner.

“Yes...”

“Still hurting?” but their reactions wereconfirmation enough. “Then I’ll go search for some wood; it’ll be freezing soonenough.” The bear snorted, unwilling to get up but loyal to his master: “Buruin,sit!”

The bear let its head fall on its paws.

“I won’t be long.” Kazue promised andtrotted off the door.

Not a moment later Isamu lets his headrest on the other’s shoulder, waiting for his breathing to even out, his heartnot to race and the pain to ease.

“Was the farmer all right?” Isamu asks.

“Fine. Scared. You alright?”

His hand took Nagato’s into his own andhe exhaled; the cut stung still: “We... should patch our hands. With something...”

“You shouldn’t have-”

“No more recklessness.”

“As if that wasn’t reckless!”Nagato’s tone ascended much like his concern. The bear looked at them with ahuff.

They stood quiet for a minute.

“Not alone. I’m not letting you bereckless alone no more.” Isamu’s spoke quietly, soulfully. “If I’m with you I’llknow when to stop; as will you. When you’re here I’m safe.”

Nagato bowed his head, low. “... then...Ushi-”

Isamu squeezed Nagato’s hand for comfort,yet as irony had it, forgetting that it will pain them both-

An electrical shiver shot up their armsand they instinctively pulled away; teeth gritted. And it wasn’t until now thatIsamu started to fully understand the degree to which Nagato disregarded pain. Whilehis arm prickled still, rendering it useless, Nagato wasted no moment takingout his knife to cut the woolen obi and take off the strings that had itwrapped tight. Placed them over his shoulders so he could tie his hakamahigher.

“Come here.” he spoke tenderly.

Isamu drew near again, injured handoutstretched. They had no alcohol with them and nothing else to wipe the bloodaway. Nagato first wrapped the cloth around his finger, tightly, then down hishand. He was mourning, his gaze only paying attention to what he was doing:

“You shouldn’t have tried that in acombat situation first, not injured and not around me.” Nagato cut the clothwith his knife, then secured it with a loosely tied string. “You could havepassed out.”

Isamu didn’t think of the implications,the chain reaction. He inhaled and bowed his head. It was past and they wereboth alive and only mildly impaired. But Nagato didn’t look back up, yet Isamuknew he was grieving the loss of a life, a friend. He guided the man’s headonto his shoulder, and Nagato inhaled deeply, stifling a sob:

“He was trained a smith in his youth. Thenfought in the war on the Northern front. And they liked how he fought; thoughtto keep him and throw him in petty familial squabbles. Then when the manrefused...”

Isamu held him and Nagato took inanother deep breath, exhaling heavily. His angered grief reverberated intoIsamu’s bone, clattering them, caging his chest. But he was safe now, withNagato’s arms around him; and Nagato was to be safe within his embrace.

Wood breaking startled them out ofsentimentalism, but peaking over it turned out to only be Buruin the bear playingwith the walls and some collapsed; at least that gave them some form of wood toburn. Nagato returned into his arms, but his hand was still not patched.

“Where’s the rest?” Nagato handed themto him, then wanted to turn around. “I can see well enough” Isamu smiled, lettingthe other rest his back against his chest.

His ribs still felt compressed, but hefelt no panic, and Isamu did onto Nagato what the other did earlier, firstwrapping the finger, then the palm, sealing with the string; there was lesscloth and more string left so he tried his best to cover the entire injury andhave the wraps be tight enough, while sufficiently gently.

Nagato then grabbed his hands, gently,instead rubbed Isamu’s thumbs for comfort; he sighed, with relief, yet worry.And Isamu couldn’t help rub his forehead on the back of his head; his hairsmelled of horse and cold and blood.

And he knew Nagato smiled, safe, thencalmly continued:

“We’ll have to teach ourselves to workaround our abilities – never fought together with another.”

Their quiet conversation was halted oncemore by more wood cracking under the bear’s paws; and then the door creakedopen, Kazue stepping in with a handful of dry grass and branches:

She shot them a look as she crouchednext to the oven; Isamu twitch but Nagato didn’t let him panic: “Good evening, Samurailovers~” Kazue said in a sing-song voice.

“Buruin tore off some of the paneling; maybewe can add those too.” Nagato then suggested.

And they got a fire going.

[the-art-of-geisha]

How do men wear obi when they're wearing traditional kimono? Is it tied in the front or the back?

thank you for your question;

Formal obis worn by men are much narrower than those of women (the width is about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) at its most). The men’s obi is worn in much simpler fashion than women’s: it is wrapped around the waist, below the stomach and tied with a simple knot in the back.

Men’s obi types

Heko obi (兵児帯, “obi for men between 15 and 25”)  is an informal, soft obi, free flowing and made of tie-dyed fabrics, made from silk crape, habutai, cotton, or others. It is tied very informally. The adult’s heko obi is as long as a normal obi at 350 centimetres (11.5 ft) to 400 centimetres (13 ft), but relatively wide at up to 74 centimetres (29 in).  Adult men wear the heko obi only at home, but young boys can wear it in public, for example at a summer festival with a yukata.

Kaku obi (角帯, “stiff obi”) is another obi used by men. A formal kaku obi is about 10 centimetres (3.9 in) wide and 400 centimetres (13 ft) long[16] and depending on its material, colours and pattern is suited to any and all occasions from everyday wear to a close relative’s funeral. A kaku obi typically is made of hakata-ori (and thus a Hakata obi, which has length-wise stripes), or from silk pongee, silk gauze, silk damask. It is worn in the simple kai-no-kuchi knot.

         A netsuke is an ornament suspended from the obi worn by men.

[butchdarling]

[ID: Digital art of the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. She is wearing a red floor length kimono in an intricate flower pattern in gold, white, and blue, a white haneri, and a green heko obi tied in the back. Her hair is tied in twin tail with white ribbon and her bangs are pulled back off of her face with gold comb. She faces away from the viewer and looks over her shoulder into the distance. The background is gold. Flower petals swirl around her. End ID]

Today’s Miku Module of the Day is:

Mikaeri Bijin Miku by Rella !

[kimononagoya]

Styling makes so much difference. The kimono itself is full of textured circles, like a modern art painting, the obi is a 60′s palette of teals and mustard, but then a retro, bold dance-style long heko-obi or scarf has been added that pushes the negative space of the kimono and dazzles the eye even further. Is this outfit a kind of doll, or a spirit, or a priestess?? 

With retro styled hair, stage makeup and modern black patent-leather shoes, this whole coordination is here to make a statement between goth and ancient Japanese. Brilliant styling and great shooting location btw!

[cosaru]

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