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yaffles-world · 3 years ago

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F/O Ask Game - Sonia and Gundham

Very excited to introduce my new F/Os Sonia Nevermind and Gundham Tanaka from Dangonranpa 2 (and to a lesser extent, my new S/I for this AU, the cooler version of me, Damien)

Based off this ask game:

❤️ [HEART]- What did the confession look like between you two? Who initiated it? Where did it take place?

Long story! Gonna bookmark this to write a story of!

💋 [KISS]- What love language does your F/O have? What about you? And how do y’all express it to each other?

Sonia would probably be giving and receiving gifts… she's not materialistic or anything but she does come from, you know, money and particularly likes to give gifts. She also is a great cook, and quite crafty, so those gifts aren't always purchased but are often made. Gundham and I often try and give her and make her gifts and it's often a disaster but she's so sweet and appreciative of it always.

Gundham's love language would be quality time, I think, he doesn't connect with many people so the people he does connect with he likes to really foster that connection. Which means lots of group dates!

My love language is acts of service, receiving and giving. I tend to get overwhelmed with stuff so if Sonia and Gundham chip in and do stuff for me once in a while if I'm too busy it's always nice. Also, if i see something that needs doing, I like to do it for them as well.

🌹 [ROSE]- What flowers (or plants in general) would you compare your F/O to?

Honestly as corny as it sounds, Sonia would be a rose. White rose. She's real pretty, but she's also tough like the rose's thorns, and uses those thorns to protect those she loves.

Gundham… Black dahlia

💄 [LIP STICK]- What’s your favorite kind of date to go on with your F/O? Or what’s their favorite kind of date to go on with you?

Any date hehe as long as we're together. It is nice going on one on one dates sometimes but if we're talking about our favourite kind, we're all together. Probably going to like a nice park, climbing trees, messing around, going to a market and buying crystals, getting ice cream, etc..

🎃 [PUMPKIN]- What’s your favorite holiday to celebrate with your F/O? Or, what’s their favorite holiday to celebrate with you?

Halloween obviously!

🐹 [HAMSTER]- Do you and your F/O have a pet? If not, what pet would you like to have with them, or why wouldn’t you want a pet at all?

Hehe yes 4 hamsters - Sun-D, Maga-G, Jum-P, and Cham-P - as well as our cute little Pomeranian puppy, Snowy, hehe

🍯 [HONEY]- What flavors or scents do you associate with your F/O? Or, what flavors/scents would they associate with you?

Hmm… Sonia smells literally like roses… smell associations for Gundham is that smell when rain is about to fall? And also, if you ever smell something that's clean and fluffy, and it sort of smells like something but also smells like nothing at the same time, that's Gundham.

🌟 [STAR]- How do you and your F/O prepare for bedtime? Do you stay up watching TV until you fall asleep? Do you cuddle endlessly? Etc?

Either do a shared activity or we are all just chilling and calming down before going to bed doing our own thing. We all eventually climb into our specially designed polyamory bed, that has curtains around the framing very fancy, and we all cuddle pile until we sleep.

🍃 [LEAVES]- What’s your favorite season to go on walks with your F/O? Why?

Autumn because the leaves falling and it's cold and very aesthetic.

👖 [JEANS]- Do you ever wear your F/O’s clothes? How does it feel when you do, and have they caught you doing it before?

I don't really steal Sonia's clothes hehe I occasionally steal her bow if I'm feeling more feminine and she is always VERY excited and gushes over how pretty I am hehe. Gundham though, I steal his clothes more often, either his scarf or his coat. He tends to be a bit grumbly about it, but I don't think he minds, because he never asks for it back and he always blushes when he sees it.

🫐 [BLUEBERRIES]- What aesthetic do you associate with your F/O (or your general dynamic with them)?

Gothic witchcraft with a healthy spoonful of stupid decisions

👾 [SPACE INVADERS]- Do you play games with your F/O (board games, video games, other games)? If so, what do you play, and how do those playing sessions go?

Yes! Gundham is awful at video games but he always has fun, Sonia can get very competitive in combat based games. We love playing animal crossing together - our vision of the island lines up quite well, and so we don't have to argue much about it hehe. It's really fun just relaxing and playing together. We also play board games sometimes! Usually when there's a power outage though haha.

🔮 [CRYSTAL BALL]- What’s your dream future with you and your F/O (for example, where do you wanna live? would you like kids)? Think of this question as explaining your ideal happily-ever-after with them!

Living in either an absurd gothic castle or a rustic little cottage that isn't far from the markets.

☔️ [UMBRELLA]- What do you and your F/O do when you’re trapped in rainy weather?

Animal crossing if the powers on, cuddling, reading to each other, playing board games, giving our pets an extra amount of attention!

#ask game #f/o ask game reblog #f/o x s/i #f/o community #romantic f/o #romantic f/o imagines #romantic f/o ask game #sonia my dark queen #gundham my fluffy boy

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ffamranxii · 4 years ago

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You know what’s super refreshing in an anime geared towards boys?

Kiyoko (and to a lesser extent Yachi and Saeko) are never made into sex objects.

Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Yamamoto all have a crush on Kiyoko, and it’s mentioned several times that she’s considered beautiful by other people, but it’s never BAM in your face, nor is it overdone. All three boys are extremely respectful of Kiyoko and her boundaries - Tanaka fell in love at first sight, blurred out a marriage proposal, and then kept pretty off to the side, offering occasionally to help her clean or carry equipment; Noya ran up to hug her after his suspension ended, got slapped, and never tried to breach that barrier again; and Yamamoto admires her from afar. They DO keep other men away from her, but it’s never in a “no man ever is allowed to even look at Kiyoko” manner, and geared almost exclusively towards creep types.

There’s maybe one instance of fan service, and I wouldn’t even call it that. Yachi notices Saeko has a large chest and gets smothered by it while cheering. Saeko’s clothes are never overtly sexual, and even her low cut shirts only show a hint of cleavage, while Yachi and Kiyoko don’t show cleavage at all. Even the BATHING SCENE - both girls are covered in bubbles, most scenes show only their faces, necks, or shoulders, and the one time Kiyoko is out of the water, she’s seen from the back without suggestive curves.

And NONE of the boys try and peek when the girls bathe. No one even thinks about it. Tanaka is only shown to know that they’re in the bath, and that may only be because he overheard them talking about it.

That’s AMAZING.

And given that the vast majority of characters are men, it’s AMAZING that there’s no reverse harem. The guys all acknowledge Kiyoko is attractive, but only Tanaka and Noya have an interest in her. Kageyama and Hinata both spend time with Yachi to study - and only study. They’re all polite and respectful to the girls, who are polite and respectful back.

And Saeko is shown drinking with the coaches and older men, and talks about it, more than once, and none of them leer at her, none of them hit on her, none of them try to get her to go home with them. Let me reiterate - an attractive woman drinks with a bunch of men, and it’s NEVER portrayed as raunchy, lewd, or otherwise inappropriate. There are never any shots of her cleavage even. (And the only person who ever mentions her cleavage is Yachi, who never brings it up again.)

I’ve never seen that from a male mangaka (or many women, for that matter), and rarely ever seen that in anime. That’s AMAZING and we should talk about the respectful way Haikyuu portrays women more.

#haikyuu!!

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hcpefulmarshmallow · 5 years ago

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Time for some long, unnecessary Meta. I’ve had this one in my brain for ages, but I haven’t really had an excuse to talk about it until recently. Identity isn’t a major theme in Nagito’s character (although it plays it’s part), and so, I’ve been putting this one off. Then, my good pal Ashi had to go be a literary genius and incorporate some really interesting things into their Gundham, and now I have all the excuse I need. So I’m going to be talking about him, too, to a marginally lesser extent, using aspects of the Best Gunny’s characterisation. (Seriously though, plug. I’m not even sure it’s possible to follow this blog and not know about Ashi’s Gundham, but on the off chance: @the-taboo-king.)

Under a cut for length, philosophy, and shameless, shameless Roulette.

This is the part where I say something that makes the reader’s eyes glaze over, but indulge me. No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. It’s about three people - Garcin, Inez and Estelle - who are all doomed to hell, except hell is just an ordinary room, and it’s really, really good. I’d highly recommend.

The characters spend much of the start of the play sitting around, waiting for Satan to show up with the hot pokers and the lube, but once the three of them are gathered in this room, nothing happens. All they can do is sit there, get to know one another, and watch the people they left behind on Earth live out the rest of their lives and move on. There’s nothing there except three chairs; nothing else for them to do. It’s explicitly mentioned that hell has no mirrors, so for instance, when Estelle wants to fix her makeup, she has to rely on Inez to tell her if it looks alright or not. The trouble is, Inez is really attracted to Estelle, so Estelle has no way of knowing if Inez is telling her the objective truth or not. Furthermore, Estelle is kind of grossed out at the thought of another woman being attracted to her, so she starts flirting with Garcin. Not because she’s especially interested in him, per se, but he is the only man there, and Estelle thrives on male attention.

