#kimono motifs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

statusexile · 6 months

Text

Michelin Star Treatment and My Body's On The Menu

Summary: You work as a naked sushi model in a high-end Japanese restaurant and professionalism was the name of the game. But when Ghost and Konig walked through the door, your composure was put to the test.

Pairing: Simon “Ghost” Riley x Reader x Konig

Warnings: afab!reader, dub con, exhibitionist, nipple play, fingering, squirting, wakamezake, mask kink, reader goes by she/her pronouns.

Word count: 1,804 words

NSFW. MDNI!

a/n: Nyotaimori (女体盛り) is the Japanese practice of serving sashimi or sushi from the naked body of a woman. This fic probably wouldn’t be 100% accurate to the real-life practice because I’m not Japanese. Nonetheless, feedback and suggestion are always welcome, along with reblogs and likes. Thank you for reading! ❤️

Working as a naked sushi model for a high-end restaurant was never your dream. Your friends and family always find your job as peculiar. They always ask you why would you want to be a human sushi platter for wealthy people. While some people see your job as an art form and others think it’s degrading to women. You didn’t care about their opinions anyway; it kept food on the table and paid your bills and that was all that really mattered to you.

Still feeling a bit groggy from the long shift, you sat down on a bench in the fitting room and began counting your tip money. The day had been long, but the customers were generous, you are pleased with the amount of money you have made today. Even though one group of customers that you got earlier were a bunch of drunk and obnoxious business men. They’re not trying to grope you or anything, but they’re just really rowdy and it hurts your head so bad. Unfortunately, you can’t say anything because you're not allowed to speak while you're on the job.

You get up from the bench and begin tidying your hair and make-up. There’s only one more reservation for the day: a table for two people. Perhaps they’re a couple, you think to yourself. At least it shouldn't be as disastrous as the earlier group, as you walked out from the changing room into the private dining room that was booked by the pair. The interior of the room was opulent. Soft lighting and the sounds of waterfall provided a serene atmosphere, while traditional Japanese motifs of cherry blossom and zen gardens adorned the walls. The restaurant was clearly designed to create a serene and elegant ambience that would enhance the dining experience for the guests.

You took off your kimono, leaving you bare, and climbed onto the dining table, lying down on top of it. The sushi chefs began decorating your body with a variety of sushi and sashimi, placing them on top of leaves that had been sanitized to prevent direct contact with your skin. After that, they covered your nipples and your genital area with flowers. And now all you have to do is wait for the customer to arrive at the restaurant.

It doesnt take very long for the pair to arrive. They’re two tall, muscular men in military attire, and you can see the outlines of their muscles on their clothes. Both of them are wearing masks: one is wearing a skull-printed mask, while the other is wearing a draped style mask.

Your heart skipped a beat when the two men entered the dining room. You’ve always been intrigued by masked men - there's something alluring and mysterious about them. You didn’t know if they were hot or ugly underneath their masks, it doesn’t matter to you, it was the mystery that made you so intrigued and turned on about them.

They sat down on the tatami and ordered sake from the waitress; it didn’t take long for the waitress to come back with their drinks. They began eating immediately, taking some of the sushi that was placed on top of your stomach. The dinner went well so far. You could hear both men talking about their jobs in the military - the one with the skull-printed mask spoke with a deep, husky British accent, while the one with the draped mask spoke with a thick German accent. Soon you learned their names were Ghost and Konig.

They spoke about an upcoming mission, using fancy words, code names, and military slang that you didn't understand. But all you could focus on was their sexy voices - it was as if they were trying to turn you. You couldn't do anything about it - you couldn’t even move your body an inch while you were still with the customer. So, all you could do was stare at the ceiling, trying to not let it bother you.

They were nearly finished with their meals, and you felt a bit disappointed because it means they would leave soon - but you didn't know that the real fun was about to begin.

Suddenly, you felt Konig’s fingers graze your thigh. You were surprised by his sudden action - this felt so wrong that you should have stand up and called the manager at this point - but you were already so turned on at his touch. You could feel a shiver running down your spine.

“So beautiful,” Konig mutters so himself, still grazing his fingers on your thigh, “Shall we have some fun with her, Lieutenant?”

“Your call, Colonel. I’m down if you’re down.” Ghost replied while he stares at you. You could only see his eyes, but you could feel the lust in his stare. It looks like he’s going to devour you whole.

“Alright then,” Konig said as he removed the flower that covered your fold. You’re already so turned on at this point and his action made it even worse.

“Clench your thigh real tight, schatz.” You didn't know why, but you immediately complied with his command, so you clenched your thighs as tight as possible. You could see Konig pouring the sake between them. You could feel the cold liquid grazing your hot skin as you let out a soft mewl from the sensation as it’s slowly running down in between your thighs. He lifts his mask up and starts slurping the sake directly from your crotch, you could feel his soft lips touching your fold. This is so inappropriate, and you could definitely get fired if your supervisor found out that you allowed a customer to do something like this. But your body could only succumb to his action. You’re already way too deep in it anyway and there’s no turning back at point. “So delicious,” Konig said after he finished drinking, wiping his own lips with his hands. “Your turn, Lieutenant.” he added as he passed the sake bottle to Ghost. Ghost did the same thing Konig did earlier. He poured some more sake between your clenched thighs, slurping them, but suddenly after he finished drinking, he opens your legs a bit and give a single lick at your labia. You let out a moan, still trying to keep quiet, but now it’s getting harder. “She’s indeed delicious, Colonel.” he said to Konig in a satisfied tone, “Don’t worry love, we’re gonna make you feel so good” he added. Konig started to remove the flowers that covered your nipples, you could sense the chilly air gently brushing against them.

Konig and Ghost scooch over from their seats, and now their faces facing your breasts. “Open your legs real wide for us, sweetheart. Please, allow us to return the favor for your hospitality this evening.” Konig hums in your ear. Both of them slowly opens your legs, revealing your now dripping cunt that’s been covered with your own liquid and the sake from earlier.

“Shall we enjoy the dessert for the night, Colonel?” “After you, Lieutenant.”

Suddenly, both of them start latching to your nipples, as Konig’s hand starts rubbing your damp cunt with his calloused hand. You let out a loud gasp as you jerk your head back from the sudden sensation. One of Ghost’s hands pinning you down, ensuring you stay still in your place. You tried to wiggle your body, but his hand was so strong, keeping you in your position.

“Be quiet, love. We don't want anyone outside to know we're doing this, do we?” Ghost purred in your ear in between sucking your breast. You could only nod at his words, feeling absolutely lost in the pleasure they’re giving to you. Konig starts to insert two of his fingers inside you and start thrusting them. You bit your lips so hard they’re probably bleeding at this point but you didn’t even pay attention to it as you lost to the overstimulation and pleasure.

