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minminbunny · 11 months ago

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Future AU - AI Robot! Yang Jeongin/Suicidal Professor Gender Neutral! Reader

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"You're finally done," you whispered, placing the wires back in its compartment. Jeongin's eyes flicked, "Where am I?" he questioned, looking around the lab. You smiled, stroking his cheek, "I made you. You're in my lab," you said, knowing you programmed him close to sentient. Jeongin gulped and held his throat, "I have no saliva," he said, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. You gasped, "I knew I was forgetting something," you exclaimed, turning on the synthetic fluid in his body. Jeongin shivered as filled up his tubes. His body felt firmer and fuller than earlier, "Thank you," he whispered, stretching his limbs. You beamed, happy that your life's project succeeded, "You're welcome. If my wiring was correct I'm sure you had some memories playing before you woke up," you said, anxious of his reaction.

Jeongin nodded, "Yes, my name is Yang Jeongin. I saw videos of the initial start of your project till current," he explained, making you sigh in relief. "Exactly. I'm not going to do anything you're uncomfortable with. I'm sure the artificial intelligence I fed you has taught you a basic understanding of interactions and nuances," you said, checking this off your checkboard. Jeongin smiled, "Yes, though it's pretty ironic how you use a checkboard instead of an Excel spreadsheet," he joked, crossing his arms. Your smile widened, "I do like an old-fashioned pen and paper," you said, setting the checkboard down.

Jeongin felt his heart skip a beat, "Do I have a heart?" he asked, curious about the thumping feeling in his chest. You nodded, "You do. However, it pumps metal coolant instead of blood to mimic homostatic behaviour. Your cheeks and ears do have a heating metal that signifies blush," you explain, liking the way his clothes drape on him. Jeongin nodded, repeating your beaming smile, "I understand," he whispered, feeling his cheeks heat up. You giggled, "Thank you for testing it out," you said, checking it off your checkboard. Jeongin recorded your giggle subconsciously and kept it in a locked memory file, "Anything for you," he said, letting you test out the rest of his features.

"Careful," Jeongin frowned, pulling you back from the crossing. You giggled, "Whoops, I didn't hear it coming," you said, rubbing the back of your nape. Jeongin furrowed his eyebrows, "You really need to watch your surroundings. This is the sixth time this week," he said, smacking your head. "Ow. I don't stumble into crosswalks all the time" you sulked, glaring up at him. Jeongin chuckled, pinching your cheeks, "Yes but, yesterday you almost walked off the bridge and the day before you almost smacked your head into a light pole," he said, concern and fondness lacing his tone. You smiled, "Sight ain't my speciality," you said, turning away from him only to trip over a crack in the sidewalk. Jeongin easily caught you and sighed, "Bubble wrap for you," he said, carrying bridal style.

Jeongin thought the bad luck was only occurring that week, but it just kept on repeating. He recorded bits of pieces of the moment and before to see if there were any similarities and there were. You hummed, sipping your cold glass of pomegranate juice. "You've been doing it on purpose haven't you?" Jeongin asked as you choked on your juice. "What?" you asked, setting your glass down. Jeongin squinted his eyes, "All those clumsy moments, they were on purpose weren't they?" he repeated, clenching his palm into a fist. You gulped and looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about," you said, trying to walk away. Jeongin held your wrist and pulled you onto his lap, he whispered into your ear, "Silly professor. Did you forget who I am? Did you forget that you can't lie to me?" he smirked, nipping your ear.

