#shintou

[ame-tsuchi]

Did George R.R. Martin reference Shintō mythology? Or:

Parallel between A Song of Ice and Fire and Shintō mythology

On the one hand, Daenerys walks into her husband's funeral pyre after having given birth not too long ago and the magic of maegi Mirri Maz Duur is said to have birthed the three little dragons that Daeny considers her children.

On the other hand, to prove her husband Ninigi that she is pregnant with his child, Konohana Sakuyabime employs the truth ritual ukehi (誓占) to lock herself up in a birthing hut and set it on fire when she is about to give birth. From the ashes she returns unharmed, together with her three newborn sons.

Sources: A Game of Thrones (by George R.R. Martin), Kojiki (German translation by Klaus Antoni)

[bloody-bee-tea]

Beetober 2024 Day 16 - Sugar and Tea

Hizashi is the very picture of misery on the couch when Shouta comes home and the pitiful whine he lets out at seeing Shouta doesn't help at all.

"What's wrong with you?" Shouta asks, stepping close and pushing his hand through Hizashi's unbound hair.

He's sweaty and hot to the touch and instantly Shouta's worry doubles.

"I'm dying," Hizashi croaks out, his voice rough and breaking over the words and Shouta huffs out a breath.

"Dramatic much?" he gives back, though he does put his hand to Hizashi's forehead to be able to take his temperature more reliably.

He's definitely got a fever, Shouta decides and makes a mental note of all the things he'll need to buy for him.

"Shou, don't be mean, I could be on my deathbed," Hizashi whines out even though talking clearly hurts his throat and Shouta rolls his eyes.

"You're not going to die because of a silly little flu," Shouta tells him and he slips his hand down to Hizashi's throat. "But maybe don't talk for a while, huh?"

"That's as good as being dead," Hizashi mutters, looking up at Shouta with big, pleading eyes. "Help?"

"Good to know you think so highly of me that you expect me to be able to simply do something about the flu, but you really just have to ride it out."

It's clearly not what Hizashi wanted to hear, going by the pained groan he lets out and the way he melts into the couch speaks of more desperation than this really warrants and still, Shouta can't help but be hopelessly endeared.

"You're not going to die, so stop being such a baby about it," he says, his voice fonder than he really means it to be, but he simply can't help it when it comes to Hizashi.

"I just might," Hizashi says and if speaking is only half as painful for him as it is for Shouta to listen to him then they have a real problem.

"How's your throat?"

On fire, Hizashi signs back that is a bad sign. Everything hurts.

Well, that's really fucking bad then, Shouta thinks and he can see the same underlying worry in Hizashi's eyes.

He's reliant on his voice and sicknesses like this always threaten his quirk as well because if this somehow damages his vocal cords permanently, there's no saying what it will do to his quirk.

So for all the banter, this is definitely something to take serious.

"Okay," Shouta softly mutters and cups Hizashi's cheek in his hand. "I'll go out and get you some stuff. No dying while I'm out."

'kay, I'll keep it for when you're back, Hizashi signs back and Shouta snorts out a laugh.

"Do that," he agrees and then walks right back out, mentally compiling a list of all the medication he'll need for Hizashi.

Shouta almost rushes through the stores, buying way more stuff than they'll probably need but he can admit that the worry sits too deep to leave Hizashi for long. He doesn't get sick often, so it's not as if Shouta has any opportunity to get used to it and besides. He doubts he ever could, because seeing his husband suffer like that would surely never get easier.

He's back home in record time, and Hizashi is still in the same slumped heap he had been in when Shouta has left.

"Gotten any worse?" Shouta asks and waits until Hizashi shakes his head in answer before he vanishes into the kitchen.

He throws his loot onto the table, quickly sifting through it and picking out the medicine Hizashi will need to take right now. With that back in hand he goes back out to the living-room and Hizashi takes the offered medicine without complaint.

That alone would be cause to worry because Hizashi hates any kind of medicine but he dutifully takes it and doesn't even pull a face when it goes down.

"You're really worrying me," Shouta admits but Hizashi only blinks up at him.

Sorry, he offers after a pause that lasted way too long and Shouta reaches out to take his temperature again.

He's still burning up and maybe that's worse than Shouta thought in the beginning. Good thing he got something for the fever, too, even though Hizashi can only take that before going to bed.

"I'll make you some tea," Shouta offers and quickly vanishes into the kitchen again, adding just enough sugar to the tea to make it palatable for Hizashi and then he's back at his side.

"Sugar and tea, drink up," Shouta cheerfully says and endures Hizashi's glare gracefully.

It's supposed to be tea and honey. Where's my honey?

Shouta cannot believe that they need to have this conversation again but clearly Hizashi loves to rile him up.

"You're allergic to honey. You're going to die if I give you honey."

It's a bit of an exaggeration, because so far Hizashi has only complained about a persistent itching and a slight swelling when he consumes honey, but Shouta is not going to take any chances and especially not when Hizashi is already sick.

It's supposed to help.

"Well, lucky for you, this is special herbal tea that's supposed to help all on its own, so stop being such a difficult asshole and drink up."

Rude. I could be on my deathbed.

"Yeah, you sure will be, if you keep it up," Shouta grumbles back, which makes Hizashi smile brightly before he takes the tea and finally takes a sip.

He immediately pulls a face, so Shouta knows it's one of the good herbal ones and then he motions for him to go on.

Hizashi begrudgingly does, even though Shouta can tell he hates every sip he takes but eventually he drains the mug and hands it back to Shouta.

That was horrible, I demand compensation, he then signs and it's exactly what Shouta expected so he deposits the mug on the table and then sits down next to Hizashi, not at all surprised when he immediately snuggles into his side.

"You'll have to take more medicine later," Shouta softly tells him as he pulls him into his arms and even though Hizashi grumbles unhappily he nods.

He knows he has to, to minimize the danger to this throat and he'll do it, too, even if he doesn't like it.

Shouta will make sure of that and then he'll reward him for it, as well.

~*~*~

Shouta has just poured himself a coffee when their doorbell rings.

"Are you expecting someone?" Hizashi asks him, and Shouta only sends him a glare, because he and Hitoshi are right there at home so who in the goddamn world would Shouta even expect.

"Okay, sorry for asking, I guess," Hizashi grumbles, but there's a small smile playing around his mouth.

He doesn't make a move to go and open the door though, so after one last longing look at his coffee and after another long ring from the door, Shouta makes his way over.

He did not expect to come face to face with Bakugo.

"I'm here to see Shinsou," Bakugo declares, as if that is a totally normal thing to say to his teacher on a late Saturday morning and Shouta is yet about to find some words for him when a door in the apartment flies open.

"I'm here, I'm here," a gravelly voice rings out and Shouta frowns as he turns around.

