okay i know we’re all excited on what happened for this episode (i am too) but um, all i be thinking about is the next one (or following, cuz nagato’s back story is the next) with a certain tattooed teen.
The Incarnations AU takes place in a universe where each organization (Bōfūrin, Shishitoren, etc.) has an incarnated patron god watching over them and defending them from yokai-related threats.
This project was born from me imagining what the organizations would look like as humans, then it turned to “what if gods?”, and now we’re here! As much as I want to be, I’m not really a creative writer, much less a good one, so a lot of the information presented will be done through outlines, snippets, and illustrations. Everything related to this AU will be linked here along with appropriate tags for each post for any viewers to just skim through!
Disclaimer: This AU contains spoilers for the entirety of the Wind Breaker manga and the game.
Please see cut below for the masterlist:
🎐Lore
— divinities, monsters and beasts, oh my! = who and what the gods are this au
— i’m only human, after all = the relationship between gods and humans [wip]
— eve hates making power systems 3: electric boogaloo [wip]
🎐Character Profiles
— Yuukakueirin: The Hermit Who Sang To The Grove (Makochi) [wip]
— Mamou: The Crow Warden (Furin) #mamou
— Fukaneryuushin: The Deep-Rooted One (Bofurin) #fukaneryuu (the god himself) #fusegi (his incarnate)
— En’jin: Lord of Smoke (Noroshi) #en'jin #hougen
🎐Story (mostly illustrations)
— the legend of the morikawa no kiori (The Splitting Incident) [wip]
— when spring arrives (Sakura officially meets Fukaneryuu) [wip]
Lord of Smoke; En’jin (煙神), or less frequently used Kemurinokami (煙の神)
Miasma God; Shōjin (瘴神)
Main Territory: Unknown; unbound
Champion(s): Endo Yamato
—incarnate
Goes by many identities but humans often refer to him by the alias Hōgen (方玄, lt. mysterious person)
Occupation: Con Artist. Notoriously known among the underbelly of the Kanto region, not by name, but for the unthinkable yet successfully executed schemes involving high-profile business figures. Authorities are unable to uncover his identity due to an alarming lack of evidence in the crimes committed—at least the ones they’ve been able to attribute to his criminal profile.
—
[REDACTED] Rumors:
Disguising his identity in the human world was laughably simple for a divine creature like himself. Simply changing his incarnate’s sex, body type, and age was child’s play. Hōgen had more than enough life force to do so frequently, courtesy of his champion.
Speaking of, his human is quite spoiled with the attention the god freely gives him, especially with all the funds he earned from his illegal activities going to multiple accounts accessible only to his champion. Alas, the god wishes his human would try to be a little more frugal with his spending.
Bōfūrin: God of the Eastern Winds, Spring and Corvids
Epithet(s):
The Deep-Rooted One or the Indestructible One; Fukaneryū* (深根龍, lt. deep-rooted dragon)
Main Territory: Fūrin High School; unbound
Champion(s): Umemiya Hajime, Tsubakino Tasuku, Hiiragi Tōma, Mizuki Saku and Momose Takumi
—incarnate
Humans refer to him as Fusegi (布施木, lt. alms-giving tree).
Occupation: Fūrin High School Janitor. One of two maintenance workers the institution employs to maintain the school grounds and repair infrastructural damages. Due to the institution’s reputation, very few desire to be employed in a delinquent school. It’d been a common trend for newly hired employees to quit after a month—two, if they’re lucky. His senior and co-janitor Sato* truly believed Fusegi would be like the others. However, when the third term was almost finished and the man continued showing up to work, some students saw him awkwardly comforting a sobbing Sato.
—
Makochi Rumors
> A portion of the Fūrin student body would refer to him as Poe. The reason behind the strange nickname was because one of the students thought it’d be cool to call him Poe* based on the school crows affinity with him, and it stuck. Fusegi doesn’t mind and finds the name amusing in hindsight.
> Though no one thought much of it, the timing of his employment was certainly strange. He had been employed during the later half of the second term, coincidentally a few days after a certain group of students had left.
—
notes:
*1 - The character 神 (lt. god) is generally included at the end of the epithet but can be excluded to shorten.
*2 - Sato, written as 佐藤 (lt. assistant wisteria).
*3 - Poe as in the famous American literary figure Edgar Allan Poe, the student was referencing his novel “The Raven”.
Fūrin: God of the Eastern Winds, Autumn and Corvids
[Discorporated]
Epithet(s):
The Crow Warden; Mamō (守烏, lt. guardian crow)
Morikawa no Kiori (森川の木折, lt. the fractured tree of the river forest)
Main Territory: Fūrin High School; unbound
Champion(s): Unknown Third Year Fūrin Student; unofficially* claimed Umemiya Hajime and Takiishi Chika
—incarnate
Humans referred to him as Rin (臨, lt. to meet).
