#sageo

[proofhead]

İki Güzel Bıçak Tasarımı

[eorzeashan]

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

[atmospheral]

Zoro's katanas visual reference sheet in English (translated by me)

Covers 和道一文字 (Wado Ichimonji), 雪走 (Yubashiri), 三代鬼徹 (Sandai Kitetsu), and 秋水 (Shusui)

Notes under the cut:

You have to open the image in a tab/download it and zoom in to read it, sorry!! I couldn't figure out how to vectorise the text :(

The original tumblr upload in Japanese is here, the sheet itself links to a deleted pixiv site so I have no idea where it was originally from, but it definitely seems to be written by Oda

Please let me know if there are any errors!!

I'm not Japanese nor do I speak/read it, I just used google translate + a lot of googling and wikipedia to look up japanese sword terminology. I can also read kanji so that helped a bit

Some other random notes if you'd like to reference the original post:

柄巻 (tsuka-maki or tsuka ito, lit. hilt wrap): rope wrapped around the outside of the katana

鐔 (つば)* - tsuba, sword guard; generally a round metal plate with a central wedge shaped hole for the blade and if needed up to two smaller holes for the kozuka or kōgai *note: Oda uses the hiragana when referring to the tsuba

柄 tsuka: The tsuka is the hilt or handle; made of wood and wrapped in samegawa (shark/ray skin).

目貫 menuki, The menuki are the decorative metal ornaments the are woven under the tsuka-ito (handle wrapping). These ornaments were originally made to hide the mekugi pins that secure the tsuka to the tang of the blade

鞘 saya: traditional wooden scabbard

腰差し koshi-zashi: something to be worn on the waist, can specifically refer to swords

丁子乱れ, "clove disorder" choji midare – an irregular hamon pattern resembling cloves, with a round upper part and a narrow constricted lower part.

鮫皮 samegawa: the ray or shark skin wrapping of the tsuka (handle/hilt), is wrapped by the tsuka-ito

頭 kashira: The kashira is the pommel on the end of the tsuka.

鐺 kojiri: The kojiri is the end of the scabbard (saya) or the protective fitting at the end of the scabbard

下げ緒 sageo : The sageo is the cord used to tie saya to the belt/obi when worn.

直刃 suguha: straight temper line (hamon)

乱刃 midareba: irregular temper line (hamon)

刃文 hamon: border between the tempered part of the ha (cutting edge) and the untempered part of the rest of the sword; the temper-line.

Temper line (刃文 hamon) designs

Left to right: suguha (straight line), gunome (wavy line), choji (clove), notare (gentle wave)

References:

Japanese Sword Mountings Wikipedia Page

Glossary of Japanese Swords Wikipedia Page

Tsuka-Ito (hilt wrap)

Menuki (hilt ornaments)

(In Japanese) koshi-zashi definition

(In Japanese) choji hamon definition

[eorzeashan]

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

[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

[astrodecana]

Welcome to Zodiparadise where Wanders roam freely without persecution.

Fuegos: Southern Mainland

15 Million Wanders,

Terras: Center Mainland

21 Million Wanders

Aerokos: Western Islands

17 Million Wanders

Aquas: Northern Islands

22 Million Wanders

.

Wandster beast may roam anywhere.

Cities and Roads at night

.

This secretive nation in the northern pacific live in colonies celebrating their abilities. Their clothing and accessories give off hints of their powers, what village theyre from and emergency availability. The clothing is White Summer, Light Grey Spring, Dark Gray Autumn, and Black Winter, the accessories can be Red Fire, Green Earth, Yellow Air, or Blue Water.

Their wander powers stem from an Ancient Meteor that roams freely around Zodiparadise. Wanders must make contact with Meteor within a year to keep their elemental powers or else they fade away. The meteor can be very tricky.

There are 4 main elemental powers, Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Then there are 36 Decan Powers the Meteorite name Matteo bestows on Wanders.

The Meteorite gifts gemmed wands to talented people able to manifest the elements of nature, there are 36 total with a unique aura glow and power.

Each Gem is attached to the 3 decans of each Zodiac Sign, here are their glyphs that naturally appear on the back of wanders necks during initiation.

