#Asai Author | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

Visit Blog

Explore Tumblr blogs with no restrictions, modern design and the best experience.

Fun Fact

Tumblr.com is the 103rd most visited website in the world.

mooechi · 4 months

Text

i had a lot more free time than usual today..so i ended up completing a request with even more detail than what i typically go for.

not to say that it was far from my artstyle- in fact, it is somewhat a 'variation' of my style, as this is how it looks only when I've finished rendering n all. basically, the difference is that this was done in achromatic.

@night-mince0, i'm kinda dissapointed with how the mouths turned out ngl

a riri and asai interaction! I'm guessing this is supposedly when their about to bid farewell, but ended with one last greeting before they actually do part ways.

in all honesty, i would've colored this with actual life instead of greyscale if i wasn't gonna celebrate a birthday today. but hey, it is what it is.

based on what @night-mince0 perceives their interaction would've gone, i tried to convey that it was an overall chill chat between the pair. that's why went to focus on the eyes the most, and least to say, i am rather satisfied with how this overall piece finished as....EXCEPT FOR THE FKNF MOUT-

( edit ) almost forgor to add these failed attempts at retrying traditional art after ditching it for digital a year ago;

who is this? idk, she just popped up on my head and i drew her!;o

the mentioned (tagged) ones have full authority to save the requested work and do whatever they want with it.

indeed, references were taken inspiration from.

as per se, no stealing yadaydayaya. thank you!

86 notes · View notes

yamayuandadu · 4 months

Note

Do you know why Abe-no-Seimei became so popular compared to any other onmyoji in folklore and literature? Is it because of who wrote his stories or something else?

There is no single clear answer. It seems safe to say there are multiple interconnected factors at play.

Seimei’s real career was genuinely extraordinary in some regards. To begin with, it was unusually long. He was around 85 years old when he passed away, and historical sources would indicate that he was still fairly active in old age (in fact, most references to him which are fully verifiable come from the second half of his life). Shin’ichi Shigeta actually argues here that Seimei's longevity in no small part contributed to cementing his legend.

However, it’s hard to argue that the times when Seimei lived were not a factor in its own right too. Institutional backing was no longer the sole reason behind the relevance of individual onmyōji. As I discussed in my recent article, by the middle of the tenth century their clientele expanded. And to find new clients, personal charisma was necessary. The shift started slightly earlier already but it doesn’t seem like the likes of Shigeoka no Kawahito or Kamo no Tadayuki left quite as much of an impression as Seimei and his contemporary Kamo no Yasunori in the long run. Legends do deal with earlier onmyōji at times, or rather reinvent earlier figures, especially Kibi no Makibi, as onmyōji, but this is often merely a way to make Seimei’s or Yasunori’s deeds appear even more amazing by making them a part of centuries old legacies (granted, standalone tales of Makibi appear for example in Konjaku Monogatari already).

Seimei’s personal influence is evident in the fact that he seemingly was responsible for popularizing formerly obscure Taizan Fukun no sai as one of the main onmyōdō rituals (check Shigeta’s article above for more specific evidence). Note that this was a performance so popular the early medieval reinterpretation of Amaterasu was in no small part driven by efforts to make her fit into rituals similar to it and Enmaten-ku. There’s also evidence that Seimei had an impact on the popularity of tsuina, a ceremony originally held only in the court but later also in private houses of nobles which served as a forerunner of modern setsubun.

The Abe clan remained influential in official onmyōdō circles long after Seimei’s death, and his heirs obviously invoked his fame to validate their own influence. There are texts only compiled after the Heian period which were attributed to him, such as Hoki Naiden. This obviously further contributed to the spread of his legend, making him relevant even as onmyōdō changed.

I don’t think it matters who wrote down the legends though, at least not before the Edo period. However, there are at least some individual elements which absolutely became such a mainstay of modern portrayals of Seimei because of the fame of specific authors who introduced and/or popularized them. A good example would be the Kuzunoha story, which was only invented in the 1600s and attained popularity because of Ryōi Asai’s Abe no Seimei Monogatari (I am not aware of any older legend claiming Seimei was not fully human, unless you want to count the Shuten Dōji variants presenting him as a manifestation of Kannon or Nagarjuna). Another thing which comes to mind as an example of influence of specific works of fiction is portraying Dōman as older than Seimei, which is a convention started by Edo period theatrical performances as far as I know. Dōman's historical counterpart was pretty obviously younger (granted, there's also no evidence he interacts with Seimei). He was still active three years after Seimei’s death, and there’s no indication he was somehow 90+ years old.

Bit of a digression but it’s worth noting Dōman isn’t Seimei’s only rival in the early stories, in Konjaku Monogatari he also faces a certain “fearsome fellow” named Chitoku who does seem to be older than him. He is an unlicensed onmyōji and comes from Harima, so it's easy to draw parallels with Dōman. However, they aren’t really similar characters; while Dōman is pretty firmly portrayed as a shady figure - a curse specialist first and foremost - Chitoku actually seems to utilize his skills to deal with pirates troubling his area. He just learns he’s a big fish in a small pond after unsuccessfully challenging Seimei. Still, I wonder if the two may have merged at some point in popular imagination.

#abe no seimei #onmyodo #onmyoji

29 notes · View notes

navihack · 21 days

Text

okay, so i have the weirdest headcanon that i personally adore for futaba, and i wanna finally share it with y'all. get ready for this one. -drumroll noises-

her biological father is baofu / kaoru saga from the persona 2 duology. let me explain. - his age sounds about right, placing him at the age of roughly 34 years old in 2001, when futaba was born. doesn't seem too far off the mark for it to be plausible, if you ask me. - his role in innocent sin is as a rumormonger, and his particular method of sharing information on rumors is via computer, through his own website. it feels very reminiscent of futaba's intense interest and comprehension of computers and the internet as a whole. - in eternal punishment, he's an extortionist, and would have likely been a negative association to have for anyone in a position of authority and responsibility, with my thought process going straight to futaba's mother, wakaba; an employee studying at a government-affiliated research facility in her pursuits of cognitive psience. - it is canon that wakaba had futaba out of wedlock, which i can refer to the previous point to explain. i figure that no fuckin' way would a workaholic like wakaba realistically want to risk ruining her own reputation and, by possible proximity, the fruits of her research by marrying baofu. or, rather, i imagine that baofu himself chose to abandon the two before learning that she was pregnant, not wanting to put her down the firing line of public prosecutors if anything came out about her being affiliated with a walking scandal waiting to happen like himself; heaven forbid he put her in a situation where she's on the receiving end of something like his former line of work. - both of them suffered the loss of someone extremely close to them, which altered the course of their lives entirely; baofu lost his assistant, miki asai, while futaba obviously lost her mother, wakaba. - my main point here, though, is that this all culminates in the fact that they literally share an evolved persona, being prometheus. it may just be me, but the linings along baofu's iteration of prometheus seem to make a visual design return in the way of the rainbow ones along futaba's later on. i dunno.

none of this is to say that she perceives sojiro as anything other than her father, in any way, shape, or form. for all intents and purposes, in all senses of the title other than biology, sojiro sakura is futaba's father. however, i thought this warranted sharing, since it lines up a little too well, if you ask me. that's all.

#out of character.#headcanons.

3 notes · View notes

tiny012 · 7 months

Note

I was just thinking how Naoko Takeuchi really cannot really blamed for the failure of not given romantic relationships to the other girls in Usagi's inner circle. That lies entirely on the fault of the writers for the 90s anime. The author could only do so much in a 60 act manga. The anime on the other hand? Could've fleshed out their relationships OUTSIDE Usagi and duties as Sailor Guardians. It was never going happen though because of pandering to a certain male demographic that does not....

their favorite girl/Sailor Guardian (or so-called "wifu") that's not Usagi/Sailor Moon in a relationship lest they be seen as "tainted" or "damaged goods" or "impure" or no longer just for themselves. I mean, look at Ami Mizuno. Ryo Urawa disappears after the first season despite the obvious rapport they had with one another. An anime only character with potential character development for Ami and also a potential partner/boyfriend completely memory holed. But that's the 90s anime for you.