Hitoshi shows up in the hallway with the craziest bed hair Shouta has seen in a while, a blanket slung around his shoulders and sounding like actual death.

Well. That certainly would explain why he hadn't come out for breakfast.

"What the actual fuck," Bakugo mutters and then simply pushes past Shouta into the apartment as if he has any right to that and Shouta comes to the realisation that maybe, he does.

Hitoshi certainly doesn't seem surprised by any of this and Shouta wonders just how much he has missed here.

"Why are you even up, you stupid troll doll, sit down for god’s sake," Bakugo grumbles out and herds Hitoshi towards the living-room where he bodily shoves him into the couch.

Shouta makes his way back to the kitchen, suddenly feeling as if he's intruding on something he shouldn't be seeing, which is just stupid as hell because that's his living-room. At least Hizashi seems as surprised as he is.

What's going on? he signs so he doesn't draw attention and Shouta shakes his head before he shrugs.

It's not as if he has an answer to this.

"Why would you tell me to come over if you're very clearly dying, you stupid idiot?"

"Sorry for not wanting to cancel last minute," Hitoshi rasps out and Shouta winces, because that sounds painful.

He mentally updates his shopping list for today, because Hitoshi is going to need something for that.

"I would think the bacteria is eating your brain but you've always been fucking stupid, so I guess that's just how you are," Bakugo snaps at Hitoshi and Hizashi makes half a move to interfere, but he stills when Shouta puts a hand to his shoulder, slightly shaking his head.

He has no idea what's going on but he'd like to see it play out, he can't lie about that.

"I just wanted to—"

"Stop talking, would you? Fuck, you sound like death, so just stay fucking quiet for once. I know you're a professional yapper but goddamn try. Gimme your key," Bakugo decisively says and holds out his hand, clearly expecting Hitoshi to go along with that.

Shouta can see Hitoshi opening his mouth and not a second later Bakugo has clasped a hand over it.

"No. Speaking. Gods, just how stupid are you. Sign, if you have something important to say."

Shouta can see Hitoshi glaring at Bakugo but he obediently signs out At the door, purple cat on it and Shouta is pretty sure he hears Bakugo grumble "Of fucking course there's a purple cat on it," before he points a finger at Hitoshi.

"You are not going to move until I'm back," he decides and then marches back to the front door.

Shouta can hear him picking up a key, presumably Hitoshi's, and then there's the sound of a door.

The silence that settles over the apartment is almost deafening.

"What the hell just happened?" Hizashi finally breathes out and Shouta sees Hitoshi go bright red on the couch.

"Ah," Shouta says and Hizashi follows his gaze before he lets out a squeal.

"Shut up," Hitoshi snaps as best as he can with his voice being shot to hell but Hizashi still falls obediently quiet. It's not like that, Hitoshi then signs and Shouta snorts.

"Sure it's not, kid," he easily gives back, because it's exactly like that and Hitoshi's deepening blush only proves him right.

Still, Hizashi and he know when to push Hitoshi and when to just let it be for now and this is certainly not a pushing situation, so they go back to what they were doing before, though Shouta keeps an eye out for Hitoshi.

To his surprise he stays exactly where Bakugo told him to stay, and that alone is telling enough. It takes Bakugo twenty minutes before he comes back with not one but two shopping bags and he marches into the kitchen as if he owns it.

"I'm going to use your kitchen," he declares as he comes in and it's clear he doesn't expect them to argue so they don't.

Shouta finds he doesn't even want to when Bakugo pulls out fresh ingredients for a soup after he put on some water.

Shouta and Hizashi watch him prepare things until the water boils, prompting Bakugo to fix a cup of tea with some sugar in it, which he immediately brings out to Hitoshi.

"One tea with sugar. Drink up, zombie face."

"Where's the honey?" Hitoshi rasps out and immediately wilts under Bakugo's glare.

"You're allergic, you dumb fuck. No honey for you."

Hitoshi pouts up at Bakugo, he honestly to god pouts, but Bakugo only stares him down.

"If you want to die, I can help that along," he then offers and raises his hands in warning.

"But I want honey," Hitoshi mutters and Shouta snorts because he still remembers very vividly the same discussion he had with Hizashi a year or two ago.

Going by the look Hizashi sends him, he remembers it, too.

"And I want you to shut up, and yet here we are," Bakugo gives back with a shrug. "Drink that or I'll make you," he then adds with a nod towards the mug and Hitoshi cradles the cup closer to himself.

"My parents are literally right there," he then tries, voice raspy and it's clear that Bakugo is reaching the end of his rope because his face goes more outraged than ever.

"What did I fucking say about talking?" he snaps but goes on before Hitoshi can say something else. "You were the one who didn't cancel. If you didn't want them to see this then you should have just told me to stay the fuck away. This is on you."

Hitoshi opens his mouth, clearly to argue, but snaps it back shut when Bakugo gives him a stare so fierce even Shouta finds himself raising an eyebrow.

"You're literally dependant on your goddamn voice to use your quirk, why does that not want into your thick, stupid skull? Drink your tea, stay goddamn quiet and let me make you a fucking soup," Bakugo says and then leaves Hitoshi on the couch, staring after him with something akin to wonder on his face and Shouta rolls his eyes.

Kids and their flirting these days.

"You're making soup?" Hizashi asks when Bakugo is back in the kitchen and he jumps as if he had forgotten they were there in the first place.

"It'll help with his—everything," Bakugo says after a moment and Shouta supresses a grin.

This is so definitely just like that and he doesn't even need to see Hitoshi's starstruck expression to know that.

Shouta and Hizashi have literally had the same exact conversation and so Shouta knows from experience that this particular bullying comes from a place of worry and love.

Shouta shares a knowing glance with Hizashi and then they begrudgingly hand over their kitchen to Bakugo who gets to work immediately.

When they join Hitoshi in the living-room, he gives them both a look.

Do not say a word, he warns them and they both raise their hands, showing their absolute innocence.

We would never, Hizashi signs, though he can't quite keep the grin from his face and Hitoshi goes red in the face again.

Sure, kid. It's just funny because everyone always says you're like me, but you're clearly more like Hizashi and Bakugo is like me, Shouta tells him and that makes Hitoshi frown in confusion.

Shou and I had this exact same exchange like two years ago; I was sick and he was bullying me into getting better.

That’s not a fair comparison, you’re married.

We sure are, kid, Shouta signs with a pointed look towards the kitchen and Hitoshi hides himself away in his blanket.

"I can hear you sign from all the way over here. Either shut up or tell me to get lost!"

"You told me to not talk out loud!" Hitoshi calls back and then promptly has to cough when his voice breaks.

"And that's exactly why, dipshit," Bakugo yells back and then appears in the doorway.

Shouta thinks he's allowed a little bit of teasing, seeing as how Bakugo simply took command of their flat and so he gives him his most pleasant look.

