#sageo

[the-hissing-booth]

To whom it may concern I invented a little stitch counter for kumihimo weaving because I can’t remember where I am in a pattern to save my life

Just some cardboard, yarn and as many beads as you need for that pattern

[proofhead]

İki Güzel Bıçak Tasarımı

[joyfuladorable]

Mikey geared up for a sunrise patrol 🌅

I've actually drawn a fair amount for the SAINW Roadtrip AU, but they're mostly Spoilers, lol! Finally cleaned up a doodle that I feel willing to share, plus weapons reference for leosagi!

[ebitenpura]

I was right: that beast is MASSIVE

[katanasageo]

What is katana Sageo

"What is Katana Sageo?" is a concise article that discusses the sageo, an essential component of a katana's scabbard (saya). The article explains that the sageo is the cord used to secure the scabbard to the wearer's belt or obi, ensuring the sword remains properly attached and accessible. It also highlights the variety of materials, colors, and knotting techniques used for the sageo, emphasizing its role in both functionality and aesthetic customization of the katana.

Visit: https://romanceofmen.com/blogs/katana-info/katana-sageo-one-of-the-most-important-accessories-on-samurai-sword-you-should-know

[ebitenpura]

FOR ME?!?!?! aaaaaah?!?! I love it!!!!!!! Your style is so gorgeous and oh, you put so much detail into him!! Thank you so much for this gift I'll go cry in the corner-

@eorzeashan happy birthday!  hope you don’t mind a messy sketch of your boy

[ratwithhands]

Since I finished the manga a few days back, I wanted to revisit my two demon slayer OCs I made last year. Here's Yoshi and Syougo ^^

Syougo and Yoshiaki are childhood friends who both ended joining the Demon Slayer corps after being separated earlier in life. Yoshi spent his years training under his retired slayer father before passing the final examination, while Syougo ended up having to figure his own methods out after his first teacher made it so he couldn't use a true breathing technique again.

As an overview of the techniques they use:

Field Breathing is a technique Yoshi's father came up with over his career in the corps. When he retired, he continued to polish the forms and taught them to Yoshi. Both the name and the forms it utilizes are based on the flora around the rice fields he was raised and later retired to. The technique emphasizes speed, flexibility, and applying pressure to the opponent as much as possible. It's fluidity and aggressiveness leads Yoshi to be quick in handling threats since he pushes opponents around

Spirit Breathing (or if you're using archaic kanji, Vengeful Spirit Breathing) is a breathing technique Syougo made as a way to regulate his body and state of mind after losing the lung capacity to use Total Concentration or other methods. It's based around his base breathing rate so he doesn't overexert himself, which means to an extent he is always using it. In combat it's intended to psych out opponents and help highlight their weak points. Since it's mostly a distraction/intimidation technique, Syougo uses a secondary weapon to get the jump on opponents when they're not focused.

For some bonus design notes, here's some details for how they dress:

Yoshiaki's samue is based on what he'd wear when working at the rice fields with his family. The light green colour comes from being dyed with wisteria leaves, a precaution his mother took hoping it would protect him

Having nostalgia from weaving baskets with his mom when he was younger, Yoshi tends to use dry reeds for securing things. He ties his hair with it, decorates his equipment with it, and though his legs aren't visible, he ties reeds in a crossed pattern over his kyahan

The brown cotton sageo and tsuba he uses are handed down from his father. The scar on his cheek is also there for the same reason, his father had one and Yoshi decided to cut his cheek to look cool and match 💀

Syougo's haori has kogin-zashi embroidery across the sleeves and shoulders. He sewed it himself in between his training as a way to decompress and slow down. His kyahan have a matching stripe across the front

Syougo's tsuba was gifted to him by his current mentor who thought he would enjoy the oblique patterning to match his outerwear. His current mentor also requested a nichirin style tanto for him to use for his secondary fighting technique

The ragged look of Syougo's hair comes from him prioritizing training over all else, even appearance. The only instance where he will fully comb and dress his hair is for important meetings and ceremonies. He does maintain the part of his hair though, modelled after his mentor's (much shorter) hair. This is one doodle with clean hair

I'd write more about their character but this is getting long as it is 💀

I have a piece with Syougo that I'm going to put up soon, and at my sister's request I'll try doing a matching one for Yoshi

Hope you guys like these fellas ^^ I'll see you later

[astrodecana]

Welcome to Astrodecana, Wander nation in the mystical east Pacific, guarded by the 12 mythical beast of the four seasons.

