From a thing to wear to an icon of culture 👘

There is this hidden detail in Muzan that when I noticed I could not help but smile. Remember how he said that the thing he hated the most was change? Well coming from someone that had to live in 5 different eras is kinda funny, and it's even funny when you realize that he ended up adopting the Western fashion pretty fast. But that's the twist, if you look at Muzan's vest you come to realize that it's the exact same pattern as the kimono he used to wear. The best part? That was a thing that actually happened in history.

Wanting or not, the clothing that the people used to wear represents the history they lived through. "To look seriously at art objects of the everyday, such as clothes - their discourse and practices, their meaning-bearing forms and their codes of internal and external interpretations - in an essential, and often neglected, component of any study of modern aesthetics." - Slade, 2009 Yofuku [Western Clothing] is a type of clothing that is now common all over Japan, but during a lot of time, it was a type of clothes that only selected few grew up with. The 1st contacts with these types of clothing [even if extremely different from what we now call western clothing] was in the 16th century when the Portuguese arrived in Tanegashima. With them came not only different shapes but also different fabrics. But the “true” introduction to western fashion would only happen with Commodore Matthew Perry, catharsis to the Meiji restoration, where Emperor Meiji would start to dress in a typical western military outfit, and soon after the empress would start to aper in the typical victorian dresses. In the Edo period clothing visually distinguished the social classes. "Certain articles of clothing visibly differentiated people of diverse social classes, and simultaneously distinguished an individual within a specific group. The materials, motifs and construction of military campaign coats, for example, marked their wearers as men belonging to the military class." - Milhaupt, 2014; Samurai ranked on the top, followed by farmers, artisans, and merchants on the bottom. What happen was that most of the times the samurai where poor while the merchants lived in economic success. But samurai had the privilege of using certain types of fabrics and patters, even tho most of the times they could not afford them, and so, the merchants would start to adapt the fabrics and patters they were allowed to were and would end up becoming the patrons of arts and fashion. The trends of fashion would later be documented in ukiyo-e, and not only in the work of art sense, but also in pattern books were people could browse the prevailing styles. After the 1st contacts with the westerners, what would start to happen is that slowly but surely the Japanese would start to integrate the western ways of dressing into their lives. The Japanese started to introduce some of its elements with the kimono, shoes, hats, gloves, glasses, umbrellas, etc. Then in the 19th century a full change would happen starting from the man in the highest classes to the man in the lowest classes. The emperor decided to cut his topknot in 1872 and started to dress in western clothing in official appearances, also changing some of the more cultural habits like eating meat and more wester kind of meals. In the official portraits he appears adorned with a French-style military uniform with ornaments in gold and ostrich feathers. Before this, the emperor was never a public figure, so when pictures of the Meiji Emperor became available, and he started to appear more publicly the nation would have their eyes on him and start to imitate him. Women would, for the longest time still dress in the now classic kimono, that would develop as a symbol of the old and traditional Japan. The idea of the western clothing being associated with a modernized Japan and the Kimono [that literally means “thing to wear”] to a traditional country came from the fact that the emperor would choose to wear western clothes in more formal, international events, and for religious national events would choose the traditional Japanese court dress. The western clothes will end up being a symbol of the modernization of Japan, and the Meiji government would use it as yet another tool of national control. For all the Japanese born after 1945 the western clothes became the norm. Most families would end up transforming their kimonos into western clothing pieces, and the patterns sold for kimonos would double for kimonos and western clothing.

But it is funny to notice how despite it all Muzan is the one being presented in western clothing and Ubuyashiki is the one in traditional clothes, always being the contradiction of the other, but also it can also be interpretated as the Ubuyashibi family being "trapped" in the past since in hundred years the corps never killed an upper moon, the history never changed. And Muzan in his ever-changing cycle of his life, in the changing of eras and changing of personas he decided to reuse the only thing he could: his clothes. And just like him, they would adapt through the times.