"We were just talking about how alike you and Hitoshi are to me and Hizashi," he informs him and watches—for maybe the first time in his life—how Bakugo goes speechless before he finds his footing again.

"You two are literally married," he gets out, and Shouta smirks when Hitoshi sinks deeper into the couch.

"Exactly," Hizashi fills in for him with a wink and Shouta almost laughs when Bakugo goes red in the face before he turs around and hides himself back in the kitchen.

"Dad," Hitoshi whines out and Hizashi pats his head while Shouta only smiles at him.

"You know, he's right though. No talking. And just in case it wasn't clear," Hizashi adds and then louder, so that Bakugo can hear him as well, he adds "We approve!"

"Oh, fuck off," comes Bakugo's grumbling from the kitchen, but he doesn't seem to protest the sentiment itself and Hitoshi must realise at well because he melts into the couch with a content little sigh.

Oh, to be young and stupidly in love again, Shouta thinks but when his eyes fall on Hizashi he realises that he might not be quite as young as he used to be but he's definitely still stupidly in love and when Hizashi reaches out to tangle their hands together, Shouta knows he feels the same.

"Gross," Hitoshi whispers and Hizashi flips his forehead.

"We literally had to see you and Bakugo aggressively flirt in our living-room. I think a little hand-holding can be excused."

"Ah, shush, 'zashi, he's just jealous cause he isn't at the hand-holding stage," Shouta adds, because ribbing his son is quite literally his job as a father.

"Yet," comes Bakugo grumbling voice from the kitchen, making Hitoshi go bright red in the face again and Shouta can't even deny the fact that he's delighted by this.

This is absolutely what his son deserves.

[yukimuraruki-art]

I have never tried a landscape painting like this, where there's a huge range of distance. So I tried to paint Mt. Kura in Japan where the Kuratake Shrine is placed. I haven't been there yet, but who knows if I will at some point. Yeha what should I say, I know that I can't just make masterpieces (if ever but you get it, right?) by doing a thing once, so I guess I have to practise a lot to get convincing results. However, I think that this is a good first try and every imrpovement will come with later paintings. I just think it is important to show the progress I make. Remember that all of us artists do follow a lifelong journey :3

[nadare-writer]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: ゆらぎ荘の幽奈さん | Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san | Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs (Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hibari Ameno/Oboro Shintou Characters: Hibari Ameno, Oboro Shintou Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Living Together, Domestic Fluff, Feelings Realization, Confessions, First Kiss, Cuddling & Snuggling, Rare Pairings, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Femslash, Femslash February, Femslash February 2024, One Shot Series: Part 3 of Femslash February 2024 Summary: Six months after moving in with Oboro, Hibari comes to a realization that will change things between them forever.

[mechadeimos]

[jinxie-117]

Shin Soukoku: Why BSD cannot be told without Atsushi and Akutagawa

How's everyone feeling after chapter 121.5? Pretty great, right? Pretty SSKK-brained, right? Well, I've got good news for you - Atsushi and Akutagawa are absolutely the emotional core of Bungou Stray Dogs.

That's right chat - whether you ship them or not, these two are absolutely fundamental to the entirety of BSD. Take whatever perspective you want on them - as lovers, as friends, as rivals who despise each other fundamentally but learn to trust one another - these two and their relationship cannot be separated from the overarching themes of their tale.

Naturally, I will be using the mainline manga as reference, as I believe it to be the best source for the overall story of BSD as well as information on Akutagawa and Atsushi's characters (since the light novels and spinoff mangas tend to focus predominantly on characters like Dazai and Chuuya, and BEAST doesn't count). Obviously, spoilers for everything. So, with that in mind, let's begin:

What is BSD about?

Many people would agree that one of the main themes of Bungou Stray Dogs is the value of a human life. Numerous characters struggle with issues surrounding their right to even be alive (Atsushi, Dazai, Akutagawa, Kyouka, Yosano, I mean the list goes on), their status as a human being (Dazai, Chuuya, Akutagawa, Sigma, and arguably Fyodor), or the amount of life required to be taken in order for the 'greater good' (most specifically the conflict between Fukuzawa and Fukuchi, but also Fyodor).

Pretty much every character in Bungou Stray Dogs struggles with some sort of suicidality or has assigned themselves a purpose that they must never stray from (Kunikida and his ideals come to mind - he believes he should not live unless he can follow the exact principles that he has composed for himself), causing them to equate the value of their lives to this one purpose.

It makes sense, then, that three of the most major villains we've had so far - Fitzgerald, Fyodor, and Fukuchi - have their own ways of cheating death: Fitzgerald in his quest to use the Book and resurrect his daughter, Fyodor with his ability, and Fukuchi with Shintou Amenogozen. What's more, all of them aim to cause immense loss of life (Fyodor is willing to kill anyone and everyone in pursuit of purging sin, Fitzgerald didn't mind loss of life in pursuit of money, power, and access to the Book, and although Fukuchi is ultimately on a smaller scale, he still aimed to kill a large number of people in order to achieve his ideal of peace). The value of a human life is the most sacred thing in this world, and so being able to cheat your own death while causing many others is naturally the most evil thing to do by this world's rules.

A final thing to note that, despite every character believing in some divine (especially in Fyodor's case) purpose for themselves that will finally give their life value, this purpose tends to cause more harm to themselves and others than they would care to admit. Kunikida's ideals especially (I keep using him as an example, it's because I recently read Dazai's entrance exam lmao) are emphasised as ridiculous and overdone, and his rigidity frequently causes him harm. This self-destruction brought on by purpose will become especially relevant as we move on to discuss our two beautiful boys:

Atsushi Nakajima: Useless Self-Pity

News to the people of the world - Atsushi is my favourite character in all of Bungou Stray Dogs. He is perfect to me and I love him. Many people I encounter on the internet have some sort of quantum beef with this man, which I can only assume is because they see in him that their own self-hatred and pity can cause harm, and get extremely butthurt about the fact that self-flagellating does nothing for them. I, however, have no such qualms, and thus I can see that he is certified peak.

One of Atsushi's major flaws, despite all his kindnesses, is that he cannot fathom a reason why he should be allowed to live, and constantly searches for that reason in other people. For a long time, he based his entire worth around the orphanage headmaster's opinion of him, as he was his only involved guardian - and thus, as a result of his abuse, believed himself worthless. Upon leaving home (or more accurately, being forcibly removed), he no longer had a purpose to live, but his survival instincts kept him alive for long enough to meet Dazai.

Meeting Dazai and joining the detective agency was only a short solace - because Atsushi, who wanted to live but truly believed that he did not deserve to, was now on the hunt for a new reason to live: protecting others.

