#suzaku 1997

[mirroredroads]

Sweet Springtime Is Here. E.E. Cummings "when faces called flowers float out of the ground" (1955) / Suzaku (dir. Naomi Kawase) 1997 / Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle / Flowers in the Mountain (Hana no yama) from Ehagaki sekai / Sorrow Is Not My Name, Ross Gay / Pyunggang Botanical Garden (평강식물원) / Easter, Emily Pauline Johnson / Sunflowers, c. 1982. Andrew Wyeth. / E.E. Cummings "when faces called flowers float out of the ground" (1955)

[highvolumetal]

萌の朱雀 (Moe No Suzaku) , Naomi Kawase , 1997.

[the2dstagesfg]

“Suzaku Sunset” from Street Fighter Alpha 3/Zero 3 (Capcom/1997)

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

-Ohikkoshi (a.k.a. Moving) (Shinji Sômai, 1993) -Moe no suzaku (Naomi Kawase, 1997)

[visualpoett]

Suzaku (1997)

Director: Naomi Kawase

[anasteros]

Suzaku, 1997

[sapphireshorelines]

Suzaku (1997), dir. Naomi Kawase

[everyfilmisaw]

萌の朱雀 (Moe no Suzaku) by Naomi Kawase, 1997

[lamenti-di-icaro]

Moe no Suzaku, Naomi Kawase (1997)

[hividsmarttv]

East Asian LGBT+ Movies

In celebration of PRIDE, we're opening the doors to LGBTQIA+ films all across the world. While not every country acknowledges PRIDE, everyone deserves to join in the celebration. Whoever you are and wherever you're from, here are some stunningly beautiful and inspiring films featuring LGBT+ story lines, characters, and/or actors. This time we're looking at East Asia.

In South Korea, the 2018 film "The Handmaiden," directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri, tells the story of a young woman who becomes involved in a plot to defraud a wealthy heiress. The film was praised for its eroticism, lush cinematography, and themes of power and deception.

The 2004 Japanese film "A Crimson Mark" was directed by Shun Nakahara. This drama follows the relationship between a young woman and her father's male lover, as they struggle to reconcile their feelings and navigate societal taboos.

In Thailand, the 2015 film "The Blue Hour," directed by Anucha Boonyawatana, tells the story of two high school boys who fall in love in the midst of a mysterious forest. The film was praised for its haunting atmosphere and exploration of themes of desire and identity.

"Dear Ex" (2018, Taiwan) - Directed by Mag Hsu and Chih-yen Hsu, this dramedy follows a teenage boy who discovers that his father has left his life insurance policy to his secret lover, a man, sparking a conflict between his mother and the lover.

Heart-wrenching and memorable, "A Girl at My Door" (2014, South Korea) tells the story of a police officer who takes in a troubled teenage girl and discovers that she is being abused by her stepfather, while also grappling with her own suppressed desires. Directed by July Jung.

"Suzaku" (1997, Japan) - Directed by Naomi Kawase, this drama follows a teenage boy who struggles to come to terms with his father's suicide and his own burgeoning sexuality, against the backdrop of a changing rural landscape.

"Fire" (1996, India) - Directed by Deepa Mehta, this romantic drama explores the relationship between two women, Radha and Sita, who find comfort in each other's company as they navigate the confines of their traditional Indian family and societal expectations. The film was controversial upon its release in India and faced backlash from conservative groups.

The Third Wife" (2018, Vietnam) - Directed by Ash Mayfair, this coming-of-age drama explores the life of a teenage girl who is forced into an arranged marriage with an older man, but develops a romantic relationship with one of his other wives.

"Dunno Y… Na Jaane Kyun" (2010, India) - Directed by Sanjay Sharma, this romantic drama tells the story of two men, Aryan and Ashley, who fall in love despite societal and familial pressure. The film features several intimate scenes between the two male leads, which were considered groundbreaking for Indian cinema at the time of its release.