“So fucking wet for us” Konig whispered while his mouth is still latching to your breast, now he’s using his thumb to play with your clit and adding another finger inside you. You've already surrendered to them, letting them do whatever they want to you at this point. You could feel your holes stretched thin with his fingers as if he shoved his entire fist inside you because of how thick his fingers are.

Your body shudders as they keep sucking your breasts without mercy and Konig finger-fucking you relentlessly. You’re trying so fucking hard to stay quiet, only letting out soft moans and pants, making everything even more painful than it already is.

“I could feel you’re clenching around my fingers, schatz. Come on, I know you’re so close. I know you can do it.” Konig whispers seductively in your ear. You could feel your brain becoming mush. Your body feels like it's about to explode as you start mumbling nonsense words. You didn't care at this point if anyone outside could hear it, you just want to cum so fucking bad.

It only took a few more thrusts of Konig’s fingers before you cum, your body shakes violently and your vision turns static from the orgasm he gave you. He still thrusting them over and over, milking your orgasm dry. You squirted all over the table, basically drenching the entire surface with your cum.

“Ah, there you go… I know you can do it. Was für ein gutes Mädchen” Konig finally gave one last thrust and pulls out his fingers from your cunt. Both of them give your nipples on last lick after finally letting them go. Your body seems like it can't stop trembling. “So good, so fucking good...” you mumbled softly, your voice is still shaking.

“I guess we have to clean up this mess. We can’t let your supervisor know you’re doing this with customers.” Ghost chuckled as he took a couple of napkins to clean up the mess you made on the table. It takes you around five minutes before you're able to regain your composure.

Both of them stand up from their tatami. Konig pulls out his wallet from his back pocket, takes out some money, and slips it into your hands, giving you a very generous tip.

“Compliment to the chef, the food was delicious.” Ghost said as he opened the door, and both he and Konig went out from the dining room, leaving you alone.

After a few more minutes, finally manage to sit and starts counting the tip that Konig gave you, which basically covers two months’ worth of rent. You can only laugh to yourself, still confused by everything that happened earlier, but you are very satisfied at the same time.

Maybe this is the best job that you could ever have, after all.

422 notes · View notes

missmyloko · 4 months

Text

Spotlight: Shibori (絞り) Hikizuri On The Eight Day of Fun I present... a look at one of the most dynamic types of kimono found in the karyukai: shibori kimono! Worn in the coldest months of the year (December - March) due to their thickness, shibori hikizuri are among the most fabulous and expensive types of kimono found in the karyukai. Shibori (絞り) is Japanese tie dyeing and is extremely labor intensive. The most popular type of shibori is called Kanoko (鹿の子); translated as "Deer/Fawn Spots," they're made up of tiny circles that are hand tied, one-by-one, to make fabulous and intricate patterns. In the karyukai, the most popular motif for shibori is flowers (it is the flower and willow world after all!). In these examples we can see chrysanthemums, wisteria, cherry blossoms, and more! The best time to see these beauties in real life is in December during Kaomise Soken and in February during Setsubun; this is where maiko dress up in their finest, and there's no finer kimono than a shibori one! Images Mameyuri (豆ゆり) Kanohiro (叶紘) Hidemai (秀眞衣) Kimisora (君宙) and Kimishō (君翔) Kohatsu (小はつ)

#maiko #geiko #geisha #kyoto #舞妓 #芸妓 #芸者 #京都 #kimono #shibori #tie dye #hikizuri #絞り #鹿の子 #引き摺り #kanoko

158 notes · View notes

thekimonogallery · 10 months

Text

Boys Miyamairi kimono mid to late Meiji (1880-1912) A silk boys ceremonial kimono worn during at an age-celebration at a Shinto Shrine. The central motif is a brave tiger, with sasa (bamboo grass) and sparrow motifs. The motifs were created utilizing sumi e, yuzen-painting, with embroidered highlights.

319 notes · View notes

anonimusunnoaniswriting · 2 months

Text

𝙺𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚊 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚊𝚗𝚣𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚒

✿ 𝓡𝓪𝓫𝓫𝓲𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓦𝓱𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓪𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓪 ✿

𝑴𝑫𝑵𝑰 🎀Age in bio or blocked🎀

Pairing: Yakuza!Nanami Kento x Geisha!Reader

Genre: MafiaAU, GeishaAU

Word Count: 3124

Warnings: mentions of blood and killing. Its a mafia au what do you expect. No smut, fluff if you squint.

Summary: You've just started your life as a full fledged geiko and one evening with a man you meet might just change your life.

A/N: I wrote this as a seperate fic for a friend for her birthday and liked it so much I waned to make a Nanamin version so here y'all go! :)

Part One

You sat at the table, your elder sister diagonally opposite you as she laughed and entertained one of the most respected and well-known gokudo leaders in Kyushu. A sharp man who regularly travelled down to Kyoto to sit with her and drink tea that she didn’t even brew, only poured into a cup for him. If only you could be like that; gain a danna so young and attentive and not to mention, a treat for the eyes.

The kimono you had been made to wear for tonight had special motifs on it. It had been gifted to the geisha house by a man – who if the hushed whispers circulating the hanamachi were to be trusted – more dangerous than the head of the gokudo himself. Not someone to be trifled with. Stories of his exploits – single-handedly taking down a small army sent by the National Police Agency; slitting the throats of young and foolish kobuns who sold the family secrets to make a quick buck; and being a life-risking loyal dog to his Aniki – had already been spread among your sisters like hot oden selling out on a cold winter evening. You had listened to all these and soaked in the knowledge. Knowledge that now came flashing up into your mind as you carefully poured out the hot tea, just as you had been taught and served it to your kimono gifter and his dark-haired friend. Your kimono, a pale blue silk, artfully decorated by the white camellia that flashed in the light of the lamps.

You thought back wondering why you of all people may have been chosen to entertain this very esteemed guest. Sure, your dance was good, but it wasn’t that it stood out beside your sisters. You could play the shamisen relatively well, but not like the masters did. Why had you been chosen, fresh out of your training period having just had your mizuage…

The only conclusion wracking your brain could lead you to was that perhaps it was because you, of all the maikos and geikos around you, were able to refrain from spreading the circulating rumours. Partake you did – but only so much as to listen…

Thankfully your sister had done most of the talking, leaving you to smile and pour the tea and ponder the meaning of what your Okasan had said earlier when she had come with the younger girl Hana to help you wear your make-up and jewellery.

The cool wet brush that painted your skin white, helped calm your nerves and when you looked in the mirror, you barely recognised the beautiful woman staring back at you with her blood-red lips and darkened lashes. As she had been painting, Hana had looked like she wanted desperately to ask you something but a sharp glare from Okasan quieted her eagerness; she continued to help pick out appropriate jewellery for your new kimono.

When she was happy with how you looked, Okasan made you stand and turn once so she could see all of you. An approving nod and then a sigh, “A white camellia, I see. Who knows what these men think…”

***

The pressure you felt to be perfect was unbearably high, and you were glad to have your elder sister there to help ease you into the conversation. There had been times that you had gone to the tea house before, but it was only to watch from behind the screen and learn from your elder sister; one of the most sought-after geisha in Kyoto. You had admired her smooth movements and the grace with which she carried herself – entranced by her much like the men she was there to entertain. This time, however, it was you dancing and entrancing while she played the music.