It makes sense that in a high-stakes environment that Atsushi sees the only value of his life as protecting other people. This is first demonstrated during his entrance exam, in chapter two, when this freak of nature jumps on top of a bomb in order to protect the people around him. This seems to earn him approval from others (which he believes is his reason to live, for people to give him their approval and thus confirm he is allowed to exist), so he begins to participate in more battles and save more people's lives and generally act in defence of other people in order to earn his right to be alive.

There is more to be said here, but maybe I'll make a post only about Atsushi some other time. Moving on, one of the main drawbacks of Atsushi's desperation to live and his belief that he needs to protect others, is that he suffers from his main weakness in times of stress - dwelling on the past. Despite possessing the capability to protect and fulfil his purpose, Atsushi will freeze up and begin to spiral into self-hatred whenever anything goes wrong for him.

This is most obvious in the latest chapters, when witnessing all of his friends in the ADA die at the hands of Ame No Gozen and Dostoevsky. He seems entirely unable to take any action and fight back, believing his foe to be insurmountable, despite Fyodor's confirmation that this may not be the case:

So, we've established Atsushi's weakness as his inaction, passivity, and self-hatred. It makes him often useless in battle, and prevents him from creating a purpose for himself and interacting with the value of his life in a healthy way. Instead of protecting others and maintaining his own self worth, he fails to protect others, demolishes his self worth, and thus attempts increasingly dangerous and reckless ways to prove that his life has value. Most notably uh....

This suicide is demonstrative of Atsushi's terrible self-image. He foolishly believes that his life will have value if he literally kills himself, despite the fact that his life will no longer have value if he cannot do anything with it. Atsushi's belief that self-sacrifice is noble when he should be aiming to preserve as many lives as possible, including his own, is the culmination of every scrap of self-hatred he's been developing over the course of the entire story.

However, this can also be perceived also a good act - for once, Atsushi takes action instead of protecting mindlessly, and I will get into how this relates back to Akutagawa and how he teaches him how to take action instead of dwelling on the past, but that's for a later section. Either way, this act of self-sacrifice is both Atsushi moving onward in his character arc - learning how to take action in times of stress, instead of standing still, but also remaining stagnant - he refuses to preserve his own life, preferring instead to sacrifice it in the name of his purpose.

So, to move things along...

Ryuunosuke Akutagawa: Mindless Self-Servitude

More news to the world - you're never gonna guess which BSD character I relate to the most. This freak. This section will hopefully be a little shorter because this post is really dragging on, but no promises!

Akutagawa was very dissociated for the first years of his life - but he still had a purpose right up until his friends died. Being the strongest in his group of children in the slums, he was their assigned protector, and believed this to be his only purpose. It is the loss of this purpose that managed to break the haze around his emotions and first experience hatred - before it causes him to realise he has no reason to go on.

Immediately, Akutagawa takes up a new purpose - to prove his strenght to Dazai. Dazai personally tailors this purpose himself, ensuring that Akutagawa's entire sense of self-worth is dependent on him, willing to sacrifice any hope or joy that he might have had a chance at feeling. At the same time, however, Akutagawa despises Dazai for his treatment, being at least partially cognisant of his abuse, and wishes to kill him - thus creating a paradox in which he shall always wish to destroy his reason for live, but never be able to out of fear of losing said reason to live.

It is pretty important to note that I do not think Akutagawa wishes to die, unlike Atsushi who wholly believes that he should. Rather, Akutagawa becomes what he sees as a heartless monster when he is without a purpose, and thinks that he shall rot away on his own without one, as he believed that he did as a child in the slums, one day away from death at all times (now no longer being wholly aware that he was a fierce protector and once saw that as his reason to live). As a result, he adopts a philosophy that Dazai introduces him to - that the weak shall die, and the strong shall live, and that he better hope to be strong.

So, Akutagawa's worst weakness is that he despises the weak and will quickly and recklessly cut them down, refusing to sheath his sword, as he believes those strong enough to be worthy of life shall be able to hold their own against him in battle. Rather, instead of diminishing his own life in pursuit of saving others, Akutagawa diminishes others' lives in pursuit of saving his own. He acts recklessly and impulsively, underestimating his foes, the opposite of how Atsushi acts. He is actively called out on this by Pushkin upon encountering him:

To rub salt in the wound, earlier this chapter Atsushi calls him out on it multiple times, and Dazai calls him out on it for about... two years straight. So we can parse that Akutagawa really doesn't know how to slow down or quit, always dealing with the present and the now, believing that mass destruction will be a proof of his strength that he can then demonstrate to Dazai and earn his right to live.

This purpose, however, actively harms Akutagawa - in particular, it removes from him his humanity. He is repeatedly referred to as some kind of dog (see: the heartless cur, the silent mad dog, the black-fanged hellhound, the list goes on), and treated like his only use is to fight - which he genuinely believes, and so exists only to hurt and fight others. This causes a vicious cycle - Akutagawa hurts others recklessly -> gets called out on hurting others recklessly and denounced as a dog that doesn't know how to do anything else -> he internalises this idea of not knowing how to do anything but kill -> he continues to hurt others recklessly.

So, we have Akutagawa who will kill others to prove he is strong and thus allowed to live, and Atsushi who will kill himself to prove that he can protect and thus allowed to live. What a pair! So let's get onto the main event that shouldn't have taken this long.

Shin Soukoku: To me, you've always had a right to live

This post isn't about it, but the amount of panels these two have together where they are perfectly mirroring each other is wholly unsubtle. I've never seen anything like it. It is totally ridiculous.

To create an effective narrative foil, one must first create as many similarities between two characters as they can. So let's begin:

Both studied under Dazai

Both struggle with a flimsy reason to live

Both have all-devouring beasts that can cut through things most people wouldn't be able to as their ability

Both think themselves worthless save for one thing

Both are haunted by pasts of physical abuse that cause violence to be their accepted norm

Both feel their emotions very strongly

There's more but I've been at this post for two hours

These similarities, especially the one surrounding their reason to live, are very accessibly noticed in another human being. Overall, both of these two need to learn how to dispense of their current reasons to live, which tend to hinge on another person and a set of narrow-minded ideas (in Atsushi's case, protecting everybody, and in Akutagawa's, the strong needing to defeat the weak).

As a result of being able to notice these flaws very easily in another (having only subconsciously noticed it in themselves), these two do not get along, and repeatedly call each other out on foolish behaviour, enabling each other to improve. This looks slightly different on either side, so I'll go one-by-one.

Let's begin with Atsushi's side of the deal, because I talked about him first. As we established earlier, what he needs to learn is to take action, stop dwelling on his past, and view his life as something worth holding onto, as all human life has value.

The one thing Akutagawa absolutely despises about Atsushi is his absolute unwillingness to take any action at all.