Garcin doesn’t seem to want much to do with either Inez or Estelle at first, preferring to focus on watching his wife try and cope with the terrible reputation he left behind. However, eventually she, and everyone who knew him, dies or moves on. It becomes like he never existed, as it does for them all.

Garcin accepts Estelle’s advances, but it’s not her attention he wants. It’s Inez’s. She’s furious, jealous, and ready to throw some hands. Inez’s fixation remains on Estelle; Estelle’s on Garcin; and Garcin’s on Inez. Things become vicious between the three, until, at last, the door to hell opens. Garcin has the chance to leave, but he doesn’t.

The play is especially famous for the line “Hell is other people”, and directly opposes the old adage, “I think, therefore I am”. It posits that humans exist because we are seen, and therefore if we are unseen, we do not exist. At this point, Garcin has become dependent on his feud with Inez. He might be forgotten in the world, but as long as she hates him, there’s a him to hate. The absence of mirrors removes the characters’ abilities to reflect on themselves, so they can only experience themselves through one another. In that sense, their purpose here isn’t solely to be punished, but to punish one another for all eternity.

So, what does this have to do with Dangit Roomba 2, the game where everything’s made up and the deaths don’t matter? Like I said, this play has been in the back of my mind for a while when it comes to writing Komaeda, but it hasn’t been explicit enough for me to justify writing oodles about until recently. So before we talk about Nagito, let’s talk about the man, the myth, the hamster dad himself.

Identity is a major theme for Gundham. He cultivates his own very, very carefully, only breaking character here and there either to adjust himself (and comment on a “good line”), or when he’s flustered and his composure slips just a little bit. Given how much effort he puts into his words and appearance, you’d be probably correct in assuming he wants to be seen a certain way. He appears to thrive off the fear and intimidation he inspires, yet despite demanding “silence and solitude”, he seems to crave companionship, and find it best in those who can easily reconcile his demonic persona with the kind, nurturing person he is underneath, as opposed to people who try and see directly through it. He needs that persona, you see. He can’t cope with it being stripped away. I’ve spoken about Gundham’s tendency to play the bad guy even when he is, objectively, the hero, before, so I won’t belabor the point too much. But what I’m driving at here is, who he is, and how he’s seen, are too intricately linked to be separated.

If you recall, the door to hell opens and Garcin has the chance to leave, but he doesn’t.

I can think of no better example than the ideas in No Exit, and the intricacies of Gundham’s character, falling into place better than Ashi’s future verse. Which is really, really good, and a masterful take on the philosophy of identity. When Gundham shatters the mirrors and covers the reflective surfaces in his living space, he is effectively robbing himself of the ability to see himself. He’s forced into the vulnerable position of his identity being placed in the hands of others. With no way to reflect on himself - literally and symbolically - he has to take what others say to him as is. Rely on other people to cultivate his appearance and judge what he can no longer see, and therefore, alter. Coupled with his persistent, subsequent self-aggrandizing and deprecation, and he’s submitting himself to the torment of being made into the villain of this story, no matter what he does from hereon out.

You see, the world isn’t in despair anymore. He’s been given a second chance. The door to hell is open, and Gundham has the chance to leave, but he doesn’t.

Like Garcin, he becomes reliant on the fight. The constant struggle against people who will see him in the worst light possible, no matter what he does. But unlike Garcin, Inez, Estelle, or even Nagito - and we will get to Nagito - he isn’t forced into this state, for survival or for punishment. At least, not by a third party. He’s condemning himself. He’s robbing himself of the ability to improve, or to see himself improve. He doesn’t think he deserves to. He relies on others to validate who he is, because others have always let him down. Always seen him as the villain. The weird kid. The one not worth including. He’s waiting to be told, “Actually, you’re a bad person and I don’t want to be near you”. He’s waiting to be abandoned and left alone because, when there’s no one left to see him, he will, effectively, no longer exist. He’s given up on a meaningful, extraordinary death, opting to instead languish in the depths of oblivion. For someone who has grappled for years to forge an identity he can live with (again, that other meta I did on him a while back), this. This is hell.

Now that I’ve outed myself as a secret Gundham Tanaka stan blog, let’s talk about his boyfriend. Identity is less a key theme for Nagito, and more a background element to his character. So it hasn’t been something I could justify a thousand-odd words on so far. But now I have an excuse, I’m going to talk about the single most underrated ship in all of Dimple Raddish. Like I usually do. Look, there’s been a semi-recent semi-surge on popularity for Roulette in the fandom, just let me ride it out, okay? As someone who doesn’t shut up about these two, I have no idea how much of it I’m responsible for, but I am arrogant enough to take more credit than is due, so. You’re welcome, fandom.

For all the things Nagito is awkward and dumb at dealing with (see: All The Things), helping Gundham cope post-tragedy is one thing he does pretty effortlessly. Because what Gundham needs is what Nagito has in perpetuity: relentless, unyielding love. The only way Gundham will ever face himself again, is if he’s forced to believe there’s something worth facing. There is an opportunity in seeing himself as others do. He can see the good things he’s never let himself acknowledge before.

Now’s as good a time as any to say: this is not a healthy way to be. And I’m not trying to imply that the love of the right person can cure years of trauma and abuse. But you know what can help? Being treated with some basic decency and respect. And heck, even love. Gundham is not a role model, and Nagito, less so. He’s a morally ambiguous, deeply damaged young man. He can’t really be fixed. But he can be given the support he needs to heal.

This is the inevitable part in all my long metas where I lament that Nagito’s childhood was loveless, and robbed him of the ability the feel any kind of self-worth. That he’s rendered incapable of recognizing his own needs much less putting them first, as a result of them never being met. That he’s a good person who deserves a good life, and despite having been through insurmountable hell, it’s a wonder he came out the other side so, very capable of selflessness. And that it’s tragic his biggest wish in life is to just know how to feels to be loved in any way by anyone, just to have the most basic, fundamental human experience. F in chat.

Nagito has interests, and hobbies. He...reads, sometimes. He likes dogs. His luck ruins everything. But when he isn’t encouraging others to chase that One True Hope, what is he actually doing? What would he be doing if he never attended Hope’s Peak? Given how many times he’s been treated like a burden, can he ever truly feel like he’s worth something to anybody?

There’s a sense of static around him, I feel. Like when the video quality suddenly drops, and it takes you a moment to realise. Who is he, exactly? The answer is simple and sad: whoever he’s told to be. He’s spent his life being treated like his feelings are a burden and he’s useless trash, therefore he is burdensome trash. In class he is often ignored and ridiculed, so he largely keeps to himself during group activities, and whenever he says something out loud, he often scolds himself for it before anyone else can. You know, that whole, “Haha sorry, that was a bit much, guess I’m just trash” thing he does. He has to be this way. For his own survival, for whatever sanity he has left. It’s easier to be treated like garbage if you believe you deserve it.

It’s normal for people to be different around different people. But I find that to be especially true with Nagito as I play him through different relationships with different people. The more he is with Gundham, the more his nurturing, animal-loving side comes out. The more he is with Celeste, the more we see his intelligent, competitive, gentlemanly side. With Sonia, his ability to be princely and adventurous; with Chiaki, his gentle and relaxed nature, with Yuuki, or the WoH, or literally any child under his care, we experience a strong paternal side to him. He is by no means a different person, but different aspects of his personality are given more dominance over him as a whole, based on what somebody sees in him. He’s very capable of stepping up, but only when he feels someone expects him to. Otherwise he’s content to sit on his hands and watch, because he doesn’t think he deserves anything better.

Nagito will not see these things, or anything especially good, in himself until he is given permission. Until he is made to feel, by an authority higher than himself, that it’s okay. He exists as others see him. If someone he looks up to, whose opinions he values, recognises the - for lack of a better term - hope in him, he will eventually be forced to accept that it’s there himself. He might even. You know. Develop enough self-respect one day to forge a more self-actualised identity. Have the audacity to want things, and have dreams and stuff. He might even follow them. It’s a long, tiresome, non-linear process; but a worthwhile undertaking if I say so myself.

I guess the tl;dr here is that: both boys validate themselves through the eyes of other people because it’s the only way they know how. It’s not a good or healthy thing to do, but with the right kind of support, and enough time and patience, maybe next time the door to hell opens, they’ll have the courage to leave.

#( this wasn't as in-depth as i'd have liked #i could have kept going but the word count bro #so imma just leave it like this and hope i've made my point )#meta;#long post;

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yxkyu · 6 years ago

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✦ ⑇

happy birthday to leorio and tanaka and to a lesser extent me

#✦ ⑇ ooc. ⑇#i do not deserve to share a birthday with such good boys

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sfw-haikyuu-nsfw · 7 years ago

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This isn't really a request... More like a question. I plan on making Nishinoya drabble series... (And I absolutely love your writing on how he apologized for still flirting with kiyoko when they are dating) but do you think he'd honestly continue you that when hes dating someone else? Would it be to a much lesser extent? Would it be weird to stop cus it's some weird ritual lol? I'd love your thoughts. Not as a drabble or headcanons. Just what you think. You can say no too haha.