Finally, in Taiwan, the 2008 film "Drifting Flowers," directed by Zero Chou and starring Mavis Fan and Serena Fang, tells the story of three women from different generations who navigate their relationships and sexuality in contemporary Taipei. The film was praised for its sensitive and nuanced portrayal of lesbian relationships and earned multiple award nominations, including the Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

[highvolumetal]

萌の朱雀 (Moe No Suzaku) , Naomi Kawase , 1997.

[ether-bliss]

suzaku (1997)

[songsofadelaide]

Asleep Among Endives

In a sorcery world where soulmates are identified by vibrant colours, it was a splash of blue that transformed your bleak and monochromatic life as the reluctant heir of your clan into something else entirely— a sorcerer of your own making, one with complete faith in her own abilities. 

For many years, the Koganei Clan of Tokyo's coveted Kin'iro no Namida failed to manifest in the long line of esteemed clan members, only to appear in you, a miracle child born from the branch family sworn to servitude. You were raised in the main family, albeit resentfully, due to the extraordinary circumstances of your birth. You found no joy in that life, though. 

In the summer of 1997, the fledgling clan head of the superpower Gojo Clan fancied you a playmate, one headstrong enough to disregard the warnings about befriending a little god who might ensnare you with a curse. When you first met the young Satoru, everything around you turned a lovely sky blue. Little did you know that the very same thing happened to him, and you painted his life in shining gold-like sunlight. 

In 2006, you entered the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College as a first-year student, the only healer in your class of three. You did not witness the devastation that forced Satoru to unlock his untapped potential when he was on the brink of death, the little god from your childhood now revered as the strongest sorcerer of your generation. 

While the tides of conflict threatened to pull you apart, an unstoppable gravitational force only seemed to draw the two of you together. Gojo Satoru was always destined to find you, his sun— and what better place for the sun to be than in the sky?

A canon-compliant soulmate fic spanning the many years of your relationship with Gojo Satoru— twilight, the sun, ordinary days, side by side. 

[A Gojo Satoru x Reader fic, ongoing]

cw/tw: childhood trauma, implied/referenced child abuse ✾ Fic Masterlist ✾ Chapter 2 ✾ Chapter 3 ✾ ~Interlude~ — In the Quiet

"Asleep among endives,  now the world too closes its eyes, concealing us." — Asleep Among Endives, Ichiko Aoba

Chapter 1 — Twilight

— Twilight.

~ 1990.

Not even Ryomen Sukuna dared to covet that which should be untouchable— the most precious, golden tears of Suzaku. As the legends go, phoenix tears possess healing powers so immense that they can even successfully resuscitate any creature on the brink of death. While Suzaku existed as a protector in the past, the Koganei Clan of Tokyo became well-known for its own illusionary phoenix during the Golden Age of Jujutsu, a vessel that cried tears of molten gold meant to sew injuries closed, to mend broken bones, to heal what had been hurt— a cursed technique deemed more of a blessing than a curse when made use of, yet difficult to master and even harder to manifest. 

Reverse cursed technique users were so rare a commodity, even for the Koganei Clan, who specialised in it. The number of family members that inherited the Kin'iro no Namida since the clan's formation can be counted by hand, each one carefully recorded in the family history. What was started out by the solitary Koganei Masahito of Edo, a goldsmith by trade, grew to become one of jujutsu society's age-old families. Though the Koganei were not as powerful as the Great Three Sorcerer Clans, the uniqueness of their technique became well-known to a point where they were in no position to refuse to assist both sorcerers and non-sorcerers in this golden age of sorcery.   

The master Masahito sired many children with his wife Uesugi Karui in the hopes one like him would be born again. He also took many mistresses and the bloodline most flush with the ability soon became the main family, exalted for birthing children with the clan's gift. Apart from his cursed technique, the Koganei Clan gained fame and notoriety as a smithing family business, a front held up by Masahito's marriage to a daughter of the Uesugi Clan, the proprietors of the Sado Gold Mine. He sired children until he could do no more, and his family historians believed his final days to be a frenzy of final attempts to ensure the longevity of his precious cursed technique, and to an extent, his family name. 

