The Swordboy's Survival Guide

Ask Touken Ranbu's Yagen Toushirou anything about life in the citadel! Don't worry, the scissors and test tubes aren't meant for you. Also on twitter @dr_yagen

[ask-dr-yagen]

Update

Just popping in to let everyone know that this blog will be on semi-hiatus for the foreseeable future. I’m going to be pretty busy with work and cosplay and a number of other projects for the next several months, and I just haven’t found time to devote to this blog. I’ll still (slowly) work my way through the backlog in my inbox, but I won’t be checking for new asks on a regular basis. I’m not going to close the blog though! If I keep getting asks I might just set one day per month where I sit and answer until I’m ready to stop until the next time. My DMs will remain open as well, though again I won’t be checking regularly.

I hope everyone is doing well. Stay hydrated and practice good sleep hygiene.

My best, Dr. Yagen

[ask-dr-yagen]

What do you think about Mouri? Have you guys brought him home yet?

We finally managed to bring him home from the depths of Osaka Castle. It's been great to have him around in the citadel. He's personality is calming and he's very good with my other brothers, and even with Sayo. It's nice to have someone else around to help me and Ichiniii take care of the rest of the Toushirous.

[ask-dr-yagen]

If you or your brothers could have a pet what would it be?

As my last ask indicates, I’d love to keep fish. I’m not home much these days though (taishou has been sending us to battle constantly in the effort to bring home Hyuuga) so I’d worry about who to leave in charge of them while I’m away.

Gokotai has his tiger of course, but otherwise our citadel only has farm animals and warhorses. But Ichinii informed me that taishou is considering getting a puppy or two in the New Year. That seems appropriate since it’s now the year of the dog.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Yagen, you seem like someone who likes fish. Have you tried fishing or maybe keeping one or two as a pet?

I actually quite enjoy fish. I haven’t kept any as pets, but I often go to the pond by the citadel and watch the koi swim. It’s very relaxing and helps me unwind when taishou is keeping us busy with battles and chores. I haven’t had time to run many experiments lately, but when I do and I need a breath of fresh air to clear my head and think a problem through, I’ll take some crackers or fish pellets from the citadel storehouse and feed the fish while I ponder.

I also enjoy fishing and often do so while out on expedition. It’s an easy way to provide the team with food that doesn’t require packing a lot of equipment.

[ask-dr-yagen]

How are the dategumi dealing with all the new Osfune swords showing up to steal their Mitsutada?

Our citadel has obtained very few of the new Osafune swords, but I’m happy to say Daihannya and Kenshin have settled in very well and have adopted the Dategumi as an unconventional and unexpected family. It’s obvious that Mitsutada would never abandon his fellow Dategumi, especially Taikogane, an he has gone above and beyond to smooth over the two groups becoming one. (At least as much as is possible, given Ookurikara’s…disposition.)

There was a bit of a personality conflict between Daihannya and Tsurumaru in the beginning, given how Tsurumaru doesn't take Daihannya's breed of elegance very seriously. Tsurumaru still pokes at Daihannya a bit but the other tachi has learned to be a bit less reactive.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Hi yagen :< I'm like halfway through week 3 of school and I want to die??? it's not hard per se but damn 99% of my classmates don't take anything seriously, slack off on their simple to do work, make sooo much noise for who knows why and are just general pains in the ass :\. can I have a cheering up please ;; or like idk a hug idk I'm your height so it'll be easy (imean- x'D) I'll try my best but not without lots of complaining hah-

Ah, apologies for seeing this so late. I hope the next semester treats you better and that you learn a lot of interesting things that expand your world and lead you to new experiences. School is a lot of work, but education is a valuable tool that is worth the effort. The world is such an interesting place, and as a saniwa you never know what classes will aid you in defeating the Historical Retrograde forces. I believe in you. You have all the skill and determination necessary to succeed, regardless of the irresponsibility of your classmates.

And yes, hugs are acceptable no matter what our respective heights.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Hey Yagen, you're back! Wow, it's been awhile.

My apologies for the unexpected hiatus! All of these holidays and yearend events have kept us very busy at the citadel and on the battlefield.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Yagen, what do you think about a Saniwa who smokes? Who tolerates it and who hates it? Who buys her cigarettes? Who tries?

Well, as a medical semi-professional I would discourage taishou from taking up the habit. Smoking is fairly common among saniwa as the job is a stressful one, but I would advise any new saniwa who haven’t yet smoked to take the health risks and possibility of addiction into consideration.

I feel that Mikazuki would be something of an enabler. He likes to bring taishou sweets since they’re her favorite treat, and I’m sure if she smoked he’d bring her cigarettes too. He enjoys the attention he gets when he spoils her.

Gokotai would hate it. He and his tiger are very sensitive to strong scents and he would struggle with the conflict of staying close to taishou or avoiding the smell.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Do any of the swords require night lights to sleep?