The men you had been called to spend this evening with had already been seated at a large square table. There were four of them. Geto-san of course whose eyes kept getting drawn back to your oneesan. It was always her company he valued more than that of any other geisha in the karyūka. To his right sat the aptly nicknamed right-hand man, Gojo-san. These two men you knew; were acquainted with even, but opposite to Geto and Gojo were two new men whom you were seeing for the first time. A tall man with a large hooked nose and tired eyes that seemed to carry the weight of the world, faced Geto. And between them a man with soft blonde hair and warm brown eyes.

As the night went on, you poured tea, giving way to pouring sake, and batted your lashes smiling with a practised ease. You couldn’t help but notice that the man beside you was drawn to you much in the way that Geto-san was drawn to your oneesan. He had been introduced to the two of you as Nanami Kento-san. And the taller, to your other side, Higuruma Hiromi-san. “Part of my organisation.” as Geto-san had put it. They were, no doubt, as close to him as Gojo-san was.

You felt those brown eyes on you as you poured the warm sake. Specifically on the stripes of bare skin left unpainted on the nape of your neck. Upon tuning – to hand Nanami-san the cup – you confirmed. It hadn’t been your imagination. He had been looking. A keen gaze that now pierced your eyes. An odd feeling in your stomach, made you blush and look away.

Geto-san’s voice suddenly pierced your reverie! “Kento-kun seems to have taken a liking to you my young geiko!” there was a smile in his voice that translated to his face too.

You look at him confused. What did he mean? You had just met! You looked at the man, a soft smile on your face, and hoped he would give you an explanation but he simply looked away, now turning beet red. You felt your cheeks heat up as well and looked down at your lap, focusing on the white camellia on the pale blue of your kimono.

Your oneesan laughed. “Don’t tease her Suguru-san! She’s still quite green!” You felt your face burn. What she said was true but you wished she wasn't telling him about it either way.

“Do you know what the white camellia means?” asked a tipsy Higuruma-san from the other side of you. You shook your head. No. You didn’t… Even though it evidently was apparent to all others who saw it.

“Yearning. It signifies yearning!” drawled Geto-san from the other side of the table chuckling. Seemed like the man had been poured quite a bit of sake already. Thankfully your sister chose this moment to intervene and promote your dancing to him which in turn had you getting up and away from the table while oneesan presented her shamisen and played and sang so you could dance.

When the night came to a close you still hadn’t quite understood what everything had meant and yet the fatigue pulled you under, helping you sleep quickly and without time to think long upon the night’s events…

“You have been requested for an evening out by Nanami-san!” Okasan squealed, barely hiding her happiness. Your jaw dropped open. It had been a few days since you had spent the evening entertaining the four men of the gokudo with your sister. The events of that day had stuck with you as you kept wondering what Geto-san had meant when he said “Kento-kun” had taken a liking to you. Okasan continued, “He has sent another kimono for you. It seems he has taken a liking to you!”

There it was again. “A liking to me? Already? What does it mean, Okasan?” You inquired.

“It means your training has been going well.” and that was all the elder lady offered.

You thought about it as your kimono was tied for you. This time, a soft sakura blossom pink all down to the feet where it deepend into a darker shade. The sleeves showed two rabbits bounding along playfully.

“Oh look, it’s devotion and intelligence this time,” Okasan joked. “This man and his kimono choices…”

You could not fathom why Nanmi Kento had such fondness toward you when you had not even met him before… Perhaps tonight, you could weasel the truth from him without it being too forward of you.

The tea house was bustling, you had been shown to a private room where Nanami-san waited. Although you were fresh out of your apprenticeship, he’d chosen you alone to accompany him for the evening, and you felt a nervousness upon entering. The Okiya rarely allowed geiko to entertain alone, such a luxury was reserved only for very respected customers, who of course, also had adequate coin.

You were equipped with your shamisen, in case he wished for music, but if he asked you to dance you would have to ask one of the staff at the tea house to step in and play for you. However, Nanami-san did neither. He only asked you to drink tea with him. You made sure that his cup stayed full, as you were trained. Along with the tea, Nanami-san ordered all sorts of wagashi. He only really spoke to tell you, “Here, eat some more of this.” or “Try the dango. It’s delicious.” in his warm baritone. There still hadn’t been an opportune moment for your question however, and this kept you feeling nervous.

As the night deepened, the tea turned to warm sake. You refrained from drinking too much as was custom, but the alcohol loosened your benefactor's tongue and he began to talk.

“I hope that you are enjoying this evening, Fukuhina-san.” You still weren’t used to being called by your chosen geiko name. Taking part of your oneesans name – Fukuhana – your new name was supposed to give off the appearance of how you were essentially a younger version of your oneesan.

“I am…” your voice trailed off as you wondered about the question that kept surfacing in your mind. You bowed your head to look at your lap not wanting to show the hesitation that was no doubt splayed on your face at the moment.

Nanami-san frowned, "If anything was not to your satisfaction you can tell me you know... You deserve the best. Only the best…”

There it was again. The strange – almost devotion that he seemed to have for you, coming up stronger now. His empty cup beckoned you so you took a moment to think while you poured more of the warm sake out for him. As the clear liquid overtook the cup you considered how best you could broach the question.

“Please do not worry, Nanami-san… Th- there was nothing that troubled me.” His admission of only wanting the best for you had you thinking further.

He hummed, "Troubled you no... I want you to enjoy yourself.... With me." He turned his head to properly look at you... "That kimono looks beautiful with you in it."

“I am told you sent it as well. I must thank you for your generosity and commend your choice, Nanami-san.”

You gather your courage and try again. “Nanami-san, I- forgive my impudence – but I must ask, What did Geto-san mean when he said that the other day. And Higuruma-san… pointing out the white camellia. And these rabbits… Okasan said they mean something – devotion and intelligence…?” Now that you had started, the questions poured out of you with no restraint. Almost everything you wanted to ask rushed out, but you quickly managed to cull the last one. Why are you being so nice when we have only just met each other?

Despite the dimness of the light in the room you could see how the man’s cheeks heated in front of you. He took a swig of his drink, emptying the cup – you filled it again, only to have it downed promptly. When you went to pour more he covered it with his free hand, then set it down and turned to look at you.

“Fukuhina-chan – may I call you that?” he continued after your nod. “Fukuhina-chan, there is a tale that is whispered among those of the gokudo, a tale that has spread all over Japan. There belongs to Geto Suguru, a tiger. A vicious creature that when it has sunk its teeth into its prey does not let go.” Nanami-san lifts his kimono sleeve to show you the snarling tiger tattooed across his arm. Its eyes seem to glow in the fire light. His muscles rippling under his skin make the animal look almost alive – ready to pounce.

