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petroniaI'm actually quite close to finishing book 6. ^^; Last evening I went to Cactus, had a Cantonese fried noodle which they do rather well there, and then a hot taro-flavoured bubble-tea-without-the-bubbles (pleasantly lavender in colour, tastes like vanilla ice cream melted in green tea). And read. I'd told myself that I was going to catch a couple of films and get some shopping done this week, but have been forced to confront the fact that I don't really want to, not to mention the fact that due to some mistimed fund transfers I'm actually quite broke this week in terms of spending money. ^^; Haven't even bought cards yet.
Speaking of which, not really the wish list meme because there's nothing on here for online people, nor for that matter do I expect my RL friends to pick an item off this list because most of my friends are poorer than I am and I am disgusting and only want very material objects that are a bit too expensive, so this is more like a list of things that I have to remember to buy at some point in January when prices come down. Except for the fanart:
1. Web design books. Not how-to-hack-HTML-or-Flash books, books like Taschen's Top 100 Websites that are nothing but glossy images.
2. Books on typography and usage thereof; books on 2D design in general.
3. An A-line tweed skirt, if such a thing exists.
4. Fanart for any of my fic (though I'm not really up to finishing Demi in order to get it XD).
5. Any Morr Music release.
6. An iPod mini.
7. A sweater that is warm, not cheap acrylic, does not get coloured fluff everywhere, does not attract dirt and hair, is not unwashable even by hand in cold water and looks nice. =_= That is to say, a sweater I can actually wear.
8. CD holders. Not those little round things that hold 20 CDs each, but the candy-coloured plastic bins or small black suitcase-like things that hold about 100 CDs each. Several of them.
9. More blank CDs. Last batch is running out. Also, skinny CD cases/slips that I can use for when I give/mail CDs away.
10. Someone else to summarise/translate/research/fic for/whatever Mirage of Blaze. (When I was making up this list a week ago I'd written "someone to fansub the OAVs or pick them up for commercial release so the ML will stop going on about it", but I guess the Intarweb is good for something after all. XD)
...And now for book 6. Books 6-8 are one story arc, and pretty much covered by the TV series episodes 8-13 (I think). The prologue begins with Takeda Shingen briefing Kousaka on the theft of the Tsutsuga Mirror from Toshogu Shrine in Nikkou. The general sent by the Takeda to investigate was ambushed and defeated by what appear to be Hojo forces. Shingen cannot countenance further advances by the Hojo, especially if they are wielding the Tsutsuga Mirror, which is dangerous even to kanshousha. He orders Kousaka to retrieve the Mirror; failing that, to make sure it is destroyed. They expect the Date to be allies in this affair. Kousaka points out, however, that the Hojo are Kagetora's blood relatives, and thus it's uncertain which side the Uesugi will take. (Interestingly, between themselves Shingen and Kousaka refer to Kagetora by his birth-name Saburou, just as the Hojo do. He was hostaged to the Takeda before being sent to the Uesugi, and Shingen remembers him as one of the brats underfoot at that time. In this universe anyway. XD)
Meanwhile to pretty much everything, Morino Saori has had a very good vacation indeed. She got a summer job at the dental clinic run by Yuzuru's parents, and has now made enough money to come visit Yuiko in Tokyo for a weekend of shopping and gossip (mostly relative to the Fushigi Mystery of Takaya & Co). On their second day they go to an aquatic park. While there, Yuiko begins to feel uncomfortable: she develops a headache, chills, hears a voice wailing and catches a glimpse of a female face reflected in one of the swimming pools. This is immediately followed by very real screams, as a girl begins to flounder in the pool. No sooner is she saved by the lifeguards than another girl goes under. Yuiko is able to see a white hand - without an arm attached - dragging the girl down by the ankle. In all there are three victims that day, and they all tell the same hysterical story: someone grabbed them in the water and tried to pull them to the bottom. The first girl finds strands of long black hair wound around her ankle.
Saori learns from the snack vendors that similar incidents occurred over the past few days, and the two decide - not unwisely - to leave. By the time they reach the doors, the female voice Yuiko has been hearing all this time resolves itself into a clear malevolent intent: she's angry at the intruders and intends to drag them all down to the bottom of the "cold water" with her. Yuiko goes into near-hysterics, and Saori resolves that the pool must be exorcised. After the first flush of determination she realises that she can't exorcise it, so she calls Yuzuru who calls Takaya - and Chiaki as well, because Takaya has been in a dark mood to end all dark moods since his return from Uozu, and Yuzuru doesn't think he should be left to himself. Chiaki calls Ayako, and thus it's a party of six that heads back to the aquatic park the next day.