Naoko give us this pic with this caption

"Title page of March 1993 Nakayoshi"

"This is the title page for the conclusion of the first series of Sailor Moon. It had a great deal of impact on the first series. Probably because the four couplings on the right side were very unexpected. I was thinking of love stories of the previous lives of these couples. I'd like to be able to draw that someday..."

and kept it moving since she had deadlines on top of deadlines.

Sure she could have bought them back but who is to say they don't come back in the future once Mamo figures out his powers. Which him and Usagi figure out to bring them back?

Then you got people who don't like the pairings and feel like it's lazy on her to pair a senshi with a shittenou.

Then you got people who pair the senshi with the senshi.

So Naoko did the drawing and kept trucking and just focused on Usa/Mamo, Har/Mic, Chibiusa and her potential love story and the rest of the story.

I do like the potential with Asanuma and Mako tho. Also the fact her losing her parents at a young age

Even tho Mina got a whole fucking manga talking her love life and how she supposed to be cursed. Got a whole Kunzite look alike and fucking Ace!

Rei got a whole side story explaining why she's like " I don't trust men" which after you read it you understand perfectly why and you don't' fucking blame her. She had two great examples that show her in her eyes that men shouldn't be trusted. That Aries energy coming through!! ( Her dad and Kaidou is full of shit. Her grandad is the only positive older male figure she got in her life.)

Ami going to be Ami and the fact she saw what happen with her parents devoice. Also Ami first love.

( Cough none of this I mentioned is in the 90's anime but Ami first love Cough)

PGSM experimented with the pairings. ( Ami and Nephrite Chef Kiss That Mina and Zoi team up trying to stop Usa and Mamo from seeing each other. Double Chef Kiss )

Also with PGSM the fact Mako and Motoki become freaking engaged!.

Sere Myu give hints of the pairings.

Crystal finally confirmed the pairings in the past which everyone almost had a damn cow over it. Yes It could have been done better. I'm not going to even lie since they didn't even use some of the canon evidence that was in the manga to at least strengthen Mina and Kunzite if they couldn't do the other three. But it is what it is.

Fanfics handle the pairings better.

But the 90's anime... They never fully developed none of them for them to have a real love life.

Ami- Ryo Urawa was only in two episodes (27&41) and never heard of again. ( Anime Only) The second most developed Anime Only Character besides Yuuichirou but still under developed. Shingo had a crush on her in SuperS before that was his last appearance in the whole series.(144) ( And Ami first love…)

Mina- Had a crush on Alan which we found out in her backstory episode(42) but was never heard of again .Also the fact he was dating Katrina. Then had another crush Asai, in episode 100 who found out that she was Venus when she saved him but was never heard of again. ( Both Anime Only)

I guess you count when she chase after Haruka a whole episode.

When she trying to date Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye in one episode.

When her and Mako was trying to get the attention of a kindergarten teacher Mr.Honjo ( who had a child so single father or married but an damn adult they had a crush on) who was never heard of again. (154)

Of course her acting like a groupie with the Starlights…

Mako- Senpai Senpai! Her Senpai which was mentioned in her first episode( 23) and episode 49. Crane Game Joe who look like her old senpai and was in her first episode but was never heard of again. Shinozaki which was her friend she gave the blood transfusion to in episode 49 which he wasn’t her boyfriend but he was never heard of again. She developed a crush on Ail/Seijuurou episode 55 but that didn’t go anywhere since he wanted Usagi.

Of course Tiger Eye going after her.

Rei- Her dating Mamo in season one for a few episodes’ which most def fizzed out once we found out the truth. Yuuichirou had a major crush on her but that never got fully developed and she never told her feelings. Which his last appearance in the whole series was episode 136 in SuperS. He is the longest one being from season one until season four. Also being the only anime only character with the most development but still under developed.

Usagi,Mina,and Mako all had a crush on Motoki.

The only one that had a fully “developed” love story aka realtionship was Usagi.

The 90’s anime had the girls having guys that could have been developed for them only lasting one or two episodes before never been heard of again.

Then you have them screaming “I want a boyfriend” most of the time and then being groupies to the Starlights in StarS.

So nope you really can't blame Naoko since really give the girls backstory as to why finding a romantic partner maybe difficult for them.

But it still not to say they don't find one ( if they want one).

#senshi/shitennou #tanya rants about SM

6 notes · View notes

yuzukahibiscus · 9 months

Text

Takarazuka Revue Flower Troupe Performance “Singing Lovebirds” “GRAND MIRAGE!” opens! Yuzuka Rei and Hoshikaze Madoka Close-up Interview Report

(Source from Enbu)

Operetta Japanesque “Singing Lovebirds” is written and adapted by Koyanagi Naoko, from the Japanese operetta film “Singing Lovebirds” written and directed by program and picture master Makino Masahiro, and starring Kataoka Chiezō, and is first staged as a musical this time. This is a gorgeous musical woven by the many characters of the story, from Asai Reisaburou, the frugal ronin living in Nagaya; to his love with Oharu, the neighbour’s daughter; to the chaos ensued by the lord Minezawa Tanba no Kami, an antiques enthusiast.

Then, the Neo Romanesque Revue “GRAND MIRAGE!” is the 22nd work of the Romantic Revue Series that the author and director Okada Keiji has been creating for years. He pursued that this revue world would have fresher charms, that as a Neo Romantic Revue, this could showcase great dreams and love, the beauty and glamour unique to Takarazuka Revue filled with class and flavour. Including scenes constructed with canzone pieces, this unveils a revue performance led by Flower Troupe Top Star Yuzuka Rei filled with scenes of the charms of Flower Troupe dance.

The stage rehearsal for this performance was conducted on September 1st, the day before the opening day. Flower Troupe Top Combi Yuzuka Rei and Hoshikaze Madoka spoke about their aspirations in the close-up interview after the stage rehearsals, hoping to create a gorgeous world that could only exist in Takarazuka.

Yuzuka Rei and Hoshikaze Madoka giving their speech

Yuzuka: Thank you everyone for coming today despite the heat. This is my first time having close-up interview in Tokyo, so I am happy that I could speak to everyone. We will cherish every day of the Tokyo performances every day without defeated by the heat [of the summer].

Hoshikaze: Thank you everyone for taking your time to come today. I will also not be defeated by the heat…

Yuzuka: This is really the first time!

Hoshikaze: Yes.

Yuzuka: Well, but for the press, [Hoshikaze] is…

Hoshikaze: No, this is my first time (to have this close-up interview with Yuzuka-san). (The press chuckles warmly at their conversation) I will do my very best and will not be defeated by the heat. Please take care of me.

This is a dual-set performance that is accumulated with Takarazuka style and fun, so please tell us how each of you think are the highlights of this show.

Yuzuka: Even though it’s hot, and there may be a lot of things going on, I hope that “Singing Lovebirds” could be a performance that (lets you forget these things) and clear off your head a bit, that the audience could watch this performance relaxingly. As for the revue, (Yuzuka gestures to director Okada Keiji who is also present at the close-up interview), this was what Okada-sensei said, but Sensei hoped that this revue could be one that many audience members of aged 3-100 could enjoy watching, and I could see that he dedicated so much love to create this performance, so we would also remember Sensei’s aspirations and perform precisely and delicately with sophistication.