I apologize profusely for not getting back to you on this topic and I hope that you’re drabble series turned out wonderfully!

Though it is late, I think I have a better answer for this now than when you had originally sent it in. Primarily because I kinda went through something like this with my boyfriend - though not necessarily in the same way.

So, my boyfriend has been single for quite a few years before we met due to many different circumstances (deaths in the family, a terrible ending to his last relationship, and moving around a lot) and I think because of this he got majorly imbedded into the way he talks with his “bros”. And there’s nothing wrong with this, especially since he has such a good support system of friends behind him. But when we started to get serious, I couldn’t help but be bothered with the way he would describe girls he had had interactions with before. And it could be completely platonic on his end, but he would still describe these girls he was around as “crazy beautiful” or “insanely supermodel gorgeous”. I felt myself getting really irritated by it, but because I felt like he had any sort of feelings about these people, but because I have a problem of comparing myself to others. So when he would describe these girls in this way, I felt more like a sack of potatoes on his arm rather than like a goddess that he’s made me feel before. It was only after having a conversation about how his words made me feel that he was able to adjust and describe his past stories without making me feel lesser than these other people he was talking about.

I think that in Noya’s case with Kiyoko, it’s similar. It’s something that he’s used to doing - maybe even ritualistically as you mentioned. And it’s also something that bonds him with Tanaka. But if his significant other vocalized to him that what he was doing made them feel like they didn’t mean as much to him or that they weren’t comfortable with it, he wouldn’t even hesitate with ending the behavior. And that’s not to say that it would just end naturally either. I think that as time went on and Noya fell more in love with his significant other, his actions towards Kiyoko would naturally shift to them and his praise of Kiyoko would only be lived through Tanaka (if he still remained single as well).

I think there are a lot of variables in this particular situation, but for Noya his heart would belong to his significant other no matter what. So I suppose that it would all depend on how they maybe felt about the behavior and the situation.

Thanks for asking, love! Hope all is going well!

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kokiafans · 7 years ago

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【KOKIA Interview】 A new original album after 3 years, containing the things I want to convey now

Via OKMusic, editorial apartment

Following her 4-disc best of album ‘EVOLVE to LOVE -20 years Anniversary BEST-’, which came out in February, KOKIA is now releasing her first original album in 3 years, ‘Tokyo Mermaid’. We sat down to talk with her about her thoughts for her new work and how she’s currently feeling as she’s facing her 20th anniversary.

You’re celebrating your 20th anniversary in April, but I feel like you can also feel that ‘20th anniversary vibe’ from your February best of album?

That’s right. My best of album was like that indeed, but I’m also including this original album: I’ve started preparing it since over a year ago, and as I was aware of my 20th anniversary while I was in all kinds of business meetings, it never felt like it just came up suddenly.

It feels like you’ve been properly preparing.

Yes. Since all are essential components, it’s difficult to choose ‘the number one’ from these; I feel that the one thing that’s most important is ‘to continue’. Continuing is very simple, and yet difficult. However, I really feel like there are things I got to see, things I get to say precisely because I kept going.

You worked on both the best of album and this new original album side by side together, but since the best of album was an opportunity to look back on your work thus far, wouldn’t you say that you got to project yourself as KOKIA right now in your original album?

That’s right. In addition to the best of album, I also released the DVD ‘Bird Watching’ in which I look back on my progress in these 20 years in videos, and I got to include the narration by myself. That way, I had a long time to look back on myself by myself, so for this album, I feel like I’m including ‘the person I am right now’. In getting to publish a best of album, I was able to include a ‘stop’ in my feelings, and I feel that by stopping once, it gave me the premonition of what was up next and I was able to create a new album.

With the title of ‘Tokyo Mermaid’, what kind of album did you intend to create for this new original album when you started working on it?

In this case, I didn’t actually decide on a concept at the very beginning and then work from that. Around the time I started working on the album, I thought: ‘it’s the album that will come out at the milestone of my 20th anniversary, I wonder what kind of album I as KOKIA can let everyone hear?’. I thought about how everyone’s expectations for this album were probably high. So in that way, I had to overcome myself as a hurdle; I thought a lot about what kind of feeling I’d put in the album... But after thinking about it for a while, I went in circles and returned to the thought: “Because I’ve been properly active as KOKIA for these 20 years, wouldn’t it be appropriate if I brought out the person I am right now in earnest, without overthinking it, as the thing I’m bringing out for my 20th anniversary?”. Once I reached that conclusion, I was suddenly able to continue writing the songs. Once I hit around 80% of the songs in the line-up, I looked at it from a bird’s-eye view thinking, “with what kind of feeling have I written the songs this time?”. At that moment, the theme and title ‘Tokyo Mermaid’ came to mind.

So it’s like saying you could see the shape and form in the middle of creating the songs.

Yes. I set it up without really thinking about it; at first, how I felt about the things I wanted to say about myself now and the things I wanted to leave behind steadily worked its way into the songs. “What did I want to say with this song?” I considered the moment I looked at the song I’d created with that thought in bird-eye’s view, and it became a dream of all kinds of people living in Tokyo, just a place where all kinds of feelings gather, to a greater or lesser extent. There’s people who give it their all at their jobs and are dreaming, there’s people who haven’t yet started working who are dreaming. As I thought about those things, I felt like I was writing a song that keeps going forward to reach both the light and dreams; I wrote it as one of those people who are living in Tokyo while dreaming.

Looking at it from a bird-eye’s view, what did you feel?

I myself am born and raised in Tokyo, so isn’t Tokyo like the first place I think of? In Tokyo, I also kept chasing my dreams for 20 years, and I probably will keep dreaming for 25, 30 years. The nooks and corners of this Tokyo... I write many of my songs in a little room right here, but the things that were born there fly out into the world, and I’m always writing my songs while imagining the miracle that they connect with many people. Isn’t it the sounds I’m producing in this little room that reach so many people? This miracle I felt in the middle of creating, and it’s truly like magic if I can somehow impact the lives of the people who listen to the music I made myself. When I thought that, the words ‘Tokyo Mermaid’ came up.

Are there differences and changes in the lyrics compared to your previous works?

Somehow, I don’t understand myself which part is new, but I just wanted to show “I still have other drawers I have yet to open”, meaning things that everyone can get to enjoy. Song like ‘Tenki ga ii biiru nomou’ (’the weather’s nice, let’s drink a beer’) and ‘Aliens ~uchuujin wakarimashita~ (’understood aliens’) feel different from songs I’ve done so far, I think.

You will have your 20th anniversary commemorative concerts at the Tokyo Opera City concert hall on April 29 and 30. What will they be like?

These concerts are both the concerts that follow the release of ‘Tokyo Mermaid’ as well as the concerts that sum up my 20th anniversary, and they’re the first step to what’s coming next. Well, reflecting on the past and remembering all kinds of things, I want to make these concerts that provide nutrition to make myself shine, so that those feelings can live on from here onward. So, I wish for these concerts to feel anew, even while looking back on the past together with the audience.

You’re facing your 20th anniversary, but it seems like there are still many things you want to do.

Yes. I feel what I define as the possibilities of music, so there are many things I want to do. There’s too many, I can’t suddenly talk about anything concrete (laughs), I’ll return to my first story: I feel like continuing is immensely important, so I want to keep going while constantly taking on new challenges within the realm of activities I can do myself.

Article: Takanobu Tanaka

#KOKIA #translation #translation: interview #promotion: 20th anniversary concert #tokyo mermaid

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24kshownu · 8 years ago

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i’m really happy tanaka seems to be getting his own (VERY LONG OVERDO) arc & i’m also happy he’s finally being seen as a romantic interest in someone’s eyes bcuz i’ve never quite understood why girls didn’t flock after him bcuz he’s SO AMAZING??!

but... i’m also annoyed about everyone saying shit like “WOW we can finally ship tanaka with someone!” cuz like.... you could’ve been shipping him with a bunch of people? nishinoya, ennoshita, sugawara, hinata, etc... the only reason you didn’t is bcuz this fandom seems to have a very shallow view of his character, especially when it comes to his appearance. the majority of you see tanaka as the ~token straight character~ amidst a bunch of non straight characters, most likely influenced by the way that he looks (whether you realize it or not). take nishinoya, for example. noya, like tanaka, has shown interest in women before AND he has a very similar personality to tanaka. yet why is it acceptable to ship nishinoya w/ other male characters (most popular being asahi, obviously) but not tanaka? what makes them so different? (hint: it’s bcuz he doesn’t look like your typical pretty anime boy). another example is bokuto. here we have another wild, rambunctious character, much like tanaka, who is often shipped with other male characters (the most popular being akaashi, & to a lesser extent from what i’ve seen, kuroo). again, only difference between the two cases is their looks.

now if we’re putting personality characteristics aside for a second. maybe you view tanaka as a straight dude bcuz he’s shown to be attracted to girls on numerous occasions, right? however, as is the case with nishinoya (which i already mentioned above), MANY other main characters have shown the same? some examples: daichi is heavily implied to be interested in yui & sugawara seems to have a crush on kiyoko. yet the heavy majority of the fandom ships those two with other male characters (especially each other??)