According to Ayako, the park is situated on the grounds of what used to be Nerima Castle, the stronghold of the Toshima clan. In Yami Sengoku, this part of Japan is now Hojo territory, and thus spirits inimical to the Hojo are awakening to defend their lands. Politics aside, if they are endangering the present-day population, the Uesugi have to exorcise them. As only young women seem to be targeted, Ayako reluctantly agrees to jump into the pool as bait. Just the the malevolent psychic presence explodes: swimmers are dragged downward, the ghosts of bloody drowned soldiers float to the surface (ick ^^;), the water itself gathers into blades and attacks. The Yashashuu fend them off (Saori screaming "kyaaa <33" somewhere on the sidelines, natch) and realise they have to exorcise the main - female - spirit before the manifestation will calm. She obliges by possessing Yuiko and speaking. Her name is Itsu-hime, the daughter of Lord Toshima Yasuaki; when Nerima Castle was captured, she drowned herself in the river that ran alongside. Now she will do the same to all intruders. She refuses to listen to Takaya's remonstrances, saying that he "smells of the Hojo", and attacks, wounding him slightly. This enrages Takaya, who as aforementioned is not in the most stable mental state. He fights back with such ferocity that Chiaki is forced to interfere in order to defend Yuiko's life. He knocks Takaya into the pool, and performs the exorcism with Ayako. Then he goes after Takaya, and they have the following conversation (script format because it's too hard to properly translate or summarize this sort of thing):
C: What do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea what's going on? This isn't like picking a fistfight.
T: ...
C: If you fly off the handle like that, you're really going to kill some innocent bystander out there. You could've killed that girl. ...Not that I care if you do, I just can't stand to watch you being a stupid brat.
T: *glares*
C: What happened?
T: ...
C: Between you and Naoe. What happened?
T: None of your business.
C: Something you can't say?
[dead silence]
C: Naoe hasn't contacted anyone since. Is it because of that? You've been on the warpath these few days, is it because of that too?
T: The hell should I know? Someone like that, I'm already--
C: The hell should you know? That's right, what do you know about him to date? Anything? Just looking at you makes me speechless.
T: ...
C: Are you clueless because you really are that slow, or are you just pretending? Ever heard the expression "ignorance is a crime"?
T: *looks clueless*
C: Okay, so you really are that slow.
T: I--
C: I knew, knew, knew it was going to turn out like this. What with the way he separated from Kagetora thirty years ago, it's a miracle Naoe kept his cool this long. And you with your amnesia, spurring him on. You must have done something to set him off, Kagetora. It was a matter of time.
T: *looks indignant*
C: What? Don't believe me? Going to tell me it's crazy? Well... yeah. It is pretty much crazy, now isn't it?
T: I. Don't. Understand.
C: You don't not understand, okay. You don't want to admit it. *backs Takaya into a tree* That cluelessness of yours? That's called denial. Or defensive mechanism. You don't want to know, so you lie to yourself.
T: ...Chiaki.
C: The real guilty one is you, Kagetora.
T: *stares*
C: You ran too, thirty years ago. Didn't want to deal with it, so you ran. ...And thus you drove him around the bend. Pretty much, right?
T: I--
C: You're the hypocrite, Kagetora. It's all okay as long as you're not the one going off the deep end. Four hundred years and you're the only one still "human"; the rest of us are demons. That kind of lifetime doesn't do favours to anyone's sanity. And now you're - what? Unhappy? Suffering? Poor baby. You run and you run, put yourself in odour of sanctity, ever give a thought to who's wiping up after you? "I don't know?" Don't give me that bullshit. Making like you have no idea, running from the sticky situation, ignoring it... Have you ever, honestly, thought about him?
T: I did...
C: Don't lie. All you thought about was where to run to next. What's a reasonable explanation, how to get rid of the issue. It's all about you, not about him. And that makes you the victim? I'd say that makes you the assailant.
T: I do think about him! Every day! All the goddamned--
C: No. You didn't. You didn't think about how to help him. All you'd like is for things to go back to "normal" so you can be the liege-lord and everything will go your way. And obviously everyone else can sacrifice himself for your sake... This is not a joke, Kagetora. If anyone's going to hell, you're first in line.
T: Chiaki...
C: I don't know what happened between you and Naoe in Toyama, but if you really don't know what's going on with him, and you're interested in finding out, why not just let him do what he wants? I think that might clear it up for you. You and your stuck-up-edness both.
Upon which Takaya turns on his heel and leaves. Chiaki goes back to inform the others as much, saying that Takaya will probably take the train back to Matsumoto in his own good time and that he, Chiaki, couldn't care less what happens to him in the interim (famous last words). After Yuzuru and the girls go off, he gives Ayako the Naoe-side rant, which is much more succinct and comes down to "if you're going to give up, give up. If you can't give up, just jump him, because God knows he's too stupid for anything more subtle". Not that Naoe can do a thing about it; it's a poor excuse for a liege-vassal relationship and hasn't progressed a whit in the last thirty years.