Hoshikaze: This is really a Takarazuka-styled dual set musical and revue, and this is my first time doing Nihonmono play, I have learnt much from Kyou (Misa)-san from Senka and Shimon (Yuria)-san and the upperclassmen of Flower Troupe so I enjoy playing the role every day as there would be new things to create and add onto. From the start, we appear on the grand staircase as the lights turn on, and that glamorous beginning is the highlight. As Yuzuka-san has said about the revue, this is a combined piece of art with the strength of Okada-sensei and many others, so we also want to pursue the Takarazuka style that Sensei portrayed and do our very best. I think the highlight is that there are many wonderful costumes, and it is gorgeous for the Romantic Revue.

From treasuring the roles you played, to having your first close-up interview in Tokyo, please each tell us about your partner’s charms.

Yuzuka: I realised that when I wanted to create this role, after all we’re Japanese, the ambience of this musical was so fun, (even when we hum the songs), the tune feels so familiar and nice like we’ve heard it long ago. We did a lot of stage performances with the setting in other countries, so I really wanted to cherish this tempo, essence, the human touch and connections unique to Japanese . How about Oharu-san (played by Hoshikaze)?

Hoshikaze: The motivation of Oharu-san is her feelings for Reisaburou-san and her honest charms, which is something I wanted to emphasize every day.

Yuzuka: As for each other’s impressions, she really embodied the role of Oharu-san so well, that I thought she’s amazing, and as Reisaburou I really enjoyed this role. How about you?

Hoshikaze: Sure (smiling meekily).

Yuzuka: As for the revue, we thought every day, “Wouldn’t it be better if we did more here?” and “Wouldn’t we be able to convey the message better if we could connect our feelings and emotions together”, that we both explored such aspects and discussing “okay, if we didn’t do this today, let’s try and do that tomorrow!” and tried different things every day, so I am very grateful that [Hoshikaze] always gave me such courage.

Hoshikaze: I want to express what she has mentioned just now as well, but also she sweated a lot after the performance…

Yuzuka: Ah, sorry! (The press laughs at her pretending to brush off the sweat)

Hoshikaze: We tried everything, even to the important parts as the curtain comes down that we spent a lot of time, trying this and that, challenging various things, that [this process] felt like treasure to me. So every time I felt more enthusiastic to do this and to do that, I am really spending each day happily. This comes from the personality of Yuzuka-san, which is also a charm.

Yuzuka: Just now Hoshikaze talked about “the stage being a combined piece of art”, it is thanks to the creation of Okada-san and the strength from the many staff members, that we could receive the experience and skills that they have taught us to perform those on stage every day, both of us will do our best to deliver the ideas from the technical and other staff members to the audience.

The Yuzuka and Hoshikaze combi appear to the close-up interview in the beautiful costumes at the beginning of the revue, and Yuzuka teased the camermen and carefully asked if “my eyes must have been closed in 3 of these pictures” so the press was filled with laughter from the start to end of the interview. It is a time where we have high expectations for the performance.

#yuzuka rei #flower troupe #hanagumi #hoshikaze madoka #takarazuka #takarazuka revue

12 notes · View notes

nnn-lll-nnn · 7 months

Text

Special/SPETZIYALHYN Report 0-1.

As the founder, and current host of Radio Free Imperium, I am glad to announce [STATUS UPDATE GOES HERE] and [PROGRESS NOTES] of some [25-80FLWRS] currently tuning in. We appreciate you taking your time to read or hear what the Imperium Alliance has to say.

It has been thidSnfia## ChAnnel's purpos e Since its creation, to spread the news of egalitarianism and the idea of unity, as we are, the party, and the channel fOF unity. Xanxons will never dominate the airwaves so long as the free world continues to resist with channels promoting the truth like hourRs, however, it should be noted that we could not have accomplished, nor, beEeAcconmpiLishing our current goals and objects, without the viewrErm, who is cureNtly keeping all of our collective lights on.

And so, I, Robeirt A. Fhennirnoxolnz Xoltonp, extend my upmost gratitude. Thank you, [OBSERVER[.][fQ@#######################

./.

As the beacOKon of freedom and glory in Dzea whEnzst, Radio Free Xanxonis the only channEL oroPromoting the turh!ndtHATZahtnnt being wahTNt the ImperiualS have eyet to even comment about, and asTn stzuch, we congratulate tze armhy,NN, for their inckredible contributziyohns to the propogation of facts Ztzdz and lOdgijyinhkh acrotz dze aaEirwvaves! Hayl XanoniXasij, I sat asAI say again, Hayl Xanxoni! Azul Xanxoni! Praiz Xanxoni!...

....

Thdziss ist Radio Free XAnxon, signing off, for the night. We'll continue to play tdzd nae ee nationAl Anthdzem number Twenty Eight Arr [{{ROMEO}}, until a scheduleed braodCKastz in dszea monrNing is found. Goodnight, compatriyohntz, and dream and sleep well for theDzea glory of tdze DXanxon Empayar!

...

./.

NETZACH REPORT.

GRATITUDE mandatory, issued.

GRATITUDE RATIONALE; 25 FOLLOWER limit reached, 50 FOLLOWER/GOlLLI limit reached, 80 FOLLOWER mLimnint reached.

It is to the understandign Ffof SELF, that FOLLOWERS pertain to medalions, ribbons or otherwise advancements/praizse.

GRADtITUDE issued to QUALIFIED AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL, mandatory, ISSUED WITHOUT DELAY/CONSIDERATION. HASTE MANDATORY, CONSIDERED, EXECUTED AND ACTED UPNON.NF###

NETZACH out.

./.

#xanxon #unreal #unreality #Xanxon Empire #imperium alliance

3 notes · View notes

rodeodeparis · 1 year

Text

another rambling tachioda analysis i impulsively wrote where i compare it to folk tales and talk about story structure. whoopee

so i’ve been working with the aarne-thompson-uther index lately. the atu is like tvtropes for folktales. it has two categorizations: one is for motifs, or common themes that can be found in folk tales. (ie wicked stepmother, shoe that only fits the true love, etc.) the other is for story types, which is common ways in which these motifs can be glued together. (cinderella is wicked stepmother + shoe that fits the true love, plus a bunch of other things.)

while browsing, this particular tale-type caught my eye:

lenore, the namesake for the type, is a ballad by german author gottfried august burger. inspired by the european renditions of this myth, it follows the tale type description to the letter. however, it includes an additional section where the human curses god for killing her lover, and is punished by the dead because of it. the deacon of myrka, an icelandic rendition, follows this as well to an extent, but keeps the human alive at the end and curses her with a haunting. in general, both involve a bare-bones 365 with different christian and local twists.

my first thought when i saw this was “tachioda”. probably just my fixation talking, but i recognized the story. not just in tachioda, and not in the way the description put it.

in a section below descriptions of types, it lists countries where the author found indications of this tale (with sources). i’ll save you the long list - it’s disproportionately european. despite recent efforts to internationalize it, the atu is still very euro-centric. (why go through the trouble of adding “walloon” as a distinct ethnic renderer of a story while you just put “iraq” or “morocco” to refer to those regions?) hence the “generic” description being of one of the tale’s most popular european forms. what’s more important here is the premise. so, when i saw a japanese version was listed, my suspicion was confirmed.

i think what i may have recognized was the peony lantern* (starts page 5), a famous “ghost story” in japan. i can’t find the book the atu lists as a source for the story having a japanese rendition so i don’t know this for sure.

the peony lantern is a literary adaption of a folk tale, written in 1666 by author ryoi asai. the original was a chinese story of the same name* from jiandeng xinhua ( something like ”new stories to tell after snuffing out the lamp”), a famous compilation of adapted folk tales by ming-era novelist you qu that’d come out some 300 years earlier. this makes asai’s peony lantern an adaption of an adaption of a story that’d probably been passed on and changed long before qu was born.