so like.... none of these reasons make sense. tanaka has been shown to have very close & deep relationships with so many male characters in haikyuu & the fandom isn’t usually very shy when it comes to multishipping, so i really do think it all boils down to shallow fans who don’t find him handsome enough to really ship him in any serious relationships.

i’ve said this on numerous occassions but i firmly believe that, if tanaka wasn’t bald, not only would he not be as ignored as he is by the fandom (which is another thing altogether lmao), but he would be shipped with other characters a LOT more frequently. it may sound ridiculous & you can argue with me if you wanna, but this really is the only explanation me, and many other tanaka stans, have come up with.

in conclusion, my bisexual king tanaka has always been shippable with other characters, you were all just too weak & too boring to see it BYEEEE~

#tanaka ryuunosuke #ryuunosuke tanaka #tananoya #ennotana #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#hq!!#hq #animanga #miri.txt #another tanaka related rant from yours truly lmaoooo #long post /#frembly remonger tag

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abybweisse · 8 years ago

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hi :) Anon asked you "does anyone know that the remains of the burned bones and etc belong to Vincent Phantomhive? Couldn't it have been the remains of another corpse or body, that may have been substituted for Vincent, as a part to fake his death? I think he's still alive and gone into hiding, in a distant and far away foreign country." I also think that this is a nice idea and also UT doesn't need to know everything. Then here's Sebastian/Vincent theory; maybe they're not the same person part1

“but we still know nothing about Sebastian’s past. Maybe they knew each other? There was a scene when Sebastian remained Ciel’s the situation when little Ciel (the real one?) was cooking with Vincent and Deidrich for sick Rachel, OK Dee was cooking ;) he shouldn’t know about it and also, why he was in this place three years ago and decided tho show himself to little boy? And many others. So maybe Vincent had some another plan about which UT didn’t know, maybe he’s alive or maybe even he is part2

hiding himself somewhere or she became a demon known as Sebastian. Everything is quitly possible if we still know a little. And I don’t catch the idea that Sebastian looks like Vincent to make Ciel trusted him. Just don’t. It’s too weak for Yana, there must be something else. All of them UT/Vinnie/Sebastian looks almost the same (without hair+scars) so there must be a greater reason. What do you think? Have a nice day/night! part3″

Thanks for the asks! There’s a lot to address here, though, so bare with me.

1. We actually do know a few things about Sebastian’s more recent past. First of all, Chapter 2 gives us an idea of what he was up to sometime between ~1750 and when the earl summoned him. Lyrics to one of the Phantom Five songs (”Phantom? Knight!”) strongly suggest that the earl woke him from a deep slumber, but before that… he had been dancing the Viennese Waltz at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria. Chances are, he had some involvement with the Habsburgs, who controlled the palace for a few centuries, until their reign officially ended in 1816, when Franz Joseph died. Two years later, the palace became national property and was turned into a museum. So, sometime between the development of the Viennese Waltz and when our demon got bored enough to sleep… he was causing intrigue among the aristocracy and royalty of Austria. And not just Austria. The Habsburgs, at some time or other, ruled Austria, Germany, Hungary, and other lands. Ferdinand I was on the throne/in office from 1835 to 1848, but he was unable to rule his lands due to mental deficiency (severe epilepsy, among other issues), so two individuals were assigned to “assist him” (Archduke Louis and Prince Metternich). Somehow, I have a feeling our demon influenced international politics during that era, too, not just this new business between England, Germany, and, to a lesser extent, France and Italy.

2. Sebastian explains that he found the recipes in the family cookbook, a collection of recipes passed down from the previous generation. How that cookbook survived the fire when not much else did(?), but anyway ;) The earl had to explain to Sebastian the full significance of those recipes afterwards. Sebastian just thought they seemed appropriate for someone who needs to eat but can’t handle much. (Come to think of it, too bad he didn’t find those recipes when he and the earl first returned to the manor. I think Tanaka’s return to the manor has something to do with this, actually… like perhaps Tanaka had managed to save a few things from burning down before he was stabbed, perhaps even before the attack? That’s what I think, and I think there are other interesting things he’s saved, too. Perhaps Vincent’s private journal? Anyway….)

3. As I mentioned in #1, Sebastian was called out of a deep sleep when the earl summoned him. The licensed version even says “coma”, but that might be just to rhyme with “aroma”. And that’s the answer – he was woken from his slumber by the possibility of a delicious meal. (This is part of the Mother3 parallel, since Lucas wakes the Dark Dragon from a deep slumber. Here, the earl wakes the Black Butler from a deep slumber, too.)

4. So, no, I have no reason to believe that Sebastian is Vincent in any way. I don’t think he was personally familiar with the Phantomhives until the earl came along. If Sebastian knows anything and wants his meal in a timely fashion, don’t you think he would have spoken up before now? If it helps his own, personal goal of devouring this soul? No. He is not Vincent. He looks like Vincent because of the contract, most-likely, some emotional element to it as the contract was being drawn-up/forged. A fatherly figure, an authority figure. As far as Vincent is concerned, I think think he’s as dead as Undertaker claims him to be, unless Undertaker is a very good liar (and and actor way better than even Grell). However, I will concede that Vincent probably knew something was about to happen, and he prepared for it somehow, most-likely involving Tanaka (like I mentioned in #2).

5. Similarities, in general, between characters’ physical traits are probably due to two major things: 1) Yana-san’s drawing style has evolved a lot over the years, but even well-experienced mangakas can use the same templates for multiple characters. 2) It’s been mentioned that the aristocracy are extremely interwoven, genetically, so it’s no surprise that many of these characters have similar facial features, etc. It was common for first cousins to marry, particulalry if they are aristocrats or royalty. “Ciel” was betrothed to his first cousin, Lizzie. Queen Victoria really did marry her first cousin, Prince Albert. That Ferdinand I of Austria… it’s said his health and mental problems were due to inbreeding – his parents were double first cousins.

I hope this answers at least some of your questions to some degree of satisfaction. I know there’re still a lot more questions out there than any of us have answers for. Try as I might, I know I just have theories, even if some of them are well-supported….

Thanks again! :)

#black butler #sebastian michaelis #earl phantomhive #vincent phantomhive #tanaka #background story #historical references #anon asks #i answer #mother3 #theory of everything #theories

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chanoyu-to-wa · 6 years ago

Text

Nampō Roku, Book 3 (18.25): the Ō-ita [大板], Part 1.

18.25) the ō-ita [大板], two sketches for the shoza.

[The writing reads: (to the right of the upper sketch) ō-ita (大板)¹; isshaku san-sun shi-hō (一尺三寸四方)², mata isshaku san-sun ni isshaku ni mo ・ isshaku issun ni mo (又一尺三寸ニ一尺ニモ・一尺一寸ニモ)³; gyaku-gatte (逆勝��)⁴; (to the right of the lower sketch) isshaku san-sun go-bu ni shite mo kurushikarazu yo, Sōkyū kakete mōshi-soro aida, [Ri]kyū [h]e tazune mōshi-kereba, migi-za tatami no me hitotsu aru-beki ga, sono kokoro-e naku ni-me ni oki-tara ba, ōi ni higa-goto naru-beshi to iu-iu [一尺三寸五分ニシテモ不苦由、宗及被申シ間、休ヘ尋申ケレハ、右座疊ノ目一ツアルヘキカ、其心得ナク二目ニ置タラハ、大ニヒカコトナルヘシト云〻)⁵; onaji (同)⁶, jun-gatte (順勝手)⁷; (to the left of the lower sketch) kan・habōki (カハン・羽帚)⁸; tadashi kan ha onaji shiki ha mazui, oku-sore ba, hana-kami shiki nari (但クハンハ同敷ハ不好、置候ヘハ、鼻紙敷也)⁹.

_________________________

◎ This, and the following, pair of installments constitute another “mini-densho” (shown, intact, below) probably also written by Jōō. Which is to say that the sketches were drawn by him, and in the specific order in which they appear in Book Three of the Nampō Roku. The kaki-ire [書入] were, of course, added by other hands, and not necessarily those intent on representing Jōō’s authentic teachings, with regard to this shiki-ita.

Both Shibayama Fugen and Tanaka Senshō deal with all four sketches (two on each page) as a unit, but the length of the footnotes and commentary preclude my following their format here. Tanaka, in particular, limits his own comments to a rather brief summary at the end of this section, leaving the kaki-ire to stand without any attempt at interpretation or explanation at all.

¹Ō-ita [大板].

According to Rikyū's account, the ō-ita was created by Jōō, as a temporary base for the small bronze kimen-buro (this furo is usually around 8-sun in diameter) when it was taken off of the small shin-daisu for the sumi-temae. At that point in time, the daisu, decorated with the rest of the kaigu (and the temmoku and chaire on the ten-ita), was displayed in the tokonoma during the shoza, while the furo was placed (in this case, on the ō-ita) on the utensil mat, where the host performed the sumi-temae. This helped to prevent damage to the daisu caused by charcoal dust and sparks. The daisu was moved to the utensil mat during the naka-dachi, and the furo (with the now-boiling kama) was lifted up onto it at this time*.

