#heian Shiki

[moldeater02]

Yuesya Masterlist

From @yuesya blog. Hope it helps everyone, cuz i sure get confused with all these AUs

Edited and updated with some AUs i missed New edit on the sixth of january 2024

Twins au

Twin cannon

Twin swap au *V1 *V2

Bastard Shiki Au

Toji's Bastard au and fannart

Bastard au V3

Heian Shiki

Shiki in cannon Kenjaku's reaction to it

Same age au

Older sister au

Technique swap

Daughter au

Twin dimension travel : part 1?, part 2

Mother au and fanart and fanart 2 And Bad end mother AU

Demon slayer au

Nanami-Kenjaku

Male Shiki au

Edit! I checked and realised i forgot some AUs, here they are!

Shiki actually answer Getou's question like a normal human being AU

Shiki vs Satoru

Older Shiki AU (not to be confused with older sister AU)

Chainsaw man AU

Shiki goes to Kyoto school AU

Shiki goes to universe where Kenjaku possessed her corpse AU Genshin AU and actual first talks of said AU here

Shiki(gami) AU

Cursed spirit Shiki AU

Second MEoDP user Shiki AU

Chainsaw man AU

[yuesya]

 “I wonder what she sees in you?”

Yuzuki says nothing, keeping his head lowered deferentially and his eyes cast downwards upon the ground. In front of him, there is nothing but the sound of slow footfalls as the elder paces in silence. Measured, and thoughtful.

“Well? Have you nothing to say for yourself?”

“This one does not understand what the venerable elder is asking,” Yuzuki responds politely.

“Ha!” Gojo Motozane scoffs. His feet come to a stop directly in front of him. “Don’t be obtuse, boy. You’re a clever one, aren’t you? Of all her potential suitors, Shiki chose you. Weak, and ill… tell me, what pretty words did you utter to win the heart of the Gojo Clan’s flower?”

Motozane-sama’s words are severe, cutting. It is a rather uncharacteristic tone for the most respected elder of the Gojo Clan to take, but under the current circumstances, it’s… understandable.

Gojo Shiki. The princess of the Gojo Clan, their most powerful sorcerer -the best card that the Gojo Clan had against the Fujiwaras. Who was blessed with a powerful cursed technique, on top of possessing cursed eyes. There was no doubt that the clan wished for her to find a good match when it came to marriage, for her children to inherit the same potential–

But instead, she chose Yuzuki.

She chose… him.

Weak, sickly Yuzuki. Who was only alive by virtue of pity, and yet…

…

He knows that… he knows that he’s not worthy of her. Elder Motozane is not the first to express this attitude towards Yuzuki, and he will not be the last. The most powerful sorcerer of the Gojo Clan, marrying a sickly man like him…

It still feels like a dream, sometimes. That the clan’s beloved lady chose him, chose Gojo Yuzuki out of all her suitors.

It’s… only natural, that others are discontent over her decision. Yet none would challenge her, not after the example that she’d made of the last person to do so, so it falls to Yuzuki to bear the brunt of the clan’s displeasure.

… Lady Shiki is not one for politics or mind games. She is far too busy with her work as a sorcerer to be tied down by such trivial matters, and Yuzuki does not wish to trouble her–

So…

So, it’s fine. It’s fine. Yuzuki is braced for his clan’s displeasure; he’d known that this was inevitable, ever since he made the decision to take his beloved lady’s hand.

He knows that he’s not a good match for her. But, much like any sorcerer–

Above all, Yuzuki is selfish.

(Selfish, and foolishly, hopelessly in love.)

[tangsakura]

Missed Details from Sukuna's Introduction

Did you guys know that there are details we've missed from Sukuna's introduction by Satoru Gojo in chapter 3?

JJK Chapter 3

In this post, I'll go over the few details we've missed because of translation issues or difficulties.

WARNING: Very minor mentions of details beyond season 2 of JJK anime. Please DO NOT INTERACT if you don't want even a tiny bit of spoiler. Also, a bit of a long post ahead.

Missed Detail #1:

Let's start with this panel first.

"Ryomen Sukuna is an imaginary fierce god who has 2 faces and 4 arms."

In this panel, Sukuna was called a 鬼神 (kishin), which in general means a 'fierce god or spirit'. But there are also other meanings beyond this.

鬼神 also refers to gods or spirits/souls of heaven and earth. It is also a Buddhist term that refer to beings with supernatural abilities (e.g. shinigami, rakshasa). 鬼神 can also be pronounced as onigami, which means an invisible (nature) spirit, or a fierce and frightening god or spirit.

So this reflects the belief of people that Sukuna is a fiercely frightening divine being. They might've also believed that he was there even if they couldn't see him, just like how we treat our God(s) in real life (if you're a believer). They are definitely aware of his frightening powers.

It also has another implication behind it. The first kanji, 鬼, means oni. Oni has many translations including demon, evil spirits, trolls and ogres. In addition, during Heian era, the oni creatures were depicted as terrifying monsters that ate people, and there are even literature where oni's were depicted eating people in one mouthful.

Blue Oni, c. 1764. Painting by Soga Shōhaku (1730–1781)

The word 鬼神 is ironic, as well, because of his outward appearance, he can be considered an oni and a divine one at that.

Missed Detail #2:

Below is our last analysis for this post.

"Crowned with the title (name) of Sukuna, we couldn't even eradicate his grave wax that traverse eras as cursed objects."

The title that people gave to this man is 'Sukuna' alone. I don't know why they included 'Ryomen' in the English translation.

JJK Chapter 3 (ENG Translation)

I repeat. The only title they gave this man was 'Sukuna' (宿儺), which means the 'dwelling of exorcism.' 宿 (Suku) means lodging, inn, home, dwellings; while 儺 (Na) means exorcism or the ceremony of driving out evil spirits. What a great name for this guy!