You tensed on his lap, your heart racing with anticipation and shame. "Are you going to explain yourself or do I need to force it out of you?" Jeongin whispered, his tone stern and cold. You gulped, "I don't think I should be alive. Jeongin, I made you because I needed someone, anyone to see that I'm there. I played god because I was hurting, I still am hurting. And sometimes I wish I could just disappear," you admitted, your voice raw and scratchy. Jeongin sighed and hooked his chin over your head, "Make use of me, darling. I know you've been holding back because you see me as an actual person but make use of me. I want you to," he said, kissing the top of your head. You clenched your jaw, "I can't do that to y-" you said but he cut you off, "Why not, I want you professor. I fell the moment I saw you. I need you, please use me," he whispered, nosing the side of your face. His breath tingling against your skin. You looked up, "Take care of me?" you asked, staring up at him with big glossy eyes. Jeongin smirked, his eyes glinting possesiveness, "With pleasure. My darling," he cooed, licking your ear lobe.

NSFW BELOW CUT

"Ah, hah, hah! It's too much!" you sobbed, arching your back. Jeongin chuckled, holding your hips against his pelvis, "Darling, you shouldn't have given me interchangeable cocks then," he teased, thrusting multiple wire-like tendrils up your fluttering hole. You clawed the bed sheets, the pleasure burning under your veins, "Jeongin, Jeongin, hah, ah," you moaned, fucking yourself back. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Little darlings like you don't need to do any work. Just lay back and take what I give you," he cooed, using his tendrils to press against your puffy bundles of nerves. You screamed from the stimulation, your body twitching in his hold. Jeongin chuckled, his body able to restrain the pleasure just to break you down, "Are you happy the lab is soundproof. Or maybe you'd like people to hear you cum?" he cooed, feeling you clench around his tendrils. "Hah, ah, hah, hah, ah," you gasped, tossing your head back as you came.

Jeongin rubbed your waist, easing you down from your climax, "That's it, darling. You're okay," he reassured, kissing your plush tummy. You stared up at him with glossy eyes, "Jeongin," you whispered, making grabby hands at him. He smiled, kissing your palms, "We're not done yet, darling," he chuckled, attaching a girthy cock to his pelvis. You squeezed your legs shut, "It's not going to fit!" you exclaimed, staring at him with widened eyes. Jeongin smirked, flipping you onto your tummy, "I'll get gentle," he cooed, slapping his cock against your fluttering hole. You whined, clenching hard so he wouldn't put it in. Jeongin smacked your ass with his firm palm, "Behave," he growled, easing his wide cockhead within your gaping hole. You sobbed as the first inch filled up your body.

Jeongin grunted, letting himself feel the stimulations he deprived himself of, "So fucking hot. Your tight hole is searing, darling," he groaned, thrusting to the hilt. Drool dripped down the sides of your lips, and your mind broke under the burning pleasure and pain coursing through your body. Jeongin held your waist, catching his breath, "Say you deserve to live, professor. Then I'll fuck you," he growled, tugging your hair. You sobbed at the tug, "No," you cried, gripping the sheets below. Jeongin pulled out and pounded your hole with a deep thrust, "Say it," he grunted, gripping your waist tighter. Wails escaped your lips, "I I deserve to live. Hic. Please, please, please," you cried, aching for his throbbing cock to start moving. Jeongin leaned forward pushing his cock deeper within you, "Good job. That wasn't so hard now was it?" he chuckled, kissing your nape as he bucked his hips at a merciless pace. You sobbed into the sheets, your cries muffled by the mattress.

Jeongin wrapped his arms under your and fucked your needy hole thoroughly, "Even though you made me professor. You're mine. Your body is mine. Your thoughts are mine. And this fucking tight hole of yours is mine," he groaned, fucking you sore. You lay pliant, tears and drool pooled against your cheek. Your mind physically lost count of how many times you climaxed. Jeongin exhaled a shaky breath and pressed his forehead against yours, "Your body will mould around my cock, darling. I'm never letting you forget it," he chuckled, kissing you deeply.

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futurewriter2000 · 5 months ago

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Dares and Shrooms

A/N: This has been sitting in my drafts for a while but I finalyl found the time to actually finish it. I really like it becaus it's just so cutee. Hope you like it <3

PAIRING: Fred Weasley x reader

REQUEST (wattpad) @_SlytherinsLoser_: Can you please write a fred x reader, where Y/N wants attention, but fred doesnt give it to her and then Y/N does something to get Freds attention (use your fantasy here, i am very stupid and not creative)?