Akutagawa, who is so used to moving forward and fighting and acting in the now, hates Atsushi for being able to dwell on his past and still have Dazai's approval. It fills him with complete and utter rage, and so he unwittingly motivates Atsushi to learn how to take proper action.

Another example is on the boat, when Atsushi's resolve is failing, and he comes to assist.

Ah, the famous line. Unironically though, it is perfectly demonstrative of Akutagawa's ability to instil self-confidence in Atsushi and motivate him into taking action - which does work later on when Atsushi saves Akutagawa from an inevitable death at the hands of Fukuchi, allowing them both to escape with their lives (for now):

So, good job Akutagawa! You've managed to teach Atsushi the power of not sitting around being dead miserable, not doing anything about the things that are visibly going wrong all around him. You know, I bet this won't have any other consequences for both you and him!

Oh, hey, Akutagawa. Guess what else you taught him:

So. We've already established why this is kind of an... issue. But as we can visibly see, Atsushi is able to take action. For the first time in several chapters, he is motivated by the prospective death of the man who warned against his passivity, into acting, not sitting by and watching everybody he cares for die, acting. Akutagawa, whose recklessness and impulsivity Atsushi once criticised, seems to be the one thing that enables him to take action after a period of extreme self-doubt and passivity.

This is especially special because Atsushi is motivated into this action by hallucination Dazai, who was once the hallucination of the orphanage director - who is now, at least implicitly, revealed to be Byakko, or Atsushi's tiger (if I am proven wrong on this then it's SO joever but whatever my theory still holds up). Throughout the entire story, Byakko is used as a metaphor for Atsushi's self-image (which I will possibly go into in another post because I'll be here all day if I do it now). So, if hallucination Dazai motivates Atsushi into acting, that means that Akutagawa has pressured him enough that he has literally permanently altered his self-concept. Insane.

Another thing that Akutagawa criticises Atsushi for is his belief that other people need to be protected, and that he can destroy himself for the sake of others, and thus earn a right to live. He demonstrates this particularly in chapter 35:

Akutagawa's main philosophy is that he who is the strongest shall come out on top, and that sacrificing anything for others is useless. So, he's (still in the process of) teaching Atsushi how to live for himself and look out for himself, which he is able to do whenever they fight against each other, and also when they fight with others - the combination of their abilities is incredibly powerful, and also represents Akutagawa giving up his defences and giving them to Atsushi, thus teaching him how to look out for himself.

This absolutely comes to fruition when Akutagawa sacrifices himself for Atsushi on the boat against Fukuchi and tells him to get away while he still can - however you slice it, he is unintentionally teaching Atsushi that he has the right to live and that Akutagawa is willing to die for it - that it doesn't matter if he protects or if he doesn't, that no matter what happens, he deserves to live. And these guys hate each other! What the hell???

Another thing to note is that now that Atsushi is presumably dead from Akutagawa's POV, he is very visibly devastated, even being able to recall his memories upon seeing the man who he fought so hard to defend take his own life. Should they reunite, I imagine that Akutagawa will be at least slightly angry with Atsushi for sacrificing himself like that - thus moving his arc of self-preservation forward.

Now, let's move onto Akutagawa's side of the deal, after that incredibly long amount of time spent on Atsushi's end.

Akutagawa believes that he does not have the right to go on unless he can prove his strength, specifically to Dazai, and does this via cutting down anything in his path.

Atsushi cannot shut up about how idiotic Akutagawa's impulsivity is. We see this on several occasions, the usually kind Atsushi devolving into downright bitchiness at points:

These are only two examples, because I didn't want to have to go chapter hopping that many times. Sorry chat.

Regardless, Akutagawa needs to be taught how to take things slow and learn how to preserve life instead of absolutely demolishing it. This comes to fruition via the six-month promise that Atsushi forces him to make, playing upon Akutagawa's principles and forcing him to not kill anyone for several months. Akutagawa begrudgingly follows through, and ends up successfully managing it right up until his death at the hands of Fukuchi. In addition, it could be argued that this same impulse-control Atsushi insists on inspiring in Akutagawa is what allows him to be able to stay hidden through most of the terrorist arc. Had the promise not existed, he likely would have killed to get his way, and ended up mistakenly revealed.

So, similar to how Akutagawa unintentionally motivates Atsushi to take action, Atsushi unintentionally motivates Akutagawa to slow things down and avoid impulsively killing. He is able to ensure Akutagawa's sword is sheathed when necessary, a feat that even Dazai couldn't achieve.

In addition, while I'd say the 'Dazai's approval' conflict is still in murky waters with Akutagawa, as he's only just recalled Atsushi and it's unclear if he's recalled anything else, Atsushi unwittingly motivates Akutagawa into reducing his impulsivity by allowing him to realise that Dazai won't be pleased by it:

While this exchange can be interpreted as Akutagawa resigning himself to Dazai's hatred of him, we do see him later postpone the killing of the two guards, both because this mission is literally made to work against him (if the guards die, a signal is sent out) and because Atsushi is constantly pulling him up on his shit.

In addition to this, Atsushi teaches Akutagawa a very important thing - that the lives of the weak matter. This is such an insane breakthrough for Akutagawa's character, also represented by the six-month promise. Despite how he's operated all this time, he learns to see Atsushi - who he has perceived as weak all this time due to his constant self pity - as a valuable ally and a life that matters, even sacrificing himself for him in the end.

Akutagawa sacrificing himself for Atsushi is such an insane move because he has never conceptualised something close to doing anything like that before, not once in his life. Atsushi, through all they have been through together, has reawakened the protective instinct in him that hasn't been active since he was a child. This is directly after Fukuchi attempts to convince him to work for him, too - right after he promises strength and Dazai's approval and everything Akutagawa has ever wanted.

Indeed, his life is that important. It is directly after this exchange that Akutagawa and Atsushi are able to trust each other to launch the surprise attack on Fukuchi, only stopped by the fact that his sword can literally exist outside of space and time. For the life of a weak man, Akutagawa gives up all he ever wanted. He gives up Dazai's approval, which he says that he fears dying without. He gives up a chance to become stronger. He gives up his life, which he so desperately wants to live. All for a weak man. All for somebody who he doesn't believe should live, if he cannot beat another in battle.

This is especially evident in the fact that despite the fact he's lost all of his memories, Akutagawa still adheres to the promise that he made to Atsushi. He has learned to respect the weak enough that he refuses to take a life, even when he is visibly winning in battle. And even though he was inspired by Bram, I would like to point out that Akutagawa has sworn his sword to protect others now, a promise that he will still likely adhere to despite the fact he now retains his memories - after all, we still see him in his knight getup at the end of S5E11, which is at least partially symbolic of his pledge.

In addition, Akutagawa is a character who is likely foreign with grief now that he's basically removed himself from the memories of what happened to him and to his friends in the slums - he never mentions his past, and is very visibly attempting to distance himself from it by engaging with luxury items such as antiques, and enjoying food such as figs, which can be seen as somewhat luxury depending on the context.