Treacherous lands consist of Wanders, super humans with special elemental powers granted by gems and gold contact, mostly, powers given by the holy meteor Matteo.

These territories are separated into 4 areas and keep hold in Pacific affairs. Hawaii is their only Ally, as Wanding, Wanders, Wanderlings, Wandsters, Wanderbeings and Astrology are forbidden across the globe.

These territories work together as a private nation to bring peace but the Earth territory is causes disputes with Canada, U.S. America and Mexico about expanding land in the Pacific, especially Fire and Earth.

Wanders is granted their basic elemental powers such as Fire, Earth, Air or Water. Each of the 12 Zodiac signs hold 3 decans all 10 degrees each with a extra special power. All with a Ruler planet and Sub ruler planet.

When Wanders discover their magical reaction to gems, seeing gems glow, it's advised to seek refuge in Astrodecana and find sanctuary from global government agencies that imprison Wanders and use them for experiments.

Wanding comes at a price, if no physical contact with Matteo the wandering Meteor is made within a year of power activation, Wanders wont get to keep their powers or have access to Astrodecana. Astrodecana citizenship is permanently granted after official contact. Citizens may have families and children must follow the same protocol when becoming adults at age 18.

Martian Cardinal Fire Spring:

Aries, Mars: Lava (0°-9°)

Areo, Sun: Laser (10°-19°)

Aritarius: Shadow (20°-29°)

Venusian Fixed Earth Spring:

Taurus, Venus: Plant

Taurgo, Mercury: Metal

Tauricorn, Saturn: Plastic

Mercurial Mutable Air Spring:

Gemini, Mercury: Sound

Gembra, Venus: Wilderness

Gemarius, Saturn/Uranus: Omniscience

Lunarian Cardinal Water Summer:

Cancer, Moon: Steam

Cancio, Mars/Pluto: Indestructible

Cansces, Jupiter/Neptune: Fusion

Solarian Fixed Fire Summer:

Leo, Sun: Combustion

Leotarius, Jupiter: Hivemind

Laries, Mars: Divinity

Mercurial Mutable Earth Summer:

Virgo, Mercury: Crystal

Vircorn, Saturn: Gravity

Vaurus, Venus: Force field

Venusian Cardinal Air Autumn:

Libra, Venus: Trance

Librini, Mercury: Time

Librarius, Saturn/Uranus: Reflect

Martian/Plutonian Fixed Water Autumn:

Scorpio, Mars/Pluto: Flesh

Scisces, Jupiter/Neptune: Spirit

Scorce, Moonr: Frost

Jupiterian Mutable Fire Autumn:

Sagittarius, Jupiter: Electric

Sagaries, Mars: Luck

Sageo, Sun: Beast

Saturnian Cardinal Earth Winter:

Capricorn, Saturn: Bone

Capaurus, Venus: Mud/Clay

Caprigo, Mercury: Darkness

Saturnian Uraniun Fixed Air Winter:

Aquarius, Saturn/Uranus: Alien

Aquamini, Mercury: Swap

Aquabra, Venus: Disable

Jupiterian Neptune Mutable Water Winter:

Pisces, Jupiter/Neptune: Duplication

Piscer, Moon: Dream

Piscio, Mars/Pluto: Unipower

Astrodecana has a dress code. Wardrobe is a shade of white through black to determine season, and accessories determine element. If not abide to code, Wanders may look down on somebody and report them to the authorities and face punishments and fines.

Matteo is counting on you to improve your powers and find more wanders across the globe and help Astrodecana expand and grow.

The 36 Decan wheel

Have a fun time exploring!

[sophiacloud28]

Call Me (One-Shot)

One-shot, Angst, Rise Leo, Apocalypse Timeline, Character death mention

Prev || Next

It's not the first time he finds himself here. It's not the first time he finds himself staring at a hilt he's wrapping in green. It's not the first time he has found himself worried about materials as he works slowly, methodically. But he knows it's the last. He knows he will never, ever repeat this process.

"Almost?"

"Almost."