The ō-ita was originally placed on the left side of the utensil mat (irrespective of the actual orientation of the tearoom), since that was the side of the mat that the furo would occupy when restored to the daisu during the naka-dachi. (The sumi-temae was performed much as if the daisu were actually present on the utensil mat.)

Later, as Jōō's inclination toward wabi deepened, he put the daisu and the rest of the kaigu away, and left the small furo on the ō-ita for the duration of the chakai -- with the mizusashi placed directly on the mat at its side.

The size of the ō-ita was derived from that of the small daisu. The 1-shaku 3-sun square represented the space occupied by the small furo on that daisu. The original ō-ita, however, seems to have been made from the ten-ita of an old large daisu -- since this kind of daisu would have been much more common†.

In Rikyū's densho he wrote that the ō-ita should be placed 5-me (2-sun 5-bu) from the heri, and either 9-me (= 4-sun 5-bu) or 11-me (= 5-sun 5-bu) from the far end of the mat‡; and, according to his kaiki, it seems that the ō-ita was being placed on the side of the utensil mat closest to the guests’ by the 1580s**. __________ *This idea basically imitated the Shino family's practice: the Shino-dana [志野棚] (which was basically a fukuro-dana that had a pair of hinged doors enclosing the ji-fukuro: the doors had a locking mechanism that kept the guests from looking at the host’s collection of kyara incense that was stored in the ji-fukuro) and other incense implements were arranged on the utensil mat during the shoza. Afterward, during the naka-dachi, the tana was lifted into the tokonoma, and a daisu, kaigu, and furo (with charcoal and a boiling kama already arranged in it) were brought out from the katte and placed on the utensil mat.

†Though there are certain indications that the inakama setting had already been used on the continent, the small shin-daisu only appeared (in Japan) when Jōō began to use a 4.5-mat inakama as his tearoom. Consequently, there were no ten-ita from “old and damaged” daisu of this sort that could be recycled as shiki-ita.

Since the ten-ita of both sizes of daisu have rounded edges, it would be impossible to cut an ō-ita measuring 1-shaku 3-sun square (with the perfectly perpendicular edges seen on all shiki-ita) from the ten-ita of a small daisu. The other sizes mentioned -- 1-shaku 3-sun by 1-shaku or 1-shaku 1-sun -- could have been cut from the ten-ita of a small daisu, and it seems likely that there would have been a number of these available by the early Edo period (since the preference had briefly shifted back to the kyōma 4.5-mat room during Hideyoshi’s lifetime -- though when the capital was removed to Tōkyō, the inakama room returned to favor as a consequence of the lack of space in the cramped quarters of that city). These smaller versions of the ō-ita were made by machi-shū chajin years after Jōō's death.

With the advent of the inakama setting, the kyōma fell out of fashion with many of the machi-shū chajin of Sakai and (to a lesser extent) Hakata, hence the ready availability of ten-ita from old daisu that had been originally made for use in that setting.

‡In the Nambō-ate no densho [南坊宛の傳書], this entry (which is the first to be discussed in the document) reads ō-ita no koto, hidari no waki tatami no me go-me, saki kyū me ・ jū-ichi me, dai-jō to tsune-no-datami to nari [大板之事、左のわき疊の目五目、先九目・十一目、大疊と常の疊と也]. This means “concerning the ō-ita: on the left side, 5-me; and in front [of the ita], 9-me ・ 11-me -- [depending on] whether it is a large mat or an ordinary-sized mat.” These arrangements are shown below, drawn to the same scale (with the kyōma tatami shown on the left, and the inakama -- the “ordinary tatami” -- on the right): in both sketches, the katte is assumed to be on the host's left.

When Rikyū wrote the he was still operating fully within the limitations imposed by Jōō’s teachings. Thus, though Rikyū does not cite a source for this teaching, it is most likely that this represented the way that Jōō arranged the ō-ita on the utensil mat.

At this point in time, the inakama tatami was still commonly used (for the 4.5-mat room), which is why Rikyū refers to it as the “ordinary mat;” and, under the influence of Nobunaga, the orientation where the katte is located on the host's left was coming to be preferred. (This densho, which is the earliest of Rikyū's writings to survive, was apparently the second such to be addressed to Nambō Sōkei, and Rikyū appears intent on guiding Sōkei in the most socially acceptable -- and least dangerous -- way of doing things possible.)

**Since the furo cannot be located underneath the tsuri-dana (which, in his room, was a Shū-un-an dana, meaning a tsuri-dana attached to the wall on the left side of the utensil mat), the only possibility was if the ō-ita was placed on the right side of the mat, near that heri.

²Isshaku san-sun shi-hō [一尺三寸四方].

This, as mentioned above was the size of the original ō-ita that was made by Jōō. While made as a base for the small bronze kimen-buro, and derived from the size of the small shin-daisu, the actual ō-ita seems to have been cut from the ten-ita of an old large daisu.

³Mata isshaku san-sun ni isshaku ni mo ・ isshaku issun ni mo [又一尺三寸ニ一尺ニモ・一尺一寸ニモ].

These smaller ō-ita, as mentioned above, could have been cut from the ten-ita of an old small shin-daisu (which would have been available for this purpose in the early Edo period, as a result of the return to the kyōma 4.5-mat room, and the preponderance of wabi-no-chanoyu, which made all daisu superfluous*).

Ita of these sizes were made by the machi-shū, and had nothing to do with either Jōō or Rikyū. ___________ *The daisu ultimately made a return in the Edo period, under the theory that receiving guests of different social ranks demanded different forms of chanoyu service.

⁴Gyaku-gatte [逆勝手].

Gyaku-gatte [逆勝手] is usually translated (and presently understood to mean) “reversed” katte -- that is, the katte is found on the opposite of the room from that seen in the original orientation. As used in the present entry, this arrangement is shown below (note that the katte is located on the right side of the utensil mat).

However, the kanji that is read gyaku [逆] actually has a more sinister meaning -- to disobey, to rebel -- and this sense of the word likely stands in the background of the question of why what was originally the hon-gatte [本勝手] (the arrangement where the katte is located on the host's right, with the guests seated on his left -- as seen in the Dōjin-sai [同仁齋] and other classical shoin-style tearooms) suddenly became the “reverse” (or “traitorous”) setting. The idea seems to have arisen with Nobunaga, because arranging the room with the guests seated on the host's left means that the guests will be unable to see what the host is doing*. From this arose the bad feelings that persist over what was the original way to arrange the room in which chanoyu was to be performed‡.

It might strike the modern reader as rather odd that the “reversed” position is reviewed first, while the jun-gatte [順勝手]** is considered second. But this was likely because Tachibana Jitsuzan simply copied the sketches in the order that they were found in the original document -- which, in the source documents, appear to consistently present the material in its proper historical sequence -- with the terms “gyaku-gatte” and “jun-gatte” added later, to reflect the Edo period norms that were descended from Hideyoshi's edicts. __________ *Most of the early chajin (including Jōō and Rikyū, and their principal disciples -- both Japanese and Korean) were, at least nominally, affiliated with the Ikkō-shū [一向宗] -- the dangerous religious movement that held that all men, regardless of their social position or birth, were completely equal after a single repetition of the nen-butsu [念佛] (the incantation “namu Amida-butsu” [南無阿彌陀佛]). This is the source of the so called “democracy in the tearoom” of which many writers have made note.

It appears that the social revolution that brought down the Koryeo dynasty in Korea was championed by followers of this sect, hence the unease with which Nobunaga, and then Hideyoshi, viewed its adherents. It was also because of this that, while interacting with these people was increasingly necessary (since their ranks included the leaders of the machi-shū of Sakai and Hakata, whose cooperation was absolutely necessary for the success of their respective plans), neither Nobunaga, nor Hideyoshi, ever completely trusted their tea masters. (Rikyū's being invited to take a second wife -- a trusted woman out of Hideyoshi's own harem, who then acted as Hideyoshi's spy in the deepest recesses of Rikyū's home -- once he became a member of Hideyoshi's household, clearly shows how far Hideyoshi was prepared to trust this “most trusted” adviser.)

‡The original orientation, with the daisu on the right, and the chief guest on his left, was derived from the arrangement of the altar in the temples where chanoyu arose: the Buddha is seated in the middle, with the image of Yakushi nyorai [藥師如来] (the “Buddha” of Healing -- who was the patron of both the tea plant, and the practice of preparing and serving tea) seated on his left hand. The daisu was set up in front of the statue of Yakushi, and the bowl of tea was placed out on the host's left, where an assistant received it and carried it directly forward, so it could be placed at the foot of the Buddha. In no temple arrangement was this ever reversed; and it was based on this precedent that the original shoin where tea would be served were laid out.

**Jun-gatte [順勝手]: jun [順] is the literal opposite of gyaku [逆], and means to obey, to submit to, to go along with, and so forth. In other words, this orientation -- with the katte on the left, and the guests seated on the host's right, was a physical manifestation of the chajin’s submission to Nobunaga's, and then Hideyoshi's, will.