MILHAUPT, Terry Satsuki. 2014 - Kimono: A Modern History. London: Reaktion Books [Ebook]; SLADE, Toby. 2009 - Japanese Fashion: A cultural History. Oxford, Berg. [Ebook];

Thinking about History Teacher Rengoku and his little earthy librarian girlfriend who helps him pick out books for his class. Your hair up in a cute little scarf to match your outfit your fingers adorned with rings and your hoops on your ears, your wrist covered in those pretty beaded bracelets, your tummy out and your wearing that cute jean skirt embroidered with a cute koi fish on the side. Rengoku couldn’t help but admire you from a far peering at you from the window in your quaint little store before peaking his bright head of hair in. He stood there watching you shelf books swaying along with the music you have playing in the store. His heart growing bigger by the second as he watched you in your own little environment humming along and skimming through some of the books. Rengoku clears his throat alerting you of his presence chuckling at your wide eyed stare. “It’s only me darling, I came by on my lunch break to visit you!” He says walking closer wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you into him. “Hi sugar.” You grin pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Did you wanna see the new books I got for the week?” You peer up at him excitedly. “Of course show me all the new ones, oh and there’s this really nice restaurant opening up downtown we should go on a date together soon.” Rengoku says swaying you side to side before letting you go off and show him you new books.

it is my personal headcannon that sometimes muzan forgets that poor koku is human and can't do ALL of his work in one sitting

ik bro is overworked and underpaid

“Wash Day”

Boyfriend!KyojuroRengokuxBlackAFABReader

TW: a big ol hunk of FLUFF 🥹

Happy Black History Month!! 🖤

It’s something about how the warm water first hits your scalp as you ready it to be washed. It’s overwhelming yet calming at the same time. Even though it takes a lot of time and effort to do your hair to the point you designate a day for it, in the end it’s all worth it and your boyfriend knows that very well.

From your solo show in the shower, singing yours and his ancestors souls out to The wide smile on your face when you’re finally out and putting in product and trimming the edges just to find out it’s grown longer than before, he sees it all and it bring a warm feeling in his chest. He loves it when you’re happy and if he can bring you joy, he will.

He has always wondered how you were able to have your hair in any style you wished and how much work you put into it but feared for a long time that it would be rude to ask until one day you told him. You were a bit frustrated that night and he could hear you huff in frustration and went to see why. That’s when he first smelled the different oils and products you but into your hair. “That’s why she smells so good” he thinks while quietly watching you. From that point on, he started to get more curious.

So when he started watching you do your routine and realized it takes a lot out of you, he’s eager to help. At first, he sneakily watches from the other room and eventually is standing near the door. He understands it’s important to you but not fully and the more he watches, the more he wishes to learn. You’re his future after all and how can he fully take care of you if he didn’t know why it took so much maintenance and time to do your hair? He knows it’s not just because of hygiene and he knows it’s something deeper but he wants to know the history behind it and also he just really wants to see you smile. So he does what he does best, learns.

From books and articles to watching YouTube videos and practicing on a black baby doll he borrowed from the kids next door. He was INVESTED and he wouldn’t stop until he can fully be of service to you. He never realized how many styles there were and was impressed and inspired while learning the history and meaning behind them.

You didn’t recognize this until you started to notice that their were two of everything you used. You also started seeing more hair tutorials on your shared YouTube account you never searched but brushed it off as you forgetting you watched them. What you didn’t realize was that your sweet boyfriend has been doing this not knowing it’s been MONTHS and that it was all for a huge surprise for you. Even going as far as going to your other neighbor and learning from them.

This is what brings us to today. While you’re doing your usual routine in the shower, he preparing everything for the task at hand. Oils, creams, masks, and even buying you a new type of brush that makes detangling easier. The usual place you do your hair is now decked with a full restock of things you have been needing for forever and snacks. What you didn’t know was that you weren’t going to be doing your hair or anything else. You were going to be pampered. He was learning and researching for this very moment and other times in the foreseeable future.

He’s nervous. Not just because this is new territory but also because he doesn’t know how you’re going to react. He knows it’s coming from an amazingly sweet place but never wants you to feel offended. We waits patiently inside the bedroom you both share for you to get out of the shower. Hands a bit clammy and then heart racing when he hears the confusion in your voice when searching for your things. The lump in his throat bobbing up and down as you open the door and stand there hair wet and confused.