“I am a fierce man. I will admit, I have killed many men – women too. I have more scars than that which I can count. Aniki regards me as his most trusted brother, right alongside Gojo and Hiromi.” you are taken aback at his confession but he continues, “But I am not a man without reason. What I do is thought out and done. What I say I think and say. So believe me when I tell you, I have not fallen for you on some boyish whim…”

He takes a deep breath, “You do not remember I am sure, but, it was about a year ago, I had been in a terrible shootout with a Kyoto gang and was injured. It was the coming of winter then as it is now, the streets were almost empty save a few stray cats and drunken men who were stumbling home. As I lay by the side of the road, I was certain that if they weren’t chasing after me with their guns, the blood loss would surely take me before my exhaustion did. And then there was a light…”

As he spoke you realised there was a certain familiarity in his story.

“I lay there, broken, bruised, a pool of my own blood forming around me. Whatever locals walked past, avoiding me like I could and would at any moment snap and take off their ankles. I was not ready to die – full of regrets.” He paused and took a sip of the cup only to remember it was empty as he had stopped you from refilling it. So he took the bottle from your frozen hands and poured himself a drink, and then, one for you, and continued.

“You came to me, out of the dark, holding that shamisen, very much in the same way that you did today walking into this room. Unafraid of how I looked. You, in that pretty blue kimono, your hair tied up and your face free of this makeup.” He gingerly touched your cheek. “And you pushed your little handkerchief into my hand and said to me, ‘stay alive, I will send help!’”

The memories came rushing back to your mind. That chilly evening, onee-san’s show which went on till late. You who played the shamisen for her to dance to, returning to the okiya with the instrument in your hands, stumbling upon this sorry-looking figure. Rushing to the nearest doctor's house and crying up a storm for them to go help the man! Even promising to speak to Okasan for some payment money but the request had never come and you now understood why! The man – then – had been smaller, sure and beaten up so badly that you didn’t recognise that that man and the one sitting before you now were one and the same, but you realised that the very aura that enveloped him then and drew you to him did so with you here as well. A commanding, yet gentle presence.

“The doctor and his helper arrived soon after that. They took me to his house, patched me up, and when I asked them how they knew, they told me of the young maiko who cried at the door in desperation, pleading for help and making promises she probably couldn’t keep.”

You felt yourself blush. “You didn’t owe me anything Nanami-san…” you mumbled.

“On the contrary Fukuhina-chan, I owe you my life. After that day, I worked harder than ever. At the time I wasn’t so high up in the ranks, but I worked and rose up among the gokudo to sit at the side of the most powerful yakuza leader in all of Japan – and make enough money to become your danna…” You gasped. It was one thing to be a respected patron but another altogether to become a geisha's danna! “That is, if you’ll have me…”

You could only nod your head, not daring to speak because of the lump forming in your throat. Your danna! That would mean the debt you needed to pay to your Okiya would be taken care of faster. That would mean you could become independent like Fukuhana-neesan was.

“I am glad you have said yes Fukuhina-chan as I want to lavish you with the opulence you so rightly deserve.” His hand brushed against your cheek again, the cold fingers, a stark contrast to how hot your face felt.

“Nanami-san.. I don’t know what to even say…”

“Well, you don’t have to say anything right now, just answer me this, when everyone was lowering their heads and quickening their gait, seeing me dying there, what made you stop? Why did you help me that night? I could have been a danger to you or you could have gotten in trouble with your Okiya…”

It is true, you had dreaded the doctor coming to ask for his payment, not really knowing what to say to you Okasan about why you had called the doctor for an unknown yakuza. In your desperation to see him saved you hadn’t thought that far but what drew you to save him?

“It was the way in which you held yourself… Even though you were almost dead, your head was high. And you were looking to the stars, not the people around you. You seemed to be wishing you could have done more, and I didn’t want to let you lose that chance.” In the silence around you even this whisper was deafening…

When Nanami Kento left the tea house that evening, stumbling back to the room he had booked at the inn, his mind was consumed with only one thought. How much he now wanted to kiss your lips. The ones that recognised who he was even before anyone else had.

Geisha are performers first and foremost, to kiss you and hold you, he knew, he would be asking a lot. But he wanted to show you that to him, you were the only thing that mattered now. He would woo you, and if luck happened to be on his side once again, he would be honoured to become more than just your danna.

End of Part 1

End of work A/N: I do not claim to know everything about geisha or yakuza as institutions/people. My understanding is a base level one and there may be things which are not so accurate here. Please allow me some leeway when reading and note that I am not an authority on these subjects. This was written for fun with a little research.

ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ

#anonimuswritings #anonimusunnoan #jjk #fanfiction #fanfic #nanami kento #kento nanami #mafia au #mafia nanami #yakuza #geisha AU #geiko #part 1 #nanami x reader #jjk nanami #jujutsu nanami #yakuza nanami #jujitsu kaisen #slow burn

94 notes · View notes

ellas-journey · 9 months

Text

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];

#demon slayer #history #demon slayer from history to fantasy #demonslayerfromhistorytofantasy #history research #japanese history #demon slayer history #kimetsu no yaiba #research #demon slayer muzan #muzan kibutsuji #ubuyashiki #kimono

190 notes · View notes

kagayuzen · 8 months

Text

The 45th Traditional Kaga-Yuzen Craft Exhibition Furisode (long-sleeved kimono) "Hana Kaibako" by Mattou Ichi

The motifs of the classic patterns of Kaibako (shell-shaped box) and Noshi (dried sea snails) were used to create a composition with movement. The colors are vivid and dignified, expressing the quality of classic patterns.

#kaga-yuzen dyeing #kimono

130 notes · View notes

tanuki-kimono · 11 months

Note

Hello! Bouncing off of that ask regarding rain patterns in kimono, I was curious if lightning is ever used as a motif in kimonos, and if so, what sort of vocabulary is used to describe it? ^^

I've read about the Inazuma pattern before, but I was wondering if there were any others I wasn't aware of, since there's so many different vocabulary terms for kimono patterns!

Thank you for your time!

It is indeed generically named inazuma 稲妻, or also kaminari 雷/raimon 雷文 :)

Lightning is mainly represented via thick lines curling at squares angles (sometimes difficult to tell apart from sayagata) or zigzag lightning bolts shapes (Pikachu's tail style). Another common representation is a bit harder to catch as it looks a lot like matsukawa (pine bark pattern).

Another thunder-adjacent concept coming to me is mitsudomoe 三つ巴 (circle made of 3 magatama/comma-shaped jewels):

This symbol is often used on percussions (like taiko 太鼓, gakudaiko 楽太鼓) which were/are still used for Shinto rituals purpose. This symbol can so symbolize the rumbling sound of thunder (which can drive evil spirits away)... hence why you find it on the dendendaiko of thunder god Raijin 雷神 or used for some oni representations.