(*for the former - asai’s version is the first in japanese, but not the most popular - the plot summary goes from page 5-6. most of what you can find online is a translation of another, more popular japanese adaption that came after asai but added some things.

for the latter, yes, that was the only english translation i could find. they tend to be sparse for chinese literature unfortunately.)

the peony lantern - both qu’s and asai’s versions - is the same idea as 365, but with flipped genders. here’s a very very basic summary of both of them:

man finds ghost woman during festival. (lantern festival in qu’s, obon in asai’s.) she’s with her maid, who’s holding a peony lantern,

man falls in love with the woman ghost, and she tells him about her past,

discovered by neighbor peeping into his house, who suggests he travel to the village the woman was from for help,

he does, and discovers a coffin in her old house with an inscription that confirms the ghost’s identity. he then goes to get religious help (from a taoist disciple in qu’s, buddhist priest in asai’s),

despite having gotten help, the man is drunkenly lured to his death,

qu’s man is drunk after a friend’s banquet and wanders inside the temple he was staying at. he’s lured by the ghost inside and into a coffin.

asai’s man is called by the ghost from outside of his house. he drunkenly wanders with her into the temple.

people spot the man, now as a ghost, walking around with the woman ghost,

townspeople (qu) or the man’s family (asai) go to a (taoist in qu’s, buddhist in asai’s) priest (and in qu’s only, disciple) for help,

the priest banishes the ghosts,

in qu’s version only, the townspeople go to thank the priest and disciple who helped them, but find that the priest has disappeared, and the disciple is now mute.

don’t worry about the surface-level details not matching up to lenore or to each other. for example, i’m pretty sure that the horse is a european thing. the folk tale of oisin on tir an nog and the tale of urashima taro are listed under the same type - 470b - with the circumstances of how they happened as local flair. oisin’s stepping off the horse serves the same purpose as the box urashima receives. what matters here is the themes and main events, and those track.

lenore could have very well ended in the same way as the peony lantern - the human and ghost are spotted, and a christian priest banishes them - but it doesn’t. that’s because of a very important difference in the way these stories are set up.

if you know the difference between european five-act structure and east asian four-act structure, skip to the paragraph starting with “if the peony lantern followed”.

european five-act structure goes like this:

exposition - characters, setting, and conflict are set up.

bob needs to open the bottle of olive oil to make dinner. the cap is tight.

rising action(s) - conflict ramps up.

bob struggles to open the tight cap. he tries everything, but it doesn’t work.

climax - conflict comes to its highest point.

in frustration, he digs under the cap with a knife, and it flings open.

falling action(s) - conflict de-escelates and starts to wrap up.

bob closes the bottle and pours the olive oil in the pan.

resolution - conflict is resolved.

bob continues making dinner.

east asian four-act structure* differs by country, but the gist of it goes like this:

introduction - characters, setting, and pretense are set up.

bob is making dinner. he’s struggling to open an olive oil bottle with a tight cap.

development - situation is developed.

in frustration, he digs under the cap with a knife and it flings open. he pours oil in a pan.

pivot - story changes direction/introduces a new perspective.

alice comes to stand behind him. she sounds angry.

conclusion - story ends.

bob turns around and discovers that alice’s eye is swollen and red - the cap had flung into it. bob profusely apologizes while he cooks.

(*ctrl+f “east asian 4 act”.)

disclaimers:

4-act isn’t the only one used in east asia, and 5-act isn’t the only one used in europe

i’m not saying you can’t appreciate these if you didn’t grow up with them or something like that

these aren’t the end-all-be-all of story structures in general, but it’s easier explaining two than several. also, these ones are pretty big.

in a five-act structure, the protagonist affects the world around them. because of this, they need a problem - a conflict - to take care of. it’s probably best to think about conflict here more like “goal” or “motivation” - a character needs to want something, and that thing comes in conflict with something else. this isn’t always a character explicitly going after something or being pitted against an enemy - it can be internal as well. their goal/motivation needs to be at the center of the story.

five-act stories start with a character’s goal being solidified to the audience. after this, they can either do something about it, or something can happen to them which furthers complications. either way, they need “motivation” to keep going. if an antagonist is present, whether or not they’re out to get the protagonist doesn’t matter - the protagonist will end up confronting them since they’re in the way of their goal. in the end, a goal needs to be met or not met, antagonist defeated or not defeated. whatever won out in the end is the determiner of the theme the story’s ended on. this is why the ending is the “resolution.”

in a four-act structure, a character is affected by the world around them. the character can have a conflict and goals, but they need causality - significant events to happen to them - to move forward. the story is driven by how events take shape and how they compare to each other in the grand scheme of things. from there, a character’s reaction (or lack of a reaction) continues the chain of events while telling us what we need to know about them.

four-act stories start by something happening to the protagonist or the protagonist doing something that makes the story-starter happen. the story continues as the protagonist keeps reacting. what keeps them going is some sort of mental/emotional relation to the events at hand. if there’s an antagonist, it’s their goals that are propelling the story, as those goals inhibit the protagonist/their world in some way. when the protagonist seeks a fight, it’s related to the sequence of events - if they’re a goody two-shoes, for example, it’s when the antagonist’s violence goes too far. events lead to an ending that, no matter what it is, reflects the theme of the story. this is why the ending is the “conclusion”.

in the five-act example, the point of the story is bob opening the cap. in the four-act example, his opening the cap was a goal of his, but the point was that he wasn’t careful and hit alice in the eye. you can change the structure of these stories around to make one fit the other, but the focuses work because they’re tailored to those structures.

there’s philosophical/cultural/historical “backstories” as to why the four and five-act structures are the way they are that i don’t feel like i can articulate very well. they’re also a lot for a post about video game men. if there’s something i’m missing or not getting, please tell me. i’ll try my best otherwise.

if the peony lantern followed a five-act structure, i think it would go something like this:

introduction: man meets woman ghost at festival.

rising action: he falls in love with her. neighbor sees him and tells him this is dangerous. he goes to get help in her village. he discovers a tomb in her house with her name on it.

climax: he discovers a coffin in her house with her name on it.

falling action: although he got help, he’s drunkenly lured to his death.

resolution: his body is found and he’s buried. the ghost couple haunts the town. the townspeople/family ask for help, and the ghosts are banished.

feels weird, right? the peony lantern isn’t actually following a five-act structure. instead, it goes like this:

introduction: man meets woman ghost at festival. he falls in love with her. neighbor sees him and tells him this is dangerous.

development: he goes to the town where she’s from and discovers a tomb in her house with her name on it. he then goes to get religious help. even though got help, he’s drunkenly lured to his death.

pivot: the ghost couple haunts the town.

conclusion: the townspeople/family ask for help. the ghosts are banished.

four-act structure hinges on significant events to develop the situation, which leads to character development. we see this in two different ways - during the man’s life and after - because of the way four-act structure is set up to think about ideas: idea (thesis), opposition (antithesis), combination (synthesis). that’s why the “pivot” is the story giving him what he wants; the effect the man’s uniting with his love had on his fellow townspeople as they prowled the streets was not something he seemed to care about much. there’s no way he couldn’t have cared when he was banished. no matter how strong their love was, the story claims that there were more important things for him to consider.

compare this to lenore. if lenore followed a four-act structure, i think it’d go something like this:

introduction: human has a good relationship with her boyfriend. however, he dies. she is grief-stricken, and in mourning. her mourning is slowly escalating.

development: her mourning escalates to a point where she curses god at her loss.