⁵Isshaku san-sun go-bu ni shite mo kurushikarazu yo, Sōkyū kakete mōshi-soro aida, [Ri]kyū [h]e tazune mōshi-kereba, migi-za tatami no me hitotsu aru-beki ga, sono kokoro-e naku ni-me ni oki-tara ba, ōi ni higa-goto naru-beshi to iu-iu [一尺三寸五分ニシテモ不苦由、宗及被申シ間、休ヘ尋申ケレハ、右座疊ノ目一ツアルヘキカ、其心得ナク二目ニ置タラハ、大ニヒカコトナルヘシト云〻].

This statement is not entirely lucid (and the several versions differ from one another in terms of both wording and punctuation, resulting in no good consensus as to what the actual text should be)*.

Translating it as the text is given in the Enkaku-ji version of Book Three of the Nampō Roku, the meaning is “on a certain occasion, Sōkyū volunteered that there would be no difficulty if the ō-ita measures 1-shaku 3-sun 5-bu [square†]. When [I‡] placed this matter before [Ri]kyū, he speculated that this would mean either that, on the right-seat of the mat, there would have to be but a single me -- something unsupported by the authority of any of the [associated] practices**; or, if 2-me, this would result in a gross violation [of the rules††], so it has been said.” ___________ *In fact, since it deviates from Rikyū’s own words regarding how the ō-ita should be oriented on the utensil mat (the original text was quoted above under footnote 1, sub-note “‡”), this kaki-ire may well be spurious -- since it offers oblique support for the machi-shū way of doing things.

†This is a guess. For all we know, Sōkyū could have been referring to another rectangular board, like the two alternative versions mentioned to the right of the upper sketch. All that we can be sure of is that this board measured 1-shaku 3-sun 5-bu from side to side.

‡Probably Nambō Sōkei is the intended speaker.

Since the original sketches were probably drawn by Jōō himself, there is little reason why Sōkei would have interpolated comments such as this -- since they were irrelevant to the classical way of doing things. Since placing the ō-ita 2-me from the heri was the machi-shū way of arranging it on the utensil mat -- based on the argument that the “seat of the furo” on the kyōma tatami extends 1-shaku 4-sun from the heri, thus the ō-ita (which measures 1-shaku 3-sun from side to side) should be placed 1-sun (= 2-me) from the heri, so that the other side does not extend beyond 1-shaku 4-sun from the heri. (In an inakama room, the ō-ita would be placed against the heri, since in that setting the seat of the furo extends only 1-shaku 3-sun from the heri.) This machi-shū argument is elaborated upon in Book Six of the Nampō Roku.

The point of all this was to reinforce the idea that Sōkei was the author of this collection of Rikyū’s teachings. In fact, the material in Book Three originated primarily with Jōō (and the fact that Rikyū apparently discarded this densho when he relocated his Sakai household to Mozuno -- this was how it came into Sōkei’s hands -- suggests that he had long since left Jōō’s teachings behind).

**The “practices” associated with the ō-ita to which reference is being made here are, according to Shibayama Fugen, that the ita is placed immediately adjacent to the heri when arranged on an inakama tatami, and 2-me from the heri when it is placed out on a kyōma tatami. The argument suggests that it may be one of these, or it may be the other, but not otherwise.

Note that this deviates from Rikyū’s own explanation regarding how the ō-ita should be oriented on a utensil mat of either size.

††If placed 2-me from the heri, the ō-ita will extend 5-bu beyond the edge of the “seat of the furo” -- which, according to this argument, is a gross violation of propriety. Rikyū, in other words, does not seem very impressed with Sōkyū’s pronouncement (which he apparently offered to his interlocutors without incitement).

That the ō-ita, when arranged as Rikyū said, extends 1-sun 5-bu beyond this supposed limit suggests that this statement had nothing to do with him. (In fact, Rikyū’s ō-ita extends beyond the middle of the mat to the same degree that the ko-ita [小板] falls short of the middle -- 3-me in both cases.)

⁶Onaji [同].

“The same.” The second sketch also depicts the ō-ita.

⁷Jun-gatte [順勝手].

In the present context, this refers to a room that is oriented so that the katte is located on the host’s left, and the guests are on his right, when he is seated on the utensil mat.

The term jun-gatte seems to have first appeared in the Edo period.

⁸Kan ・ habōki [カハン・羽帚].

The lower sketch shows the kan [鐶]* arranged together with the habōki on the ō-ita.

The idea (in both this sketch, and the one above) is that the charcoal utensils should be placed on the side of the ō-ita away from the guests’ seats. ___________ *K’wan [カワン] -- or possibly kwan [カヮン] (with the rendering changed when it was copied) -- was an archaic phonetic rendering. The kanji is rather complicated, and the clarity of the phonetic representation of the name makes it unnecessary to recall the kanji.

⁹Tadashi kan ha onaji-shiki ha mazui, oku-sore ba, hana-gami shiki nari [但クハンハ同敷ハ不好、置候ヘハ、鼻紙敷也].

“However, if one dislikes placing out the kan [directly on the ō-ita] in this way, when [one] is going to put them down, they may be placed with [a piece of] hana-gami underneath.”

The word hana-gami [鼻紙] -- nose[-wiping] paper -- refers to what we call kaishi [懷紙] today. Rikyū’s kaishi was the size of what is sold as women’s kaishi, though made from much thinner paper (more like tissue-paper); and, when used as suggested here, one piece would have probably been cut into a (doubled) square.

Originally the rule was that only bronze kan could be displayed on the ō-ita, never kan made of iron. Whether the host’s unease over placing the kan directly on the ō-ita stems from the lapse of this rule*, or whether this is simply apprehension that even bronze kan might damage the ō-ita†, is not clear from the context.

Tanaka Senshō, however, provides us with an interesting insight, arguing that the piece of paper here is analogous to that placed under the shin-nakatsugi (when it is displayed, without a shifuku, on the fukuro-dana): namely, that the paper allows the kan to contact the kane even when, by themselves, they are too small to do so. According to this way of looking at the matter, the determining factor is the size of the kan (rather than any question about what they are made of), and whether or not the host wishes the kan to contact the kane‡. ___________ *In other words, unease with placing iron kan directly on the ō-ita -- iron kan being much more likely to damage the lacquer than polished bronze.

†Though this does not really accord with Edo period sensibilities. Great concern over damaging something like a shiki-ita would be more appropriate in the early days -- when these boards were made from the ten-ita of antique daisu (and so were handled as if they were relics of a bye-gone day). In the Edo period, shiki-ita were being mass-produced (to keep up with the burgeoning demand caused by a rather sudden increase in the number of people practicing chanoyu), using previously unused wood (though generally still wood that was rather old, so it would be dried out to the point that it would not easily warp).

‡Because the ō-ita was created for the inakama setting, and because it is less than half of the width of the mat, it is divided by three yang-kane (the seven-kane system does not recognize yin-kane in any case). Naturally depending on their size, the kan would possibly sit between the left-most of the three kane and the left edge of the ita (according to the way this sketch is oriented). By placing the pair of kan (stacked one on top of the other) on top of a piece of paper (Rikyū‘s kaishi, when folded in half as is usual, measure 2-sun 9-bu by 4-sun 8-bu, and one supposes that the surplus length would be cut away, leaving a 2-sun 9-bu square), the paper will overlap the kane slightly to the right of the kan, thereby associating the kan with the kane -- if that is what the host wishes.

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◎ As mentioned above, both of these sketches show the ō-ita arranged for the shoza.

I. The first arrangement -- in a room with the gyaku-gatte [逆勝手] orientation.

The first sketch is confusing, since it shows the gyaku-gatte [逆勝手] arrangement*. In this case, the guests are seated on the left, while the katte is on the right. Below is a drawing of a gyaku-gatte yojō-han tearoom.

The utensil mat in such a room is shown in greater detail below. (Note that the left sketch shows a kyōma tatami, while that on the right is of an inakama tatami.) In either case, the ō-ita employs the same system of kane, which is derived from the original inakama setting for which this ita was created.

The next pair of sketches show the same arrangement in a jun-gatte [順勝手] setting -- a room where the katte is on the left, and the guests sit on the host’s right side.

And, finally, the same arrangement in a jun-gatte room where the ō-ita has been placed on the right side of the utensil mat. It is this kind of arrangement that was being used by Rikyū during the 1580s.

Note that, irrespective of where the ō-ita is positioned on the utensil mat, the kōgō and habōki are always found on the side of the board closest to the katte, according to this document. ___________ *Interestingly, in Rikyū’s Nambō-ate no densho [南坊宛の傳書], his sketch for the ō-ita is identical to the one shown here -- perhaps reflecting the fact that it was for this setting (where the katte is on the host’s right) that Jōō originally created the ō-ita.

——————————————–———-—————————————————

II. The second arrangement -- in a room that has a jun-gatte [順勝手] orientation.

The second sketch shows the jun-gatte [順勝手] arrangement -- where the katte is on the left, and the guests seated on the right side of the utensil mat. Below is a sketch of a jun-gatte yojō-han.