Then what about Ryomen? Where did that come from?

I believe this is the name that they've been calling him for almost his entire life, even before he was called 'King of Curses'. That's right. This is definitely the name - means 'two-faced', btw - that they call him as a kid and became stuck with him until now. Imagine being called 'two-faced' as you grow up. That's most likely Sukuna's life until he was given the title of 'Sukuna'.

His name is ironic in a sense since these people equated him to the (real-life) Ryomen Sukuna who was written in the Nihon Shiki as a vicious force of nature after the imperial family of Japan declared him as such.

So yeah there you have it. Thank you, Gojo, for the wonderful introduction of Sukuna.

I hope this post made your day. Until then.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E7%A5%9E

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%AC%BC%E7%A5%9E

[shuttershocky]

Thinking back on Bandai Namco saying that Samurai Remnant was originally conceptualized as a Soulslike, and the non-zero chance that some kind of follow-up game goes in that direction, I’m curious to hear your thoughts about what kind of setting you’d want out of a game like that, since they probably can’t do the Edo period again. I thought something in the late Heian era with Yoshitsune and Shizuka would be neat, considering how little of them we’ve actually seen in the wider Fate universe.

If you're going to do a Soulslike, I don't think you go with Servants since you're restricted from building multiple ways (Servants are all about having strong identities after all) and generally you're not going to be wandering around lost as hell.

As much as I would have preferred Samurai Remnant to not be a musou, I can clearly understand why it wasn't a Soulslike instead when an important part of it is revealing Iori's true self, which is expressed through his sword techniques inherited from Musashi. You also wouldn't have all the Rogue servants being playable, which would be a no-go for a Fate title.

That being said, Koei Tecmo's idea of a soulslike is faster and more combo-based than Fromsoft's, so you don't necessarily need to start with an underpowered character like Iori vs servants.

Anyway, if you want a protagonist that is often wandering the unknown, quickly masters multiple weapons, is talented in both the arcane and martial arts, is able to take powers/skills from bosses, dies and resurrects each time, and often slays monstrous creatures both terrifying to witness and sad to watch (due to clearly only being shades of their former glory), just make a Soulslike game starring Ciel.

Set it between 2002-2014, when Ciel is first released from the Church's experiments and is tasked with becoming their immortal vampire hunter. She has raw magical power rivaled by few and a weapon in Seven that transforms between multiple forms meaning you can do whatever the hell you want, and her whole shtick is dying and coming back over and over and over again until her target is dead (and the Remake even lets her take their powers).

Think about it. Shiki vs Vlov in the Arcueid route practically turns into a tribute to Ludwig halfway through, from Vlov remembering himself, progressing from rampaging beast into a honorable knight as Shiki starts pressuring him, to Vlov even having his own My Guiding Moonlight moment when he refuses to use his emergency blood and chooses to die as a man instead. A Tsukihime setting would fit the Soulslike format way more than a Fate one would /biased

[lookismstuff]

Lookism TMI (Trivia)

The Exchange of Sake

From what I read, there are several forms of sake cup exchange rituals for the Japanese. For example: kenshu [献酬], sakazuki-goto [杯事], and shiki-san-kon [式三獻]. The difference lies in the purpose of these rites, whether to affirm just general feelings of solidarity, familial bond, or spiritual worship.

Historically, as depicted in paintings from the Heian (8th-12th century) and Edo (17th-19th century) eras, this tradition of drinking sake from the same cup, or drinking together, serves as a way for people to bond, to feel the closeness and the deepening of their sense of equality. Heian era warriors used to create a "friendship contract" before battles by using this type of ritual to affirm their bravery and solidarity.

This is why such a rite is practiced in organizations like the yakuza, which is a close-knit criminal organization. It's also practiced in communities, among friends, among families, and in weddings. It gives the impression that the people involved in this ceremony are now friends, or brothers, or families, or comrade in arms, or soulmates. In short, in any context in which they are since bonded.

This is why it's important to know whether Gun will drink the sake from the glass that Goo offered him, or not. The breaking or the affirming of their bond (which some read as romantic, while others read as platonic or brotherly) depends on Gun's next action.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Is malignant information in Fate like a Douman-exclusive thing? How does it work separated from him, if it does at all?

Malignant information is not a properly defined term yet despite how old it is and how much presence it had in the original Melty Blood. Nasu tends to mention it with the attached explanation "information entirely harmful to intelligent life", and more recently "what's inconvenient for humans to have while trying to perform good deeds". Really vague stuff, so we gotta look for patterns in our case examples.

The first place to look at is the character the concept was created for. Night of Wallachia. Dead Apostle Zepia, and consequently his successor Dead Apostle Sion. Night of Wallachia's gimmick is that Zepia is no longer corporeal but still exists as a curse that manifests in communities plagued by rumors and ingests the community's blood by giving physical form to their malignant information. The thing about his Tatari forms is that they never overlap with real people. They're either characters who are already dead (Nrvnqsr, Satsuki, the original Zepia Eltnam Oberon) or alternate possibilities of the living characters (Nanaya, Red Arcueid). Falsehood is the keyword with Tatari/Night of Wallachia and malignant information is his keyword for falsehood.

Next, CCC is what gives the most elaborate description of what is malignant information because Nasu loves overexplaining BB's powerset instead of properly showing it. The Mooncell is a recording computer, so its positive operation is about recording the truths of the physical world. The products of curses, lies repeated for personal profit, and rumors without substance are categorized as malignant information and dumped on the unobservable wastehole that is the Far Side of the Moon. There's one particular line that didn't really mean anything back when CCC came out but means a lot now that we know how pruning and Lostbelts work. "The Near Side of the Moon records the correct history of human society, while the Far Side records the horridly offending histories that were discarded." Basically, the BB channels are made with pruned timeline data, apparently.