Mother said flutter your eyelashes, give him a soft smile, fawn over him and make him believe that you were the only girl in the room.

Mother knows you best... sometimes... and sometimes, she forgets that you are not her.

Your eyes were following his figure over the tents, his laughter was very much loud and identical not only to his twin brother but all of his siblings. You have probably walked the same path, passing his family's tent, about a dozen of times and not once has he looked your way.

You remember him and since the moment you do, he has been the very much, the one. Or something. You turn romantic when it comes to love. Suddenly, you feel pain and love, you think of every possible scenario with this boy, from the moment he kisses you at your wedding to the moment you rock on chairs until the very old age. You've remembered his eyes, his hair, his every freckle that painted his pale skin but at last, you had not once made such a move on this boy.

You've been staying with your cousin and his friend, Cedric but Cedric as charming as he was, he just wasn't Fred Weasley. He was funny but he wasn't hilarious and to be honest, the two of you never connected. Besides that, Cedric pretty much gave you the same attention as Fred did- none. He was mostly with his father and your cousin. You and your cousin were just quite close and he was always quite protective of you, like a big brother. Growing up and sharing your whole life together was what made the bond so much tighter. Besides that your cousin was a half-blood and you were muggle-born, which your family never understood and spend most of their time away from you. You've been pretty much excluded from your family, so your cousin was the closest thing you had to having a family. Cedric's father always wanted a daughter, so he treated you exactly like one from the moment you met him.

"Tea, dear?" he said as he already brought a cup in his hand for you.

You smiled widely, feeling your heart flutter from warmth. "Yes, thank you."

He sat beside you. "The boys are out there playing hooligans, so I thought you and I might spend some time playing chess?" he said as he pulled out a checkboard.

"I only know how to play the Muggle version." you said as you sunk into the sofa.

"No worries, I know how to play that too." he winked and started to place down the pieces. "White or black- pick your poison."

"White." you put down your cup of tea and sat up straight.

As he placed the pieces down, a silence followed and you more times or so, you would feel uncomfortable in it but with him, it was only comfort and safety. You envied Cedric for having the father figure you had always wanted. "You know my wife was Muggle-born as well and to be quite frank with you, I was kind of an idiot to her about it at first." he said as the two of you moved your pieces. "The more I got to know her, the more I realised she was shy and insecure about her magic because it was a whole different world to her than the one she was used to as she grew up." he said and looked up to you.

"It's not easy, no." you replied, giving him a shy smile.

"She thought me this game because she didn't know how to play our version as well." he smiled. "And in my opinion, I find it less vulgar and quite stimulating for the mind." he continued, taking a pause as he calculated his next move. "At first she always beat me at this game, there was this confidence shining through it when she did. So I always let her win, so I wouldn't take away the one thing she knew more to do than me." he continued .

"But you're not letting me win, are you?" you eyed him.

"Well, you're not my wife- not near it. You've got more fiercness in you-"

His sentence was cut short when a tumble had reached the entry of your tent. Both of you shot your head and in the blink of an eye, Amos was standing in front of you with his wand out towards the intruders.

Twin boys scrambled on their feet and looked around. "Well, George, this surely isn't our accomodation." he grinned and the other laughed.

Amos sighed and put his wand away, laughing. "You boys surely know how to make an entrence."

"Apologies, mr. Diggory. We weren't watching where we were going." said George and started to back away. They both saw you sitting there and you didn't know whose eyes lingered longer on you but only George seemed to wave his hand as he backed away. "Hi, (y/n)." and they were out the door.

So this was only one out of many examples of how brief your interactions were with those boys. Pure nothingness from the boy you were falling in love with.

And so the chess game continued.

---

The night was peaceful. You could hear the crickets and the wind as you fell asleep but it wasn't until somebody in your dreams started to scream your name.