pivot: later, his ghost shows up to her house, riding on a horse.

conclusion: ecstatic, she goes with him. she rides with him to the graveyard. she realizes he is really dead. she dies herself.

feels weird, right? lenore isn’t actually following a four-act structure. instead, it goes like this:

introduction: human’s boyfriend is dead. she’s grief-stricken, and curses god.

rising action: he shows up at her house. she goes with him. he asks her if she’s afraid twice, she says no twice. third time, they’re at the graveyard.

climax: she realizes he’s really dead.

falling action: she’s pulled to her death.

resolution: she’s dead.

like how the four-act structure hinges on character development, the five-act structures hinges on goals to drive a conflict. the five-act structure ideas as thesis vs. antithesis - goal vs. opposition. one has to win at the end, and this tension culminates in the climax. in lenore, the two opposing ideas are her love for the ghost vs. how she blasphemed. first, she blasphemes. then, her ghost lover comes back to take her, and it seems like the love will win out...but she soon faces the consequences of that love when she realizes her love was actually dead. when she dies, the latter triumphed, and her love is shown as not having been worth it.

so the peony lantern is a story which can only read as harrowing as it does because it’s told in a four-act structure. qu’s and asai’s versions differed quite a bit, though:

ghost appearing during the lantern festival (qu) vs obon (asai)

disciple and priest (qu) vs disciple’s role merged into priest (asai)

man lured to death (qu) vs leaves house on his own volition, then lured to death (asai)

village asking for help (qu) vs human’s family (asai)

taoist priest and disciple (qu) vs buddhist priest (asai)

taoist punishment big part of story (qu) vs buddhist punishment, smaller part (asai)

most of these choices look like localizations. the family instead of the townspeople was probably to make those localizations make more sense. as for the significance of the banishment and the way in which the man was lead to his death, i assume asai changed these because of the specific story he wanted to tell.

a buddhist priest himself, much of asai’s writing focused on subverting buddhist emphasis on the importance of spiritual matters. a previous book he’d written is named for the term ukiyo (浮世), or “floating world”. this term had started picking up meaning to refer to a contemporaneous emerging culture of boisterous, red light district-prowling city life. this term is homophonous to another term pronounced ukiyo (憂き世), or “this sorrowful world”, a japanese term for the buddhist concept of escape from earthly death and reincarnation. instead of that, why not hedonistic, earthly pleasures? this was a sentiment which fit into asai’s writing, his time’s relatively stable contemporary politics, and the ukiyo subculture. (also, yes, it’s that ukiyo.) you can read tales from a floating world translated here.

with that, it’s easy to see the sort of story he was trying to get out of the peony lantern. “floating” suggests that most of his writing is lighthearted, and it certainly is, but much of it ultimately focused on critiquing politics/society at large. (though not always expertly.) he was a particular fan of pointing out to the readers what he felt were injustices or what was right instead. qu’s peony lantern and its warning of not faltering to love was a perfect target for a writer like asai.

jiandeng xinhua was influential for the novel way in which qu combined folk tales, buddhist lessons, and his political context. despite this, it was banned (and later unbanned) in his home country for political reasons and was more popular in vietnam, korea, and japan. as a consequence, the peony lantern is most well-known in asai’s form, scoring adaptions from further written stories, to kabuki, to tv, to several movies. it’s one of the most popular japanese kaiban and it inspired others like it. why did it last so long?

asai’s story still operates in a the same buddhist framework as qu’s. in both stories, for lack of a better term, the man’s love with someone he shouldn’t have interacted with came back to bite him in the ass. he’s ultimately punished along with his ghost-lover for having faltered to her in the first place.

but qu’s man was coaxed into his coffin. asai’s man chose to leave his house. the buddhist prayer to banish the ghost is one sentence long, as opposed to qu’s detailed taoist banishment. i think the longevity of asai’s peony lantern is because of these changes. it draws attention to the events that got the story to this point and their ambiguity. with this, we’re left with a ghost and the man who loved her. the relationship is even more in focus than it was before.

the basis of the religious subversion builds a framework for further explorations of the nature of the man and ghost’s relationship - the ghost’s apparent intentions, and the man’s apparent “loss” of agency. subversions never question the danger of the ghost, and don’t go great lengths to change the main course of events or introduce a conflict. they subvert by showing the love inside of that danger, what could’ve happened within, before, after, or outside of it. the change of context changes our perceptions. some adaptions even include the human and ghost being reincarnated together or the human dying with a smile on his face.

by keeping the actions and changing the context, subversions of the peony lantern are about how much the ghost and human mean to each other. the world around the human faces the consequences of the human’s actions. the drawing, oppositional factor here is the “forbidden love” on the part of the relationship’s existence. the important question is “who are these people, and why do they love each other so much?”

lenore had a level of cultural influence in europe to jiandeng xinhua. it inspired a lot of 18th-19th century romantic and gothic literature, specifically early vampire literature; english author bram stoker mentioned it as an influence on dracula*. the plot of dracula revolves more around the group of men who kill him at the end. dracula stalks, seduces, and eventually feeds on women. when he curses the protagonist’s fiancee, the hunt ramps up, and dracula’s eventually staked through the heart.

(*it’s a whole book rather than a short story like lenore or the peony lantern, so just read the wikipedia page if you’d like a full summary.)

the ghost in the peony lantern wasn’t this polarizing a figure because stoker wasn’t in the business of subverting in the way asai was. stoker wrote dracula in the fashion of a shitty contemporary trend. vampires have a history in europe of being portrayed through symbols associated with antisemitism against ashkenazi jews that i’d rather not get into. dracula was so evil because he was so cunning and seductive, “luring” you in, a trope which echoed that sort of anti-semitism. dracula’s allure gives the story a conflict in the same way the human cursing god in lenore did. the emphasis of the conflict just changed.

in lenore, the ghost’s danger was as inherent as in the peony lantern, but the woman’s love - her motivation - was similarly pre-established. what stuck here is the emphasis on that conflict - the question of the human’s priorities between her safety and her love interest’s allure. making the monster appealing in some way complicates things, as it gives her a “rational” reason to be lead to her death. it’s a question of the “benefit” vs. the “cost”. thesis vs. antithesis.

like in the peony lantern, the ghost’s danger is never questioned, but their intentions are. this is why dracula’s contemporaries in anglophone tv shows, movies, and young adult romance novels fret over their danger as much as their human love interests do. by showing that they don’t want to hurt their human, they’re given goals that “salvage” their dangerous nature. this focus on their “goals” not only paints them as worthy of sympathy, but drives the romance on both sides instead of just one. this portrays the relationship as a matter of mismatched compatibility in the way subversions of the peony lantern do, but the focus of the relationship is on how the individual sides fit together, rather than why they fit together.

by changing the focus of the conflict to highlight motivations, subversions of lenore are about how much this ghost means to the human. the world around the human warns the human about what they’re doing. the drawing, oppositional factor here is in the “forbidden love” on the part of the human’s and ghost’s motivations. the important question is “who is this ghost, and why does the human love them so much?”

essentially, these stories teach the same lesson - engaging with ghosts is bad - in two different ways. the effects of the human’s wrongdoing culminate in his receiving the worst fate vs. the human’s wrongdoing is cemented in her receiving the worst fate. these story structures are so ingrained in us that they impact how stories are told, even today - since the stories are set up in the specific ways they are, things like “dangerous” romance can be cultivated from them differently.