***
[cont. whenever I feel like it XD;;]
"Tsutsuga", by the way, cannot be found in any dictionary available to me online or off. Not even the Chinese one. I know what it is, but. XD
Speaking of which, not really the wish list meme because there's nothing on here for online people, nor for that matter do I expect my RL friends to pick an item off this list because most of my friends are poorer than I am and I am disgusting and only want very material objects that are a bit too expensive, so this is more like a list of things that I have to remember to buy at some point in January when prices come down. Except for the fanart:
1. Web design books. Not how-to-hack-HTML-or-Flash books, books like Taschen's Top 100 Websites that are nothing but glossy images.
2. Books on typography and usage thereof; books on 2D design in general.
3. An A-line tweed skirt, if such a thing exists.
4. Fanart for any of my fic (though I'm not really up to finishing Demi in order to get it XD).
5. Any Morr Music release.
6. An iPod mini.
7. A sweater that is warm, not cheap acrylic, does not get coloured fluff everywhere, does not attract dirt and hair, is not unwashable even by hand in cold water and looks nice. =_= That is to say, a sweater I can actually wear.
8. CD holders. Not those little round things that hold 20 CDs each, but the candy-coloured plastic bins or small black suitcase-like things that hold about 100 CDs each. Several of them.
9. More blank CDs. Last batch is running out. Also, skinny CD cases/slips that I can use for when I give/mail CDs away.
10. Someone else to summarise/translate/research/fic for/whatever Mirage of Blaze. (When I was making up this list a week ago I'd written "someone to fansub the OAVs or pick them up for commercial release so the ML will stop going on about it", but I guess the Intarweb is good for something after all. XD)
...And now for book 6. Books 6-8 are one story arc, and pretty much covered by the TV series episodes 8-13 (I think). The prologue begins with Takeda Shingen briefing Kousaka on the theft of the Tsutsuga Mirror from Toshogu Shrine in Nikkou. The general sent by the Takeda to investigate was ambushed and defeated by what appear to be Hojo forces. Shingen cannot countenance further advances by the Hojo, especially if they are wielding the Tsutsuga Mirror, which is dangerous even to kanshousha. He orders Kousaka to retrieve the Mirror; failing that, to make sure it is destroyed. They expect the Date to be allies in this affair. Kousaka points out, however, that the Hojo are Kagetora's blood relatives, and thus it's uncertain which side the Uesugi will take. (Interestingly, between themselves Shingen and Kousaka refer to Kagetora by his birth-name Saburou, just as the Hojo do. He was hostaged to the Takeda before being sent to the Uesugi, and Shingen remembers him as one of the brats underfoot at that time. In this universe anyway. XD)
Meanwhile to pretty much everything, Morino Saori has had a very good vacation indeed. She got a summer job at the dental clinic run by Yuzuru's parents, and has now made enough money to come visit Yuiko in Tokyo for a weekend of shopping and gossip (mostly relative to the Fushigi Mystery of Takaya & Co). On their second day they go to an aquatic park. While there, Yuiko begins to feel uncomfortable: she develops a headache, chills, hears a voice wailing and catches a glimpse of a female face reflected in one of the swimming pools. This is immediately followed by very real screams, as a girl begins to flounder in the pool. No sooner is she saved by the lifeguards than another girl goes under. Yuiko is able to see a white hand - without an arm attached - dragging the girl down by the ankle. In all there are three victims that day, and they all tell the same hysterical story: someone grabbed them in the water and tried to pull them to the bottom. The first girl finds strands of long black hair wound around her ankle.
Saori learns from the snack vendors that similar incidents occurred over the past few days, and the two decide - not unwisely - to leave. By the time they reach the doors, the female voice Yuiko has been hearing all this time resolves itself into a clear malevolent intent: she's angry at the intruders and intends to drag them all down to the bottom of the "cold water" with her. Yuiko goes into near-hysterics, and Saori resolves that the pool must be exorcised. After the first flush of determination she realises that she can't exorcise it, so she calls Yuzuru who calls Takaya - and Chiaki as well, because Takaya has been in a dark mood to end all dark moods since his return from Uozu, and Yuzuru doesn't think he should be left to himself. Chiaki calls Ayako, and thus it's a party of six that heads back to the aquatic park the next day.