However, when Atsushi seemingly dies, he is absolutely devastated, something that I do not think we've seen him be for anything not related to Dazai (correct me if I'm wrong, but this depth of reaction isn't usually present in him). He, who never feels grief, likely because he believes those who die are weak and thus have it coming, is so shocked by Atsushi's death that he regains his memories and feels utter despair at the idea of losing him.

Conclusion

So, Atsushi and Akutagawa, both characters whose reason to live is deeply intertwined in their outlook on life, are able to balance out and improve each other's characteristics tenfold. I imagine as the manga progresses that both of them will teach each other the value of their own lives simply for existing, something that the overarching story of BSD seems to be trying to communicate.

Shin Soukoku is a perfect microcosm of the overall themes of BSD, representing the one question from which the entire story stems. Without these two, this particular theme would mean nothing, considering there would be literally no relatable plane to experience it on. Sure, we can acknowledge that millions of people dying is bad, and accept that human life is valuable through Fukuchi and Fyodor and Fitzgerald, who all attempt to demonstrate the opposite - but without Akutagawa and Atsushi, it wouldn't nearly mean as much.

I am sorry that this post was so long! If you stuck to the end you are an angel sent from the very heavens. Don't be afraid to reblog or comment your thoughts, this is just my opinion and I would love a discussion. If there are any typos I'm also sorry I've been sitting here for three hours trying to collect sources and write. But actually I'm not sorry cos I'm really based

[selfaware-bungou-stray-dogs]

What if the reader had Mitsuri's demon slayer strength and Tanjiro Kamado's personality?

AND Have you had water yet? Have a great week 😃👋

Here you go. Thanks for your concern. Yes I have water today.

Thank you, I also hope you have a great week 🥰

Reader have Mitsuri's strength and Tanjiro Kamado's personality

Slight! Self-Aware! Fukuzawa Yukichi x GN! Reader x Self-Aware! Fukuchi Ouchi

Warning: OOC. English is my second language

🐾 Before coming to your world, BSD Cast already knew, that you are kind.

🐾 But, in reality, you were even kinder.

🐾 Your eyes are so soft and gentle.

🐾 You are not afraid of asking for help.

🐾 The Gang already were planning to protect you. Now they are ready to double their efforts.

🐾 Some rascals may take an advantage of you and your kindness, so it's their duty to protect you.

🐾 One time, when you asked them to take a rest and don't worry so much, Junchirou proclaimed that they can't rest. "The strong must protect the sweet" he said.

🐾 How did he? Was it intentional or accidental?

🐾 You did hold yourself together and start laughing only when you were alone in your room.

🐾 At the end, you decide to let them do their thing. It seems, it wasn't really hard for your new friends to help you.

🐾 They saw you as an adorable little bunny.

🐾 Until one day.

________________

This morning, you woke up because of sounds of arguing.

You yawn and get out of bed. You quickly wash your face, brush your teeth and change into your everyday clothes.

After the that, you finally went to the living room, where the sounds of the argument come from.

Fukuzawa Yukichi and Fukuchi Ouchi were arguing. Sigma was also there, looking for a way to break the argument. You came closer to Sigma, who was nervously looking from one male to another.

"Morning, Sigma. What's going on?" greeted you. Sigma smile at you.

"Good morning, [Y/N]. Fukuzawa-san and Fukuchi are arguing about... some events in the manga." Sigma looked uncomfortable. You rolled your eyes.

One of the first things you did, after BSD Cast got into your world, forbid characters from trying to start a showdown about events that occurred after they gained self-awareness and in which they were not directly involved.

But, you do know, that In case of Fukuchi it might be tricky.

So, just in case, you've confiscated Shintou Amenogozen from Fukuchi and hide it. You also made Fukuchi to take Holy Sword from the Bram. Stoker, after getting his body back, was exploring your world. (Was browsing The Internet and Watching TV with Aya).

But, even without his sword, Fukuchi still can start a fight. A verbal fight.

It doesn't seem, that Fukuzawa and Fukuchi will stop anytime soon.

You tried to break the fight. You stepped between two men.

"Okay, that's enough, you two. Let's not start the morning with fighting."

Both Fukuchi and Fukuzawa step back, but they still looked mad at each other.

"While I don't want this, [Y/N], but I can't just sit there and not try to settle our conflicts," Fukuzawa looked calmer, than before, but still, looked determined to start a fight.

"Yukichi, please..." you tried to reason with the silver-haired man, when you were interrupted.

"[Y/N], step aside, we will settle this," growls Fukuchi, trying to gently move you out of the way.

"Ouchi, stop, or I will go mad," you threatened, frowning at Fukuchi.

"Little Guiding Light, it's not like you can do anything to... Woah!" Fukuchi didn't expect to be picked up by you. You picked him up with one had and then picked up Fukuzawa with the other.

"I don't have a "Get Along Shirt", so you will have a "Get Along Human". To the dining room!" cheered you, and walked headed to the dining room. Sigma silently walked after you.

___________

🐾 Let's just say, your entrance was epic. Their Kind, Adorable Little Bunny were holding Fukuzawa and Fukuchi above their head.

🐾 Everyone was shocked.

🐾 You were talking about your strength during breakfast. Yes, you have it from the day you were born. No, It's not an ability. Yes, that's why you eat so much. No, you don't want to start boxing for money.

🐾 Now BSD characters knew, that you can take care of yourself. But still, they want to protect you. They don't want something sweet to be corrupted by someone evil.

🐾 On the side note, now you are training with Fukuzawa and Fukuchi from time to time.

🐾 Some characters may start arguing on purpose, so you will carry them.

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

Hello! I am so confused with the cover page (chapter 1110)!

What does it mean "Ogre child Yamato's golden harvest surrogate pilgrimage"? I am very anxious to know!!

(I don't even know what is "surrogate pilgrimage" 🧐)

yes! honestly, there may be some elements of this that i'm missing because there's a lot i don't know about shintou, but i can break this bit they've translated as 'golden harvest surrogate pilgrimage' down for you.

so what we have here is 金稲荷代参/ko-inari daisan. the first kanji there, 金, is 'gold', and is attached to the second word, 稲荷/inari. inari is a major shintou god of the harvest/agriculture as well as assorted other things, and is very associated with foxes; if you ever see fox statues at a shrine entrance, those are representations of inari! so it's "golden inari", which has presumably been translated as "golden harvest" because english-speaking audiences broadly don't know who inari is.

then the last word is 代参/daisan. it's a word that refers specifically to visiting one temple on behalf of another; i guess there's probably no better way to convey that concept simply in english than 'surrogate pilgrimage.'

i would assume here that golden inari/ko-inari may refer to a specific shrine or destination of some sort that we haven't seen yet. so i guess you could translate it as something like 'oni/ogre child yamato's visit/pilgrimage to the golden inari'? that's just me guessing though. does that make more sense?

