I have held back no water in its season

This will make more sense later, after I post an actual review of Shounen Onmyouji, which everyone, incidentally, should go watch. Right now.

For now, though, research results and links (which may help for YnM, too).

The Juuni Shinshou (Twelve Heavenly Generals) are Buddhist and come to Japan from India via China. They are, variously, known as yaksha (nature spirits), devas (warrior spirits/gods-of-a-minor-sort), and tenbu (Japanese take on Devas). They are initially associated with Yakushi Nyorai, the Medicine Buddha, and healing.

However, twelve being a popular number in Buddhism, they have become associated and overlapped with the twelve cycles of time (hours of the day, years in a cycle, etc.) and the twelve animals associated therewith. These are the animals commonly known in the West as the Chinese zodiac (see also Fruits Basket). (Maybe. See eta.)

Because the animals have elemental associations from the Taoist system (which is different from the Buddhist elements but quite similar to Shinto, oh god don’t get me started on the elements), the twelve generals have picked up elemental associations to go with their animal associations.

Important! These associations are variable! There are several variations on which animals go with which generals. Which elements go with which animals varies on a larger cycle of years as well as each having a fixed element and a base association with yin or yang, and, when filtered through the creative license of anime/manga, the whole thing gets… complicated.

In any case, it appears that the zodiac filter is how the yaksha Sanchira, for example, becomes the Serpent of Destructive Fire. Certainly the personalities given to the characters in both SO and YnM have some good matches with the zodiac personality readings.

Where the particular names come from, apart from the elemental constellation names given to the strongest animal in each element (Dragon becomes Seiryuu, Horse becomes Suzaku, etc.), I’m still trying to figure out. Similarly how the notion was arrived at that Abe no Seimei’s generic plethora of shikigami should correlate with the Juuni Shinshou in particular. I have, as yet, found no source explaining that that is not clearly contaminated.

ETA: I have also come across some indications that the twelve guardians of the Medicine Buddha and the twelve elemental/time figures are, in fact, separate groups that have been confused because of the similar translation of their titles: 神 in the first place and 天 in the second, so that it might be more precise to say the Twelve Divine Generals and the Twelve Heavenly Generals, respectively. Results of this line of inquiry will appear in a later post, if it comes to anything.

I was probably asking for trouble, when I started considering all the ways in which Echizen does not, as initially indicated by the early story, seem to find a tennis that is not a copy of Nanjirou’s. Now my Echizen-muse is insisting that I figure out what his own tennis would look like and write it.

Incidentally, spoilers ahead.

So let us meditate on this. The last reference point we have in the original “become not-Nanjirou” trajectory is the Regional finals. There we see a move of Echizen’s own invention, Cool Drive. It’s a move born of necessity, of needing to get up high enough to smash back a ball with the right spin and of figuring out exactly how to do that, however it takes–by climbing the referee, in the event. This move comes after Echizen has already pretty much burned himself out of muga no kyouchi, and it is, as Sanada notes after, a gamble. Using it gives Echizen an even chance of returning a shot he has no other way of getting, and he takes it without hesitation.

And then, of course, the story shears off into Nationals and the internal AU and focuses on muga’s “three doors”. And Echizen achieves the third, which no one but Nanjirou previously had, and thereby alters the progression of his skill from “finding himself” to “finding True Tennis is his father’s footsteps”.

Bah, I say; that isn’t nearly as interesting. Let us, therefore, take muga in its initial, less fantasy-esque, application, as a state of heightened awareness or response and leave it at that. What interests me more are the implications of Cool Drive.

For one, developing it shows that Echizen has started thinking in terms of evolving his own game. That’s a major hurdle right there, and indicates to me that he’s already reached beyond simply perfecting and reflecting back everything Nanjirou does to actively striving to find new ways to do things for himself. The alphabet drives in general show that, and the way we see him working on Cool Drive shows the importance he’s started to give the project (before Konomi lost his mind, anyway).

For another, the shape of the move shows something about Echizen’s approach. He doesn’t bother with conventional wisdom, which might be to work on strengthening his legs enough to jump for the height required. He also doesn’t choose to cultivate the strengths of his own body type, which might result in working on his ground speed to catch high shots when they come down and apply a different spin on return. Instead he takes all shots head on, and finds a way to meet and return them directly. And then he takes that way despite it being a risk and a gamble.

From this I take the conclusion that Echizen’s tennis doesn’t have a reverse gear. It doesn’t even really have brakes. He will just keep moving forward, believing that the skill and strength he has will find a way, and taking whatever way presents itself.

Really, it’s no wonder he does so well at Seigaku.

Echizen throws himself into the breach. Translated into actual martial arts, I might say that his style is purely aggressive, moving straight in and directly blocking rather than diverting or avoiding counterstrikes. He’s a stubborn little cuss.