In modern-day Tokyo, the Koganei Clan now made their home alongside the golden ginkgo trees that lined part of the Meiji-Jingu Gaien, part of the aged estate shrouded with a curtain due to the perennial nature of the golden trees within the gated property. With a keen eye, any sorcerer would be able to knock on the gates that were hidden from the normal human being. 

In 1989, Koganei Kazuya was born as the eldest child of the current clan matriarch, Koganei Suzuna. Though the coveted reverse cursed technique did not manifest in him, it became his family's belief that he was the chosen child of his generation from his clan, one who will stand alongside the gifted child who altered the balance of the jujutsu world— Gojo Satoru. 

In 1990, Koganei Kanade, a daughter from the clan's lower echelons, gave birth to a healthy baby girl, one destined for a life of servitude under Koganei Kazuya's leadership in the future. But as the years passed, her closest family members noticed something odd about her tears whenever she cried. Glistening— like new pearls just plucked out of their shells, the salt and sheen of the sea still clinging on to them. Your mother recognised those tears, yet she didn't tears a word to her family. She knew what would happen, after all. You would be taken from them for the sake of the clan's pride. You would be their pride, yet not entirely, either, since you were born lacking the proper status that would grant you the privilege of leadership. 

When you were six, you found your mother half-beaten in your small home at the estate, no culprits found, but the look on her battered face rendered you to tears when she held you in her arms. Those very same tears would mend the bruises on her brow and the hollowing of her cheek, but it did little to heal the hurt of parting with her after you were discovered to have possessed "Suzaku" and its tears of gold.

You were born with the gift, Kin'iro no Namida, after three hundred years of attempts, but what was a gift to the clan became a curse to you. When clan elders made the discovery that you, of all people, were born with the golden tears, your mother reluctantly handed you over to the main family, where you were raised alongside Kazuya as his younger sister. While the young master Kazuya was kind, the rest of his family was not, and your presence in the main house only tormented them as much as your stay there did to you. 

The current Lady Koganei, Suzuna, was no better, and she loathed the fact that she had to pass her title onto you, a child whose blood ties to her were vague as the murky saltwater used to cleanse and refine the goldwork your family became renowned for. Yet there was no denying your ties, either, since she recognised the storm in your eyes as the very same one she had when she was just starting out on her role. 

Your relationship with the older woman was built on mutual respect and resentment, but she was convinced that she could learn to love you as her own, and she could form you into the very same matriarch that she is now— pleasing to the eyes and subservient to the will of those in charge of jujutsu society. But she would have to beat the anger out of you before that, no matter how long it takes. Her brand of tough love and training took the form of corporal punishment, for she knew you could easily mend whatever hurt was inflicted onto you if you cried hard enough… 

Yet, you did not shed a single tear for yourself. Not in front of her, at least.

In 1991, not long after you were first brought into the main family, Suzuna gave birth to Koganei Chiemi, a daughter deemed an unparalleled beauty due to striking features unique to herself— light-coloured hair akin to the ginkgo trees that lined your ancestral home and a high nose bridge. It was evident Chiemi was not fathered by Suzuna's lawful husband but by another man, perhaps in hopes that she would give birth to one like you if she extended her reach someplace else, or if she shared her bed— her blood— with a man whose origins were vastly different from her husband. 

But like her older half-brother, Chiemi did not manifest Kin'iro no Namida. She had to live with the fact that even with all her supposed beauty, she would remain inferior to a child born into the branch family, one lucky enough to manifest the clan's famed reverse cursed technique after three centuries. You expected Chiemi to resent you as her mother did, and she did so relentlessly. She wasn't above using her charm and sweetness to get what she wanted and to manipulate the people around her to do her bidding. 

When Chiemi turned five, she became determined to push her agenda and paint you as a bully even though the servants and the clan elders knew otherwise, that it was always the other way around. She once hurled herself off the redwood engawa as she crossed paths with you and claimed to have been pushed by her older sister. The only issue she had with that story is that your hands were full of writing supplies that very moment— there was no way you could have pushed her off. 