FGO has a couple scattered mentions of malignant information in Kiara's and BB's NP descriptions, but they're mostly concentrated in Id and its buildup. See this post for the relationship between wasteholes and malignant information. This vengefulness angle is the one usage I struggle to associate with the previous usage of malignant information. Id also finally uses malignant information to refer to Salieri's rumor amalgamation monster status, so that's neat with the Melty original.

But do you know what FGO usage case does tie in with the concepts of falsehood and pruning? That's right, Douman. The mechanism of Douman's immortality is converting himself entirely into malignant information and then copying and multiplying his data body as shikigamis. Heian shows off the differences between the flesh-and-blood Douman and his malignant information copy. Limbo is remarkably dramatic (just like Zepia fr fr) and openly affected by his rivalry with Seimei in a way that reflects the rumors about him better than the reality we're shown in the Singularity. It's a neat mirror of the relationship between Toono Shiki and the OG Melty's Nanaya Shiki, the most iconic malignant information construct. And Douman being CHALDEAS's choice of Servant to explore lost histories like Shimousa in preparation for the Lostbelt makes more sense with the idea that they tie to malignant information information as one of his main magecraft expertises.

[edithsotoart]

🌸Part two of Murasaki Shikibu's profile🌸, including a brief profile, ability description, fighting technique, trivia, and opinions from other ADA agents about her.

🌸As I've mentioned before, my intention is to create a kind-hearted character who doesn't have to be weak. Likewise, Murasaki has flaws and her ability is not absolute.

🌸To develop this, I researched the literary figure of Murasaki Shikibu, the first novelist in history, an intelligent woman ahead of her time who valued beauty, intelligence, and mocked the aristocracy of her era. She wrote what is considered the first modern novel, The Tale of Genji. She was also a great poet and influenced hundreds of artists throughout time. The authors we see in Bungo Stray Dogs are more contemporary to us, I decided to go back in time and opt for characterizing an older figure.

🌸For her design, I took prominent details from the Heian era, such as the Hime hairstyle, eye makeup, and eyebrow shape, as well as the use of haori. I mixed it with modern elements in her clothing, like shoes and stockings decorated with red roses. The typical Japanese beauty is a woman with black hair and short stature, I decided to give her light brown hair and a notable height above average to mark that modern side. Her ability, Genji, can be a good wild card or a fiasco depending on how it's used.

🌸Finally, you can call Murasaki that way, or Saki or Shiki for short ☺️

[koikishu]

what rank were farmers in the Heian period

Thank you for your patience! As far as I've read, farmers (also referred to in academic literature as peasants or cultivators) were originally members of the koumin class, i.e. citizens or freemen.

I say originally because most of the farmlands that farmers worked on were public lands that they paid rent/ taxes to the government to cultivate. It used to be the primary way the Heian government collected taxes from its populace. However, there existed a system of private land ownership, called the shoen (荘園) system, where the once public lands (by imperial charter) became tax-exempt. Aristocrats & religious officials sought to cultivate wealth and power by claiming large portions of public land as part of their respective shoens and using the would-be tax money as funds for their personal ambitions.

Eventually, so few public lands were left to cultivate, farmers were forced to work the fields of shoen. This was problematic in that, over time, many of the shoen owners and managers found legal loopholes to trap the farmers in the shoen, turning them into a kind of slave class known as "shoumin" (荘民). Now, shoumin isn't an official caste in the social hierarchy, so those farmers weren't literally slaves, even if they functioned as such.

However, shoumin did have a few vestiges of their original koumin status preserved.

Firstly, every owner/ manager had to have a legal contract (a.k.a. shiki) on file for every farmer on the shoen to prove that the farmer had agreed to (or sold) their right to cultivate the land to them. If such a contract couldn't be found, the farmer had a much greater chance of leaving a shoen he'd been previously bound to. If the shoumin were slaves, who can be bought & sold at will, such a formal contract wouldn't have been necessary.

Secondly, the shoumin farmers were prohibited from selling their children during times of crisis. You see, famines were tragically common throughout the Heian period and many farmer families attempted to sell their children to save them (and possibly themselves) from starvation. However, selling a person is something done to the lower senmin classes, not the upper ryoumin classes, of which these farmers technically were. So, by imperial decree, the shoumin couldn't sell their children because of their "high" social status.

Lastly, only citizens (i.e. koumin) were required to pay taxes/ tributes for working someone else's lands. On public lands, these payments would go to the government. On private lands (i.e. shoen), these payments went to the owners. So, the shoen owners/ managers used a feature of their original koumin status as the rationale for why they taxed these poor people into poverty.

So, technically, farmers were koumin throughout the Heian period. I know this explanation was a little long, but I hope it answered your question!

[waifuoftomonori]

Brothel Fanfic Idea(s) (Scarlet Fate)

I think it might have to be an Edo-period AU, which I can work with (although it would require more historical research on top of everything I’ve looked up for the Heian era, but that’s all right, at least concrete information / details should be easier to come by for a more recent period).