So, for all his penchant for adopting everyone else’s moves, I don’t think he will ever use things like the Tezuka Zone or Fuji’s Triple (and counting) Counters very much. They’re not his own style. And, as he moves away from copying his father, I think the modality of copying in general may become a secondary rather than a primary tool for him. I don’t doubt he’ll use whatever move he knows that will do the job to win whatever game he’s in. But his own game, the moves he develops on his own, those I think will mostly be drives.

So I think what I would expect to see, in the future that is not a cracked canon-AU, is Echizen working to develop more such moves and using them with determination and forward momentum. Damn the torpedos and full steam ahead.

Canon amelioration is kind of a fic hobby of mine. When canon kills off or otherwise gets rid of a character I want to write more with, I try to find some way of bringing them back. I like to make it at least marginally plausible.

The ending of the Yuugi-ou manga makes this harder than usual. Not only is everything wrapped up, but it’s wrapped up in such a way that to change it will reverse some wonderful and necessary character development, which is anathema to me.

Okay. Enough of the SaiMono novels are out that I finally have some idea of where the Emperor!Seien storyline needs to go.

See, the difficulty is that the first arc fits in pretty neatly. Just swap around a few characters, and it still works. After that, though, we start to have problems.

Personal HP worldbuilding ahead, which may or may not go toward fic. This is mostly just reading some of copperbadge’s fic and frustration talking.

Becuse, good grief Rowling, could you be sketchier or more illogical if you tried with both hands?

Known: Hogwarts is the only secondary school for wizards in the country.

Known: Rowling says there is no University for wizards in Britain.

Personally known: It is not feasible for such things as research or skilled professions like the medical profession to go on without more intensive education in specific fields than is shown at Hogwarts.

Extrapolation: The population of wizards in comparison to non-wizards must be very small if the entire secondary-schooled population fits in one castle with a mere score of teachers. The population of those who wish to go on to careers requiring tertiary education may, then, be too small to support a university that has sufficient diversity and resources to serve them all. Nevertheless, they must be trained, lest they all kill themselves and each other.

Possibility One: Tertiary education is on the apprenticeship model. Each profession has its own training system and takes care of its own fledglings. Auror’s Academy and medical internships, that sort of thing.

Possibility Two: Wizards who require further education in experimental and research procedure share facilities with one or more non-wizard universities, simply ‘borrowing’ rooms, buildings, libraries and the like, modifying or hiding them as required.

Corollary for Two: Passing the NEWT in Muggle Studies is absolutely required of wizards going on to tertiary studies in such fields.

Possibility Three: British wizards must go abroad to universities that are on the continent in order to get tertiary education.

Conclusion: If Rowling wanted to roll back time in the wizard culture a few hundred years, then she should never have also included institutions such as a ministry offices dedicated to research or a medical profession that appears effective enough to require advanced education and certification.

In addition, the lack of centers for advanced learning implies a certain lack of emphasis or value, in the wizard culture, placed on the study of things that are not immediately useful to a specific vocation. Such study is precisely where a good many advances in understanding the workings of the world around us come from. Particle physics, for instance, is not often immediately useful, but discoveries in that field have the potential to eventually accomplish things that are purely imagination right now, and so people study it. Wizard culture does not appear to value that kind of forward drive, witness the antiquated educational system under discussion and their astonishing ignorance of the far larger non-magic culture in which they are lodged.

From which I further conclude that Rowling’s wizards actually have good cause to fear discovery by non-wizards, because, magic or no, at this point the Muggles would roll them all up in a few months, if there ever appeared to be a reason to do so. Vandalism, attacks and wanton interference with people’s minds would probably provide that reason, should it ever come to light for the population at large.

Argh! I hate it when this happens.

Okay, so, the single set of remains we have seen, in Saiunkoku, are Enjun’s ashes. However it seems, according to Watson via this article, that most of Imperial history has favored interment rather than cremation. Therefore, I suspect this is another example of using Chinese trappings but keeping Japanese content.

So how do I depict Senka’s funeral?! With historical accuracy, or with canonical accuracy? Argh, argh, argh.

I suppose I could assume that Enjun was given Buddhist rites because he was disgraced or some such, but…

You know, I’m having way too much fun writing cheesy samurai stories.

*giggling*

*pokes at the upcoming battle with Fudoumine* Yeah. I think what Tezuka needs to notice is that someone so confident as Echizen can be so desperately determined. And also the total refusal to rely on anyone else in any way, since the issue of amai is going to be pivotal later.

*considers* Perhaps I’ll include the moment with Kaidou. Possibly even including that Inui instigates it to jar Kaidou out of his own no-reliance mode. That would be a nice little side-light on their relationship in this ‘verse.

Incidentally, I love the tension in the use of amai in tenipuri. It’s what makes good doubles, and good senpai-kouhai. But it’s also the demi-insult you yell at an opponent who’s just given you an opening to do something nasty to them. As if to remind them that you’re an enemy–to re-establish proper in group and out group boundaries.