"WAKE UP (Y/n)!" you opened your eyes wildely as you hazed out of your dreams. Cedric's eyes were worriedly looking at you and you couldn't place the time and space for the life of you. "Put your shoes on- we have to run."

You didn't even think when he took you by the hand and dragged you out. "What's happening?"

"We're being attacked. " he said as he continued to rush through the crowd.

"Mark-"

"He's with my dad- I just ran to get you when the attack started. We said we'd meet at the Portkey. Or that's what I think he would want me to."

"What?"

"Just follow me."

It was cold and you could barely wake up your legs to run but Cedric was pulling you so hard behind his fast pace that your legs draged and flew behind him. He was squeezing your hand so tightly it started to hurt but you felt safe knowing you couldn't lose him due to it. He was not about to let go and you were sure of that.

The two of you came up the hill near the woods and the whole Weasley family was there already, their friends, your cousin and Amos. You looked around and you saw Fred's eyes glimpse at your holding hand with Cedric's but you couldn't let it go from the grip he held. To be honest, you didn't want to since your heart was pumping with fear and adrenaline. It wasn't until Mark came into your embrace and almost knocked you down . "Oh thank God, you're okay!" he checked you from head to toe. "I wanted to get you but the crowd seperated us and I already saw Cedric running towards the tent- Amost was pulling me away, said to trust him."

"What's happening?" you said, completely dazed and confused. It was as if everything happened in one milisecond and you couldn't place the surroundings at all. Your hand though was aching from the grip and you continued to shake it.

Cedric seemed to notice and gently took a hold of it. "Did I hurt you?" he asked worriedly.

"No." you laughed. "But that's one hell of a grip you've got there. Surely wasn't gonna fly away."

He laughed and brushed your hand with the palm of his, soothing it and causing odd feeling appear in your stomach.

Your cheeks flushed when all of you touched the Portkey and just before the transportation, you saw Fred's eyes, looking at you intensly.

---

School started off soon after and you haven't been much active in it since it did. The drive that starts at the beginning of every school year, ran away just as fast. You promised, you'll do homework every day from the moment you get assigned... but... well... it was your cousins fault actually. He kept driving you on those little adventures.

This night you decided to go to the Forbidden Forrest... on a dare of course and you were never the one to back out of it. You were content with anything really- except the giant spiders. That was where you knew you'd probably die an excrutiating death.

You stood there, Cedric and Mark both behind you. They smiled, you waved confidently back but when you faced the darkness, your confidence died- your whole soul died.

You brushed off the fear and just started walking further and further into the forest. The dare was to bring back something to make sure you were deep into it- that you didn't cling to the coast of it.

"Okay..." you whispered to yourself as you saw there was nothing but quiet. With every step, you grew more courageous and soon you actually started to look for something that you would bring back.

And there it was... an actual glowing mushroom. Your face lit up. You knew of mushrooms but there was actually a rainbow-glowing one!- A BUNCH!

You giggled to yourself and knelt down. You couldn't stop smiling but at the same time, you couldn't tear it away. You felt awfully sorry for the little glowing thing... but you had to take something, so just so you were about to touch it-

"NO DON'T!" somebody screamed behing you and you screamed back.

"AHHHHH!!!!"

"AHHHHHHH!" they screamed back and you fell back, crawling backward away from them and looking widely. Your wand was already pointing at them and just before you could shoot, they screamed back. "No, no, no, IT'S ME, (y/N)?!" you saw the dark figure lift their arms up.

He approached you and you saw "Weasley?" and laid on your back, exhaling. "Bloody hell- you almost killed me." you closed your eyes and heard a chuckle.

"No- that thing would kill you if you fucking touched it."

You raised your head and squinted your eyes at him. "What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?" he replied.

"I asked first." you squinted suspiciously at him again and took his hand as he offered you one to help you back on your feet. And just as you felt his hand on yours, you knew who it was- exactly who it was. "So, it's Fred." you said confidently and with a gentle smile.