His youngest brother enters his quarters and sits on his bed with a smile that is anything but warm. He doesn't look so young anymore, either. This goddamn war has been slowly killing them all and, for the first time, it's taken a life, two close to him that he'll never be able to have back.

He finishes his wrapping and carefully puts the pieces of the tantō back together. He then hands it to his brother before getting up and following him outside. He's not surprised to see the lights turned off, it's night after all, but he still marvels at the floating balls of light that carve a path to where they're headed.

Marvels, that is, until he reaches someone who still looks ready to break.

Donnie is barely holding onto the restrung compound bow that Mikey collects. He merely has a second to rush forward and collect his twin. And he can only breathe, close his burning eyes to contain what threatens to follow as he listens to the softshell apologize.

"I'm so –"

"It had to happen, Donnie."

"You –"

"It's fine, Don."

"You –!"

"It happened, Don. We can't take it back."

"… Leo, I'm –"

"It's fine, Don."

He can't cry. You wouldn't want him to. He can't let himself. He has a team to lead, a child to care for. He has to be strong. For you. For them.

He's getting it. He's understanding it. And he hates it.

He smiles as they get to Raph who hands Mikey a modified hockey stick. He takes a breath as an orange glow surrounds the weapons and they seemingly dance in the air before settling themselves onto the wall, the reformed tantō sageo wrapping itself around the riser of the bow to be left hanging there and putting the Hamato Clan symbol in full display. He also helps his twin brother watch as he jostles the softshell a little, the latter sniffing as he does.

However, it's only when they've all left that he lets his feet guide him closer. That his fingers hesitate before they come into contact with not the tantō but the bow.

It no longer carries your warmth. None of it does. But, somehow, he can feel you here. He can almost hear you, see you among his ancestors. He hopes Karai is either waiting for you or welcomes you with open arms.

Once you're done fighting. Once you find your way home.

"… Leo?"

He straightens with a swallow. He turns around to see his twin standing there with a lantern and some fabric in his other hand.

… Blue.

"You –"

Donnie holds the cape up, "Just did."

He collects it and carefully wraps it around his neck. He brings it to his beak before he even thinks about it, lowering as Donnie's scent is the one he finds.

Last time you repaired it… is the last time you'll ever be near him in such a fashion.

You're gone. You're gone. He's never getting you back. You, his support, his light, his advisor, are gone. He's the only thing that remains of your lessons on leadership, on heroism, on honesty.

"You sure you want to wear it, Leo?"

"… Yes."

And he hopes that, if he can't have you, he can, at least, make you proud.

Prev || Next

[loverboyvergil]

Hexodic Terms.

With the twist they're all color-picked from images involving Vergil Sparda (from Devil May Cry.) Hexodic being identities(/genders) involving/related to certain hex codes.

#4FDFF0 (picked from the Mirage Edge,) #939DB6 (picked from his hair,) #A3C5CF (picked from his DMC5 coat's highlights/patterns.)

#3F4B5B (picked from his DMC5 coat,) #61BEDD (picked from his DMC3/4 coat,) #B7E4FB (picked from his DMC3/4 coat's highlights/patterns.)

#87A4B6 (picked from a lighter image of his eyes,) #5E6B7B (picked from a darker image of his eyes,) #41465C (picked from the DMC5 Yamato's sageo.)

Disclaimer(s): Do not recoin, these are for everybody. Coiner is Radqueer-adjacent and uses Trans-IDs that may be seen as harmful. These flags hold special meaning due to the character associated with them, please keep that in mind.

[reeruh]

I’ve never seen someone ship akiren with joker. If you don’t mind, could you explain why you like the pairing? Your art is great and I’m genuinely curious. If you’re not comfortable sharing, no worries. Take this ask as a compliment of your work.

im already sorry for the answer i'm about to give, so first of all - thank you so much for your compliment!! and..

