#shugen kokonoe

[soul-engraver]

Side characters of Soul Calibur VI + text posts

[laikaflash]

Rough timeline I jotted down for Setsuka and, by extension, Shugen-related stuff. The note at the bottom is what happened after I wrote a line about Anju in Snow Flower about her being dead for about a year, then I pored over the wiki hoping I didn't mess that up.

Anyway, that's how I keep track of things when the plot bunnies take over my mind. I also have one for the longfic (somewhere in the collection of notes salvaged from my old phone) and the AU I've working on.

[magistera]

Setsuka grew into a woman of beauty, and her master, although by no means rich, bought her a stunning kimono. He also gave her a name: Setsuka. “Snow Flower”.

 雪華

[laikaflash]

August 2024 SC Community Entry

(Sorry for blanking on a name. Consider it temporarily untitled. Edit: fixed a typo.)

Setsuka bowed her head before her master’s grave, marked by a single stone and sheltered by an ancient cherry tree in a bamboo thicket. A shower of pale pink blossoms fell gently around her, onto the grave, onto her parasol, and at her feet. In a matter of days, the branches would be bare again. The petals seemed almost white in the gray dawn light.

“Unwittingly we thought them snowflakes,” Setsuka murmured, recalling the old poem Shugen once recited each spring. She firmly gripped the handle of her parasol, which hid within it a blade as precious to her as the memory of her master. Shugen’s sword Ugetsu Kageuchi was freshly sharpened and its hilt had been painted purple to match its new sheath. Setsuka saw no greater honor than carrying on the art of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu battoujyutsu in Shugen’s stead, but in the moments after he drew his last breath, she nearly bit through her lip stopping herself from crying vengeance upon the samurai who had so grievously wounded him.

Tōmiya Shugen, the gravestone bore the surname he took after leaving the Kokonoe clan, but he had wished to be buried on the grounds of Murakumo Shrine, as befitted a warrior of his skill. Setsuka thought it a miracle that none of his former clan tried to stop her from burying him here. She wondered if any of the Kokonoe saw her coming up the hill before, but left her alone in case Shugen would somehow recover. Now she had no such protection. And she was ready for them.

She turned eastward, looking out over the cliff toward Nagasaki. The residence of the Ōmura clan crowned the hill overlooking the city and the shimmering bay. It was strange to think that Shugen, trained in martial arts passed down from the gods, had once served Ōmura Sumitada, who had taken on the kirishitan name Bartolomeu and denied all other gods but Deus. Someday, Setsuka reminded herself, she would have to ask old Sakan about those days when she reached Ōmi Province.

Her mouth went dry at the thought of recounting Shugen’s death, even if it would take days to get to Sakan. Then she shook her head and turned back to the grave.

“There is no one who could replace you, Master,” she said solemnly. “I will honor your last wishes. Even if…” She clutched the hilt of her sword and deeply bowed her head.

Did you truly think me too weak to avenge you? But if even you were bested by a man who fights for the sake of fighting… Oh, but if he were to set foot here right now…

“No,” she hissed between her teeth. “I mustn’t lose focus.”

Then there came a sound of furtive footsteps, growing ever so slightly louder. Setsuka looked around. Just past the bamboo thicket, a lean figure crept along the path. Setsuka held her parasol out behind her, so that only the backs of her haori and kimono would be visible as she sneaked behind the cherry tree. He would not see her before she was ready to draw. If it was a Kokonoe assassin, which she was certain of from his topknot and dark clothes, she would show him just what her master had taught her.

[laikaflash]

Some thoughts on Shugen and Anju

I'm thinking yet again about what Sakan tells Setsuka near the end of her Soul Chronicle before she sets off. "You are like a granddaughter to me... No, more like a daughter."

It's a slip of the tongue, and I think it shows just how close Shugen and Anju were. While Anju is only directly mentioned once in this story, everything else about her is in SC6's library. Like Setsuka, she was of mixed Japanese and Portuguese ancestry. She was orphaned by a clash between Portuguese and Japanese fighters in 1561 in Hirado*. Sakan Inobe, a defector from the Kokonoe clan, took her in and raised her as his own daughter. She later met Shugen when he was still the demon assassin for the Kokonoe clan.