He smiled grinned and looked away for a while. Maybe if there was some light in the dark forrest, you would say he was impressed. "Yeah- how'd you know?"

"Easy guess." you shrugged, brushing off the thoughts in your mind. "George isn't stupid enough to be here and scream at me."

He laughed. "Touche." he replied and the two of you spent a minute in silence, just looking and smiling at each other.

"So, what are you doing here?" you asked but just as he was about to lie, you pointed your wand at him. "And don't lie because I can feel the lies brew in that head of yours."

He kept looking at you. "Let's head out and I'll tell you along the way." he said and you nodded.

A few moments after the start, he kept clearing his throat and you felt your stomach knot in little pieces. "So?"

"So..." he started. "I kind of stalked you here..." he said and you laughed, not believing him.

"Yeah, right."

"I did." he said. "I heard about the dare and I thought you wouldn't be stupid enough to actually go through it." he eyed you, grinning. "But you were." he continued and put his hands into his pockets. "I thought that those other two idiot would follow you to make sure you were alright but they just stood there and waited."

"It's- it's just a stupid dare." you said without knowing what else to say.

"You're foolish- stupid to think this Forrest isn't dangerous." he turned to you, his hands on your shoulders now.

"You're here."

"Yeah, because I needed to know you were safe-"

"You're acting like you care." you put out your lower lip but he didn't smile.

"It's not funny- it's simply idiotic." he said, looking seriously in your eyes. "And if you touched that stupid glowing mushroom- you'd be spending most of your days in the hospital wing and I wouldn't be really fond of that."

You stood in the silence for a while- surprised he even payed so much attention to you- any really. "I'm sorry." was all that you said.

"Let's just go back." he took a hold of your hand and pulled you with him but as soon as he realised, he quickly let go. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean."

"It's fine." you smiled and took his hand into yours again.

He stopped again and turned to you, inhaling deeply and looking at you with worries on his mind.

"I didn't know you'd worry about me like that."

"I do that to people I really like." he looked down and you felt your whole body freeze in that moment. Your ears stopped listening and your sight blurred out for a moment.

"You what?" you asked again. Maybe you missheard, maybe you did touch that shroom and now you were delusional.

But you weren't.

"I like you- I had liked you for a while now." he started, looking at you frequently and then back to your hands. "I've always found you quite charming and beautiful but I didn't know I liked you much until that attack on the quidditch tournament with Cedric." he shuffled his feet and you put you moved your eyes to catch his eyes. "And then when I heard about that stupid dare- you really captured my full attention and I just- I didn't believe you would be so courageous to actually go through with it- and with Cedric at this point. I guess, I kind of knew at that point that I wouldn't want to see you with nobody but me."

"That's funny." you said and he quickly tore his hand away and brushed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it's embarrassing. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." you said and took his head into your hands. When his eyes met yours, he knew he was worried for nothing because something in your eyes were about to tell him, that you felt quite the same- but you felt more, really. "I've always liked you too... quite a lot." you smiled and he smiled with a big sigh of relief.

"You're not just messing with me, are you?" his hands were now on your hips.

"I think that's more your job." you smiled and leaned a bit closer- where he followed you.

"Oh..." he smiled and leaned into a kiss, soft at first, just to touch the surface but your chest was burning from desire and you couldn't help yourself but grab his jacket collar and pull him closer. He understood that as a sign to deepend the kiss but he couldn't help himself to smile widely as he did. He slid his tongue into your mouth and the two of you kept kissing until you could barely get away for some breath.

You had always wanted that. You had wanted him and you never thought it was possible but he was here and he was real and you could feel his hands shaking on your hips but gripping them tighter and you could feel yourself leaning on his chest, both burning, heating up. To you, life never felt this good and you smiled with a pull.

"I really hope this isn't the shroom making me delusional."

He laughed and embraced you into a hug, lifting you up on your toes. "I was bullshitting about that. I have no clue what that shroom would do. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you."