Spring Cardinal Fire:

Mars Aries- Lava, Topaz

Sun Areo- Laser, Tigers Eye

Jupiter Aritarius- Shadow, Onyx

Spring Fixed Earth:

Venus Taurus- Plant, Emerald

Mercury Taurgo - Metal, Quartz

Saturn Tauricorn- Plastic, Purple Agate

Spring Mutable Air:

Mercury Gemini- Sound, Peridot

Venus Gembra- Wilderness, Jade

Saturn/Uranus Gemarius- Omniscience, Star Sapphire

Summer Cardinal Water:

Moon Cancer- Steam, Blue Topaz

Mars/Pluto Cancio- Indestructible, Alexandrite

Jupiter/Neptune Cansces- Fusion, Garnet

Summer Fixed Fire:

Sun Leo- Combustion, Ruby

Jupiter Leotarius- Hivemind, Opal

Mars Laries- Divinity, Amber

Summer Mutable Earth:

Mercury Virgo- Crystal, Turquoise

Saturn Vircorn- Gravity, Pearl

Venus Vaurus- Force Field, Purple Fluorite

Autumn Cardinal Air:

Venus Libra- Trance, Tourmaline

Saturn/Uranus Librarius- Time, Chocolate Opal

Mercury Librini- Reflection, Aquamarine

Autumn Fixed Water:

Mars/Pluto Scorpio- Flesh, Carnelian

Jupiter/Neptune Scisces- Spirit, Lolite

Moon Scorcer- Frost, Moonstone

Autumn Mutable Fire:

Jupiter Sagittarius- Electricity, Citirine

Mars Sagaries- Luck, Rose Quartz

Sun Sageo- Beastify, Goldstar Sapphire

Winter Cardinal Earth:

Saturn Capricorn- Bone, Zircon

Venus Capaurus- Mud, Coral

Mercury Caprigo- Darkness, Obsidian

Winter Fixed Air:

Saturn/Uranus Aquarius- Alien, Amethyst

Mercury Aquamini- Swap, Tanzanite

Venus Aquabra- Disable, Serpentine

Winter Mutable Water:

Jupiter/Neptune Pisces- Duplication, Jasper

Moon Piscer- Dream, Sapphire

Mars/Pluto Piscio- Unipower, Diamond

Power is assigned to one of eachone of 3 decans per Zodiac Sign of 12. Each decan may last 10 days long.

The World of Zodiparadise awaits! Use your wander abilities to train up to 4 wandsters, beast that roam Zodiparadise

[hymnism]

ok because i have severe brain worms i decided to look up hijikata's sword to see how accurately it was depicted between the two pieces of media i am currently consuming that happen to include the oni no fukucho himself 👍

so it was believed that for the majority of his career in the shinsengumi hijikata wielded a sword called izuminokami kanesada

these images are from the hijikata toshizo museum in his hometown of hino. unfortunately the lighting isn't great for getting a look at the details on the tsuba but this replica sword gives us a better view

(we're just going to trust that it's accurate 🚶‍♂️)

now if you look you look up izuminokami kanesada you will get nothing but touken ranbu so i figure i might was well include that guy

this is actually a pretty accurate representation of the sword. it has the white ray skin handle with black wrappings and sageo cord and the shape and design of the tsuba is identical. even the design of the kojiri is the same

overall 10/10

moving on i'm going to start with hijikata from gintama. at the start of the anime he uses this sword that. somewhat? resembles the kanesada

it has a rounded tsuba and white ray skin handle with dark tsuka wrappings but that's about where the similarities end. however hijikata actually breaks this sword early on and for the majority of the anime uses the muramasha (a parody of the muramasa)

now the anime and official art and manga all seem to have different designs for the muramasha but in general it seems to have an oval shaped brass colored tsuba with red tsuka which. does not resemble the real muramasa at all. you can see here that the real muramasa has a black squarish tsuba with goldish tsuka wrappings

gintama toshi gets a 6/10 with his first sword doing the heavy lifting may it rest in peace

interestingly tho what this does resemble is hijikata's sword in ishin

it's not an exact match but the tsuba has a similar shape and color. unfortunately that's basically where the similarities end

you can see here that both the ray skin and tsuka wrappings are different colors from both the muramasa and the kanesada. and you can't see it here cuz im at the image limit for this post but the sheathes are different as well

4/10 it looks cool as shit tbh

[kultofathena]

Hanwei Maru Renshu Katana

The Maru Renshu by Hanwei is a sword designed entirely with practical and repetitive cutting practice in mind. Its cost has been made more economical by using simpler, but durable materials for the hilt fittings while keeping the quality of the blade and its tempering fully intact and on par with more expensive 5160 steel cutting swords from Hanwei. This all goes together to create a sword that you can reliably cut and practice with and do so affordably whilst keeping your more premium katana reserved for special occasion.

The blade is through-hardened 5160 high carbon steel. This type of steel, paired with mono-tempering, creates a blade that is a durable cutter. Unlike a differentially-hardened sword this kind of blade is much less likely to take a bend if a poor cut is made – ideal for the cutting beginner or someone who wants a no-frills practical cutting sword. The Maru Renshu has a long bo-hi groove intended to reduce the weight of the sword along its thickest point whilst sacrificing little durability. This groove creates a more audible whoosh when the sword strikes – the variable sound of this Tachikaze sword wind can be used as a tell on the angle of cut to trained ears.