Don’t know all the details of how or why yet, but the basic premise is that Shiki either sells herself or gets sold to a brothel run by this shady guy called “the Sword” (have not decided if the object of that name also exists yet), leaving behind her rural mountain village of Kifu and her childhood friends / servants / love interests, Tomonori and Akifusa. Naturally, when they find out, they have a thing or two to say about this, so they head to the capital, but the issue is now they need to find a way to get her out while also resolving Kifu’s debt and/or going undetected, because the Sword is not to be fucked with and has all kinds of criminal and political connections (on top of his secret identity). (Because it takes place in the capital Furutsugu and Aterui will probably show up at some point, I’ll worry about them later; they’re not the main focus.) Anyway, I’m torn by two equally tempting kinky directions: - Tomonori figures out the Sword’s true identity and blackmails him to let him and Akifusa in as customers for free every night and have exclusive access to Shiki— I already have the blackmail letter written and am mildly pleased with how it turned out. They have to present an appearance of normality in public areas (and then as soon as a private room opens up they move into it and switch into business mode); flirting, sexual tension, and potentially more eventually ensue. Might also have Akifusa pretend to be Tomonori’s servant/bodyguard (Tomonori insists because that way Aki won’t have to do any talking), just for extra power play stuff. - Tomonori disguises as a woman and fast-talks his way into a position at the brothel, deciding that this is the most effective way of determining no harm comes to Shiki while also planning a way out (maybe Akifusa is investigating and shit outside and occasionally enters the brothel as a customer— could leverage reputation as Tsuna Watanabe? gah, making this an AU makes certain things complicated). Most of the other courtesans know Tomonori’s a man immediately, but whatever goon has been ordered to look after the place buys the disguise. Somehow Tomonori becomes popular and semi-maintains the disguise (some of the customers might guess he’s a dude but that doesn’t bother them) by ordering customers around and discovering he has a knack for emotional and verbal sadism. (Also he and Shiki share a bed at night, claiming to the other courtesans that they were lovers before Shiki joined the place.) …I really want to write them both, to be honest. Maybe I will. But I should probably try to focus on Aki After Tentacles.

[chanoyu-to-wa]

The Chanoyu Hyaku-shu [茶湯百首], Part II:  Poem 29.

〽 Toko ni mata waka no rui wo ba kakeru nara          hoka ni ka-sho wo ba kazaranu to shire

    [床に又和歌の類をば掛けるなら          外に歌書をば飾らぬと知れ].

    “And again, if [a scroll of] something of the waka category is hung in the toko, understand that books of poetry are not to be displayed anywhere else [during that gathering].”

    Waka no rui wo ba [和歌の類をば] means “if there is something of the class or type of waka.”  This would include the obvious cases of waka-shikishi [和歌色紙]¹ and waka-kaishi [和歌懷紙]²; but it would also mean paintings in which a poem is quoted in the colophon³.

    The reason why books of poetry⁴, or things of that sort, should not be displayed in the tea room when the kakemono also features a poem is because they are redundant.  When a poem is hung up in the toko, then no other examples of poetry should be included during that gathering.

   Two versions differ from the others, the first being Jōō’s original version, and the version included by the Sen family in the collection that they distributed to their students during the early Edo period.  The two variants are also different from each other.

    Jōō’s original version of this poem reads:

〽 toko ni mata Ko-kin shu nado kazari na ba          hoka ni ka-sho wo ba kazaranu to kiku

    [床に又古今集などかざりなば          外に歌書をばかざらぬときく].

    “And again, if the Ko-kin shū, or something of that sort, is displayed in the toko, in that case [other] books of poetry should not be displayed elsewhere, so [I] have heard.”

    Here Jōō seems to be talking about the host’s placing the books of the Ko-kin shū in the toko⁶; and in that case, other books of poetry should not be shown during the same gathering.

    The version that was being distributed by the Sen family, according to Katagiri Sekishū, is slightly different in its wording⁷, but similar to Jōō‘s version:

〽 toko ni mata Ko-kin shu nado kazari-okaba          hoka ni ka-sho nado kazaranu to kiku

    [床に又古今集などかざり置ば          外に歌書など飾らぬと聞].

    “And again, if the Ko-kin shu, or something of that sort, had been placed out in the toko, elsewhere things like books of poetry should not be displayed, [I] have heard.”

    Though the wording is different, the intent of these different versions of the poem is just the same:  if a kakemono or books containing poetry are displayed in the toko, then other things connected with poetry should not be exhibited anywhere else during that same gathering.

__________________________

¹Waka-shikishi [和歌色紙] are poetry cards inscribed with a waka verse.

    The left shikishi was written by Emperor Go-Mizuno-o [後水尾天皇; 1596 ~ 1680]; and the right was written by his consort, Tōfukumon-in [東福門院; 1607 ~ 1678].

²Waka-kaishi [和歌懷紙] are pieces of kaishi* on which records of a poetry gathering (usually held at some scenic place) is recorded.  Such gatherings were usually attended by the reigning Emperor, which is the primary reason why the details of the assembly were preserved.

    This specimen of a waka-kaishi was written by Emperor Ōgimachi [正親町天皇; 1517 ~ 1593].

    Ōgimachi was the emperor to whom Hideyoshi served tea in the spring of 1586, in his ōgon no chashitsu [黄金の茶室] (golden tea room). ___________ *Kaishi [懷紙] originally referred to a kind of note paper (each sheet of which measured 1-shaku 6-sun by 1-shaku 2-sun, with the pack folded into quarters), imported in packs of 30 sheets or so from the continent.  It was kept in the futokoro of one’s kimono for use on occasions when it became necessary to send a message to someone, or to make a written record of something (as here).  This use of kaishi had been customary since the Heian period.

    The kami kama-shiki [紙釜敷], preferred for use as the rest for the kama (when it is removed from the ro or furo during the sumi-temae) by many of the modern schools, is an example of this kind of kaishi.

    The little packets of paper that are sold as kaishi for use in chanoyu today are supposed to have been devised by Rikyū (according to this idea, his kaishi was of the smaller size, the kind used by women today -- though his kaishi was made from very thin paper), but their use became common only during the Edo period.

³This kind of composition is referred to as a waka ga-san [和歌畵賛], and consists of an ink painting with a colophon that includes a waka.

    This waka ga-san was written and painted by the 67th generation Ta-a shōnin* (rokujū-nana-sei no Ta-a shōnin [六十七世他阿上人; I have been unable to find his personal name or his dates†] of the Yugyō-ji [遊行寺] (also known as the Shōjōkō-ji [清浄光寺], founded in 1325), the head temple of the Ji-shū sect of Buddhism, in Kanagawa.