#ask #pattern #lightning #thunder #inazuma #kaminari #raimon #tomoe #mitsudomoe #taiko #gakudaiko #dendendaiko #drum #Raijin #magatama #oni

484 notes · View notes

entropyvoid · 4 months

Text

I wanted to design some fun alt skins for Genshin characters, (especially after going through the character archive and realizing that basically no one is wearing pink which was a bit of a surprise tbh,) and ended up inventing a whole potential event to go with it. My thought process went:

Kaveh pretty bird —> Get that man in a kimono stat —> Wait why is he in Inazuma —> Pretty much every island in Inazuma except Narukami is totally wrecked but only Watatsumi seems to be doing any rebuilding which is kinda bunk —> Have the shogunate hire Kaveh to rebuild some villages —> Ehehe Seirai pretty so let’s have it be Seirai themed assuming the traveler cleared the Thunderbird so it could be repopulated—> Alhaitham needs one too bc they just go together so I’ll base Kaveh’s outfit on the Seirai sky (purple clouds + sunset + thunderbird + keeping architectural and lotus flower motifs) and Alhaitham’s on Seirai plants (naku weeds + amakumo fruit + teal grass + keeping signature leaf shapes and color palettes and adding to it.)

I’d like to imagine that these outfits were a gift from Kaveh’s new friend Yae. He met her at a bar loudly and drunkenly complaining about his roommate, and Yae, realizing this man was a walking talking light novel inspo goldmine, listened intently and seemed very supportive. This evolved into meeting up for drinks every weekend while he’s staying in Inazuma, in which he tells her all about his life and his friends and then promptly forgets all about it. It takes him at least a couple months for him to put together exactly who she is, and he gets pretty embarrassed about it, but they end up pretty close buddies. I also think Yae could use friends who are not either other shrine maidens, intimidated by her in some way, or Ei. She basically spends all her time playing with dolls, but the dolls are people. We also know for a fact that she cannot resist putting pretty men in ~outfits~ from the whole Gorou/Miss Hina thing.

(She was also the one who encouraged him to write a letter to invite Alhaitham to a festival celebrating the completion of the construction. She throws matching outfits at them promptly upon arrival.)

(The light novel series based on the mess that is Kaveh makes it all the way to Sumeru. Collei recognizes it and shows it to Tighnari and Cyno and thry all lose their minds. Kaveh reads it on his own at some point, but never really puts the pieces together.)

Bonus:

#genshin impact #kaveh #alhaitham #yae miko #kavetham #haikaveh #may as well tag those too.#i love the way genshin does designs. they’re so ornate. there were like five or so points in which I was doing Kaveh’s where I was like #this is solid but it needs a lil more. nah. more. MORE DETAIL #you can see where I just slapped gouache over top the watercolor to cover things up #cherallart #two posts in one day? wild

110 notes · View notes

katzkinder · 7 months

Text

Forever thinking about how Yamamoto is a natural born assassin and his main combat box animal is an akita and he’s Tsuna’s left hand, his sinister hand, and akita were bred to be both guard dogs and loyal companions for royalty

But also Kojirou who is both a reference to famed mythical swordsman Sasaki Kojirou and his Reverse Swallow Technique, a man who may or may not have existed, and his famous duel with Miyamoto Musashi, who used dual blades and had an X shaped block with his Nitenryu style

I think my favorite part though is the swallows in the rain is a popular kimono motif for depicting star crossed lovers—

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #yamamoto takeshi #I could talk about this dude all day

97 notes · View notes

dazais-guardian-angel · 7 months

Text

Okay, a good amount of time has passed, and after having seen this post by @weretiger-be-my-horse , I've been turning it over and over in my brain going absolutely feral over this concept. I need to expand upon my thoughts on this idea and all the evidence there is pointing towards it, whether that be actual tangible things, or purely strong vibes I have.

First of all, full disclaimer: I did not like the season 5 finale, and how it wrapped up the DoA arc. To say that I "disliked" it is putting it extremely lightly, in fact -- I absolutely hated it, and I am still, to a degree, in disbelief that I actually even watched those 24 minutes with my own two eyes, and that it somehow wasn't a complete fever dream. While I'm not going to go in long-winded detail into all the ways that I feel like the finale almost completely bastardized all of its featured characters and destroyed any and all buildup we've had going on in this arc for 50 some chapters now, because that's not the main point of this post, I will not make any attempt to hide the fact that the theory-crafting I'm about to pose here is partly influenced and prompted by how much I hated the finale, and how much I desperately hope that it will not end up being manga canon. Therefore, if you enjoyed the finale — and that's fine! — and don't want to read any negativity about it, then I would not recommend reading any further (I mean, you've probably already left by this point, which is fair lol), While obviously it's important that I be as objective and unbiased as possible when explaining my thoughts, some of my negative feelings about the writing will be a part of this analysis, even if this isn't going to be a full-blown rant. Just know that if you proceed.

With that out of the way, let me continue.

So. In the aforementioned post, the theory presented is that the anime may be operating on an alternate timeline, and that this will become evident once we read the upcoming October chapter, wherein things will go completely differently post-chapter 110 than they do in the final episode — probably for the worse, with the s5 finale intending to lull us into a false sense of security and make us assume that everything in the manga arc finale will wrap up as smoothly and consequence-freely(? lol) as it did in the anime one. It also suggests that the Fukuchi we see at the very end that sskk are fighting came from the manga timeline, where he won, and that he used the Book to jump to a timeline where he lost, the anime one, proven by the fact that this Fukuchi is wearing a mask with the same design on it as the mask Fukuchi is wearing on the chapter 110 DoA color spread/title page.

First of all, I want to note the fact that it's not just the mask design that's the same: the entire outfit is roughly more or less the same as well. It's not completely 1-to-1, because the anime can never fully match the intricacies of Harukawa's beautiful outfit designs, and the Fukuchi in this scene has the kimono half-off because of the... super saiyan mode he's in, but most all of the main pieces of clothing are there. Any small inaccuracies could also be attributed to the fact that Harukawa probably didn't have this finalized art ready back when this episode was being made, so the animators wouldn't have had the complete design to work off of. But in general, because it's all so similar, I think we can quite confidently say that the ending episode Fukuchi is meant to be the one from this manga art.

Also, people have pointed this out, but it's worth mentioning that the mask Asagiri wore at Anime Expo in July was referencing this Fukuchi. It's not a crucial detail, but it just proves more that Asagiri is a gigantic fucking troll, and that he clearly wanted to draw attention to this Fukuchi design. It's important. He describes the mask here as made in the motif of an ellipses inside a speech bubble... could that perhaps be referencing meta aspects, like the Book?