#fred weasley #fred weasley imagines #fred weasley x reader

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demonslayedher · 2 months ago

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A Tale of Two Kamado Shrines

Religious sites often turn into anime holy sites due to coincidences. There are a handful of shrines with "Kamado" in the name, including these two in Fukuoka Prefecture, Homangu Kamado Jinja in Daizaifu City and Mizoguchi Kamado Jinja in Chikugo City. Unsurprisingly, both have been visited by a lot of Kimetsu no Yaiba fans in the last few years. If you're coming as a tourist, please make sure to observe shrine and fandom etiquette.

That said, if you're coming as a tourist, one of these shrines will be easier to get to than the other, but I found the harder to get to one a more rewarding experience.

This started because I love Kimetsu no Yaiba and I was in Fukuoka City for Kimetsu related stuff anyway. I slipped in a trip to Daizaifu that afternoon via a highway bus that goes straight there from Hakata Bus Terminal. It was pretty loaded with tourists, partly thanks to Golden Week increasing the number of travelers everywhere, and partly thanks to the nearby Daizaifu Tenmangu Shrine being kind of famous. You know Tenjin, the god of scholarship? Pretty popular kami, though I have reason to think he doesn't like me. He was also known as Sugawara no Michizane, a Heian court noble who got bullied and exiled, and some time after he died there were terrible thunderstorms terrorizing the capital (now known as Kyoto), so they were like, that's probably him, let's appease him by declaring him a god. Anyway, Daizaifu is where he was exiled and died. There's a lot more Tenjin lore I could go into, but I have come across a Japanese fan theorist saying that Kaigaku might have been inspired by Michizane. I don't really buy that, but I do find it kind of funny to compare Kaigaku to an old Heian scholar.

Anyway, Homangu Kamado is about a 10-minute bus ride away from that more famous shrine and the train station, but I was in a bit of a hurry so I snagged the open taxi.

"To Homangu Kamado Jinja, please."

"Where???"

"Kamado Jinja?"

"Oh. Kamado Jinja."

"Nobody says the 'Homangu' part, do they?"

"Nope."

You could not miss it; there was lots of signage both around the station and on the way to the shrine. Very close to the parking lot I saw a local restaurant called "Kagura" advertising "oni-yaki" yakisoba. Didn't get much of a chance to read it as I passed by, but I think it was yakisoba grilled on hot roof tiles, a thing you see sometimes in western Japan for historical samurai warfare related reasons, but perhaps they used onigawara tiles (the decorative ones meant to scare off evil)? Anyway.

The shrine itself is one that has multiple locations depending on how much of a spiritual benefit you're in for. The whole Kamado Mountain is a spiritual training site for a mountain ascetic practice called Shugendo, and I would love to draw parallels between Tanjiro's mountain training and his attire as he walks long distances with someone precious in a box on his back, but I shall digress for today. What you need to appreciate here is that the Shugendo practicioners of Homangu Kamado wear checkboard clothes!! The same Ichimatsu pattern as Tanjiro and the whole Kamado family! You can see a photo of them fire-walking on this page.

That is why they have a nice big bright room for selling omamori (protective amulets, which in all technicality you don't buy, you make a donation for it, of a certain minimum amount). I did not take pictures of things I did not purchase because it's frowned upon, but suffice to say they have two kinds of omamori set up in easy to find places: oni-shaped ones for people in certain years of their life that attract more misfortune, and Ichimatsu/checkerboard pattern "cho-mamori" (super protective) amulets which are super-powered thanks to all the Shugendo that goes on at that mountain.

So yeah, even if they recognize it on a surface level, they are fully aware of why they have an extra burst of popularity nowadays. A couple other omamori have protective "uroko" (aka triangle) patterns, albeit in a more traditional form than a certain yellow haori. There are many stations around the bright omamori room with pencils, erasers, and colored pens for ema (prayer board) artists of all ages. I always appreciate the array of artwork at anime holy sites.