    While in China (and Korea) the colophon is usually relegated to the periphery of the composition, in Japan it seems that the classical idea of writing poems on shikishi that had previously been painted with a picture‡ prevailed, so that the colophons tend to cover at least part of the underlying painting, as seen in this example. ___________ *Shōnin [上人], which means something like “holy priest” or “the sainted,” is the religious title used by the heads of the Ji-shū sect.

    The founder’s name was Yugyō shōnin [遊行上人; active during the thirteenth century].  He was succeeded by his disciple, known as Ta-a shōnin [他阿 上人; active during the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries], and his name became the hereditary name of the head of that sect.

†The Yugyō-ji burned down during the last century, resulting in the loss of its records.  The 67th generation Ta-a shōnin seems to have been active during the early 20th century.

‡Regarding Fujiwara no Sadaie’s Ogura-shikishi [小倉色紙] (which were the first examples of waka-shikishi ever displayed in the tea room), Jōō held that those poems written on paper that had not first been painted with an ink sketch of some sort “were worthless.”

⁴In general, this is discussing things that would be done only in the 4.5-mat room, or shoin.  In the wabi small room, books of poetry and the like would be out of place.

⁵The Ko-kin waka shū [古今和歌集] (the name translates Collection of Ancient and Modern Waka) was one of the earliest of the chokusen waka shū [勅撰和歌集], the 21 Imperial poetry anthologies.  Conceived by the Emperor Uda [宇多天皇; 866 ~ 931], it was finally published by his son, the Emperor Daigo [醍醐天皇; 885 ~ 930] in 905.  The collection was edited by Ki no Tsurayuki [紀貫之; 872 ~ 945], Ki no Tomonori [紀友則; c. 850 ~ c. 904], Ōshikōchi no Mitsune [凡河内躬恒; ? ~ 925 or 926], and Mibu no Tadamine [壬生忠岑; dates unknown].

    While various antique editions of the Ko-kin shū were extant during Jōō’s and Rikyū’s period, and the books (the complete Ko-kin shū consists of 20 volumes) were occasionally displayed on the chigai-dana in the shoin, here Ko-kin shū should be interpreted more generally, as being a reference to bound poetry anthologies, or those prepared as hand scrolls, as in the later versions of the poem.

    Jōō, as a trained poet, would have had great reverence for the Imperial poetry anthologies.

⁶Jōō created the Jōō-dana (shown below) as a way to display things like sets of books* in the toko in a room that did not have a chigai-dana or dashi fu-zukue†.  This tana has a ten-ita and a naka-dana, with a ji-fukuro beneath (where the precious books were stored when not on display.

    Historical accounts suggest that this tana was only used in the toko.  On the utensil mat, the utensils were arranged on the fukuro-dana [袋棚].

    That said, the fact that the Jōō-dana has a ji-fukuro lead later generations to confuse it with the fukuro-dana, so that this tana came to be used on the utensil mat as well (during the Edo period). ___________ *Jōō also attached a hook to the underside of the ten-ita, allowing him to suspend his tsuri-bune there (which was much safer than suspending it from the ceiling of the toko).  Historical references to Jōō’s suspending his tsuri-bune from the ten-ita would seem to refer to this tana, not the fukuro-dana (this may be corroborated by the fact that Jōō is recorded to have placed the Haneda Gorō replica of the Gassan nagabon [月山長盆] below his tsuri-bune, to catch the water that would drip from the boat; it would have been impossible to do this if the reference was to the fukuro-dana -- since its shelves are too short to support this tray, coupled with the fact that the boat would have been suspended in the middle of the tana above the kabura-ita [蕪板], the upright board that supports the naka-dana [中棚]).

†Jōō’s 4.5-mat room, which was covered with inakama-tatami [田舎間疊] did not have either of these features.

    By placing this tana in the toko, Jōō also avoided the situation where a guest who was a member of the nobility would attempt to take his seat there (apparently a problem during his early middle period, when his guests were still largely drawn from among the acquaintances he made at the poetry and incense gatherings in which Jōō participated.

⁷Traditionally a collection of the Hundred Poems was written down from memory each time a copy was needed.  As a result, while the meanings are usually consistent, the actual wording (particularly the use of particles) can tend to differ from time to time.

==============================================

◎ If these translations are valuable to you, please consider donating to support this work.  Donations from the readers are the only source of income for the translator.  Please use the following link:

https://PayPal.Me/chanoyutowa

[yuesya]

Because i like to make myself and others suffer, what would yuzuki’s (heian or otherwise) reaction to be to shiki busting down the door, an inch from death after a throwdown with sukuna, killing his illness and then peacing out of life?

(I am in a very specific mood rn)

"-wait! Need to... bleeding..."

"Please... listen... going? No, you-"

"... Shiki-sama... Shiki-sama! What are you-"

...

Yuzuki wakes up.

The latticed frame of the ceiling is a familiar sight, as is the scent of bitter herbs permeating the room. Bitter herbs, mixed with the distinct tang of blood. Yuzuki is used to it. He's used to all of this.

What he's not used to, however, is the lack of pain in his chest. Yuzuki breathes in, and is surprised when it doesn't feel like there are a thousand needles stabbing into him, perforating his lungs and shredding his throat. He breathes, in and out, and it's easy.

His limbs feel light, and the ever-present headache perpetually pounding away at his skull is... gone. Gone, entirely.

"Yuzuki."

He looks up at the call of his name, and feels cold horror grip his heart.

"My lady!"

Long white hair, dirtied with blood and god-knows what else. There are gaping slashes where his lady-wife's body hangs open, revealing flesh and sinew to the air. Yuzuki can only look on with wide eyes as the injured woman lifts the knife in her hands -as if she is about to swing down and cut into him, and Yuzuki would gladly let her if that was what she desired- and throws it aside with a loud clatter.

Then, she leans forward and rests her head on his lap, directly atop his blankets.