According to Ayako, the park is situated on the grounds of what used to be Nerima Castle, the stronghold of the Toshima clan. In Yami Sengoku, this part of Japan is now Hojo territory, and thus spirits inimical to the Hojo are awakening to defend their lands. Politics aside, if they are endangering the present-day population, the Uesugi have to exorcise them. As only young women seem to be targeted, Ayako reluctantly agrees to jump into the pool as bait. Just the the malevolent psychic presence explodes: swimmers are dragged downward, the ghosts of bloody drowned soldiers float to the surface (ick ^^;), the water itself gathers into blades and attacks. The Yashashuu fend them off (Saori screaming "kyaaa <33" somewhere on the sidelines, natch) and realise they have to exorcise the main - female - spirit before the manifestation will calm. She obliges by possessing Yuiko and speaking. Her name is Itsu-hime, the daughter of Lord Toshima Yasuaki; when Nerima Castle was captured, she drowned herself in the river that ran alongside. Now she will do the same to all intruders. She refuses to listen to Takaya's remonstrances, saying that he "smells of the Hojo", and attacks, wounding him slightly. This enrages Takaya, who as aforementioned is not in the most stable mental state. He fights back with such ferocity that Chiaki is forced to interfere in order to defend Yuiko's life. He knocks Takaya into the pool, and performs the exorcism with Ayako. Then he goes after Takaya, and they have the following conversation (script format because it's too hard to properly translate or summarize this sort of thing):
C: What do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea what's going on? This isn't like picking a fistfight.
T: ...
C: If you fly off the handle like that, you're really going to kill some innocent bystander out there. You could've killed that girl. ...Not that I care if you do, I just can't stand to watch you being a stupid brat.
T: *glares*
C: What happened?
T: ...
C: Between you and Naoe. What happened?
T: None of your business.
C: Something you can't say?
[dead silence]
C: Naoe hasn't contacted anyone since. Is it because of that? You've been on the warpath these few days, is it because of that too?
T: The hell should I know? Someone like that, I'm already--
C: The hell should you know? That's right, what do you know about him to date? Anything? Just looking at you makes me speechless.
T: ...
C: Are you clueless because you really are that slow, or are you just pretending? Ever heard the expression "ignorance is a crime"?
T: *looks clueless*
C: Okay, so you really are that slow.
T: I--
C: I knew, knew, knew it was going to turn out like this. What with the way he separated from Kagetora thirty years ago, it's a miracle Naoe kept his cool this long. And you with your amnesia, spurring him on. You must have done something to set him off, Kagetora. It was a matter of time.
T: *looks indignant*
C: What? Don't believe me? Going to tell me it's crazy? Well... yeah. It is pretty much crazy, now isn't it?
T: I. Don't. Understand.
C: You don't not understand, okay. You don't want to admit it. *backs Takaya into a tree* That cluelessness of yours? That's called denial. Or defensive mechanism. You don't want to know, so you lie to yourself.
T: ...Chiaki.
C: The real guilty one is you, Kagetora.
T: *stares*
C: You ran too, thirty years ago. Didn't want to deal with it, so you ran. ...And thus you drove him around the bend. Pretty much, right?
T: I--
C: You're the hypocrite, Kagetora. It's all okay as long as you're not the one going off the deep end. Four hundred years and you're the only one still "human"; the rest of us are demons. That kind of lifetime doesn't do favours to anyone's sanity. And now you're - what? Unhappy? Suffering? Poor baby. You run and you run, put yourself in odour of sanctity, ever give a thought to who's wiping up after you? "I don't know?" Don't give me that bullshit. Making like you have no idea, running from the sticky situation, ignoring it... Have you ever, honestly, thought about him?
T: I did...
C: Don't lie. All you thought about was where to run to next. What's a reasonable explanation, how to get rid of the issue. It's all about you, not about him. And that makes you the victim? I'd say that makes you the assailant.
T: I do think about him! Every day! All the goddamned--
C: No. You didn't. You didn't think about how to help him. All you'd like is for things to go back to "normal" so you can be the liege-lord and everything will go your way. And obviously everyone else can sacrifice himself for your sake... This is not a joke, Kagetora. If anyone's going to hell, you're first in line.
T: Chiaki...
C: I don't know what happened between you and Naoe in Toyama, but if you really don't know what's going on with him, and you're interested in finding out, why not just let him do what he wants? I think that might clear it up for you. You and your stuck-up-edness both.
Upon which Takaya turns on his heel and leaves. Chiaki goes back to inform the others as much, saying that Takaya will probably take the train back to Matsumoto in his own good time and that he, Chiaki, couldn't care less what happens to him in the interim (famous last words). After Yuzuru and the girls go off, he gives Ayako the Naoe-side rant, which is much more succinct and comes down to "if you're going to give up, give up. If you can't give up, just jump him, because God knows he's too stupid for anything more subtle". Not that Naoe can do a thing about it; it's a poor excuse for a liege-vassal relationship and hasn't progressed a whit in the last thirty years.
***
[cont. whenever I feel like it XD;;]
"Tsutsuga", by the way, cannot be found in any dictionary available to me online or off. Not even the Chinese one. I know what it is, but. XD