Also, Sakan used to be Gekkyusai Kokonoe, head of the the Hidden Kokonoe, the faction of the clan responsible for training its assassins.

I'm just gonna leave this part here:

Most did not even dare to speak his name, but Anju, who was a firm believer in the Christian faith and had faced prejudice herself, reached out to him. After meeting Anju, Shugen slowly began to understand the inner workings of the human heart, and the relationship between them grew into something more special.

Anju looked at that killer bishie and was like "I can change him". And it worked. No joke: I love that for the both of them.

Now bear with me. This is an easy bit of context to miss, but consider that the Kokonoe clan had ties to Sumitada Ōmura, the first daimyō to convert to Christianity. Part of Shugen's backstory has him cutting down a whole team of assassins sent for Ōmura in 1572. I'm under the impression that it's all for pragmatic reasons, but I digress.

Immediately after the above quote is this:

One cold day after cherry blossoms fell from their branches, snow blanketed spring's flowers in winter frost. Amid this magical white landscape, Anju and Shugen shared two oaths with each other. In that quiet moment, the Demon of Hi Province swore to live on as a human.

Cherry trees tend to start blooming in late March, and it was a snowy March day when Shugen found Setsuka... I'm reminded of the poem Shugen quotes in that moment: "Cherry trees blossom upon Mount Yoshino. Unwittingly we thought them snowflakes."

Cherry blossoms are also symbolic of the transience of life, which brings me to Anju's death. The only hint as to when it happened is in Shugen's "Kokonoe" bio, which states that he left his clan "less than half a year" after thwarting Ōmura's enemies in 1572. The cause of her death isn't specified either, but in any case, it's implied to be what ultimately pushes Shugen to abandon his clan. (Though I'd think if the Kokonoe had a hand in Anju's death, they would've found Shugen sooner.)

Sakan himself later left for Ōmi Province, miles east from Kyushu. Between all this, I like to think he was well aware of Anju and Shugen's relationship. Close enough to see him as a potential son-in-law, hence the "like a granddaughter to me" line. While my headcanon is that Shugen saw Setsuka as his apprentice first, I think he also saw her as the daughter he could've had with Anju. And he never mentioned her to Setsuka like his life depended on it.

*I think this is an allusion to the Miyanomae incident, a fight which broke out that year between Portuguese and Japanese cloth merchants. Things escalated when samurai intervened, then the Portuguese took to arms, ending in 15 of the latter dead. After that, the Portuguese took their business to Nagasaki.

I'm trying not to jump around too much for this month's community prompt but Shugen's backstory has that effect on me.

[laikaflash]

Shugen's Many Names

Because this is very much going to be a thing in any fic delving into Shugen's past, I feel the need to elaborate on where my research took me. As usual, I'm going to use the Japanese name order (diacritics included because my pedantry struck again).

Narukami-maru (鳴神丸): His childhood name. Narukami (literally "roaring god") is an archaic word for "thunder" and one of several names for the thunder god Raijin. The suffix -maru (丸) was used in samurai boys' names.

Naokage (尚陰): The name used by his close relations. At least Gyobu addresses him by it throughout Setsuka's Soul Chronicle. "Naokage" may be the name Shugen took when he came of age. By this, I mean the rite of passage genpuku (元服) which would confer him adult responsibilities and mark his status as a warrior. The age at which genpuku ceremonies took place varied in history, and for samurai youth in the Sengoku period, this ranged from 15-17. (Keep in mind that that traditional Japanese age reckoning starts at one year at birth.)

Shūgen (舟元): This is the name the previous head of the Kokonoe clan gave him, one granted to only its greatest warrior. In full, his name at this point is Kokonoe Shūgen Naokage (九重舟元尚陰). I'm just going to quote the SC6 library on this one: The name "Shugen" is a name of legend. It is said that the founding father of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu, Atsukage Kokonoe, exorcised demons by holy mandate and in return received nine divine names of celebration; these were called the "Shugen." No warrior in the clan had inherited this name for one hundred years.