She once took a pair of scissors from the servants' quarters and chopped one of her loveliest kimonos to shreds before eventually claiming you were jealous of her more colourful apparel. While it was true you wore less elaborate clothing than her, you preferred it that way since you didn't want to be complacent with your position as the heir to the family. The elders could easily reverse that decision and throw you back into servitude like you were originally born to do. One of the servants testified to seeing the young lady Chiemi pocket the pair of scissors and return it only after a few moments, remnants of gold thread and expensive fabric still evident on the blades. 

When Kazuya attempted to correct her behaviour as any older brother would, she only pushed back harder, calling him cruel for siding against his own flesh and blood sister. 

"It was onee-sama's fault!"

She may call you onee-sama with a voice so saccharine sweet, but you knew it was laced with poison and spite. 

"Onee-sama did this! She tried to cu— Ah!" 

Suzuna had just returned from a clan leaders' meeting in Kyoto, one so particularly vexing after being thrown one proposal after another for your hand in marriage in the future. She did not bother getting out of her elaborately decorated crimson kimono when she reached out for her whining young daughter and angrily grabbed her by the jaw, Chiemi's chubby and rosy cheeks spilling out of her mother's finely manicured fingers. 

"O-Okaa-sama!" You hurriedly clung onto the older woman's legs in a bid to stop her from further hurting the younger girl. It gave you no comfort to learn that Suzuna was just as harsh to her own flesh and blood daughter as she was to you, and she was not so easily convinced by the younger girl's purposeless crocodile tears. It incensed her even more when Chiemi cried in her grasp and nothing special happened, reminding her once more that the girl was indeed nothing beyond normal. 

"You would do better than to run your mouth like that, Chiemi. Remember that no one will want a spoiled and useless little beauty like you even though you are the daughter of Koganei Suzuna, my child, even though you are from the main family of the Koganei Clan," Suzuna seethed before eventually releasing her, throwing the girl across the room where she landed against the shoji with a dull thud. She kicked you away as well, though you did not go flying any further than a foot away from her. It was a practised and measured movement you learned over the time she started training you. 

"Chiemi will only continue to despise you from here on out, Otome. Why waste those precious tears and plead mercy for a child like her who hates you so much?" The older woman stated as she stepped into your space and grasped you by the chin. "You should know by now that every tear you shed is a blessing meant to be shared. Your tears will become a commodity, and the sparser it is, the more valued it becomes. Steel your heart, you foolish child. Crying for yourself is meaningless. Crying over something so trivial is weakness. You will cry only when it is absolutely necessary!"

Such was the reality she lived with for so many years. The Koganei were destined to continue granting their aid wherever and whenever it was necessary— pleasantly and without any qualm, without expecting anything in return— as though the cycle of shedding tears was nothing laborious. 

You swallowed the lump in your throat and fought back the tears that threatened to spring out as you held the older woman's gaze, the same storms in both your eyes and hers. You would not even attempt to test her patience even though you wanted to challenge her. When she realised you would not talk back, like always, she slowly released you from her hold. 

The shoji soundlessly slid open, followed by Kazuya gently taking Chiemi in his arms, the younger girl also holding back her tears as she clung onto her older brother's deep green yukata for comfort. Suzuna could only watch as her son spirited away his sister from another of their mother's violent outbursts. 

"It's all right, Chi-chan. Onii is here," you heard the boy's soothing voice as his padded footsteps receded from the hall. It was the same tone you heard from him whenever he comforted you. The older woman stood there quietly, her face void of any emotion as she made her way to the door, as though wanting to follow them out. She did not. 

"That girl… she must have gotten that attitude and those impulses from that man. Spoiling her rotten doesn't help her case, either. Sooner or later, she must learn to live with the fact and accept that you are indeed her superior, regardless of your differences in origins," she stated with her back to your face. "Same as how you must learn to live with the fact and accept your fate as the rightful heir to this clan."