“Baby, have you seen my-“

You stop and your eyes widen. Everything you were looking for was neetly placed on the new vanity he built accompanied by a cucumber mask, bowl of your favorite fruits, your favorite binge show displayed on the tv in the background and a robe in his hands. “I know you usually do it by yourself but..” he says while stepping a bit closer to you. “I wanted to let you relax and take care of your hair and you. If you allow me…” he says nervously. You’re speechless because it’s not just unexpected, it’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for you and the fact that he was willing to learn makes you tear up a bit. You hug him tightly and he kisses your forehead, relieved that you trust him enough to allow him to help.

The night goes amazingly with nothing but laughs and praises from your end on how good he was doing which made his heart soar. As he braids the last braid, he looks up to see you grinning the widest he’s ever seen.

This—your smile—is all that he could ever ask for. This is good and he hopes you smile for him like that forever and always.

“Baby?”

“Yes, my love?”

“Thank you” you say lovingly.

He stops and kisses your head.

“Always”

Yoriichi in Red

I’ve heard that at one point wearing the color red in Japan was thought to ward off evil and represent protection- which is why a lot of shrines/temples are red. At the same time twins were seen as bad luck and this was even mentioned in Yoriichi and Michikatsu’s backstory.

So that had me thinking-

What if Yoriichi’s mother had him dressed in red for protection- to combat this “bad luck.”

I came up with this last year and I still think it’s funny so I’m posting it here

Koku: *out of nowhere* Ugh I hate Americans

Everyone: ???

Muzan: Why??

Koku: They hate tea, don’t they?

Everyone:

Koku: Didn’t they dump a ton of it into the water

Akaza: Is he... talking about the Boston Tea Party?

Douma: That was like 150 years ago. You have to let these things go

Nakime: It was to protest taxation, not because they hated tea

Koku: Oh

Koku: So the tea was being taxed?

Muzan: No

Koku: ???

The Possession.

JAN 13, 2024 - 10:21pm

“I’m not cold.” She said.  

She looked over her shoulder and the apparition drew closer. The ghost’s green glow washed over as it enveloped her. Her body seized as the thin wisps of emerald smoke seeped into her body through her nostrils, ears, and mouth. She coughed a light green smoke in response. 

Her eyes glowed a bright green and a weird pang struck the back of her brain. Her body felt weightless and it sank deep into the creaking floorboards. She was waist deep under the second floor when she began to panic. She kicked her feet as if willing herself to fly or fall. She let out a whimper as her chest and shoulders disappeared through the floorboards. She kicked again and she sank to the first floor space beneath her second story room. 

Spike calling Tara sexy was such a weird moment.

I get why he did. It was in-character and Spike WOULD think a stronger, more self-assured Tara was sexy.

That being said, I'm glad he still said she wasn't his type.

And that Tara said that he wasn't hers, either.

And they were both so anti-being in a thruple, even though Dru loved them both. LOL

It’s AP Exam week!!

And, as such, here’s some shitty 5 minute doodles of some of our fav Kimetsu Gakuen teachers cheering us on that I made on the back of some old notes while cramming for my APUSH exam!! (I really wanted to do Obanai too, but, uh. The AP Chem exam already happened. So I hope you all did well!!)

Ah, yes, the duality of man. Don’t listen to Sanemi, Calc students, he is but a a lying liar who lies and he actually believes in you very much. Anyway! I’ve got APUSH and AP Lang coming up over the next two weeks, but for those of you taking other AP tests, know that your KimeGaku teachers (and me!) are rooting for you from afar!