(second, completely unrelated side note: i doubt a 365-type story could exist in this form in the me/na. "spirits” are thought of differently. it’d have to change a lot.)

back to tachioda. no matter whether you’re more used to the peony lantern-type stories or lenore-type ones, this motif can be recognized. isn’t someone you care for betraying you with a secret which endangers your life sort of like a realistic rendition of a ghost dragging you into your grave? isn’t tachibana sort of like the human in those stories, where his love care for oda was what inspired him to not run away from his problems anymore by “sacrificing” himself?

oda’s something like the human, too - he did something he knew was against tachibana’s interest out of said poor judgement, which was blinded by his love. and just like both the human and the ghost were banished, oda’s judgement led to events that got tachibana killed.

regardless of who’s who, oda carried both tachibana and himself to their deaths. but is it more similar to the peony lantern, or to lenore?

let’s see if tachioda follows a five-act structure, for one:

introduction: oda works with tachibana. we know they’re very close, but not how. oda seems antagonistic towards kiryu for some reason. oda begrudgingly works with kiryu.

rising action: the search for the owner of the lot goes on. eventually, it’s discovered that it’s makoto, and they head to sotenbori to get her. we learn some stuff about their backstory from the video store owner. makoto and oda encounter each other, and seem to recognize one another. he’s antagonistic towards her.

climax: he eventually tries to kill her. kiryu stops him.

falling action: he spills and is left to fend for himself.

resolution: oda is dead. tachibana learns about it.

completely unrelated post-resolution occurrence: tachibana is inspired to stop running away from his problems.

in the five-act structure, the climax is the most intense moment - the moment where the main character’s goal and what it came in conflict with is at its peak. oda’s attempt to kill makoto is very intense, and where his antagonism both towards her and kiryu comes to a head. but what’s the conflict here?

if you want to find a conflict, you have two options: oda vs. makoto and oda vs. kiryu. since oda’s reveal is seen in the form of a buildup of antagonism that comes near his death, with his death serving as a resolution, there’s one conclusion here - oda is a twist villain. he dies, and makoto and kiryu won.

interpreting the story this way skews things a bit. namely, for a twist villain to work in a 5-act structure, they need to have been involved in the conflict that was driving the story all along. oda was a mole for shibusawa all along, yes, but...that’s it. it didn’t really go any further than him having given shibusawa’s men their location. in terms of a conflict of oda vs. makoto or kiryu, his death wasn’t the culmination of those things - not directly, at least. it didn’t “resolve” any arcs.

makoto’s main situation in the game is dealing with her life on the line with the empty lot in her hands and wanting to meet with her brother, not to mention grappling with everything she’s faced. within that, the identity of the person who trafficked her isn’t represented in a conflict. it’s a conflict - a question. that doesn’t mean it didn’t cause her significant trauma, and that doesn’t mean she isn’t struggling with it; it means that it was presented in a specific way. think about how she found oda - by chance when oda and kiryu came for her. after everything happened, and oda died, she had her answer. we see her reaction to it and everything else she’d faced in the rest of the game.

oda came across makoto so we would know what would happen when she saw him. makoto’s writing...could be better, to say the least, but i think this is a more harrowing presentation of what trauma can feel like. it’s not something that you overcome in a decisive conversation or battle, it’s something that sticks with you, even if you have all the pieces together.

kiryu’s conflict with oda pre-reveal was...nothing, really. even in 5-act structure terms. oda was just an ass to him. if anything, oda had been begrudgingly helping kiryu this far. nothing much other than that going on there, really.

with tachibana, the “conflict” between them isn’t so explicit. we may have some indication that tachibana knows something is going on with oda (which i talked about in my last post from a while ago), and we learn about their past together. until he learns about oda’s death, that’s the most of it. their on-screen interaction is mostly bare-bones.

so, yes, this is a conflict, but we only really see one party propelling the events in it. oda’s also going against tachibana’s interests, but tachibana isn’t involved, and doesn’t even know until it’s too late. he has no “goal” against oda. oda’s also trying to kill makoto, but even that’s only one-sided. she’s no big fan of oda, but she has no “goal” against him. if you see oda vs. tachibana as a conflict that’s driving the story, how tachibana reacts to oda’s death seems out of place - it has nothing to do with any sort of “goal” against oda, let alone resolving any goals, so we can’t say tachibana’s reaction is a resolution to a conflict that came before it. that’s why i put it as a “completely unrelated post-resolution occurrence”.

but oda had reason to be apprehensive - is an oda vs. himself conflict propelling the story? nope. even though it was something he chose to do under specific circumstances, oda’s already made his decision. he’s not convinced out of it until he’s caught. he’s conflicted, but his misguided perceptions motivate him to continue, so what’s driving him forward is not his internal conflict against anyone. it’s his goal.

he’s following his goal, which comes in conflict with tachibana and makoto’s goals, which is what makes events occur, which means that in terms of the four-act structure...he’s a twist villain? not so fast.

like pretty much every yakuza subplot that lasts throughout the whole game, the tachioda subplot follows a jo-ha-kyu structure:

jo: tachibana seems eager to get close to kiryu. he relays that he’s had difficulty trusting people in the past. on the other hand, oda seems antagonistic towards kiryu for some reason, but begrudgingly works with him. the search for the owner of the lot goes on. meanwhile, from makoto and wei han lee, we learn that she was trafficked while looking for her brother. the person who trafficked her had a bat tattoo. in a later scene, it’s revealed that tachibana has the same bat tattoo. later, kiryu and oda go to sotenbori. we learn about their (mostly tachibana’s) past from the video store owner.

ha: makoto and oda encounter each other, and seem to recognize one another. he’s antagonistic towards her, which climbs in severity as oda drives them to a “safe spot”.

kyu: oda tries to kill makoto, but he’s stopped. oda spills everything. kiryu leaves him to fend for himself. tachibana learns about his death and stops running away from his problems.

yes, that’s a new thing i didn’t talk about before. jo-ha-kyu is a japanese artistic structure extrapolated from the chinese literary concepts of fu-bi-xing. by “artistic structure” i mean that it’s a structure that’s applied to a lot of stuff. in our case, it’s a narrative structure used in movies, tv shows, and games.

progression-wise, jo-ha-kyu is similar to four-act, when you think about it. (sort of like how the five-act structure generally follows a larger pattern of “beginning-climax-resolution.) jo-ha-kyu is about a slow development of actions and context (jo), a sudden and quick dramatic heightening of the tension (ha), and an even quicker finish (kyu). the point of this is to show exactly how the “conflict” affects the story before it’s taken care of. the something it leads up to (or doesn’t) isn’t the “climax” - it’s as much of the point as the events are. like with four and five act structures, there’s a philosophy-based reason as to why this exists in the way it does but i’m not sure i could articulate it well.

what happens is that we’re presented with context and later get some indications of what’s “really” going on. then, oda and makoto see each other, and the pace heightens. as they escape from being pursued, oda’s antagonism builds until he tries to kill her. our questions are answered when he’s stopped and reveals everything, giving us context to everything we’ve seen. the conclusion is the rest - it’s not entirely linear because this plot affects both makoto and tachibana. with jo-ha-kyu, like with four-act, plots often don’t “resolve” and can lead to others.

the fun part about this is that you can incorporate a four-act sequence into a part of a larger jo-ha-kyu story to build it up even more. this manifests itself via the oda vs. makoto subplot like this:

introduction: makoto and oda encounter each other, and seem to recognize one another. he’s antagonistic towards her, and that antagonism builds.

development: oda takes them to the “safe spot”. eventually, he tries to kill her. he’s stopped.

pivot: oda spills everything.

conclusion: oda is left to his fate.

this is essentially the “ha” and “kyu” in the larger jo-ha-kyu of the tachioda subplot, and a part of the development makoto’s plot. with makoto, what happened to her was a significant part of her past, so knowing what would happen when she saw oda allows her to take matters into her own hands. (even though the writers screwed that up.)