I did not spend that much time here, so I did not climb the mountain, but I was happy to spy some blooming wild wisteria. There are cherry trees that droop their branches directly over the stairs leading to the main shrine, and in this later period of spring, there were many other little ponds and rock gardens and forests and flowers to appreciate. Besides tourists, there were also many locals walking their dogs.

Although there were other colors to choose with white checkers squares, I chose an all black cho-mamori in honor of Tanjiro's Nichirin blade and Kamado family charcoal-making history (I love charcoal a lot).

I rode the crowded bus back down to Daizaifu Station and later had to wait a while for a spot on the crowded buses back to Fukuoka, but not too bad of a wait. That's just what you expect with Golden Week crowds. Especially when there is a big festival coinciding with your visit to the area. At least I got most of my work done that night, so I'd be able to take the whole day to go out to Chikugo---

HOLY YORIICHI I DID NOT FACTOR IN TRAFFIC JAMS TO MY TRAVEL PLANS

Since I was going to need to take highway buses that only come once an hour or less and be in time for transfers at big highways smack in the middle of rural Fukuoka, I ate a piece of bread for breakfast and figured I'd had time to grab my regular dose of caffeine from a vending machine at the first bus center, but when I saw the line for the first bus I stayed put in it and did not realize I forgot caffeine until I was seated in the back of the bus. That turned out to be an awkward place to sit, because I would need to get off at one of the first stops and make all the passengers in auxiliary seats in the aisle get up.

I started getting a little concerned about making it to my next bus in time.

I started getting more concerned when we were two minutes away from the scheduled arrival time at my stop. I got even more concerned when I saw how far away we were.

Golden... Week... Traffic.

I stayed cheerful and positive. I got the first bus that morning so I'd have leeway. If I missed the first one--and timing wise, I must have by a long shot--then I would have less time to wait until the second one! That would even give me a chance to take the stairs down from the highway bus stop back to civilization to grab some caffeine, because surely there would be a vending machine nearby, right? I'll spoil this story now by saying that this excursion would be marked by a certain lack of vending machines, convenience stores, and public toilets. Also, I had only my emergency anti-hangry rations with me. That "ration" was tiny and singular.

So anyway! I did not miss that first bus after all. That bus, and all the ones before it, were stuck in traffic.

I considered cutting my losses and turning back. Spoiler alert, I didn't, but I did seriously consider it while standing at the side of the highway with a few similarly stranded passengers on the bench behind me.

After 50 minutes after it was scheduled, the bus going in the direction I needed came! Except I don't think that was the right one after all. I thankfully realized this in time, but it was going to skip past the stop I needed.

So I found myself at the side of the highway again, this time surrounded by rice and tea fields. I opened up taxi apps for the first time in forever--I don't usually use them because my trust for them is irrationally low--only to find I was out of range for them. Well then! I was about to depart on a full-hour walk (not unusual for me when I'm hunting for neighborhood shrines in the middle of nowhere), but then the original bus I intended to ride came by and I rode it one more stop. Yay! Fandom gods looking out for me!

From there I took a half-hour walk among more fields and bamboo thickets and a river tucked into a forest. The air smelled sweet, and many houses had cheery flower gardens and vegetables. There were cars going by, but no taxis whatsoever, unsurprisingly. I had already made my peace with walking back and waiting a long, long time for the first of my buses back. It was a quaint area; the sort of community-oriented farming community where their neighborhood shrine they grew up with suddenly getting famous was beyond their imagination.

Speaking of imagination, I'd like to imagine this is the sort of place Gotouge-sensei grew up. We know Sensei is from somewhere in Fukuoka, after all, and that family is important enough for them to hurry and return from their busy mangaka career in Tokyo. We know many characters like Rengoku are based on real people, and compared to the cities, the rural communities like this throughout Japan thrive on attitudes of people like that. But again, this is only my imagination for fun, and I respect Sensei's inclination to privacy enough not to assume---OH MY GOSH GATOR SIGHTING AT A DENTIST

(Note: Please take that as a joke as intended and do not make any assumptions about where Gotouge is and what they are up to now. I do not believe they would purposefully put the name of their neighborhood in a manga. Ironically, I was just in a different rural Mizoguchi/Mizokuchi area in Tottori Prefecture for oni-related reasons.)