Ah the Red light- I mean “entertainment” district 💄

It is true that there are three figures that we associate with Japan: Naruto, Luffy and Goku - I mean the ancient samurai, the modern salary man, and the eternal Geisha. Especially during the Edo Period, there was a rise in the so-called red-light districts, stage of the mesmerizing ukiyo-e, that the common mortal would happily purchase, in special, the shunga, that could picture the most obscene acts. But things aren’t always like the art portrait am I right? Sex trade in early modern Japan was so important that its history can also be read as the history of the society. But even though the prostitution relationship with the government changed, one thing they always had in common: it was the exchange of sexual services for a payment [most of the times in cash]. Before all, let's say something: male prostitution did exist. But it was just not considered the same business than the woman’s prostitution. Male sex trade became more associated with the theatre world and the teahouses. It was never recognised or regulated and had never the same punishments that woman did. This could be linked to the function of the man and woman in the households. Since a man could only be a brother, but the woman could start turmoil and try to substitute the wife in the family and give the male heirs. (Ah yes, always the baby problem. So be gay do crime I guess) During the 17th century prostitution was flued by the demographic movements of man opening cities, by the 18th the power shifted to the small provinces. And to where the man goes, the sex trade goes. In the 19th century the sex trade spread to all the territory. In the beginning of the Edo period, the rule of the "wife" and the "prostitute" could be confused. After all the women could be said to only have those two paths, and it wasn't for her to choose, but her male guardian. Since the woman was viewed as an object of the man's property, he could sell her as he wished. Yes, even wives and daughters from "good" families were sold as a way to pay a debt. “There was no question that the Tokugawa authorities’ vision of status order had been confining for woman: it subordinated them to male household heads and emphasized the values of obedience and submission. Indeed, some must have welcomed the opportunity to step outside their narrowly defines roles as wives and daughters. (…) But for the vast majority of woman who worked in the sex trade, the crises of the gendered order, and the disintegration of the limited protection it offered, was hardly a form of liberation.” - Stanley,2012;

In 1612 a man called Jin'emon tried to ask the Shogunate to recognise his business. He said that unregulated sex trade could cause a lot of problems like young girls being kidnapped, samurais plotting rebellions in the courtesans' beds, man splurging their wages on woman (and babies a lot of unwanted babies coming back for their illegitimate families let’s not forget that). The shogunate (finally) agreed and gave him a plot of land in the outskirts of town with (a lot of) conditions: they would regulate the sex trade, they would record the comings and goings, report anything suspicious, and the woman - yujo - could not leave the "pleasure quarters" and thus the Red Light district was born, at the time called Yoshiwara or "Reed Plain". The Shogunate soon started to forbid the selling and buying of humans, believe it or not this also included woman. But, as always, with exceptions. Woman could enter the “pleasure quarters” if the hitonushi [the woman’s legal guardian] allowed and if she consented. The same would apply if a family was in extreme poverty, the man could only sell is wife as a last resort. Also, eternal servitude was now illegal, the limit was now 10 years, but obviously the Yoshiwara’s pleasure houses lords would manipulate the contracts to go around this rule. The Shogunate tried to regulate the clandestine prostitutes that the common people called baita [whores]. But these women, that normally worked in the side of the streets, were paid very little and were the wives and daughter of marginal men. There was also the problem of the “bathhouses”, where pretty woman would scrub the backs and rinse their hair of men. Yoshiwara brothels complained that these bathhouses were hurting their business since it was at the time that bordels were forbidden from working during the night, so this bathhouses would do drinking parties with shamisen music and everything. And the yuna [bathing girls] were cheaper than the yujo. Bit after the big fire of Meireki at 1657 these bathhouses choose to relocate to Yoshiwara. But there was a problem is this tentative of politicised the sex trade: the woman that only sold sex as a secondary option. She shogunate realised this problem and declared that all the waitresses, dancers and entertainers that agreed with patrons to sell sex would be considered clandestine prostitutes. But there was a risen of a type of artistic woman, that was skilled in entertainment, that started to imitate the male way entertainment - the Geisha. “Originally, both men and women professionally living on light accomplishments inseparably went under the name of “geisha”, although men were called “otoko geisha” or male geisha, and women “onna geisha” or female geisha. Subsequently the term “onna” was dropped, so that the onna geisha came to be called simply geisha, and the otoko geisha or male geisha changed simultaneously their name into “hokan” or jester.” – Longstreet; Mansfield; Longstreet, 2020; The word geisha can be split into "art" and "person", meaning that the geisha were the perfect mix between the performance and prostitution. They were supposed to have many artistic talents like singing, reciting poetry, performing the tea ceremony, playing the shamisen, arranging flowers, telling the best jokes, whispering obscene things, in short entertaining men. Selling sex was a last thing. They were sexually available, but they had a price, and with a higher price came its social value.