The utensil mat depicted above is shown below in greater detail. Once again, a kyōma tatami has been drawn on the left, while the right sketch shows an inakama mat.

Here the same arrangement is shown in a gyaku-gatte room (a room where the katte is on the right).

And, in a jun-gatte room, where the ō-ita has been placed on the right side of the utensil mat.

Once again, and irrespective of the orientation of the room or the location of the ō-ita on the utensil mat, the kan and habōki are always located on the side of the ō-ita closest to the katte. This is the rule that the reader was expected to deduce from these illustrations.

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chanoyu-to-wa · 3 years ago

Text

Nampō Roku, Book 7 (22): Concerning the Setchin [雪隱] that was Attached to Rikyū’s Koshi-kake [腰掛]; and Two Appendices of Related Material.

22) The setchin that adjoined the koshi-kake in [Ri]kyū[’s roji] was of the sort that was described previously¹. But if [one of the guests] had to move their bowels, there was an ordinary setchin [located elsewhere in the compound]².

_________________________

◎ The minor differences between the Enkaku-ji version of this very short entry and what is found in Shibayama’s teihon suggest that Tachibana Jitsuzan copied his text from a manuscript that was in a poor state of preservation.

One of the entries in the Book of Secret Teachings (Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki [墨引之内拔書], and its Tsuika [追加]) corresponds to this entry, and I have translated that material as an appendix.

And, while Tanaka Senshō used an abridged version of the Enkaku-ji text as the basis for his comments, in a footnote he quotes what he states is the genpon [原本] (original) version of this entry, which will probably seem (to us) to be an amalgamation of the full Enkaku-ji text and portions of the corresponding passage from the Books of Secret Teachings. Nevertheless, the original (genpon) text suggests that Shibayama’s interpretation of the second setchin as a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱] might be wrong; and it was primarily for this reason that I decided to discuss the genpon version of the text separately, in a second appendix (which appears as the final section of this post).

I feel that it might be good to close these introductory notes with a sort of observation, since it may give the readers a useful insight into the material that we are studying here. Part of the reason why I decided to write and format this translation in the way that I have is so that the reader will be able to observe how the Nampō Roku was, in a very real sense, created by Tachibana Jitsuzan. The genpon version is probably as close to the original Shū-un-an document as it is possible for us to get. The reader, then, can compare this text with what is found in entry 22, as Jitsuzan wrote it in Book Seven of the Enkaku-ji manuscript of the Nampō Roku -- and with the material that the Enkaku-ji scholars included in the Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki no tsuika [墨引之内拔書ノ追加]. It seems probable that a similar editorial process was employed in the creation of Book Seven (and, to a lesser extent, in the other six books) -- and it is this that has made certain modern scholars uneasy about accepting the Nampō Roku at face value, as an unadulterated representation of the teachings of Rikyū.

¹Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsukitaru setchin migi no gotoku nari　[休ノコシカケニ付タル雪隱、右ノゴトク也].

Koshi-kake ni tsukitaru setchin [腰掛に付きたる雪隱] means the setchin that adjoined (was connected to) the koshi-kake*.

In Rikyū's compound, there was no inner or outer roji such as is seen in the complexes favored by the Sen family. Between the street and the entrance to the tearoom was the koshi-kake, with the suna-setchin adjacent to it. The tea area was entered through a naka-kuguri, on the inside of which was a small enclosure in which the tsukubai was arranged, and the entrance to the tearoom (usually through a pair of shōji). From the beginning of the shoza until the end of the goza, the guests did not leave this inner area (unless they had to visit the setchin).

Migi no gotoku nari [右の如くなり] means (as described) at the right -- referring to the description of the suna-setchin found in the previous entry. ___________ *In this sketch, I have attached a second setchin to the far side of the suna-setchin, in accordance with the original text (that was quoted in Tanaka Senshō’s commentary) -- though nothing is said regarding where this second setchin was actually located (nevertheless, the extremely small size of the plots of land in the residential parts of the city meant that it could not have been too far distant from the suna-setchin). This second setchin was used for defecation; and, rather than a mound of sand, contained a pottery jar or bowl (partly filled with rice chaff) in which the wastes were deposited. Further details are given in the appendices.

²Mata soto ni yō wo ben-zuru tame, tsune no gotoku ni shitaru setchin ari　[又外ニ用ヲ辯スル爲、常ノゴトクニシタル雪隱アリ].

Soto ni [外に] means outside -- that is, outside of the roji; located elsewhere in the compound (probably in proximity to the residential buildings, since this was probably part of the main lavatory of the complex).

Yō wo ben-zuru tame [用を辯するため]. There appears to be a miscopying in the Enkaku-ji text*, since the others read yō wo ben-zuru-tame [用を便するため]. Ben-zuru [便ずる] means to satisfy (the needs of), to be useful (for the purpose), to make convenient: therefore, “to make use of....”

Rather than yō [用] (function), Shibayama’s text has dai-yō [大用], which is a word for feces or excrement.

Tsune no gotoku ni shitaru setchin ari [常の如くに爲たる所あり] means there is a setchin of the ordinary sort (presumably a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱], or a hibako [樋箱], since these were the two most common styles of benjo [便所], toilet, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries).

In other words, since the suna-setchin (that is attached to the koshi-kake) should only be used as a urinal, if one has to move their bowels, then that person should use the ordinary setchin.

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❖ Appendix 1: The Entry from the Supplementary Book of Secret Teachings¹.

￮ Besides the setchin that was next to Rikyu’s koshi-kake, there was another one -- and it was this setchin would be used for defecation².

A pottery jar, containing rice-chaff, was installed in this setchin³.

The way to use [this setchin] was similar to what has been described previously [in relation to the suna-setchin]⁴. But, compared with the appearance of the setchin at the koshi-kake, this arrangement was not liked⁵.

The setchin in the roji is a urinal [only]⁶.

_________________________

¹The actual title of the final two (supernumerary) books of the Nampō Roku seems to be Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki [墨引之内拔書], with the second book sub-titled tsuika [追加] (which means supplementary material). The title means something like “a book of explanatory notes intended for restricted access [by the original group of Enkaku-ji scholars, only], that should then be blotted over with ink” (in other words, the notes were compiled for the reference of the group of Enkaku-ji scholars working with Tachibana Jitsuzan, only; and once everyone had familiarized themselves with the content of the two books, they were supposed to be destroyed, so that this information would not be accessible to unauthorized individuals*), thus, indicates that the material contained in these two books was for internal consumption only, and to be obscured (to prevent access by unauthorized persons). ___________ *In other words, these books contained the secret knowledge, which, once assimilated by the first generation of Nampō Roku scholars, were supposed to be destroyed. Thus, the books created the “authorities” for future generations (while keeping the source of their knowledge “secret”). This gives us a glimpse at how the Edo period system of “secret teachings” worked -- and this is the same system that exists even today within the modern schools of all persuasions.

²Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsuki-taru setchin no hoka ni, ima hitotsu daiyō wo benjiru-yō ni shitaru setchin ari　[休ノ腰掛ニ附キタル雪隱ノ外ニ、今一ツ大用ヲ辨ジル樣ニシタル雪隱アリ].

Koshi-kake ni tsuki-taru setchin [腰掛に付きたる雪隱] means the setchin that adjoined the koshi-kake. As implied in the text of entry 22, this was a suna-setchin. (The photo below shows this kind of setchin before the sand has been poured into a mound in between the two large stones -- the stones on which the guest squats while urinating into the sand. The single large stones that were placed in front of, and to the rear of, this well are here replaced by the several smaller stones that perform the same function of preventing the wastes from spreading outside of the central well.)

Hoka ni [外に] means besides, in addition to.

Daiyō [大用] means feces, excrement.

Benjiru-yō [辨じる樣に] means the way to manage (something), the way to dispose of (something).

Nothing indicates where this other setchin was located (though, given the generally small size of residential plots of land in cities like Sakai and Kyōto, it seems more likely that this was the same facility used by the members of the household).

If it was not the lavatory used by the household, then this second setchin was probably in the proximity of the koshi-kake, perhaps on the far side of the suna-setchin, and possibly sharing a wall with it (as I showed in the sketch under footnote 1 or the previous part of this post). The fact that the doorway did not open onto the koshi-kake would mean that it was not technically “attached” to the waiting bench.

³Tsuchi-no-mono-no-tsubo wo irete, kiri-wara wo ire　[土ノ物ノツボヲ入レテ、切ワラヲ入レ].

Tsuchi-no-mono-no-tsubo [土の物の壺] means a jar made of pottery.

Irete [入れて] has been translated as “installed*” -- since the jar was sunken into the ground (see sub-note “†,” just below), rather than simply placed on the floor of the setchin.

Kiri-wara [切り藁]† means crushed rice-straw and rice-chaff. This material was put into the pottery jar, filling it perhaps half way, perhaps a little more.

The kiri-wara would absorb any moisture, as well as help to control the smell.