From where you now sat, you could see her elegant kimono finely embroidered with numerous golden ginkgo leaves against a crimson backdrop. It was your clan's seal, the symbol of your family's power. By the book, ginkgo represented hopefulness and optimism, calmness, good health, and perhaps inner fortitude— pleasing qualities you knew Suzuna tried to embody for you to imitate. Her candlewick-like patience did not help in her attempts.

"You will become the next clan leader, even if I must beat the resistance out of you," she said. "So I suggest you stop fighting back and learn to accept the fact instead." 

She slowly but steadily made her way back to the middle of the room, outstretching a hand from the sleeve of her kimono. "Chiemi is beautiful and other sorcerer families would kill to welcome her into their fold. A smart family will make use of her origins, and if they are fortunate enough, she will give birth to children with the gift in the future."

You reached out for her and she grasped your smaller hand in hers, gently pulling you up to your feet. She was not harsh on you this time but allowed you to find your balance with a gentler grip. 

"Kazuya is strong in his own right despite not possessing the gift. He inherited his father's Lightning Rod Sorcery, which is just as good and even better if you ask me. He will be brutalised by the reality that sorcerers are only worth the techniques they possess, and he will have to carve his own path if he wishes to make it to the top, to become one of the strongest of his generation," she stated once more as you held hands— tenderly. How ironic it was that she had to state the rest of her realisation. "He must outgrow that compassion, though, for it will ruin him." 

Despite that dire prediction, Kazuya remained exceptionally kind to you as you grew up alongside each other, even when Chiemi was not, and you couldn't help but think it was because he still stood to gain something out of this settlement. Surely he must hold some kind of grudge against you for taking one that should have been his from the start. 

In the morning that followed, it was only you and Suzuna present at the dining hall, your breakfast table laden with most of your favourite food— grilled mackerel, miso soup, steamed vegetables, and a heaping serving of the finest rice in the house. 

"Good morning, okaa-sama," came your standard greeting as you took your place across from her, sitting seiza on the tatami and saying a short prayer of thanks before eventually asking, "May I ask where Kazu-nii and Chiemi-chan are?" 

"Yes, you may. I sent them on an errand. They are delivering invitations in your name, my daughter," the older woman replied, evidently pleased with your manner of speech as she delicately brought a piece of grilled mackerel to her painted lips. "You will turn seven soon. I would like for you to start making friends with other children from sorcerer families. Find a good girl who would like to marry your brother in the future, and perhaps… a good family for your sister to marry into when she comes of age."

You stared at her for almost a minute, comprehending her words before taking your chopsticks in your hands and mirroring her careful actions. It had been nearly a year since you were first brought into the main family home, and it was the first time you heard her refer to you as her daughter— and Kazuya and Chiemi as your siblings. Asking her questions will yield no answers, and you didn't want the surprise to show on your face any more than it should. You gave her a brief nod before helping yourself to a small mouthful of newly-cooked rice. "Of course, okaa-sama."

"Zenin Naobito-sama's youngest son— the nephew of the Zenin Clan leader— is about your age… and it seems the boy has taken an interest in you. I would like to arrange a meeting between you two soon. What was that boy's name again?..." She said with a short pause before setting her chopsticks down. "Ah, it's Zenin Naoya. He did not inherit his family's prized Ten Shadows Technique, but he is gifted and talented in his own right. You two might make a good match."

The Zenin Family. You've read about the potency of their power before and how they valued strength and cursed energy above all else. It was no secret that many clans were interested in you for your inherited cursed technique, one they hoped would make its way into their own families in the future. It will not matter to them whether or not you give birth to a child with your family's gift as long as you remain tied to them by marriage. Opportunities will always arise as long as you share your blood with them. 

But if you were being honest, the Zenin Family's interest in you did not make a lot of sense. They were purists of the highest form and weren't exactly known for seeking out potential spouses from other clans, let alone from lower-ranking ones like yours.