Next, I want to talk about the even bigger elephant in the room, which to me is the most damning and undeniable piece of evidence there is of the anime operating on a completely separate timeline from the manga:

This Fucking Hand™️

As we all know, in the anime, Fyodor injures his hand when the password input device blows up, and as we all know, this does not happen in the manga. In the last episode, Dazai claims that the final nail in the coffin of his impromptu plan to kill Fyodor relied on this hand injury: because Fyodor couldn't pilot his escape helicopter himself, he would ask one of his Meursault vampires to do it for him, unaware that Bram and thus this vampire was now on the ADA's side, and said vampire could kill him while his guard was down.

Ignoring how utterly stupid and contrived this plan is when you stop and think about it for more than two seconds, the fact of the matter is that something that initially seemed like nothing more than an odd but inconsequential anime original addition ended up snowballing into being the entire reason one of the big bads was brought down. If Fyodor hadn't hurt his hand, he wouldn't have needed another pilot, and so the traitor vampire wouldn't have had an opportunity to get near him and kill him without him expecting it even though said vampire was presumably with him as they were leaving Meursault, and was probably already a traitor by then, so there was plenty opportunity for him to still die. not to mention by Chuuya's hands at literally any time he wanted to, because Chuuya was coherent the whole time. Also there's absolutely no way Dazai could have known exactly what Ranpo would do, no matter how smart he is and how much he trusts him. idk it's fucking dumb, just roll with it. Therefore, putting aside all other variables for now, we can conclude that, on the most basic level, this signifies that no hand wound = no death.

And let me tell you, this hand wound bothers me. It really, really does. Because they focus on it a LOT — they go out of their way to draw attention to it MULTIPLE TIMES, from the moment it first happens to the end of the season. Fyodor even talks about it to himself, about Dazai being able to cause him tangible, visible, bodily harm, (something that, again, as far as we've seen, has never happened in the manga). Hell, even after Fyodor's death, they're still drawing attention to it, because his right arm is all of him that survives, and Dazai picks it up and gives it to Nikolai to do his hilarious sad little gay fondling of it played completely straight even though there's nothing straight going on here at all! It's like it's a big red flashing sign at all times going "you see this injured hand? This is important. Are you picking up that it's important? Are you taking note of it?" Why is that? Obviously, it serves to give us the lore crumbs about Fyodor and "that man", but that's hardly the main, much more glaring reason, as I've already mentioned.

Fyodor doesn't hurt his hand in the manga. Fyodor won't die here in the manga. I am so dead serious by this point about this, and it's not just simply the fact that this was absolutely not at all the time for him to die, or the fact that his hand is the reason for his death in the anime in and of itself, but how much EMPHASIS they place on this, and on the hand in general. What would be the point of adding something like this, if it's not meant to alert us to the fact that it has a major impact on how the story plays out? We all know Bones: they struggle to get right and include everything that's already there in the source material; they would never go out of their way to add something this noteworthy if there wasn't a very good reason for it, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. I've seen a few people bring up the fact that Fyodor gets shot in the shoulder by Sigma and that that could lead to the same outcome in the manga, but I disagree: although he has blood on his shoulder in the manga, it seems like the bullet just grazed the top of it, because his arm and hand appears completely functional afterwards (not hanging limp by his side or anything). But that doesn't even matter, because this isn't even about the semantics/logistics of how the hand wound caused Fyodor's death because again, it's a stupid outcome, or what could serve as a substitute in the manga — thematically, this is a textbook example of the butterfly effect. Countless parallel universes exist within this series, ones where even the most minute differences lead to a majorly different outcome: this just happens to be one of them. There's no reason to think it isn't, and there's no reason to not think that the anime wants us to clue into the fact that things only went as smoothly as they did on the Meursault side because of this wound; in other words, that things will go very differently in the manga thanks to the absence of said wound. They wouldn't have added it in the first place and put such clearly deliberate emphasis on it otherwise.

Things are going to happen very differently in the manga, at least when it comes to the Meursault crew (but then, if you assume that, you then naturally assume it all will be very different). This is the only conclusion one can come to with the presentation of this anime-only wound, combined with the fact that parallel universes are a very real thing in BSD.

I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent, so bear with me. I play a lot of visual novels, and although such concepts aren't really as original now as they were a while ago, some of my favorite and some of the very best VNs out there are the ones that break the fourth wall and make the visual novel branching route format directly intertwined with the story: you know, the ones where the characters go "if only I had done things differently, maybe everything would have turned out better...!" in a wink wink nudge nudge moment, and the ones where the characters are aware of the different timelines, even, or even have the ability to gain information from their selves in said alternate timelines to influence events in their current one (I'm intentionally not naming the games I'm thinking of for the sake of spoilers, but if you know, you know lmao). It gets very meta in this regard, and this is how I started viewing BSD through the lens of ever since I first learned about Beast: like a visual novel with many branching routes, and only a few routes that feel entirely "right".

When I first read Dazai's Entrance Exam, I was struck by how unnerving the ending sequence in the abandoned hospital felt. Obviously, Kunikida's internal struggle over Sasaki's actions and motives is him still desperately clinging to his ideal world that does not exist, but the specific type of phrases he uses — "who is wrong?" "[who is] the cause of all this?" "there has to be an ideal world" "there has to be something, I'm sure of it" "There must have been something we could have done!" — and the framing of the scene in general, is eerily reminiscent of a bad ending in a visual novel, to me. There's a haunting, looming, bleak sense that a different outcome could have been achieved, if different decisions had been made, or if things outside of anyone's control had been different... and we know that this is true, because in Beast alone, Kunikida never goes through the Azure Messenger incident, because Dazai doesn't have his entrance exam. Hell, you could even consider the anime's version of the Azure Messenger arc an alternate timeline in of itself, if you really wanted to, long before we even arrive at season 5.

When it comes to Beast, this timeline has almost the opposite feeling of what I described above, that I've also encountered in visual novels: the idea of a "good route" or "good ending" that still doesn't feel quite earned, or as perfect as one would expect. Beast is presented as the "ideal" timeline purely for one sole reason: Oda is alive. It is the only timeline where he's alive, and keeping Oda alive is the ultimate goal Dazai wants to achieve, the only reason this timeline exists; therefore, disregarding all else, Beast should be the best timeline, because Oda's death is the greatest devastation in the series to date. We all want him to live, so why wouldn't the timeline where he does be the best one? And yet... of course, it isn't. Dazai is alone, and steeped in darkness and loneliness without Oda, and dies by the end of the story for Oda's continued living. Atsushi has Kyouka still, but he's suffering and more traumatized, and unable to heal while stuck in the mafia, and neither can Kyouka. Akutagawa is living a much better life in the ADA... but without his sister, and without what he has from his bond with Atsushi in canon, that isn't replicated in Beast. And Oda... Oda is alive, and he has his children and his novel, but there is a feeling that he is aimless, that something in his life is missing. He has everything he ever wanted, but all that means nothing without what he truly needs: Dazai, and his time with Dazai and Ango at the bar. In this way, things going well and us getting what we want — in this case, Oda living — goes against how it's supposed to be, the natural order, which is why it feels so hollow. In the specific visual novel I'm thinking of here as a comparison (again, shoutout if you know), there's an alternate ending that involves you inputting information you gain at the end of the game very early on in the game, wherein the protagonist now has memories of the future and is able to bypass and prevent all of the events that take place normally. This means that people who die or are hurt somehow in general are saved from that fate, and nothing bad ever occurs; everything wraps up neatly and nicely... but again, there's an undeniable, unsettling feeling of emptiness, of a victory that rings hollow, because what's the point if everything is simply handed to you easily, where's the sense of accomplishment, without any struggles to achieve said victories, or any growth along the way? How can it feel earned if one doesn't have to, in Dazai's words, "scream within the storm of uncertainty, and run with flowing blood"?