The tsuba, fuchi and kashira hilt fittings are iron and the habaki and seppa are brass. The wooden tsuka grip is paneled with faux rayskin and overlaid with knotted black suede leather tsuka-ito cord. A pair of antiqued brass menuki are wrapped within the folds of the ito. The saya scabbard is black lacquered wood with horn koiguchi and kojiri fittings. It is paired with a red sageo cord and left unknotted so that it is ready for practical wear and use.

[linaxart]

Ronin Noriko, masterless Samurai

[ID: a digital drawing of Noriko from The Old Guard comics as a Ronin inspired by Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s Isoai Juroemon Masahisa does a Naginata attack from his 47 Ronin series. She’s leaning back as she swings the Naginata, a long spear with a curved blade at the top. She has two swords strapped to her waist by a uwa-obi belt and sageo cord, a long curved katana and a shorter wakizashi. She’s wearing a long black and white kimono with a blue underside. Underneath, she has blue kyahan leg wraps with a wave pattern, black tabi sock and waraji sandals. Her hair is in a top bun.  End ID.]

[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)

[erio-towa]

Where are you looking for new swords? What sort of sword are you after?

just different websites, and idk I wasn't like, seriously considering getting one rn lol

though my current "dream" sword.. katana with a four inome mokkou-gata tsuba featuring a flower motif, a tassel loop, a maki-e saya w flowers and moths, and a cyan colored ito and sageo

though I'm aware that's something that wouldn't just be up for sale somewhere lol

[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.

[minteayoongimakesmewoozi]

have you ever thought abt a tanyame genshin au ?

oh BOY have i ever!!!!! i have a few wips of genshin au ayame written already since i got onto an unplanned hiatus (but the return is planned! it's just that life has gotten a bit hectic for me right now) but i won't be posting them any time soon.

but genshin au!!!! yeah!!!!!!!

i actually have two and i love infodumpinging about both teehee

kamisato clan retainer au

- ayame is a distant cousin of ayato and ayaka! a kamisato daughter married a higuchi son generations ago and as a result, the two families have always had strong ties. ayato and ayaka call ayame their cousin, but after all those centuries, the relation is tenuous at best.

- also ayame is older than ayato. don't ask me how many years, she just is

- but since ayato is the young master, he and ayame just speak to each other casually.

- ayaka calls ayame 'ayame-neesan' tho, so cute!

- when ayame is about sixteen, she goes to sumeru to study at the akademiya. this is efore the sakoku decree, but everyone can tell the wind is already changing in inazuma. she has to leave for the akademiya not long after ayato and ayaka's father passes, and she and thoma are friends!

- she never graduates tho

- after two years, she returns to inazuma to become ayato's retainer

- ayame and thoma are both the chief retainers. ayame has a more... intimidating presence than thoma tho, since she's in charge of the shuumatsuban with him. ayato doesn't need a bodyguard, but ayame is basically known as his most loyal guard dog anyway

- despite being ayato's personal retainer, she's actually from watatsumi island

- actually, ayame, tanjirou, zenitsu and inosuke are all native to watatsumi island!

- the higuchis did relocate to narukami island for a time - about the same time the kamisato clan was starting to decline. this means the kamados did the same, since u can't have a blacksmith without the charcoal burners close by

- when the sakoku decree is in full effect, the higuchis and kamados relocate back to watatsumi island

- yes, i'm saying that ayame stayed in inazuma city while tanjirou went back to watatsumi island 🥺 without ayame 😭 😭 😭

- ayame has a cryo vision. it appeared while she was at the akademiya, torn between her duties to the kamisato clan and her own personal goal of graduating as one of haravatat's brightest students

- (she also ended up dating alhaitham during that time, but that's a story for another time)

- as they grow up, tanyame kind of get into a big fight tho

- it has everything to do with ayame's loyalty to the shogunate even in the face of the vision hunt decree

- and also the fact that tanjirou joined sangonomiya's army and tried to get ayame to do the same, but she can't because she's a retainer of the kamisato clan

- think tanjirou's passive aggressive letters from fracture but over the span of years instead of weeks

- don't worry, they make up eventually. it's tanyame, after all

- but only around the time raiden shogun sees the error of her ways

- ayame, tanjirou, zenitsu and inosuke know gorou tho! inosuke and gorou are feral lil besties and zenitsu Suffers™️

- sorry zenitsu

- by the time genshin canon comes around, ayame, tanjirou and inosuke are about twenty-seven. zenitsu is twenty-eight.