and that's one of the questions i really like to ask myself.. why this pairing, why this roles, why this all happened and.. i really don't know. it's just 'mine'..? i remember clearly that was a time during my first fixation on p5 when i started to search artworks with joker because he immediately became my favorite character and.. i had no preferences about pairings so i just looked for any artworks with him that i found attractive to myself. mostly i searched through twt and pixiv, because as fgo fan i learned that i really like 'vibe' that mostly jp artworks have. and deeper i went on pixiv more i started to see that people like to draw p5 hero interacting with his 'ego' - joker, and i really like this kind of things - i like chii and freya from chobits, i like jeanne and jeanne alter from fgo, i like this 'mirrored'/another self/etc things. and this answer cannot do without mentioning one jp artist. i found Sageo-san artworks (sageo_yn on twt). and some of her works were not only about this interaction, they were about hero and joker as pairing. i didn't know it can be like this before i found Sageo-san works.. and i just completely fell in love with this. the way she drew them, the way it looks also because your favorite character 'doubled' on one art, these different interactions with 'inner self'.. that's the story.

and a little 'afterword' - after some time my fixation fell asleep and almost three years ago it awakened again and i found there's no a lot of new works with pairing and i started to feel 'hungry' for it, so.. i also went back to drawing and started to try draw and learn things as i can and etc. the far it went the more i started noticing that i also prefer 'reverse roles' because i found attractive that 'dynamic' where the one because of whom joker 'exists' is also the only one who dominates him, because of this roles i also can show more different sides of them which.. i think really suit them.. i guess it's natural that the deeper this all goes the more i love this pairing..

im really sorry if it ended as the answer not on asked question.. and thank you again 🌸

[talesofedo]

The article below is from Chris Glenn's awesome Samurai History and Culture page, it's one of many free articles available. (Direct link to the article here.)

Please consider subscribing to his page to support his work, if you can.

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Hojojutsu

A Unique Samurai Law Enforcement System for Capturing, Binding and Restraining an Opponent With Rope or Cord

Hojojutsu 捕縄術 literally, “rope-binding techniques”, also known as Torinawajutsu 捕縄術, restraining rope techniques, and simply as Nawajutsu 縄術, or rope techniques, is a unique samurai martial and law enforcement rope tying system for capturing, binding and restraining an opponent with rope or cord.

Edo period book showing various restraining methods.

During the Edo period, before the introduction of modern handcuffs, there were over 150 schools with numerous cord tying styles and tactics, and the arts were widely used as part of the constabulary’s arrest and restraining techniques. These schools of the rope binding arts were passed down in various regions and were actively taught by most police organizations even after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, however, since the widespread use of modern handcuffs during the Showa period, (1925-1989) the art was deemed unnecessary, and although the basics are taught to modern day police officers, is no longer included in the subjects of arrest techniques. As such, many of the techniques have been lost

Edo period law-enforcement officers called Yoriki and in particular Doshin carried a torinawa or capture-rope, a small, specially wound cord, easily carried and deployed easily, as it quickly unwound as the bundled end of the cord was passed around the arrested person’s body, neck and arms. So effective were the methods that this could be performed by a single lawman while the prisoner was actively resisting and had to be restrained quickly. For the capture and restraint of a prisoner a hayanawa, 早縄 or fast rope, a strong, thin cord with a diameter of around 3–4 millimetres and sometimes the sageo, the cord attached to the saya, or scabbard of a samurai’s sword was used.

Doshin arrest a couple employing binding techniques

Whereas most constraints around the world and throughout history concentrated simply on the effectiveness, in typical Japanese style, visual and aesthetic details were also considered. These Japanese rope binding techniques were not just effective at confining a prisoner but also showed a certain artistic flair, and importantly a deep understanding of human anatomy and physics, introducing such techniques as where limbs are tied in positions that decrease the forces generated, or those where constricting cords looped around the neck and limbs put pressure on blood vessels and nerves numbing the extremities, discouraging the captured person from struggling.

The techniques are broadly divided into Hayanawa methods for the quick restraint of a captured enemy, and Honnawa for formal or ceremonial use, and methods for inflicting torture with the tied ropes. The thickness, length, and material of the rope used varied greatly depending on the school and purpose. Incidentally, the Edo Magistrate's Office changed the colour of the rope with each season.

Hayanawa

Hayanawa incorporates not only techniques for restraining an opponent after subduing them with Jujutsu or Jujitsu, but also various combat techniques that use the rope as a weapon. In order to make a quick restraint, iron rings or hooks were often attached to the rope. Honnawa methods were mainly used when escorting or presenting criminals to the magistrates, and different methods of tying are prepared depending on the status and occupation of the arrested, their gender, and their crime. For example, a person accused of — but not yet convicted — of a crime would be inclosed using methods which securely constrained them, but without securing knots. Instead of tying knots, the arresting officer or Doshin held on to the rope from behind the prisoner, keeping them under control. In such a case, the ropes were not tied to prevent the prisoner from suffering the shame of being publicly restrained.