You can probably already see where I'm going with this.

This finale feels weird. Really, really weird. It feels too cheap, too simple, too unsatisfying. So much so, in fact, that for almost the entire runtime, as I was bombarded with resolution upon resolution one after another, I kept thinking "There's no way this can be real. Where's the catch? When is the "gotcha!" moment gonna happen? The "it was all a dream" reveal?". And this isn't just because I hated the writing, and that it really did feel like a fever dream watching fanfic levels of bad (actually, that's an insult to fanfic writers, tbh; they could do better) — no, it genuinely feels so incredibly fake. Even upon rewatching it and already knowing what happens, my brain still naturally keeps expecting some kinda of "sike, you THOUGHT!" moment to suddenly appear. It just.... feels "too good to be true". Dazai and Chuuya come out unscathed, and it's revealed that they were never in any real danger to begin with. Fyodor, one of our biggest threats, is dealt with supposedly for good (I say "supposedly" only because of the Jesus line, but if anything imo, I think that's just a hint that this won't be the canon ending in the manga, so in a sense he's going to "come back to life"), and Nikolai seems somewhat at peace with his death. The other biggest threat, Fukuchi, is also dealt with, and he and Fukuzawa get their final moment together of closure. Yes, Sigma is left in Meursault don't even get me started on how angry this alone makes me, and Fukuzawa loses Fukuchi, but overall, everything is portrayed in a positive light, and any negatives or losses are quickly glossed over. Everything is tied up nicely, neatly, and smoothly. ...And that is exactly what makes it feel so wrong, and hard to trust in.

I'm not sure if this will make sense, but to me, the finale is so incredibly poorly written that it almost feels.... intentional. It's so bad to the point of feeling self-aware in how bad it is, how unrealistically happy and convenient an ending it is. It had to end this neatly in order to rush to wrap up this arc for the season finale and not leave the last episode on a cliffhanger — which imo is chiefly the main reason it turned out this way, and, if this whole theory is true, Asagiri just used it to his advantage — and I'm not saying this was probably an effect Bones had in mind intentionally, I'm sure they just threw shit at the wall and went with whatever stuck, maaaaybe with some suggestions/approval from Asagiri, but the result is that you have a conclusion that contradicts so much of what was set up before and goes against so many character arcs, making some characters so out of character and even regressing in their development Dazai. I'm talking about Dazai abandoning Sigma, because he would never; hashtag #NOTMYDAZAI. Also Nikolai, Nikolai for most of that is so ooc I can't even begin to describe it oh my god. Everyone is OOC to a degree though lmao, and opens so many plot holes, to the point that it's impossible not to watch all that and get the feeling that it is subtly saying to you "did you really think it could be this easy? It feels wrong, doesn't it? It doesn't feel satisfying. It feels unearned." I find it incredibly interesting and suspicious in particular that they confirmed multiple theories people had about soukoku in Meursault: that Chuuya slowed the elevator's fall so that Dazai wouldn't die from it, that Chuuya slowed down the bullet so that it only penetrated Dazai's skin and not his skull, and that the both of them used Fyodor's camera angle to their advantage because they knew he wouldn't be able to see certain things from his view. I'm not saying that Asagiri trawled BSD twitter and tumblr after those chapters dropped for the most popular theories before the final episode was made lmao, there was no time for that (imagine though lol—), but I do think it's highly likely that he already had in mind exactly what theories would be made about these parts (I mean, the evidence for the gun scene was all there), and that Dazai rattling them off in his long monologue to Fyodor at the end is essentially him speaking to the audience and going "yeah, that's what you would predict, right? Those are the clichés, after all", much like him suggesting earlier that he can maybe bring Chuuya back to himself with a few moving words and the power of friendship, and Fyodor using the split personalities trope to fool Sigma. We expect these tropes to be true. Of course we'd fall for them, as Fyodor tells Sigma, especially if the evidence is right there. But Asagiri himself has explicitly said that he likes doing the opposite of what people expect. And so just because people predicted correctly with the three things I mentioned in this timeline... doesn't mean they'll be true in the manga's. Things happened how we wanted and expected it to, and everything turned out happily. So we can relax now, right? Everything will work out just as easily in the manga, right? Or... is the reason most of this finale feels so fake and unsettling and unsatisfying because it's meant to lull us into a false sense of security before all our heroes lose in the manga? Because deep down, we don't want an ending that's this simple, because we'd rather have a conclusion where our characters have struggled more and grown more and come out the better for it, and we know it?

After rewatching the episode a lot, and watching some other videos, and doing a lot of thinking, I am pretty confident in suspecting that the only part of this finale that is actually from manga canon, aside from Aya jumping off the building of course, is Fyodor and Nikolai's exchange after Fyodor leaves Meursault — specifically, them talking about Fyodor leaving Sigma behind, and their "new game" and Nikolai being excited at the prospect of it. This little conversation actually feels in character for them, and it's easy to tell this when contrasting it with everything that happens immediately after, wherein Fyodor is fatally stabbed, and Nikolai, completely at odds with what he was just talking about, just... stands there and watches Fyodor die while Dazai monologues lmao. I'm not sure if the helicopter is still a factor, but I would bet good money on Fyolai getting out of Meursault being manga canon, and that Dazai and Chuuya getting out as well and killing Fyodor + everything with FukuFuku, is part of the anime original ending, in order to wrap up everything positively. It makes much more sense if you think about, in reality (aka in the manga), Dazai and Chuuya still being left behind in Meursault (where they can eventually try to get Sigma), because none of it was an act and things did not go according to plan, and Fukuchi having an entirely different goal that doesn't feel so stupid and contradictory to his character, and Fukuzawa possibly dying — everyone seemingly loses, with Aya still being the last hope, perhaps by awakening her ability like we all speculated.