"Kazuya disagrees with the arrangement, though. He said something about Naoya-kun being a little brat," Suzuna continued. "It's just a meeting. Afterwards, you decide whether the boy truly is a brat as your brother says. Have I made myself clear, daughter?" 

Asking her questions will yield no answers, you repeat to yourself. She hated being questioned most of all. You hold her gaze this time, a pleasing yet measured smile on your lips as you nodded in affirmation once more. "Of course, okaa-sama."

"I suppose the times are changing. Tradition will soon hold very little meaning in this day and age of sorcery. It's only right for me to get on with the times if I want our family to survive," said the older woman before resuming her meal. She remained unmoving for a moment, letting out the faintest of sighs from her lips. It was the first time you have seen her visibly exhausted. 

"Are you all right, okaa-sama?" You ask her, though you wish you could take it back as soon as the question left your mouth. You expected her to snap at you for asking such a stupid question. Instead, her pursed lips soften to a similarly measured smile. 

"I tire of making all the decisions for us. Sometimes I wish you could inherit right here and now, but that would be unwise, making a child do all of this for me…"

For the longest time, Koganei Suzuna's true motivations were unclear to you. She was vicious in her decision-making and cruel even to her own children, but the unravelling of her composure at that very moment revealed to you more than she intended to make known— She masks her love for her children with indifference in hopes of preparing them for whatever the future has in store for them. Such things are beyond her control, so she focuses on the things she can control, such as forging alliances with other clans in order to secure places for them in jujutsu society. The matter of your own betrothal was no different, and she wishes for you to cast your net so far and wide to find a suitable husband who will uphold your family name and allow you to continue your clan's life work, starting with that brat from the Zenin Family. And perhaps another…

Her truest aspirations are for the Koganei Clan to remain in a position to continue helping others and assisting both sorcerers and non-sorcerers alike— even when it cannot help itself anymore, to continue prospering even as time's flow carries on, as the times change. 

Change is inevitable. Suzuna knew that from the moment you were first brought to her, shivering and covered in your own snot. Your tears were blessed with the ability to heal whatever has been hurt, and what a waste it would be if you cried at nearly just about anything. 

"I will do my best to uphold our esteemed family name, okaa-sama," you confidently stated, unknowingly cutting through her reverie. There was something about your newfound confidence that gave the older woman a little bit of hope that she was right about one thing. 

"Of course you will. You are my daughter, after all. I expect nothing less."

Crying for yourself is meaningless. Crying over something so trivial is weakness. You will cry only when it is absolutely necessary— that very scolding became your guiding principle. From that moment on, you realised that Koganei Suzuna had complete faith in you and your ability to adapt to your circumstances. It didn't make her any less cruel, though.

Author's notes: — I use "Otome" as a placeholder for "Y/N" because I thought it looked much nicer in the stories I write. The term "Otome" is from otome games, or maiden games, and in this piece Otome would literally mean maiden, or Maiden-chan, which pretty much means Y/N. — The Koganeis are a family I've worked on before in a different fandom and I consider them a recurring theme of sorts. Seeing as they are a theme in itself, they have a gold motif to them, evident in the words I used to name their techniques. 小金井 - Koganei, which literally means 'tiny gold town'. Kin'iro no Namida - Golden tears — This lovely analysis of Zenin Naobito's character suggests he took up his role sometime in 1999, which is why Naoya here is still referred to as the 'nephew' of the current clan head. Have a read if you're interested in some Zenin Clan lore. This is a work in progress, one which I am very happy to be writing! This is also my first time actually posting a full fic here, so please let me know if there's anything odd. You can get in touch with me on Twitter or here at Tumblr @SongsOfAdelaide if you wanna drop me a line or something! ~ Mari / SongsOfAdelaide ♡

✦ Asleep Among Endives Masterlist ✦

[365filmsbyauroranocte]

Moe no suzaku (Naomi Kawase, 1997)

[dersiebentekontinent]

[andquietrollsthedawn]

Suzaku (Naomi Kawase, 1997)