While under arrest criminals are held tight by well tied cords.

The other style used one, and occasionally two honnawa ropes, which, like the hayanawa, came in different lengths, but was usually made of hemp and averaged a diameter of six millimetres or more, and as long as 25 meters. This provided more secure binding than the hayanawa styles, making it ideal for restraining criminals requiring restraint at judicial hearings, being taken to prison, of for ensuring the prisoner was securely held for public display prior to execution.

Honnawa

Honnawa styled binding techniques were often tied by a small group of warriors or constables at once, allowing for more intricate, ornate and artistic roping patterns than could be achieved with hayanawa. Both forms provided effective restraint with a distinct visual aesthetic.

There are currently almost no classical horowajutsu schools remaining, only martial arts schools where the techniques are taught in conjunction with jujitsu grappling and jojutsu, the art of the staff, to the degree that many of the traditional methods have been partially lost. The traditional martial Koryu schools maintaining the art of bondage include Bo Ryu, Koden Enshin Ryu Iaijutsu, Kurokawa Ryu Ninjutsu, Kuruma Yoshin Ryu Jujutsu, Seigo Ryu Jujutsu, Seishin Ryu Jujutsu, Nanbu Handen Hojo Jutsu, Nagano Ryu Heihou, Mitsuo Muteki Ryu, and Tenfu Muso Ryu. These traditional techniques maintained by these schools and the methods of tying are rarely demonstrated outside Japan.

Bondage restraining methods

Blood Ropes of Aichi

The best restraining ropes were made from hemp fibres which have been pounded soft. Ropes braided with three thin strands are said to be best. After it is braided, rope dyed with blood, called Ketsu Some in Japanese, is considered to be the best. The reason is because it is long-lasting because the salt in blood prevents it from rotting. In addition, bovine blood-dyed ropes are very easy to tie. Ropes dyed with astringent dyes tend to rot quickly and can come undone easily. Ropes made of silk are strong and easy to tie, however the knots come untied easily. In the Edo Era the most highly prized rope was made at Sanshu Hozo Temple, located in modern day Aichi Prefecture, and believed to be where a young Tokugawa Ieyasu was taught to read and write. This temple was founded in the year 701 by the monk Gyoki 行基 (668-749.)

Fujita Seiko (1898- 1966) was a martial arts researcher and Koka Ryu Ninjutsu master whose written works included Zukai Torinawajutsu, and particularly the excellent Fukai Torinawa (Hojo) Jutsu 図解捕縄術An Illustrated Guide to Samurai Bondage, which are considered the bibles of the rope arts, and featured hundreds of knots and binds from many different schools.

The many different styles and techniques, lengths and materials, and many different schools of hojojutsu, promoting many different effective ways to rope tie an opponent or person under arrest is a quintessentially Japanese art that is a unique product of samurai history and culture.

---

You can purchase Fujita Seiko's Illustrated Guide to Samurai Bondage here (Amazon). Christian Rosso's Hojojutsu book is also pretty good, available here (Amazon). They're both also on zLib, but the Fujita book is only available there in Japanese.

[gabriella0807]

🐣 Kid Kusakabe with his first katana.

Left corner below: Atsuya learns how to tie the sageo knot, and shows the result to his sensei.

References:

Gintokii

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

So I know you are the sword connoisseur and #1 fan of swords, so I wanted to drop a little something special into your inbox

So a few months ago, my friend (who does woodworking) made me a sword! He’s done this before djdjd. And I felt like “why let this remain in my room unseen by Dauntless?? Like, come on!” And no, it is not kept in a wardrobe, unfortunately 😔

SUNFLOWER SUNFLOWER SUNFLOWER SUNFLOWER SNUNFLORER SUNFLOWNER SUNFLOWER SOWRDDD!!!!!!!!