"Please rise, my lady," Yuzuki doesn't know where to put his hands. There's so much blood everywhere, and if she's unable to heal herself, then-! "You need to be treated for these injuries! Allow me to call the clan's healers, my lady-"

"Shiki."

Yuzuki startles at the nonsensical interruption, "What?"

"Shiki," his lady-wife repeats, rolling over to peer up at him through long, lidded lashes. Even despite the blood and severity of her injuries, Yuzuki feels his heart skip a beat. "It's 'Shiki.' You never call me that, even though I told you to so many times before."

"It wouldn't be appropriate." Yuzuki was just a sickly, lowly member of the Gojo Clan. Gojo Shiki-sama, on the other hand, was the clan's pride and joy. He was unworthy of her attentions, unworthy of her regard, and unworthy of-

"You always divert things, too. Always so concerned about how others see us," the young woman in his lap sighs. "Why do they matter? Don't you love me?"

"... I do." How could he possibly not?

"Then say it to me," she commands. "Say it. 'Shiki, you're beautiful.' 'Shiki, I want to kiss you.' 'Shiki, you're my one and only.'

... 'Shiki, I love you.'"

Yuzuki feels his lips curving into a helpless smile, "How demanding, my lady."

Her eyes droop, and slowly flutter to a close.

"You're so cruel, Yuzuki," she whispers.

...

(Yuzuki does not realize it, at the time. That Shiki's eyes would close, and never open again. That she'd expended the last of her energy in somehow healing him in her last moments, instead of caring for herself. After doing battle with the King of Curses, she'd died in his arms and he... he...

...

... when a sorcerer with a line of stitches sewn across his forehead approaches him, speaking of reincarnation, Yuzuki knows that the sorcerer has his own agenda. He knows that this sorcerer had been involved with Ryomen Sukuna, knows that he'd been responsible for numerous atrocities and tragedies...

But even so, Yuzuki does not have the strength to refuse him.)

[kon-konk]

for the numbers, 21! and if its possible, i'd also like to see whats on 104

may i know where you bought that book btw (as well as the name and author) ? shipping might be hell but id like to buy it someday bc i'm interested in flowers!

So I got the book on Amazon Japan, but I'm sure you can find it on other sites. It's 花のことば辞典 四季を愉しむ (Hana no kotoba jiten shiki o tanoshimu/The language of flowers, enjoy the four seasons). The author is 宇田川 眞人 (which I think is read as Udagawa Masato). Without the points I had sitting around that I could use as a discount, the total cost would have been about $25 I think?

Page 21 has 7 entries on it. 2 of them are terms rather than flowers, and they're 朝桜 (asazakura, "morning sakura", which is actually refers to cherry blossoms with the morning dew on them and how beautiful it is. Yeah, there's a term specifically for that) and 朝姿 (asasugata, "morning view", which is basically a term to describe the beauty of the morning from what I can tell).

4 are flowers. 朝顔の露 (asagao no tsuyu, morning glory), 浅葱桜 (asagizakura, ... Some kind of sakura? I could not find a clear definition, but I'm pretty sure it's some kind of flowering cherry that's not pink?), 朝霧草 (asagirisou, silver mound? I've never heard of this plant before but it's actually kinda cute. I can see why people would cultivate it ornamentally), and 朝姿 (asasugata, which I think is fringed water lily)

Then there's 朝顔の花一時 (asagao no hana hitotoki), which is probably my favorite part of the page. It's a little saying. I'll probably translate it as "The morning glory only lasts a short moment." It's a metaphor for the fact that the prime of things is very short and fleeting.

Page 104 had 6 entries, which after page 21 feels like so few. Either that or page 21 was my struggle page.

Of those 6, 3 of them are flowers (well, 4, but one appears to be a very specific one). We've got 柘榴の花 (zakuro no hana, pomegranate flower), 笹百合 (sasayuri, bamboo lily), and 山茶花 (sazanka, "mountain tea flower", in English called the Sasanqua Camellia, but apparently it's not usually acknowledged as a Camellia by the Japanese? Not sure what that's about, so I'll have to find out at some point). Then there's 左近の桜 (sakon no sakura, which appears to very specifically be a cherry tree east of the southern stairs of the Hall of State Ceremonies in the Heian Palace. Must have been a hella important tree but I'm too tired to look it up right now. I'm intrigued though, so I might have an update on that in the near future).

We've got another saying, but I'm not entirely sure if I'm translating it right? It's 酒なくて何の己が桜かな (sake nakute nan no onore ga sakura kana). It seems to mean something along the lines of "If there's no alcohol, why do I have to view the cherry blossoms", but that phrasing seems strange so I'm not sure if I've got the exact right translation? This one was a struggle and a half. I think it's actually a line from something, maybe a poem or other piece of literature, but I am very unsure. This one's another one I'll probably look into more another day.

There's also 桜湯 (sakurayu) which is cherry blossom tea.

[shuttershocky]

I found it super funny that you posted about the akiha route today because I just finished that last night. Are there any other changes you hope they make in the remake?

It's very likely that the Akiha route is going to be heavily reworked (even more than Ciel route was), given that there's now foreshadowing as early as Arcueid's route and a new character (Dr. Arach) that's very clearly being positioned as a new antagonist for Akiha specifically, so I'm actually not sure about what to hope for in terms of changes when it's looking like almost everything's about to get changed. I'm hoping the Remake doesn't make it romantic anymore because adopted siblings are still really weird but I know that's never gonna happen.

That being said, if there's one scene from the original that I want in the Remake with edits, it's the scene where Shiki walks into Akiha changing her clothes. Rather than a fanservice scene imagine if they actually go all-in on the horror aspect of Akiha only pretending to be human.

Shiki walks in on Akiha changing, and there's blood all over the floor and mirror. On Akiha's hands are what seem to be rock fragments, if not for the bleeding stumps on top of her head.