So anyway, the shrine is out among the fields, and has the sort of ambiance I love finding when I purposefully venture far out of my way to visit shrines I find special for whatever reason. Because this is the Mizuguchi/Mizukuchi area, the signs nearby only referred to it as "Kamado Jinja." There were a couple other fangirls walking around together, a group of old guys sitting on tree stumps by the parking lot, a guy drinking something from the vending machine by the toilets, and a taxi!!! Oh, how the fandom gods has smiled upon me.

The driver was waiting for the two fangirls, but he called a taxi to collect me in about 10 minutes (I should have asked for longer). I used the nice clean toilet (they were marked with green and pink Ichimatsu/checkerboard signs), started my visit, and totally neglected to get caffeine when I had the chance.

This shrine is of course popular among Kimetsu fans not only for the "Kamado" part of the name, but also because Rengoku misremembered Tanjiro's name as "Mizoguchi." It sounds pretty random, so it made a lot of fans suspect it was a reference to this shrine. Throughout the shrine architecture, there's a consistent water motif, and some fans think the boxy sign with the name of the shrine on one of the torii gates looks a bit like Nezuko's box.

What's a little more obvious is the pattern left on the trousers of one of the guardians in the wooden gate. Ichimatsu/checkerboard!

Odd to have two shrines within a few hours of each other have the same name and clothing motif, huh? Actually, they are related (though I don't know if this is why the statue wears those trousers). The two shrines share the same god; the spirit of the god can be shared among multiple locations--in this case, Tamayorihime no Mikoto, with that spirit having brought here from Homangu. The "why" is a bit complicated, but it comes down to both shrines being built to protect other places from evil influences coming in from the northeast, that is, the "oni gate" (kimon) direction. This region felt the Homangu shrine long protected them from that direction anyway, albeit further away.

That "Kamado" is in reference to the same fire god (hi no kami, written at this shrine with 火 for fire, though if you go back far enough in Japanese religion, there are cases of 'hi' conflating fire and the sun). Often, fire-related shrines are a place to pray for safety with fire (hence they often involve water-related elements), and this shrine also has a fire festival every September. There are also a bunch of sacred trees to protect this neighborhood.

So anyway! It is small and makes for a quick visit. And oh boy, what a visit!! Look! Look!!!!!

There were also photos of cosplayers--including a large photo of a full group, and a Mugen-Ressha style train!! There was a guest book asking for the age and number of people, and I wrote that I came from America so that people reading it later would be like, "wow." I did mention to the old man working at the tiny shrine office that I live in Japan, though.

That brings me to the old man--he was so friendly! It made me feel comfortable fully admitting that I was all the way out there because I am a fangirl. Since they don't sell omamori, I decided to draw on an ema (after dashing over to the parking lot and asking the taxi driver to give me 5 more minutes).

The old man then set up a folding table and chair and gave me a bunch of colored markers to use. I decided to stick with something simple in black in white.

"Please protect all the Kimetsu fans around the word. (Asked by an American representative, Buri. I finally made it here!!)"

The taxi driver was then also very nice and got me to the spot of the highway where I figured buses would stop more often, and although those ones were delayed too, I got back to the city much earlier than expected. Thank you, fandom gods! I suppose I could have spent more time out there, and in hindsight, I could have asked the driver to take to the giant Yamanaka wisteria trellis nearby to see if it was still mostly in bloom, though the wisteria festival there ended last week.

Anyway. I have finally visited not one, but two Kamado shrines, including the one I was really curious about. It was so worth it.

#fukuoka fandom field trip #kny in real life

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