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 083]

I am not really someone who wants to get really in the reeds about spiritual imagery and motifs and pinning those down--that is most certainly someone else's excellent project--but I wanted to take a moment here to look at all the elements that go into Kuukaku's cannon (not to be confused with Yamamoto's Kidou Cannon), because it provides an interesting template one might work from if you wanted to design some other high-level Soul Society ceremony or kidou practice.

Some observations/potentials/headcanons:

It's dawn, and this is important. Maybe the ceremony Kuukaku is drawing on relies on relationship to/power from the sun, or the sun serves as an anchor that taps into the heartbeat of this world in general. It is something that is tied, in some way, to a universe beyond oneself. (I was going to say 'maybe it needs to be dawn so the shinigami are looking into the sun and it takes longer for the Seireitei to realize a gigantic blue ball is careening toward them,' but assuming the sun rises in the east in Soul Society, that actually does not help this, haha.)

The cannon is adorned with shide, the white zigzag streamers we see associated with Shintou over here in our world. Suggestive of holy places, purification rituals.

Kuukaku is also drawing a circle around the cannon with a huge ink brush, which is reminiscent of the Buddhist ensou (圓相). Ensou "express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create" (Wiki). A circle can symbolize wholeness, perfection, emptiness, Enlightenment.

Similar to all of the kidou chants (as formalized in the Academy curriculum, whether Kuukaku considers herself a kidou practitioner or the keeper of an art that pre-exists shinigami calling it 'kidou'), lots of colors and animals involved here. (Worth noting that Kuukaku does actually mention a monkey grabbing a star with his right hand, for the Renjis in the house.) Also requires use of a sword. Zanpakutou?

But only for the first part. Kuukaku's final role in this ceremony makes use of her own arm, not a sword, in ways that require wrapped cloth and burning power and that her vassals do not seem to think was going to be an automatic/expected success--this ceremony is a BIG deal and no easy thing. (One wonders if this is what happened to Kuukaku's other arm.)

[eudaimcnia]

[JADE MYSTERY]

“AAAaaaahh, not again!!” 

That’s another loss from Senti. She doesn’t ever learn, does she? It’s always one more hand, one more throw, one more rock–never an end when she’s sure the light is somewhere at the end of the tunnel. But this Jade Mystery crevice she’s in is dark and long, its path winding deeper and deeper into an abyss… Where she never wins, dammit! 

She hangs her head low as she hands Shintou the last of her mora. She’s about to sculk off, when a familiar flash of green enters her peripheral. This is her chance, her way out. 

This is her light, and it shines a vibrant gold.

“Oi, you again!” suddenly they’re face-to-face, and Senti’s hand looks quite empty, “Heheh, how’s it goin’? Mind lending me a few more of your coins? Those uh, mara, meru… Money! I can feel myself getting closer to a win, I just know it!” 

Baizhu had just gotten back from tasting some tea over by Third Round Knockout, and here he is, being approached by the girl he had once accompanied. Out of all the places and games he recommended her, she goes all the way back to square one?

"Oh? I thought you had given up on this game."

This girl is on a rather questionable path, one that might lead to a gambling addiction. It happens all too many times, where such people are so drawn to the carrot on the rod that they don't realize they're running towards a cliff.

He digs his hands into his pockets, shrugging once he pulls them back out. "It looks like I don't have any mora to spare. Unfortunate, that you spent it all on Jade Mystery instead of, say, a delicious bowl of Black-Back Perch Stew." Baizhu chuckles, not seeming all too concerned with the girl's predicament. "If you ask nicely, I might offer you a piece of Mora Meat as a token of good luck for your financial problems."

[polyamanga]

Combining these into one post! As always, thank you for the recs!! (Also thank you for the note about the Tenchi Ending trope--I'd seen that name and figured it got renamed, but wasn't sure!)

Jingai-san no Yome doesn't seem to have an official English translation for its manga (doesn't look like it has a completed fan translation either), but the anime seems to be on Crunchyroll in the US. It sounds like a cute easygoing slice-of-life series!

High schooler Tomari Hinowa is called to the principal's office one day to hear some shocking news: he's getting married! A mysterious fluffy creature called Kanenogi has chosen him as their wife, and despite Tomari's initial misgivings, he decides to accept. What follows are a series of delightful tales from this new couple's monstrous married life.

You spelled it Sekieri, did you mean Sekirei? I've seen that one floating around, but I never knew anything about the plot. It reminds me of Master of Martial Hearts, except also not at all lmao. Although they do have a similar boobs-forward look to them 🤔

The stage is set. The preparations are complete. A grand battle royale known as "The Sekirei Project" is about to take the streets of Shintou Teito by storm. For this event, the shadowy corporation known as MBI has developed 108 "Sekirei"—advanced humanoid beings with extraordinary combat skills. Set free into the city, these Sekirei must search for their "Ashikabi," masters who can unlock and control their fighting potential through kissing. Once all the Sekirei are paired, they must battle until one team emerges victorious and claims the enigmatic grand prize. Enter Minato Sahashi, a ronin whose life is as bleak as it gets. Weak-willed and unconfident by nature, his circumstances become even more hopeless when he fails his college entrance exams for the second time. However, when he encounters a Sekirei called Musubi, a bond sparks between them, and he finds himself becoming her Ashikabi. Although he begins to enjoy his life with Musubi and the other Sekirei he bonded with, he consequently finds himself increasingly embroiled in The Sekirei Project. If Minato wants to protect his newfound life, he will need to step up and participate in this demanding, high-stakes battle.

World's End Harem is another one I've seen people mention in poly circles (along with Arifureta lol), but I haven't gotten around to checking it out. The plot of WEH always made me kinda sad tbh! It felt a little cheat-y to me, even though I might be jumping to conclusions. (I recently got burned by trying out Lust Geass and finding its just a big NTR-fest so I'm probably biased lmaooo)

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, young researcher Reito Mizuhara is to be put into cryosleep until a cure can be found. Short on time, Reito decides to confess his pent-up feelings to his childhood crush Erisa Tachibana and bids farewell to his family and friends. As Reito goes to sleep and his consciousness begins to fade, Erisa barges into the room and declares that she will wait for him. Five years later, Reito wakes up to a post-apocalyptic world where 99.9% of the world's male population had been eradicated by the "Man-Killer Virus" four years prior. He is one of a handful of men who have become immune to this virus due to sclerosis treatment. Reito and the other four men are now invaluable assets to humankind and are expected to impregnate as many women as possible. Reito, however, is determined to find Erisa and refuses to make love with any other women. With temptations lurking around every corner, can he hold on to the woman of his dreams?