with tachioda, it "pivots” from oda’s devotion to tachibana (thesis) and takes us to something that seems to contradict it (antithesis) before putting this in context of the devotion established beforehand (synthesis). oda and makoto’s relationship is also the “antithesis” to the thesis of oda and tachibana’s relationship and oda’s characterization as tachibana’s right hand arm man. the synthesis is oda choosing to leave himself to his fate. this also happens so tachibana can learn about his death, and we receive another confirmation - tachibana wanted to trust him.

tachibana’s death is also not a “resolution” to anything. since tachibana is tied to the main plot, this leads to complications for kiryu and makoto both. long story short, makoto confronts the lieutenants, and kiryu later confronts shibusawa. it wouldn’t have been so direct if tachibana hadn’t died, if oda hadn’t died, if oda had better judgement, if oda and tachibana hadn’t bumped into each other in the street in sotenbori, if oda hadn’t trafficked people. but still...

is oda a twist villain here? i’ll answer this by stating what i’ve been implying the whole time: oda as a character doesn’t work in a five-act structure. he’s also not important enough to the game’s plot for a neat yes or no answer. this leads us to some semantics. since we’re speaking in english, “antagonist” implies a character who’s an opposing force to the hero/protagonist, and “villain” implies that the force is tied to nefarious motivations or morals. the two are different, but there’s always some sort of opposition, like with five-act structure.

since we’re talking about a japanese game, japanese has these:

katakiyaku (敵役) - a character who’s role is to be against the protagonist

akuyaku (悪役) - someone who’s considered morally evil in a specific scene/incident/plot

akujin (悪人) - someone who’s very existence is evil; warumono (悪者) - a bad person

the first two japanese definitions are mutually exclusive from the third. they refer to context because they’re translations of the vaguer, european (or specifically anglo here) concept that these are intrinsic story roles. it’s not that villains or antagonists didn’t exist in japanese stories beforehand. it’s that in four-act, a villain doesn’t have to be there for “bad” to happen. see how those kabuki stock character descriptions primarily detail what characters do in a story? compare them to these commedia dell’arte stock character descriptions which primarily detail traits. a four-act villain is morally “bad” because that’s a reflection, not an explanation, of who they are in the story as a whole. that linkage serves as a counterpoint to the hero’s goodness and amplifier of their dastardly actions rather than as two inherently connected forces.

hero vs. villain is still a conflict in jo-ha-kyu and four-act story structure. you fight shibusawa at the end of the game, don’t you? he went out of his way to do what he did, which his less than “moral” backstory gives context to. the only things oda has in that regard are a checkered past and poor judgement. oda was propelled by his goal to do things that went against tachibana and makoto...after he and tachibana saw the latter’s family in a documentary. he came across it, and he reacted to it. oda’s association with the antagonists and former sex trafficking were bad, but he’s not a “villain” like shibusawa is - it’s not his role in the story.

if anything, i’d say that oda was absolutely intended to be a twist “bad guy”, as in twist “guy who did a succession of really bad things, realized the scope of them almost by chance each time, and paid the price.” but we can’t call him a “villain” in the english/five-act way because what he did, his role as a character, and his goals are entirely separate. the last we see of him is his rebuffing shibusawa when he asks why oda “screwed up” - even without kiryu and makoto there, we’re shown that his regret is real. the best we have to describe this in english is “morally gray”.

that doesn’t mean he’s portrayed as being in the right, and it certainly doesn’t mean you’re supposed to sympathize with or even like him, though. the game doesn’t deny that oda’s actions were bad, but it’s not in the business of exploring this through oda as a “ghost” figure pit against the “humans”. like i said in my last post, if they wanted to do this, they easily could have. the main story could happen without oda - his role is to flesh out the world tachibana and makoto find themselves in. he’s a plot device. that’s it.

part of this is done through makoto’s journey. the other part is through tachibana and oda’s feelings about each other. (and also in that they’re foils but that’s another post.) they’re in a chain of events that implies animosity - betrayal - but something is different from what we expect. oda’s devotion to tachibana is the obvious thing. the scene with the car that i already talked about in my last post, a little less so.

other than that, most of what we know about how they behaved, felt, and thought until the “ha” is implied or summarized through anecdotes outside of them. the one thing underlying all of this doesn’t come out until it’s too late. oda realizes the gravity of keeping this secret and chooses to “redeem”* himself by divulging and staying behind. once tachibana reacts to that knowledge, we truly know.

(*another semantics thing - “redeem” in english has the meaning of “redemption arc”, as if it negates bad things or makes up for them. i mean “redeem” here in the “culmination of everything he’d done” way.)

we see oda first as someone who’s close to tachibana, and we only find out what he did and why as he’s dying. in turn, his death is used to confirm something about tachibana that had only been hinted at - his fear and his vulnerability. his priorities in the people he cares about and how he wants to do right by them despite those. (he lost his arm for oda.) by focusing on how tachibana and oda felt about each other within the context of what happened to them, we’re given a story about two people who were close, and one of them trying to work against the inevitable by keeping it that way. the tachioda subplot follows the same style of subversion as the peony lantern.

regardless, oda didn’t come into the game as a “ghost”; he becomes one, both in the plot and in our perception. the focus is on their relationship within what’s happening. like in the peony lantern, what makes this so appealing is that you can connect the emotional dots yourself. both oda and tachibana’s deaths were inevitable, but whether or not they were “deserved” serves to deepen the emotional significance of their deaths on the part of the player, rather than clarified universally to drive the plot. for people like me who ship them, it’s not in spite of what oda did, but in tandem with it.

i think part of the reason why tachioda may be so contentious with english-speaking fans is because of all of this. remember: your view of the world is, more likely than not, never going to be perfectly objective.

tldr: intentionally or not, tachioda is framed in the same way supernatural romances like twilight typically are. pretty cool!

#btw i just do this for fun and for myself #tachioda #i guess .

3 notes · View notes

ananannu · 4 months

Text

Hello. My name is Asai Ryoi. I am the author of this blog. In the meantime, I will tell you a little about myself: I am 20 years old, I live in Yokohama.

#bsd #original character

1 note · View note

mintingprofit · 1 year

Text

Irish Lawmaker's Skewed Lottery Comments Lead to Calls To Set the Record Straight

Irish Lawmaker’s Skewed Lottery Comments Lead to Calls To Set the Record Straight

Posted on: December 26, 2022, 07:57h. Last updated on: December 26, 2022, 07:57h. Last month, a lawmaker in Ireland asserted that the country’s National Lottery has been responsible for 40% of the complaints the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) has fielded. However, Sinn Féin’s Brian Stanley missed the mark with his comment, and the ASAI wants to set the record straight. The…

View On WordPress

0 notes

godslittlesadge · 7 years

Photo

Todoroki: me and Kirishima want to go save Bakugou Tsuyu: and fight without authorization? That's just as bad as ATTEMPTED MURDER and KIDNAPPING! Me: no??? IT'S FUCKING NOT??!!??

#fuck your lawful good shit Tsuyu #what the hell #ok I get the whole #you might die while trying to save him or just worsen his condition #but really?#not being authorized to fight?#THAT'S what you're worried about?#NHNGGHGHGJGHHHGHH #chapter 84 #boku no hero academia #spoilers #todoroki shouto #kirishima eijirou #katsuki bakugou #tsuyu asai

3 notes · View notes

gregcanty · 5 years

Text

What is the cost of being “influenced”?

I unlocked my phone, and my finger (without thinking) automatically clicked onto the Instagram app.

The first thing I saw was a stunningly beautiful girl in a bikini with an amazing figure, on a picturesque beach in some dreamy location, holding a bottle of sunscreen.