Akiha screeches at Shiki to get out, her voice so shrill it doesn't even sound entirely human, as Shiki bolts out of the house entirely wondering what the hell he just saw.

Kohaku finds Shiki first of course, leading him back to the house. Shiki asks her why Akiha has massive wounds on her head. Kohaku says he must have just been really tired and had a vivid nightmare as she starts preparing his dinner.

Comun's also told me that Akiha's probably going to acquire some of the oni powers seen in FGO's Heian Kyo chapter. It's just too suspicious that the Arcueid route doesn't just foreshadow Akiha being an oni hybrid, but specifies that she's not human at all, but a pure monster born from humans, the kind only seen once in 12,000 years. If they're changing her up to actually be a true oni hiding as a human, then I'm expecting she's probably going to exhibit abilities closer to what we see the FGO oni characters have.

[athela-3]

Finally managed to do the hundred pulls required to get the guaranteed SP, and guess who I got? Guess who??

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—

—ahem! Yoto!!! You're home!! And just after I bought you a gorgeous yukata outfit on last month's talisman pass revival too! Ahhhh so totally worth all the grinding and jade…

Welcome to our courtyard, Yoto, and don't worry, I know how to take care of my swords~

[eviessearchhistory]

Shikigami

Shikigami (式神), Shiki-no-kami (式の神) or Shikijin (式人), are servant spirits from Japanese folklore. They are summoned by onmyōji, making them somewhat the equivalent of a western witch's familiar. They are a form of kami, meaning a god-like spirit, and were usually depicted as children or birds in the Heian period or Emakimono (which are Japanese painted narrative scrolls - essentially old Japanese comics).

Usually, shikigami are invisible to the majority of people, but they become visible when possessing things. Usually, they possess paper dolls, sometimes amulets. Strong shikigami can even possess animals. Very rarely, the most powerful shikigami can also possess humans, manipulate them and even cause their death.

Shikigami are bound to their evoker/master's spiritual force and have to obey their commands. Usually, they are used for risky operations like stealing or spying. However, there is a huge risk: If the master is careless or too weak, the shikigami can gain its own consciousness and free will. They will then rebel and maybe even break free, upon which they often kill their master in revenge.

[verdantspringcourtyard]

Return of Mara Event

False God 3.0 has arrived! This event coincides with Asura's release and continues the event story from Taishakuten's event. It is another False God and War of Heian-kyo type event, lasts for around 1-2 weeks. Unlike those 2 events, this one has 3 maps the entire server must work through. Also, each map will have very clear paths that we need to take in order to reach the special bosses. When the timer for the 3rd map ends, the final battle between Asura and Taishakuten will begin.

Event Page

At the of top the screen there will be an ever-present timer slowly counting down to when the map will change, and to the right of it are 3 other buttons. The first one, from left to right, has a sake bottle icon. This is where you can collect 30 event AP, or 90 event AP and 6 Peppers if you purchase the event s-jade pack, at noon and 6PM every day. The second button is for chat, and the third button is for viewing shared posts that will have compass links to specific tiles. As TW, JP and GL do not have the share post function, they will only have the first 2 buttons.

On the bottom left there are 5 buttons. The first button, from left to right, is for viewing Special Buffs. Next is the button that'll bring up the Quest tab. Then the middle button is for rereading the event story, next to that is the button for the Spiritual Body page and lastly is the button for the exchange shop.

On the right side of the screen, there will be a treasure box and an eye. After using up 500 AP you can claim rewards from the treasure box for any cleared tiles. The eye reveals the tile types for challengable tiles.

Battlefield of the Abyss

The overall goal is for the entire server to work together to clear the 3 event maps by defeat the special boss for each. There are 3-day timers for each map and all 3 consists of 3 major activities. Some map tiles will have unlockable buffs for set groups of shikigami, equippable buff effects, treasure boxes and Asura's Shards. The latter is needed to strengthen bonus stats and to challenge the special bosses.

Types of map tiles:

Donation: Use 15 event AP to help clear the tile. There’s no limit to how much event AP you can use on these tiles in a day. *Recommended for beginners who can't do dispatch*

Dispatch: Select up to 10 of your shikigami to be 'sent' on a ~24 dispatch quest to clear the tile. Cost 15 event AP per shikigami to do, ie sending a full team of 10 shikigami costs 150 event AP. N rarity and 2-3* shikigami cannot be used.

Bosses: Defeat the boss to clear the tile. You have 4 minutes to do as much damage as possible and your damage determines how much event currency you get. Cost 15 event AP to do, is solo only and can be done on auto.

Buffs: Clear the tile to unlock a buff for a set group of shikigami or an equippable bonus effect for your shikigami.

Treasure: Clear the tile to unlock some bonus rewards. Please ignore treasure tiles until after the special boss/es are been defeated.

Shards: Tiles with shards on them must be cleared in order to challenge the special boss or bosses of the map.

Blue Tiles: The path or paths that the leaders will follow.

Flames: Lots of players are challenging this tile.

If you're ever unsure of what to do, can either focus on clearing shard tiles, blue tiles or tiles that have flames.

Leaders

On the map is a chibi Asura who will follow a set path to the special bosses and will help clear all the tiles on said path. He can be fed Peppers to restore his AP and continue clearing tiles, feeding him also grants some event currency. Once the special boss has been defeated he'll just stay in the same spot and do nothing until the map changes.

On map 2 a chibi SP Shuten will join Asura and on map 3 a chibi SP Onikiri will also join him. They function the same as Asura, ie they'll follow their own paths and can be fed. Can change leaders at any time, but can only feed and see their set path/s for your currently selected one.

Their skills;

Asura: Deals 100% damage to a tile.

SP Shuten: Deal 60% damage to a tile and 20% splash damage to 2 adjacent tiles.