The Demon of Hi(zen) Province: That's what most people called him when he was an assassin.

Tōmiya Shūgen (遠宮舟元): After leaving the Kokonoe, he dropped the "Naokage" name and took a different surname. This was his name by the time he met Setsuka.

[laikaflash]

I think I accidentally wrote a parallel. Dare to compare the first two lines of "Five Times Shugen Thought of Leaving his Clan":

From the moment he could swing a wooden sword, Narukami-maru had been trained to be a warrior. As a son of a clan retainer, he knew no greater honor than to learn from the head of the Kononoe himself, Danjo. How it had at once thrilled and awed the boy to see him nod after he had bested his sparring opponents. “Your father was one of my finest swordsmen,” Danjo had told him. “I would be remiss to let your potential wither.” Narukami-maru had been quick to thank him. “When I’m grown, I’ll cut down milord’s enemies just as he did,” he said, his hand balling into a fist.

Narukami-maru was Shugen's childhood name. From the get-go I was tempted the have fic start after his father's funeral, but maybe it could've taken a while before Danjo started training him. Maybe. (Danjo might at least have the decency to let him mourn.)

Next, a thematically similar excerpt from "Cherry Blossoms on her Master's Grave":

She firmly gripped the handle of her parasol, which hid within it a blade as precious to her as the memory of her master. Shugen’s sword Ugetsu Kageuchi was freshly sharpened and its hilt had been painted purple to match its new sheath. Setsuka saw no greater honor than carrying on the art of Shinden Tsushima-Ryu battoujyutsu in Shugen’s stead, but in the moments after he drew his last breath, she nearly bit through her lip stopping herself from crying vengeance upon the samurai who had so grievously wounded him.

The "no greater honor" lines started this, but the context for both scenes juxtaposed is just... AHH.

[laikaflash]

It's funny, back when I was writing Snow Flower, just imagining a younger Setsuka thrilled to learn sword techniques made the whole thing worth it to me.

Now when I imagine what Shugen might've went through, he's just as keen to prove himself with all the horror that surviving Zanki entails. It's jarring as hell and I'm there for it.

[laikaflash]

There are two ideas for AUs that have haunted me:

Anju survives. She lives in hiding with Shugen and becomes a mother figure for Setsuka. It helps that Setsuka can pass as her child.

Shugen finds Setsuka too late to save her from the cold. Crushed by his vain attempts to revive her, he spirals, eventually relapsing into his old self. It's only a matter of time for the Kokonoe get wind of the Demon of Hizen's return...

But personally, I think these would be better served as Shugen's dreams.

[laikaflash]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Soul Calibur Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Setsuka (Soul Calibur), Shugen Kokonoe Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Running Away, Hypothermia, Adoption, Canon Compliant Summary:

Shunned for her foreign features, an orphaned girl risks the cold to flee her abusive guardians. Lost on a lonely and frigid path, she meets a mysterious swordsman who will change her life.

[laikaflash]

I combed a 5-hour-long Let's Play video for the kanji alone. In hindsight, I should've gotten most of them from that last bit where the character libraries are unlocked. (￣m￣）

My intent was just to add the kanji for the supporting characters in Setsuka's Soul Chronicle. Then it hit me that most of the kanji for Shugen's name on the Wiki was wrong. Like, "I googled it and only that page came up" wrong. Right sounds, wrong logograms, I can only guess. (I know, kanji's hard...)

Below are transcriptions, in case our good friend compression comes in to play, with the timestamps and my rough translations:

First screen, Shugen meets Setsuka (Timestamp): 驚かせてすまない。私は……遠宮舟元。("Sorry to startle you. I'm... Tōmiya Shugen.")

Second screen, Gyobu elaborates on Shugen's dark past (Timestamp): その"裏九重の呪ぃ"が生んだ最強の刺客……。それこそが幼名「鳴神丸」。後の九重舟元尚陰よ。("The strongest assassin was born from the Hidden Kokonoe's curse... His childhood name was Narukami-maru. Later known as Kokonoe Shūgen Naokage.")