These Geisha usually had their hair up in the traditional maga style [which was mostly made of wigs], wore colourful makeup, kimonos, and obi. Normally they had various apprentices called maiko or hangyoku. (Yes I'm sorry to break your heart but the little girls at House Tokito (Tanjiro infiltration), that help the Koinatsu Oiran were either sold or daughters of courtesans at that house, being trained to be the next Oiran) Obviously, they also had lovers, but outside their job. In the workplace they would smile and bow to entertain their patrons. Sometimes they could choose a wealthier patron that would sponsor their lifestyle. Sometimes they had another lover that was their true love, but that was not the best option since time was money. Unlike the courtesans the geisha could choose their patrons, but sooner or later their professions would start to be confused. Many of the trends of the Edo period continued after the Meiji restoration. Until the Taisho Era [1912-1926] the number of prostitutes registered in brothels doubled. The number of Geisha alone as circa 79.348. It was estimated that 1 out of 31 Japanese young women were employed in the sex trade (that excluding the comfort woman cause non-Japanese did not count, cause ah the imperialism) The funny part was, the money that these women made was income that would be invested in important modernizing infrastructures like elementary schools. With the westernization government started to being pressure to liberate this woman, but soon these women realized that they did not have were to go. So, in technical terms nothing really changed. But the Japanese started to be see this woman as impure, in part because of the sexual deceases that were starting to be aware of. Now we understand why one of the Demon Slayer arcs takes us to the pleasure district, because during a lot of time it was the center of a lot of what we now call the japanese culture.

Linfamy. 2023 - Two Oh-So-Happy Destinies Forced Upon Daughters in Edo Japan. [Consulted on the 27th June 2023] Available on: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcewuw0sMOo>; LONGSTREET, Stephen. LONGSTREET, Ethel. MANSFIELD, Stephen. 2020 - Geishas and the Floating World: Inside Tokyo’s Yoshiwara Pleasure District. Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. [Ebook]; STANLEY, Amy. 2012 - Selling Women: Prostitution, Markets, and the Household in Early Modern Japan. California: University of California Press. [Ebook];

i cannot for the life of me remember how when or why i followed you but your art is good! i cant figure out what fandom i followed you for im entirely stumped

Could it be for the danganronpa?? The creepypasta?? The Pokémon or ponies?? Or the long long time ago when I drew fnaf and undertale?? My paper trail or fandoms is long!!

no new animes this fall and winter. i am regressing to full metal alchemist, Yuri on ice, and free!

This is Demon Hunters:

In this Alternative Universe of the anime Kimetsu No Yaiba (by: @rairacrow ); Nezuko, Tanjiro and others characters swap their roles, some with sense, some not.

Is called 'Demon Hunters' (from 'Demon Slayer') because the history is, in essence, the same, so I need a name that fit.

This au is also developed in the other networks of the author (deviantart, instagram and twitter), where they find her as Rairakku Crow.

I hope likes it.

Just so you know in the JJK Disney crossover fandom, Bakugou is now the child of Sukuna and Cinderella.

Do what you will with that information.

They’re drawing more in. They are truly becoming Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

🕊 Hello there you wonderful humans of the internet, my name is Sage (19nb). I'm eager to roleplay something rather dark, so please keep in mind that these could be all triggering topics and may not be for everyone.

Though i prefer darker plots, I'm also open to something more fluffy if that's your cup of tea. These plots we can do here or on Discord.

What I can offer;

Relatively fast replies, usually more than one roleplay response a day and for ooc I'm always open.

Lengthy writing, though I'd not say that I'm novella and give you false hope, buy I usually try to mirror the writing of my partner.

If we're both invested in the plot, I can be very enthusiastic about it.

I only do ocxoc, but I can be persuaded into doing ocxcc (I usually don't double up but we can discuss that)

What I'm looking for;

Be 18+ please.

Able to write dominant male characters for either a female or a nonbinary (sub) character. I'm really strict on this one.

Please have little to know triggers, but I will respect whatever you're uncomfortable with and try to avoid it.

You can use whatever faceclaims you want, and write in first or third person, just don't expect me to do the same, I write only in third person and mostly use realistic faceclaims.

With that done, we can get into the more interesting stuff - the vibe I'm hoping to have for this roleplay.

Age gaps are preferred

Any kind of emotional manipulation/abuse. Now as someone more experienced, I find this much more interesting than physical abuse.

Power imbalance.

Mental illness and eating disorders for my character.

Some fandoms I'm into;

Apothecary diaries

The secret history

Demon slayer

Bungo stray dogs

I believe that's about it, for any more information, feel free to message me and we can talk or just interact with this post and I'll get back to you.

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