In his commentary on this entry, Shibayama Fugen states that this sentence is referring to a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱]‡, and that appears to be the most common interpretation of what is meant here. ___________ *Though to understand irete [入れて] to mean “installed” is, frankly, stretching things. See Tanaka’s “original manuscript” version of this entry, at the end of this post.

†Literally, kiri-wara [切り藁] means chopped up dry rice stalks. These were incorporated into the soil of the rice fields during the early spring (when the field was plowed prior to flooding and planting), to help improve the structure, as well as return some nutrients to the soil. This material was also commonly used in the gefuku-setchin.

‡A gefuku-setchin consists of a large ceramic jar (at least 60 cm in diameter and close to a meter deep, though often considerably larger) was sunk into the ground, with the mouth of the jar at roughly ground level. The jar was filled perhaps a third full with chopped rice straw or rice chaff (to absorb moisture, and so prevent splashing). Two parallel boards were laid across the mouth, with a gap of around 1-shaku between them. The user squatted down on the boards above the gap, with the human waste collecting in the jar (which was periodically emptied). The jar prevented sewage from seeping into the ground water and contaminating the wells in the area.

That said, it actually appears that, originally, a very different sort of arrangement (that more closely resembled the suna-setchin) was actually being described here. See the second appendix for more on this.

⁴Migi no tsukai-yō taitei dō-zen　[右ノツカヒヤウ大抵同前].

Tsukai-yō [使いよう] means the way to use (the jar).

Taitei [大抵] means for the most part, generally, largely (the same).

In other words, this gefuku-setchin contained a long-handled, oar-like soku-jō [觸杖] with which the feces were buried in the chaff that partly filled the jar. First, a hole would be opened in the chaff, and after relieving oneself, the soku-jō would be used to bury the feces in the chaff. This procedure resembled what was done in the suna-setchin.

⁵Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni yōji wo konomu-bekarazu　[腰掛ノ雪隱ノヤウニ樣子ヲ好ムベカラズ].

Yōji [樣子] means the appearance of something.

Konomu-bekarazu [好むべからず] means not be fond of (something).

The gefuku-setchin could seem rather dirty, especially after several people had used it. This may be the reason for the disgust apparent in this sentence (it is not clear whether this was Rikyū’s feeling, or whether the author was simply expressing a more general reaction to this kind of toilet).

The alternative was the hibako [樋箱 or 樋筥], shown above. This kind of toilet had an elevated floor, below which the waste fell into a sort of wooden drawer lined with sheet-copper. After use, the drawer was removed and emptied (by an attendant), and it was replaced after it had been cleaned. The person squatted down facing the door. The skirt of the kimono was supported by the perpendicular wooden panel (which also kept feces from accidentally falling onto the floor).

⁶Roji no setchin ha shōbenjo nari　[露地ノ雪隱ハ小便所ナリ].

Roji no setchin [露地の雪隱] means the setchin in the roji -- the setchin that, in Rikyū’s roji, was constructed next to the koshi-kake.

Shōbenjo [小便所] means a urinal.

The continual repetition suggests that this was not always the case (and, indeed, the suna-setchin was used as an ordinary toilet in the Zen-rin).

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❖ Appendix 2: The Text from the Gen-pon [原本] that was Quoted in Tanaka Senshō’s Commentary.

￮ The setchin attached to [Ri]kyū’s koshi-kake was the same as recorded [previously] in this document¹; in addition to which, one more setchin was found [in the compound]².

[This other setchin] was available for the sake of convenience³. Within [this setchin] was placed a pottery jar, [and] the way to use the stones should be followed as [has been described] previously⁴.

[Because this other setchin was] like the setchin at the koshi-kake, the appearance was displeasing, so it is said⁵.

_________________________

¹Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsuketaru setchin ha hon-sho ni shirusu gotoku　[休ノコシカケニ付タルセツインハ本書ニシルスゴトク].

Hon-sho [本書] means this book, this manuscript -- in other words, the text of entry 21 as found in Book Seven of the Nampō Roku.

Shirusu [記す] means to memorialize, write down, make a note of, record.

In other words, the setchin attached to the koshi-kake in Rikyū’s roji was just as described in entry 21. That is, it was a suna-setchin.

²Soto ni ima-hitotsu setchin motte nari　[ソトニ今一ツセツイン有也].

Soto ni [外に] means likewise, besides, also; and it can also mean somewhere else, in another place.

Motte nari [有なり] means (another toilet) exists; there is (another toilet).

³Yō wo ben-zuru yō ni shitaru setchin nari　[用ヲ便ズルヤウニシタルセツイン也].

Yō wo ben-zuru yō ni shitaru [用を便ずるように爲たる] means it is convenient to make use of (this second toilet).

Unlike in the other versions, the “why” of its convenience is left up to the imagination of the reader (in light of the next sentence).

⁴Uchi tsuchi-no-mono tsubo wo irete, ishi no tsukai-yō, narai dō-zen　[内土ノモノツボヲ入テ、石ノツカヒヤウ、ナライ同前].

Tsuchi-no-mono tsubo [土の物壺] means a pottery jar. But, rather than a large, sunken jar (as Shibayama Fugen imagined, based on his inquiries of the surviving Enkaku-ji scholars), this actually seems to be describing what we would call a chamber pot*. The jar would have been partly filled with rice chaff, perhaps with a soku-jō [觸杖] resting in it (probably leaning against the rim of the jar, since rice chaff would not allow it to stand upright)†.

Tsubo wo irete [壺を入れて]: irete [入れて] means to put (the jar) into (this setchin). As odd as it might seem to us, today, the sketch literally depicts what the language says.

Ishi no tsukai-yō [石の使いよう] means how to use the stones. This phrase seems to be the key to this entry: apparently the arrangement of the interior of this setchin was the same as the suna-setchin -- with two to four large stones arranged so as to create a central well (as shown in the above sketch). But while the suna-setchin had a pile of dry sand mounded up in the well between the stones, it appears that here a pottery jar (partly full of rice chaff) was placed in the middle, with the person squatting down and defecating into the jar (after which he buried the feces in the chaff, using the soku-jō [觸杖], hiding the waste from view, and helping to control the smell).

Narai dō-zen [習い同前] means something like it should be done‡ just as before (referring to the way to use the suna-setchin). ___________ *In some Edo period writings, there are mentions of antique chamber pots (which were usually made of blue-and-white ware, or celadon or a similarly-colored pottery, and often imported from China or Korea) occasionally being used as mizusashi -- giving us an idea of their general shape (roughly like a large bowl, usually with a nicely rounded rim, with no sharp edges), and size (such as the example shown below).

Edo period sources also occasionally describe the horror of guests who recognized what the host’s treasured mizusashi originally was used for. (Unfortunately, as Rikyū’s period recedes farther and farther into the distant past, and as our understanding of his way of doing things is more and more overshadowed by the examples and precedents given to us by the modern schools, we have become increasingly insensitive to this matter -- to our own misfortune, since such pieces are still being sold and used as mizusashi from time to time, even today.)

As for why white porcelain (hakuji [白磁]), blue-and-white ware (some-tsuki [染め付け]), and celadon (seiji [靑磁]) were preferred for such purposes, it is because such wares were traditionally associated with the idea of purity.

†After defecating, the person would use the soku-jō to cover the feces with chaff.

And after the guest left the setchin, an attendant would have removed and emptied the jar immediately, for the sake of cleanliness, and then returned it with fresh chaff inside.

This is why I depicted it as being back-to-back with the suna-setchin, with the entrance on the far side, so that the attendant’s activities would be hidden from the guests. Most of the people practicing chanoyu in Jōō’s and Rikyū’s period were at least moderately wealthy -- the emphasis on meibutsu all but precluding the participation of those of limited means -- so the home would have had at least several servants, one of whom would be delegated to be on “setchin duty” on those usually infrequent occasions when chanoyu was being given.

Since the guests were supposed to prepare themselves before leaving home for the tea gathering, it would actually be quite rare for anyone to need to make use of this second setchin during the chakai.

‡Narai [習い] means according to custom, common usage, or force of habit, or in the usual way -- rather than referring to behavior specifically learned in lessons. In other words, this variety of setchin should be used in the same way as when using the suna-setchin: standing on the stones and then squatting down.

⁵Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni yōji wo konomu-bekarazu, iu-iu　[コシカケノセツインノヤウニ樣子ヲ好べカラズ、云〻].

Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni [腰掛の雪隱のように] means (this other setchin) was like the setchin (that adjoined) the koshi-kake. This is referring primarily to the arrangement of the stones in the suna-setchin, on which the person squats.

Yōji wo konomu-bekarazu [樣子を好むべからず] means the configuration or appearance (yōji [樣子]) is disagreeable (konomu-bekarazu [好むべからず]).

Once again, the language here is completely natural -- while what is found elsewhere (in the two entries quoted above) is often forced (suggesting that they were edited from this one at a later date).

◎ This, then, seems to have been Nambō Sōkei’s original text. But its description of this alternate setchin struck Edo period chajin as being so outlandish or unreasonable that they were inspired to modify it into the several different versions that appear to relate the pottery jar to a gefuku-setchin.

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