Third screen, a little later, Gyobu starts to tell about a woman Shugen met long ago (Timestamp): 女の名は安寿。お主と同じ、異国の血が混ざった女だー。("That woman's name was Anju. Like you, she had a mix of foreign blood.")

Fourth screen, character libraries unlocked (Timestamp). Here's where I found the kanji for Sakan Inobe (伊野部主典) and Gorozaemon Yamabuki (山吹五郎左衛門) in full.

Source link will take you to the part where Setsuka's story starts. To be honest, there still are Let's Plays that lift me out of a bad mood and いすけ_ゲーム実況's have been doing the trick lately.

[laikaflash]

My Shugen voice, if anyone was wondering. This is a snippet from the second excerpt. You might want to turn up your volume.

Last night, I did another practice recording. As weird as it feels to say, listening to my own voice has taken some getting used to. I also realized way too late that I was too close to the microphone, which is just as well because I need to read the whole thing in one sitting. The top two audios put together would be about 18 and a half minutes long. The first excerpt here is the intro of "Snow Flower" right up to the point where Shugen finds Setsuka; the second one is the rest of the fic.

The one at the bottom reads in full: "Test Recording - Vocal Fry & Traffic" for reasons. The latter is what happens when I record in my room. The vocal fry really came out in the second "Snow Flower" recording (particuarly in Shugen's lines) because I was tired. Time really got away from me.

[laikaflash]

23 + 25!

23. Fics you wanted to write but didn’t?

One that I'd been kicking around since August was in a Five Things format, tentatively named "Five Times Shugen Thought of Leaving the Kokonoe". It's exactly what it sounds like and thank goodness I have notes. Slight spoilers ahead, but the plan is for it to start with Shugen witnessing the death of Gekkyusai's son during Zanki training, and over time his relationship with Anju will give him more reasons to bail. It's not completely off the table as of yet; I'm just trying not to do too much at once.

It hasn't helped that half this year gave me one bullshit real-life interruption after another. I'll leave it at that.

25. A fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read?

It's a reread for me but Burial of Nightmares by FrancoStrider, a retelling of SC3. I remember when it was first uploaded to Ao3 as a single chapter a few years ago; I read the whole thing in one sitting!

The fanfic end of the year ask game, for anyone so inclined.

[laikaflash]

Since I have that Five Things type fic in the works, Shugen's age is going to be a rough estimate at best and I think I can do the same for Anju.

The research may well be leading me to another damn rabbit hole about Francis Xavier. Argh. WAIT, WAIT, hear me out.

Anju was half Portuguese, like Setsuka. Going by her bio in the SC6 library, she was probably born in Hirado, where the Portuguese traders set up shop in 1550. (I couldn't find a more specific time for this.) She was orphaned in 1561, so she may have been around ten years old at most when Sakan took her in. Going by my timeline in the original post, I estimate that she at least lived to see her early twenties by the end of 1572.

Rough timeline I jotted down for Setsuka and, by extension, Shugen-related stuff. The note at the bottom is what happened after I wrote a line about Anju in Snow Flower about her being dead for about a year, then I pored over the wiki hoping I didn't mess that up.

Anyway, that's how I keep track of things when the plot bunnies take over my mind. I also have one for the longfic (somewhere in the collection of notes salvaged from my old phone) and the AU I've working on.

[laikaflash]

My goodness, has it really been a year already? It's only just occurred to me that yesterday was the anniversary for this fic, but also, we have some heavy snow going in my neck of the woods right now. It's a coincidence that I can't pass up.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Soul Calibur Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Setsuka (Soul Calibur), Shugen Kokonoe Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Running Away, Hypothermia, Adoption, Canon Compliant Summary:

Shunned for her foreign features, an orphaned girl risks the cold to flee her abusive guardians. Lost on a lonely and frigid path, she meets a mysterious swordsman who will change her life.