THAT'S BRILLANT! the leaves on the scabbard and speckles on the blade!!! I CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF IT BEING DRAWN. the tsuba is a FLOWER!?!??!??! the sun yellow jumping out against the black, and how the leaves almost gently fade into the blue of the scabbard but not quite AND THEY ARE CARVED IN RELIEF????? HE CARVED THEM IN THE LEAVES ARE YOU KIDDING ME oh that must feel so good i want to Touch ;_;

wood that i had a wooden sword even HALF so beautiful and lovingly crafted as that. ugh it'ss so pretty. the wrapping of the sageo and the grip...

you're a lucky, lucky creature to have a friend like that, and even luckier is ME for getting to SEE this!

by the gods i love wooden swords. they're usually for practice and so plain, and there's nothing wrong with good plain wood sword, but LOOK AT WHAT CAN BE MADE look at this FLOWER BLADE fffff fFFFFFFFFFAGHDGDGDGDAkgdgdkjkgdajkdkbskajh

grrRRRR it pretty. tell friend he has put joy into the world

and hug that sword for me please

im clawing at the computer but i don't think my feelings are getting through here. help

THE. PETALSSSS

[zap-the-raichu-hero]

Oratorio Mail!

A damascus steel Katana.

[Image ID: The saya features a small inscription reading "Taking psycho cut to a new level". The tsuba is gold, featuring shockwaves of varying types. The fuchi has two engravings, one on each side (the electric and psychic type symbols). The ito is a blend of different shades of yellow and brown, the kashira features an engraving of an Alolan Raichu. The final point of interest is the sageo, which is a shocking shade of purple.]

Note reads: "Hope ya like it, kid! -Juniper"

[ @sinnohstruggles ]

//sorry its so long, kinda really got into explaining it ^^"

Thanks, Juniper!

(//OOC, you're good)

[snowmoonandflower]

Chapter Notes | juu-nin to iro; shades of a soul

Once again, this chapter got too long and the things I originally wanted to cover got pushed to the next chapter. I’m very bad at not writing longfic.

The title

The direct translation is more akin to "ten colours and people", and it's an idiom that's kind of akin to "to each their own". Ten people can look at the same thing and walk away with ten different opinions. I went with the title "shades of a soul" after some deliberation. Remember that the English titles of these chapters are not direct translations, but rather something that encapsulates the spirit of both the title and the chapter's contents.

Words and phrases

A bunch of weaponry and katana details this time.

yari – a type of Japanese spear, generally straight-headed with a varying number of prongs. Wiki page here.

saya – a scabbard, generally lacquered but not always.

sageo – the cord used to tie the saya to a belt or hakama.

tsuba – the hand guard of a katana

tsuka – the hilt or handle of the blade, generally wrapped in shark or ray skin (samegawa)

hamon – the pattern on the steel of the blade, sometimes straight, sometimes not

shihan – an honorific that is nowadays used to refer to martial arts masters, but is a perfect form of address between a tsuguko and their hashira. Kanao refers to Shinobu as shihan.

omiai – literall ‘look meet’; matchmaking or arrange marriages. Uncommon now as love marriages are a majority of Japanese marriages, more common around 16th century Japan and beyond. Akihito and Iyori met and married through omiai, as did Kagaya and Amane (and many, many more, as we will discover as the story continues).

Let’s talk about wardship and adoption

Wardship is perhaps not the correct term to use in Japanese, but it is the most appropriate word in English in my opinion for Masachika and Sanemi’s positions. They are adopted in all but name, given rights and assets that are normally only entitled to true-born children. 

In Japan, teenage and adult adoption is not uncommon, even to this day. It’s very common for prestigious families who lack a male heir to adopt an unrelated or distantly related male (child or adult) to carry on the family name. Oftentimes, it could be a straight adoption, or it could be adoption via marriage.

Wardship is a combination of traditional adoption and the unofficial status that many children in the Demon Slayer Corps are currently living under. An example would be how Genya lives under Gyoumei’s care and tutelage in canon – he is Gyoumei’s student, but Gyoumei is also implied to take a certain kind of responsibility over Genya, who lives with him. You could also argue something similar with Sabito and Giyuu, who were orphans but lived and trained with Urokodaki, who they doubtless saw as a teacher and father figure. Although in Snow, Moon, and Flower, Urokodaki is not part of a great family, people still regard his relationship with the two boys as that of guardian and ward. It is also Obanai’s current standing in the Chrysanthemum Estate – he’s given the same rights and protections as the trueborn Rengoku children (although we explore more of him and his circumstances later).