- wow they're all adults fksnsksk

- ayame wears a navy blue kimono with white seigaiha and black tights. she has her katana - made by otouchan and niichan - on her left hip, and her cryo vision hangs off her sageo. her hair is in a half ponytail, but held up by a tama kanzashi with the kamksato emblem hanging from it. i haven't thought much of her outfit beyond that though. oh! and of course she has her pouch fixed to her obi!

- and here's a lil wip of retainer au under the cut!

"Not here," Ayame said sharply. "Inside. Now."

Thoma followed her without hesitation, throwing an apologetic grin over his shoulder. She was always so testy when there was danger afoot.

The moment the door of the Teahouse shut behind Aether and Paimon, Ayame spun around and delivered a kick – right to Thoma's ass.

He stumbled forward with a yelp, grunting when she kicked out the back of his knees. He landed with a groan, head snapping forward as she dealt a tight slap to the back of his head.

"Thoma," she growled.

Paimon clung to Aether, whose sword materialised in his hand.

"Step back," Aether commanded.

Ayame held up her hands in a non-threatening gesture, the sleeves of her cloak dropping down to her elbows to reveal her kimono.

"It's fine," Thoma yelped, a hand pressed to the back of his aching head. "It's fine. It's Ayame. She's one of us."

Ayame threw her hood back, blue eyes cool as they landed on the traveller.

"Outlander," she said coldly, "you've put my fellow retainer in quite the bind."

Thoma chuckled, shutting up when she smacked his shoulder.

"Fellow retainer…?" Aether repeated slowly.

Ayame mustered her composure and bowed stiffly. "I'm Higuchi Ayame, chief retainer of the Kamisato Clan and personal attendant to the Yashiro Commissioner."

Paimon gasped, hands pressed to her gaping mouth. "The Hammer!"

Ayame twitched. She never did like that nickname.

"Yes," she grumbled. "I suppose that's what they call me."

Aether lowered his sword, then sent it away.

"You're… not quite what I expected," he said.

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot."

She kicked the back of Thoma's knees once more when he tried to stand.

"I told you," she hissed, eyeing Aether angrily. "I told you! They can't get to the rest of us, so they went after you! Why don't you ever listen to me?"

Another swift thwack to the back of Thoma's head. Then another, and another.

Thoma let the first few blows rain down on him – he deserved that – but gripped her wrists when the blows lost momentum.

"It's fine, I'm fine," he soothed, slowly rising to his feet. "Everything worked out, hm?"

Ayame glared at him mutinously. "You're lucky Waka caught wind of what the Tenryou Commission was up to and had enough time to send me. If you'd just used your stupid head for once – "

"Maybe we should go," Paimon whispered loudly. "Paimon doesn't want to get in the middle of a lovers' quarrel."

Aether nodded. "Good point."

"And where do you think you're going?" Ayame snapped. "Stay. At least wait until the guards are more spread out."

"And don't call it a lovers' quarrel," added Thoma, releasing Ayame when it looked like she wasn't going to hit him anymore. "Ayame's already spoken for."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

Thoma grinned slyly. She hadn't said she wasn't spoken for.

"And I'm not spoken for. Quit telling people that."

Ah, foiled again.

harbinger au

- ahhhh the thing that started my genshin au kick

- higuchi ayame as the twelfth harbinger, codename: innamorati

- ayame has a pyro vision in this au, but with a cryo delusion hiding behind it

- as the lowest-ranking harbinger, she's often sent out of snezhnaya with tartaglia

- ayame and tartaglia are friends, although they would both hesitate to say so. they spend a lot of time together, and they spar often. it's rare to see one without the other

- ayame is the only harbinger who isn't given a new name by the tsaritsa. it's both a gift and a curse; the atrocities she commits as a harbinger can never be severed from her name. ayame knows that this is the tsaritsa's way of keeping her in line

- ayame still wears seigaiha, but the pattern has been dyed black and is almost indistinguishable from the dark blue base. she wears it as a haori and a coat, so there's fur lining the collar of her haori. her pyro vision is clipped to the breast of her customised fatui uniform, almost like a medal of honour. her hair is in a half ponytail, but there is a streak of white hair from her left temple - evidence from using her cryo delusion

- ayame and thoma still end up friends somehow. mainly because ayame's loyalty is still to inazuma, and thoma believes that her actions are still obscuring her loyalty to her homeland. he's the one who feeds her information about the inner workings of inazuma. there's a whole thing where ayato finds out about one of their meetings and ayame has to beat thoma up a little so ayato will believe that thoma gave her information under duress

- at some point, she holds her katana to thima's throat. she's so cool.......