There are night lights in the rooms my brothers and I sleep in, partially so Akita, Maeda, Gokotai, and Midare (and Atsushi though he’d never admit it) don’t get scared of the dark. There are a few in the hallways of the citadel as well, and I have it on good authority that there’s one in the room that Taroutachi and Jiroutachi share. Jiroutachi has a habit of waking up in a drunken stupor, thinking he’s back on display in the temple where he’ll never get sake again. Taroutachi got tired of the late-night panics and asked taishou for a light so Jiroutachi would always know where he was.

[ask-dr-yagen]

You know, I find Shishiou to be unrecognizable when his hair is untied. Like, suddenly I think, "Who's this? Oh, wait. It's Shishiou." Also, that top he wears under his jersey looks very stylish. By the way, is the Nue alive and has it bitten anyone in the citadel before?

The nue is definitely alive and has bitten several people, including Shishiou. It’s usually nothing worse than a nip and Shishiou insists it’s just playing. It has taken a severe disliking to Hasebe (it’s mutual) and often snarls at him when he goes by.

The nue’s biggest sin is that it has a habit of eating our barn cats. We’ve lost several to it and Shishiou is no longer allowed to let it near the stables. It upsets taishou and my brothers a great deal whenever it takes another one.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Tsurumaru will barge into her room, calling out and making as much noise as possible as he charges right in.

Hasebe always has a brief struggle with himself in the hallway outside her room. On the one hand he expects her to be a diligent, hardworking saniwa, but on the other hand he has a hard time disturbing her rest. He always ends up deliberating up until the very last second before her chosen wake up time before going in to wake her.

Mitsutada brings her a cup of coffee and sits down next to her futon to chat while she drinks it. He usually makes her late to breakfast though so he doesn’t get wake up duty very often, only on days when she has time to indulge his conversation.

Akashi got wake up duty once and only once. He crawled into her futon with her and was promptly kicked out of her room until further notice.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Yyyagen- is something wrong with me?? I get excited to get my blood drawn or pricked or vaccinated or going into an MRI scanner ;; I might have loved medicine related things so much I like getting pain from needles and such _(:'3 What do you think about the colour of blood? Www~ I sound like a vampire ;;u;; happy halloween??

Mmm, I don’t see anything wrong with having an interest in medicine, no matter what the source of the…interest.

I can’t say I’ve spent much time thinking about the color of blood, really. It’s a pretty enough color on its own terms but as a medical semi-professional I don’t usually enjoy seeing that color on my patients. On my enemies, however, it’s a totally different matter.

Happy Halloween.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Hi, Yagen! Has the citadel ever experienced any serious illness/outbreak? You all travel back in time and I can't help but worry because there are recorded cases of smallpox and cholera in Japan. I hope all of the younger Tantous (and even Hotarumaru!) are properly vaccinated since children are more vulnerable/more likely to catch a virus in an expedition or if sent to the front lines.

We’ve fortunately so far avoided a serious outbreak in the citadel. Taishou leaves it to me to schedule and implement all of the regular vaccinations for the toudan. Everyone is up to date on their shots (despite Otegine’s extreme reluctance to come near the needle). There’s always a risk of one of the newer swords coming down with something before they can catch up on their vaccinations so I try to maintain herd immunity, just in case. I’m in the process of giving everyone their flu shots right now.

[ask-dr-yagen]

Yagen I want to die there's a roach in my room ;u; I'm never gonna sleep at this rate hahahah excellent _(:'3 cries

Don’t worry, they’re annoying and kind of gross but relatively harmless. I can come dispose of it if you want, or send one of my brothers. It’s important that you get adequate rest.

[ask-dr-yagen]

I’d like to throw out a quick promo for two other TKRB ask blogs that have come to my attention.

Please check out my brother’s blog and share your best styling tips with him. Also, my good compatriot Tsurumaru recently discovered the internet and started his own blog. 

[ask-dr-yagen]

I’d like to throw out a quick promo for two other TKRB ask blogs that have come to my attention.

Please check out my brother’s blog and share your best styling tips with him. Also, my good compatriot Tsurumaru recently discovered the internet and started his own blog. 

[ask-dr-yagen]

Hey, asking as a new Saniwa...How does your Saniwa handle sex ed?

By “accidentally” leaving, ah, literature where the swords concerned will find it. She has quite an extensive collection of BL manga and a few steamy novels with heterosexual couples. Mostly she has BL manga…

She’s explained the basics of consent and safety to everyone in one on one conversation, even to us tantou, but she’s too overwhelmed by the sheer number of us to hold something like a class or lecture. So, she instead leaves her office door open to anyone with questions. Occasionally a toudan will come to me for “medical” advice, but, ah, since this isn’t really my field of specialty I usually have to go to taishou for more information. I can help with the basic biology of what sex entails but I’m not good with…everything else.