All in all, to most families, it’s a way to take in orphan children and give them a modicum of legality in terms of status. In this period, school is mandatory for children, but depending on how far out you are from the cities and whatnot, it’s not particularly possible for this to be enforced. There’s no modern-day CPS, but the koseki or Japanese family registry has existed and been enforced since the Meiji Restoration. This means all families and their units are reported to local authorities and governments – it is a registry after all. I do not speak on this too heavily in the chapter – it’s told from Masachika’s POV, and while he’s smart, he's not going to linger on the details of stuff like this. Wardships offer the orphaned and estranged child soldiers in the corps a degree of legal protection, all somewhat loosely handwaved and covered up by the great families and their “friends in high places”, the Ubuyashiki family and their copious amounts of money… and me, the author of the fic, who wants to think a little bit about this stuff, but not too much, because we are 5 chapters in on a 36+ chapter story that’s already longer than the average YA novel (75k or so).

To further explore this though, wardship means more to the great families than it does to a regular family, and it comes with more… “perks”. Entitlement to land that is bought by the family itself and gifted to the ward is a tradition that comes from the Sengoku period when samurai would take on retainers; in fact, wardship to the great families is very much an evolution of the relationship between a daimyo or shogun and their kanshindan. Kanshindan were retainers in service to the daimyo or shogun and would be offered land and rice stipends. Their duty was not only to serve their lords but to keep them accountable as leaders. Very much the bond of a lord and their vassalage.

In 1908, the current time the fic takes place, wardship means more soldiers for the corps under the family’s kamon, and it means a roof over the heads of the ward’s family and a meal on their plate every day, three times a day. They will never want for money or possessions. Being offered a wardship is to offer a family - an entire family, as large as the ward has and would like housed - safety and security in exchange that the ward is in service to the great family.

Is it antiquated? A little, and it will be explored. There’s a reason the kanshidan were abolished come the Meiji Restoration, and there’s a reason the corps’ great families continue a variation of the tradition. Is it manipulative to offer something so profoundly life-changing to children and their families in exchange for their devotion and dedication to a corps whose very tenets endanger said children’s lives? Yeah, it is, but this is a different time, and different set of circumstances (uh, demons), but it is also deeply, unfathomably wrong. 

And it will be explored.

Let’s talk about sexism

This fic has always been tagged as “Period-typical attitudes”, while I only recently added “Period-typical sexism” – I did hope that the former implied the latter, however. One of the things I wanted to explore with Snow, Moon, and Flower is… well, period-typical sexism and attitudes.

The weight of what it means to be a woman and a man in Taisho era Japan is alluded to in canon, but never heavily lingered on. We see a lot of different expectations between men and women, as well as between upper and lower-class families in the source material. My mind immediately jumps to the Ubuyashiki quintuplets, Tengen and his three wives and the shinobi culture, Mitsuri’s childhood, and other individual characters and their circumstances: Amane, Zenitsu, Ruka, and Shizu. 

As a modern-day left-leaning feminist who lives in a first-world western country, but whose heritage comes from Southeast Asia, I have a lot of differing opinions on this and this fic is an outlet for me to explore those opinions. Tradition is important in Asian cultures, and Japan is no exception. Sexism was and is rampant, then and now. Demon Slayer does go somewhat above the expectations of the time – women were not allowed to hold a sword or take on roles traditionally taken by men. Yoake and Kanae should not be heirs to their families, they are women. A woman like Tadako would not exist in real life and does not exist in the source material (I don’t think there are any female swordsmiths in canon!)

But as Yoake says in this chapter: “demons do not afford us the luxury of abiding by tradition.”

When I explore these themes, I do want to approach them from the worldview of someone who lives in this universe and is deeply ingrained in its culture. There is a complexity to Yoake’s position, to Kanae’s position, to Tadako’s, and Mitsuri’s, and Shinobu’s, and the Doumae girls that I deeply want to explore, and I want to do it justice without putting on my 21st-century hat as I sit in the comfort of a first world western home. This of course means there’s period-typical sexism and attitudes in this fic that are both addressed and ignored – abided by and defied – subverted and enforced. That’s part of the nuance of the story I want to tell in Snow, Moon, and Flower.

I only hope that I can do it justice.