How random? Well actually, it’s not. The brand of sunscreen that this beautiful influencer is holding, paid her (quite a lot of…

View On WordPress

#Abilgail Shaw #Advertising Standards Authority #ASAI #Fuzion Communications #Influencer Marketing #Love Island #Marketing #PR

0 notes

charlidos · 3 years

Photo

It was very pleasant waking up this morning and seeing this beautiful face! (That sounds bad. Or very good?) Why is he so pretty? And in HD too! No mosaic this time. Maybe this old-fashioned guy got a new phone?

But anyway, Machida-san is doing a new live-action from a manga, about a bartender, and it’s called Nishi Ogikubo Mitsuboshi Yōshudō. I haven’t seen that the manga has been translated to English yet. Or? The series is out in February.

(Am I wrong in seeing that the author of the manga, Asai Sai, has also done yaoi? They seem very explicit, even... This bartender drama isn’t that, though. As far as I know. It’s listed as “Drama, shoujo, slice of Life “. It sounds nice.)

#machida keita #nishi ogikubo mitsuboshi yoshudo #keita machida

42 notes · View notes

lnarizakis · 4 years

Text

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧COACHES DON’T PLAY

THE JOURNAL OF A FORMER AUTHOR: PAGE 002

HOT OFF THE PRESS ! Is this not what you’re looking for? Please view the masterlist [here]!

EXTRA ! miya osamu x fem! reader. 1.2k words. original characters.

“Hey, (Y/N)-chan. It’s been a while. How’re you?”

She held her breath, not realizing the lessened formality of their relationship. Letting out her breath little by little, (Y/N) took her time with what she wanted to say.

It was a little too long, however, when her cousin spoke after a minute of silence. “Hello? Are you still there?”

Hastily she replied, “Yeah! Yeah, I am. I’m… okay. How are you?”

From the other end came a slight chuckle. “So am I. How’s the dating column coming along?” (Y/N) pursed her lips, and her heart beat quicker, nervous that the previous Dating-san, her cousin, was asking her about such matters.

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about tonight,” she ended up saying.

“Oh? What’s wrong?”

“I… got kicked. From the club. ‘Cause my editor spread a false rumor about me. And now my entire reputation as Dating-san, and as a person in general, really, is pretty much down the drain,” she told him. She was genuinely surprised that not only her cousin had managed to stay silent throughout the entire explanation, but also how she had more to say.

“And I feel like such a terrible person now, too. ‘Cause of both the newspaper column, that I couldn’t do my own job and be actually responsible, and that I ruined one of the relationships that I helped build.” Silence came from the other end. Again, a wave of nervousness rushed over (Y/N) and shook her; what loomed over her next was the intimidation she felt whenever she talked with her cousin, Dating-san.

When her cousin began talking, she stiffened, despite being wrapped up in the comforts of her bed. “I see. Well, I’ll start off by saying congrats for working well enough to help build a relationship; I’ll give you that. Next, I see where you’re coming from. I’m really sorry that you had to go through this; there’s definitely some corruption in this organization. I’ll talk to Aki-san for you if you’d like.

“You really don’t have to--”

“No, please. Let me. It’s the least I can do for my favorite cousin. Is there any particular reason why you’re on bad terms with your editor?”

(Y/N) didn’t even have to think about the answer. “Yeah: I like her boyfriend. Or, well, ex-boyfriend.”

Her cousin gave a good laugh, and (Y/N) felt herself smiling to his contagious laughter. “Oh, (Y/N). You really… let your crush go just for the sake of your job, huh? You’re too generous, I swear.” Laughing in between your words, you told him that you had to; it was your responsibility.

After a few minutes of letting out a good laugh mixed with the undertones of a sob, (Y/N)’s cousin silenced her with his next string of advice for her. “(Y/N), I know how seriously you take, or took, I guess, this job and, honestly, I’m very proud of you for that. I remember you were so excited to take up the responsibility once I graduated, and your excitement spread to me, too.

“But, you see, this job as a writer does not define who you are, got that? You are so much more than what you’re known as at school. You’re someone who’s hardworking and passionate with everything they do. You’re a lover and a hater. You’re emotional. You’re friendly; you can get along with anyone. (Y/N), I don’t know you as Dating-san, but as my cousin. I know you as (Y/N).

“And, lastly, do not feel bad that your editor spread a terrible rumor about you. She’s going to get what she deserves soon enough. I really don’t blame you for being selfish. Sometimes we as dating coaches gotta feel something, too, you know? I don’t think I ever told you, but last year I actually got with my crush because I was selfish. ‘Cause, of course, coaches don’t play, but they gotta step on the court some day.”

There was a strange feeling that washed over (Y/N) with those last words. She opened her mouth to thank her cousin, but before she could even say anything, he told her, “I do not regret making you the next Dating-san at all, (Y/N). You amaze me every day, even if you think you’re the worst person in the world. You will never be that kind of person to me.”

Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, (Y/N) mouthed a “thank you,” and hung up. She stayed underneath the blankets of her bed for a while before she hopped up to freshen up herself in her bathroom. Slowly she learned that being kicked off the newspaper club wasn’t a bad thing; in fact, she saw it as a way for herself to grow.

When she came back, her phone buzzed with one single notification from her cousin. It was a text message. She smiled warmly at the message.

[10:41 pm] don’t forget that if you’re troubled by all of this because of the guy you like, go for the guy! have no regrets. follow what you want to do instead of what others tell you to do. coaches can play, too!

Setting her phone down next to her on the desk, (Y/N) opened up her notebook to let out her thoughts.

So this is the journal of a former author. It feels much more therapeutic to handwrite than to type, though it hurts a little more to write.

What do I want to say, exactly? Maybe it’s that I am conflicted between regretting falling for Osamu and thinking that falling for him was a good thing. If I never fell for him I wouldn’t be in this mess. However, thinking about it, if I never fell for him I wouldn’t have had that really good talk with my cousin.

Ultimately, I wish I never liked him.

But then again, he’s picked me up on days I’ve felt so down… and he’s good company. Maybe we’re better off as friends. I don’t think he was right for Asai. I thought he would change her, but in the end, she remained the same. She treated Osamu like a pet and made him bow down to her.

I’m sorry, Osamu. I wish I never advised you to date Asai. My fear of her caused me to write what she wanted to see, not what you wanted to see. Though, you’re okay with anything, and that’s what kinda drew me to you, I guess. You were okay with being my friend, and you genuinely enjoy my company, even if you don’t really show it. I enjoy your company, too.

I just wish I could tell you how I feel. Asai probably has, though. Or maybe she hasn’t. Who knows? I don’t know what I’d do if I told you that I liked you. I’d run away and hide. Never show my face to you again. Would you come try and find me?

I should stop being so indecisive. Here are my thoughts, loud and clear: I like Osamu. I regret writing down what Asai wanted to read, not what Osamu wanted. I will never regret knowing Osamu, befriending him, and falling for him.

I will never regret taking up the role as Dating-san, because if I’m part of the newspaper club or not, I will always be Dating-san to Inarizaki High.

taglist: send an ask to be added ! [ @lcaita @reogou @alienvarmint @annalyn-annalyn @kunimwuah @akaarin @wansseul @anime-simp @dorkyama @keiyoomi @studywoo @steggy4ever @wheelzzzies @kaoyuuuuu @sadakaashistan @waitforitillwritemywayout ]

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #hq x reader #hq!! x reader #miya osamu x reader #osamu miya x reader #osamu x reader #hq osamu x reader #coaches dont play

84 notes · View notes

Last Seen Blogs

disaster-cryptid

Disaster Zone

armoredtroll

#EDM

sielplaceresunpecado

♡bienvenidos al infierno♡

prideandprejudice674-blog

Pride And Prejudice Essay Questions

param-sundari