Arifureta, like I mentioned above, is one I've been meaning to look into. I heard that the light novel has a somewhat poly ending, but who knows if the manga/anime do the same!

Seventeen-year-old Hajime Nagumo is your average, everyday otaku. However, his simple life of pulling all-nighters and sleeping in school is suddenly turned upside down when he, along with the rest of his class, is summoned to a fantasy world! They're treated like heroes and tasked with the duty of saving the human race from utter extinction. But what should have been any otaku's wet dream quickly turns into Hajime's nightmare. While the rest of his class are blessed with godlike powers, Hajime's job, Synergist, only has a single transmutation skill. Ridiculed and bullied by his classmates for being weak, he soon finds himself in despair. Will he be able to survive in this dangerous world of monsters and demons with only a glorified blacksmith's level of strength?

Fujimura-kun Mates is an interesting title! Wondering if it's 'mates' as in 'friends' or as in 'mating'...lmao. I'm a fan of the character designs, based on the volume covers. They're simple but cute!

Fujimura is a loner delinquent at his school. Feared by his classmates since the first day of high school, he's had no friends and usually ditches class. But even his standoffish nature can't hold up when a class president with a few screws loose comes after him! And two more class presidents. They're a few cards short of a full deck too. (Actually, he's more like the tsukkomi in a world of boke.)

Overlord; I watched the first couple episodes of season 1. I only got far enough (as far as I remember) to see one of his love interests (Albedo is freaking EVERYWHERE lol!!) but it seems on brand for there to be at least a few!

Yggdrasil is a virtual reality game renowned for the freedom it offers its players. After a simple tutorial, players are left to explore the world and can customize anything and everything, from their classes to their weapons. However, in the year 2138, the game sees its final hours as its servers shut down at midnight. Momonga, a devoted player of Yggdrasil, decides to spend the game's last hours inside his guild, Ainz Ooal Gown. Strangely, at the stroke of midnight, the game does not log him out. Instead, Momonga finds himself transported to another world, one that is seemingly identical to that of Yggdrasil. Facing an already abnormal situation, he discovers that the NPCs have gained sentience. Trapped in his avatar's skeletal body and desperate to uncover the cause of his predicament and find other players like him, Momonga sets out to take control of the new world with the help of his loyal subjects.

As for The Rising of the Shield Hero, I've seen season 1 and half of season 2, but haven't read any of the light novels/manga. The anime didn't seem to be going in a poly direction (many girls were into him, but he definitely seemed to view them all as his daughters lmao), but I'm sure the light novel could have had PLENTY of time to get there. (That being said, for any that may want to check this series out, episode one features discussions of hypothetical sexual assault (nothing shown since it doesn't actually happen), and slavery is a reoccurring theme.)

Stories of old tell of four otherworldly heroes—wielding the sword, spear, bow, and shield—who defended the land from wave after wave of calamity. With the fate of the world in balance, the kingdom of Melromarc summons these legendary figures; in modern-day Japan, the call is answered, and the unwitting heroes are transported to this fantasy universe. Thrust into Melromarc and given the title of "Shield Hero," otaku Naofumi Iwatani is labeled the weakest due to his lack of offensive capability and apparent inexperience. When the heroes part ways to start their journeys, he only has one willing companion: the beautiful princess Malty Melromarc. However, she soon betrays him, steals all his money, and accuses him of taking advantage of her. For his alleged crimes, Naofumi is branded a criminal and made outcast of society. With hatred filling his heart, he sets out alone, vowing vengeance against those who wronged him.

[ame-tsuchi]

Basic resources for people interested in Shintō

Resources in English:

Mythological text "Kojiki": translated by Donald L. Philippi (Princeton University Press, 1969); translation by Basil Hall Chamberlain online

Mythological text "Nihongi": translated by William George Aston (London, 1956); 1896 version online

Historical account including mythology "Izumo fudoki": translated by Michiko Yamaguchi Aoki (Tokyo, 1971)

Online Encyclopedia of Shinto (EoS) by Kokugakuin University

Resources in German:

"Kojiki" - deutsche Übersetzung von Klaus J. Antoni (Berlin, 2012)

"Nihongi" - deutsche Übersetzung von Karl Florenz (1901), Link

"Die Mythen des alten Japan" von Nelly Naumann (Köln, 2011)

"Die einheimische Religion Japans - Teil 1: Bis zum Ende der Heian-Zeit" von Nelly Naumann (Leiden/Niederlande, 1988)

"Shintō - Eine Einführung" von Ernst Lokowandt (München, 2001)

NOTE: Aston, Chamberlain and Florenz are very biased due to their time period and nationality so take their interpretations with a grain of salt! Also, most of these researchers are white and non-Japanese so they might be biased as well!

[sanguinesorcery]

Suilen -- Shintou Shi Te Ver.2

[yukimuraruki-art]

Hakone Shrine painted in gouache.

[tenjin-no-shinja]

Hi! I am very sorry to disturb you with my question, but you are the last active blog on shintou I have in my following list... I know that kami and youkai are basically both creatures invoking awe, but the first ones are enshrined, while the last ones are not (most of the time). I am also aware that youkai (like Sugawara Michizane-sama became Tenjin-sama) could become kami through worship. But could kami become youkai if they are not worshipped enough or have no followers at all? From jinja-shintou point of view. I would really, really appreciate your answer, if you are okay with answering. Thank you in advance!

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Japanese folklore/Shinto

Yōkai as a category is incredibly broad and not super strictly defined. But typically Yōkai are similar to ghosts, spirits, and mythological creatures.

Usually from what I've seen when reading, the main defining difference between Yōkai and Kami is that Yōkai tend to (not always) invoke senses of unease, or fear more than they invoke positive feelings. Kami can be linked to things of great disasters, plagues, famines, and other negative things, but many times people view them positively especially in modern times where we have more control over natural disasters and disease.

Humans who died and were neglected or had grudges when they were alive usually end up being classified as something called an Onryō or Vengeful Spirit, this is the category that Tenjin-sama (Sugawara no Michizane) falls into. These usually manifest as misfortune falling upon people known to cause them strife, or on larger scale plagues, famines, fires, floods, lightning strikes in really specific places. These spirits often need to be pacified and a following built around this belief system. Onryō can be a type of Yōkai, and they can later be viewed as a kami, but not always.

However once a spirit is viewed as a kami, it's rare to see them later become viewed in the same way as a Yōkai would.

Kami don't really compete for followers. However if a shrine becomes willfully neglected, vandalized, or the sacred Goshintai harmed, a kami might resort to punishment, and lean more into their wild soul the Aramitama, and need to be pacified.

These are just my thoughts on the matter. Of course if anyone more knowledgeable wishes to chime in I am open to being corrected and more informed on the matter :D

[mechadeimos]