There's a youtuber I watch who covers BSD in-depth, despite being an anime-only (she reads the respective manga content after each season, though). Going into this finale, she knew about the fact that the anime had overtaken the manga, though she didn't know where the cutoff point was; despite that, however, she made predictions about what was from the manga so far and what was anime original, and it was almost entirely spot-on, based mostly on what she basically described as "anime original dialogue." She talked about how you can always tell when dialogue is veering into the realm of anime-original, because the sentences are very short, choppy, and slightly out of character, but generic enough to not be TOO out of character, and so that anyone can easily write said lines, even if they're not extremely familiar with the character like the original author would be. And when I heard this explanation, everything clicked — because so much of this finale has dialogue like that. The Fyolai scenes just feel peppered with it, around the lines I mentioned earlier, the Dazai dialogue does too, and ESPECIALLY shit at the end like Fukuchi and Fukuzawa exchanging the cliche death lines to end all death lines: "Are you there? I'm a little tired." "Rest up." That just isn't Bungou Stray Dogs. That isn't Asagiri. BSD is cheesy at times, yes, but it isn't like this; it's smarter. The dialogue is smarter, the explanations/plot twists are smarter, Asagiri is smarter, and the aforementioned youtuber I watched agreed. She's a pretty casual fan of the series, so if even she could pick up on these things, I think it speaks volumes.

I mentioned this briefly earlier, but this theory makes sense if you consider that this situation probably came about because of Bones wanting two seasons back-to-back when they did, and this arc being as long as it is. Season 3 aired in 2019, and I imagine Bones would have wanted season 4 in 2020, and might have then been willing to wait a bit longer for season 5 in order for more of this arc's manga chapters to come out — but then covid happened. Because of that, season 4 was delayed to 2023, creating the longest gap we've had between seasons, and I wouldn't at all be surprised if the delay made them want season 5 right together with it, after getting so far "behind", so to speak. S4 was announced in November of 2021, and roughly around that time, Asagiri was finishing up writing the plot of the DoA arc. If Bones came to him sometime in late 2021 and said they wanted two seasons now (so basically, one giant two cour season), Asagiri would know that not only of course would this arc not be finished publishing in the manga for a very long time yet, but that roughly 20ish episodes would not be enough to cover it all to the end, with this arc being longer than any arc the anime has adapted to date. Because of all this, and the arc manga chapters being nowhere near fully drawn to completion, he'd have to make a decision about what to do, and what to give Bones. Without ending season 5 on a massive cliffhanger that wouldn't be resolved for years until an eventual season 6, the only other option would be to rush towards an anime-original ending for the DoA arc.... and for Asagiri to take advantage of that, and integrate it into BSD's lore. Thereby creating a truly unique cross-media experience that utilizes the different mediums to create multiple timelines, that could make both the anime and manga interact with each other and become part of a bigger picture (not that you'd need to see both to get the full experience, mind you, just that it'd provide a little bonus if you did).... and would without a doubt be Asagiri's biggest surprise yet.

...I feel like at this point I'm starting to ramble, and my evidence become more and more incoherent and less substantial lmao, so I should probably end this post. 💀 Thank you if you've read this far, and hopefully it made some semblance of sense, despite not being structured very well; I know I promised at the start to try to be as objective as possible and curb my negative feelings, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded in that regard. If it weren't for the Fukuchi thing and the Fyodor hand thing, I probably wouldn't take how wrong and strange and bad the finale feels to me as serious evidence about it being an alternate timeline, especially since I seem to be one of the only people who actually hates all of it.... but combined with everything else, I am just so convinced of this theory being true. It started off as pure copium, but as more time has gone on, I fully, 100% believe in my bones (ha) that there is no way that finale is the same Bungou Stray Dogs I know and love, for so many reasons. It just isn't. It can't be. I know BSD better than this, I know Asagiri better than this, and I know that it's absolutely in the realm of possibility for him to cook up this whole scheme to completely blindside us with in the upcoming chapters, because that's exactly the kind of shit Mr. "Please Be Surprised!" himself would pull. If I end up being completely wrong, I guess I'm wrong, and you can laugh at me all you want then.... but I just know that ages ago people were teasing the idea of the anime operating on a different timeline from the manga, and I truly do think that only now are we finally seeing that idea come to fruition, as a setup for Asagiri going full-bore insanity with the Book in the upcoming arc(s). if I and the OP of that theory end up right, this will be the wildest time in the BSD fandom's history.

Like. I cannot even emphasize how hard they are trolling us at this point. Something is going on. Something is being cooked over there, the likes of which we've never seen before... and I don't think any of us are ready for it.

Oh yeah, and one last thing of note: both Fyodor and Nikolai here have their right arms hidden from view. Is that alluding to anything? I'm not sure. I also think that since chapter 110 was so short, next chapter will likely be 110.5 instead of 111, and if that's the case, this title spread could still technically be associated with the next chapter... wherein we might see this Fukuchi, who ends up wreaking havoc, right before he jumps to the timeline in the anime, as we see him at the end of the s5 finale.

I guess we'll find out on Tuesday.

#bungou stray dogs #meta #bsd season 5 #bsd s5 spoilers #alternatively titled 'when you copium so hard out of stewing in your denial anger and grief that it becomes reality'#is it still copium if there's strong evidence for it? idk #i DON'T know what i'll do if the stuff in this finale ends up being canon :))) make no mistake about that #but until the very moment the schrödinger's cat box is opened and i am forced to acknowledge it with my own two eyes in chapter 111/110.5 #i am choosing to stay calm and rational and look at things with a sound mind... and acknowledge all the signs that are there #of which there are so many #Asagiri is a troll. he has always been a troll and this is more evident than ever lately #and he would know that everyone who watched the finale would take it at face value #never expecting it to go completely differently in the manga #and he's so much smarter than what was in that finale. he would never write those things. i would stake my life on it.#i don't care how many flaws BSD does have that i do acknowledge; he is a good writer in so many ways and he is so much better than /that/#i could fill an entire BOOK (ha ha) with all of the reasons why this finale does not work. seriously it is a never-ending can of worms #of ooc characterizations and plot holes and abandoned threads and straight up CONTRADICTIONS with what has been stated before in the arc #with fukuchi's motivations and presentation; with things that were happening in meursault; just.... so much illogical shit in general #THE MACHINE HEALED THEIR WOUNDS??? ARE YOU FOR REAL????#*sigh* but i said i wasn't gonna rant alskdjgfkdls #tbh though the only REAL thing i need to know that the finale was anime only was what the youtuber i watch pointed out:#that Bram magically regenerated all his clothes. because if it were Asagiri Bram would be naked from the shoulders down fjdkslsaskd #...anyway. This theory is real and true. I am manifesting it into existence 🙏🙏🙏#Asagiri my man...... you have never let me down yet in all the years I've known your series. Please don't let me down now.#I'm trusting in you more than ever right now...... and your ability to blow all our minds in the best possible way #(guys i'm really really really scared deep down; please hold me hahaha ahahahahaaaa- *cries*)#this would the coolest thing in the history of ever though if it happened though. I am SO EXCITED FOR THE POSSIBILITY!!!!!#ASAGIRI YOU SICK AND TWISTED MF; HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME BEG FOR MY FAVES TO SUFFER JUST SO THAT THIS BAD WRITING DOESN'T BECOME REALITY!!!!!!#he knows exactly what he's doing *SCREAMS* :))))))))

75 notes · View notes