SP Onikiri: Deal 50% damage to a tile and the tile behind it.

Special Bosses

In order to challenge a special boss, the entire server must create a path to them and collect all of Asura's Shards on the map. Creating a path should be extremely easy because everyone just needs to follow Asura, or the other leaders on map 2-3, and attack the same tiles as him.

On maps 2-3, once 1 of the bosses has been defeated a timer will start. The server must defeat the remaining boss/es before this timer ends otherwise the HP for the defeated boss/es be recovered.

Once the boss/es have been defeated, some hourly event currency will begin to be generated. Map 1 is 10000 per hour, map 2 is 15000 per hour and map 3 is 20000 per hour. The event currency is sent out when the timer for the current map ends. The total amount received will be increased by how much Demonic Power you have obtained from the current map. For experienced players, the boss and dispatch tiles will give the most Demonic Power, so if you want a lot of event currency you should help clear those types of tiles. Donation tiles also give a lot of event currency, but please leave them for beginner players who struggle with bosses or don't have enough shiki to do dispatch.

Spiritual Body

Clear certain map tiles to collect Asura's Shards to gain bonus stats for your shikigami, every 5 shards will grant a bonus stat. Once all shards have been collected, the special boss/es for the map will become challengable.

In the menu for this, you can view what bonus stats have been unlocked and equip unlocked bonus effects. There are a total of 6 slots to equip effects in, however, slots are only unlocked after every 10 shards collected. There are a total of 18 bonus effects to unlock, some may require multiple slots in order to be equipped.

Final Battle

This starts on the 10th day of the event and lasts for 2-3 days. The entire server must work together to destroy the 6 barriers giving Taishakuten a 90% damage reduction then help Asura defeat him.

The 6 barriers are 6 bosses, each is solo only, there's no time limit, can be done on auto and costs 5 AP to challenge. All 6 can only be challenged a max of 500 times. Unlike the rest of the bosses in this event these don't have shared HP, these are standard event bosses with ~1mil HP. Each boss needs to be defeated a certain number of times for the barrier HP to be reduced. Bosses drop random 5-6* souls, EXP souls and EXP pamphlets.

When all 6 barriers have been destroyed, everyone will be able to challenge Taishakuten without that massive damage reduction. He doesn't have any phases, but he does have the same skills that he had in his event. Costs 6 AP to challenge him, solo only and can be done on auto.

While the battle with Taishakuten is ongoing there'll be some total accumulated damage rewards and a 6* soul exchange box. The soul box is just the one in Senhime's and Taishakuten's event, need 60 of an item that drops from the battle and you'll have a choice out of 3 random souls. Total accumulated damage needed to get all the rewards is 10bil, rewards are; 200000 gold, animated icon frame, loading screen illust, 100 gold orochi scales, 400 AP, 100 jade and a 4* white daruma.

There is also a leader board, but it is just for showing off the best teams to use.

Special Buffs

Once a buff for a group has been unlocked, said group will gain a 20% damage dealt and damage reduction buff. Here are notable shikigami from each group.

Quests

There are 3 types of quests: story, achievement and wanted. Story quests are completed by the server and is just stuff need to do in order to progress the event. The achievement quests are a mix of server-wide and individual quests, the quests are "fight a boss tile x amount of times", "unlock x amount of buffs for the server", etc. The wanted quests are 3 random quests that refresh once every ~12 hours that you can do.

Exchange Shop

The exchange shop has 2 tabs. The first tab is for the normal shop items, the second tab is for the event packs.

The most notable items are; 120 event AP (restocks daily), 2 loading screen illusts, an animated event frame (same as final battle frame from Taishakuten's event), new Suzuka skin, a black daruma, black daruma shards, EXP Pamphlets, skin tickets, SP skin tickets, mochi, 3 blue summon tickets, a total of 600 jade, lots of AP and gold.

There are 4 event packs that contain the usual stuff; guaranteed 6* souls, shiki shards, jade and AP, daruma shards and realm cards. Each can be bought a max of 500 times. The packs are like the ones in the KnY collab event. For non-CN players or people who didn't participate, each of the packs have a very low chance to give a special item such as; ~128 jade, ~66 AP, ~3 blue summon tickets, ~100 gold orochi scales, 5* white daruma, a black daruma. A little animation will play if you get a special item.

Cost to buy all 120 of the event AP is 480 jade. There is also an s-jade pack that gives you 60 additional daily event AP and 6 Pepper every day at noon and 6PM. So if you want to buy that pack, do so on the first day of the event.

Recommended Teams

Just to reiterate - if you're ever unsure of what to do, can either focus on clearing shard tiles, blue tiles or tiles that have flames.

And don't forget to adjust your soul sets and equip appropriate bonus effects for your shiki throughout the event.

Battlefield of the Abyss

The following teams are just some general ones.

Alternative for Sen is Oitsuki and for Enmu it's Aoandon or Shoyou. If you choose to use Takiyasha in the Ryoumen team, can equip her with 3 sets of boss souls.

For additional teams when a boss has 0 minions, can refer to older event guides with recommendations for similar bosses.

Final Battle

For the barrier bosses, can use your standard event farming team or the same teams shown in the above section. Or you use a team like this one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1964y1d7Aq/

Taishakuten always uses his annoying skill that will control your shiki with the highest ATK on his 2nd turn and never again. The only way to prevent him from controlling your shiki is by equipping Seimei with his shield. It needs to be used on Seimei's 2nd turn which should happen by default on auto.

The house imp buff in the 1st team is specifically for Senhime's deep freeze. So if you don't have her skill 2 maxed you can either do something about that by feeding her some black daruma, try swapping out SP Kiyo for SR Kiyo equipped with snow spirit or try using a different buff.

The latter 2 teams were only used during the last ~10% of the fight. The Taishakuten buff can be swapped for the seductress buff.