Occupation: None. Before his untimely disappearance, Rin had been known by the students and faculty as the reclusive homeless man frequently sleeping on the school’s rooftop for years. Some suggested he’d been there since the beginnings of the institution itself. He wasn’t known to initiate contact with anyone from the school while there, so they all unanimously agreed to leave the guy alone except for a particularly persistent first year and his friends.
—
Makochi Rumors:
> Outside of school premises, passersby had frequently seen him roaming the streets at night looking for gang fights involving Fūrin students. Not to participate, but rather to observe from afar. Outsiders often made the mistake of attacking him but were then swiftly incapacitated. When they eventually got their bearings together, the man had disappeared. It was enough of a common occurrence for regular fighters to know he was off limits.
> Days following a group of students dropping out of Fūrin, the remaining student body began to notice the lack of the man on the rooftop. It hadn’t been alarming the first week, but a month rolled past with no sightings anywhere. Those concerned reported his absence to the police but were later dismissed, as he’d been homeless so it’s likely he moved elsewhere. His presence and eventual disappearance remains to be one of the school’s many mysteries.
—
notes:
*1 - unofficially, because Mamou never officially approached them on claiming them as his champions.
This post will provide key information pertaining to the AU such as how I’d imagine the world with spirits works and how it would fit in the context of the series. Additionally, here’s some terminology important to note
Spirits is the collective term I’ll be using to describe gods and yokai.
Ward is the term for humans under a god’s care.
Champion is the term for favored humans by their patron gods.
Spirits and humans coexist with each other. Neither in harmony, nor at war; merely at a standstill. Gods, monsters, and tales of old are largely regarded as fiction by current society except for the unlucky few cursed with the truth.
—of gods
Before I expand on the gods themselves, let me establish the hierarchy of gods that exist in this universe. The relevance of their ranks/positions in the pantheon is to help explain their relationship with humans and other spirits, their powers, and their limitations as gods.
Starting from the top, those who’ve originated from the heavens are the Cosmogenic gods. They had been formed before and during the creation of the earth. Next are the Theogenic gods, who were born from other gods such as Izanagi, Izanami, and—in relevance to this AU—Makochi’s matron goddess Yūkakueirin (幽客詠林, lt. the hermit who sang to the grove). With the exception of the aforementioned goddess, the gods that fall under these two categories will not be focused on, but know they exist somewhere within their realms.
Lastly, the most common type of god in the current time is the Anthropogenic gods. These gods are formed from the collective consciousness of humans and are where almost all of the groups-turned-gods fall under and will hereby be referred to as Makochi Gods.
Unlike the other two categories—whose energy is drawn directly from the elements of their domains—the anthropogenic gods derive theirs through their humans (wards) to fuel and sustain their divinity due to the nature of their birth. The life phases of these gods go something like this:
They begin as lesser spirits with weak forms, having little to no power to their name, and are often mistaken for low-level yokai with similar features. As their humans start finding their purpose and acquiring members for their cause, their energy builds and grows stronger to hold a physical form.
Once they attain a higher energy level, their physical forms shift to the next phase, called a divine beast. Divine beasts closely resemble those of other high-ranking yokai, their only difference being their origins, abilities, and relation with humans. Gods of divine beast rank have the option of molding a human form they can use to interact in the human realm.
The last stage for an anthropogenic god to attain is a deiform. A deiform is an interim humanoid form that retains elements of the initial divine beast form. It requires a lot of energy to maintain for long periods due to the nature of balancing humanoid features with their divine abilities. Gods who can frequently use their deiforms are known to have wards (their humans) with vital spiritual energy.
—of yokai
Spirits and humans alike mistake the forms of anthropogenic gods for yokai at first glance, as some appearances and life forces can appear similar (especially during the early stages of their existence). However, there are three identifiable factors (in tandem or individually) that can help distinguish a god from a yokai.
1. Appearances. Some gods have forms that look exactly like their yokai counterparts, and there are others that do not— ranging from general size to minute details like lacking body parts or certain colors. The latter makes it simple to distinguish one from the other.
2. Abilities. Humans have been documenting yokai, along with their unique traits and abilities, throughout history. So it's possible for one to distinguish a god from a yokai based on the use of their abilities. Additionally, a god's abilities do affect their physical forms; the elements of their abilities are visible throughout.
3. Life forces. More often than not, divine beasts have life forces stronger than their yokai counterparts. In addition to being fundamentally different-looking in appearance, divine beasts have elements that make them unique to their humans.
—of death and discorporation
All spirits are immortal, but they aren't untouchable. A spirit can lose their physical form (discorporation) when the body is severely injured by another spirit, but their life forces return to the nature of their domains. In those cases, a spirit can be reborn and their bodies reformed due to their remains lingering in their domains.
The lives of anthropogenic gods, however, are intertwined with their humans. Thus, if a group were to fall—losing its members and their faith towards their goal—their god reverts back to its initial base form until they inevitably discorporate and cease to exist, as they have nothing to return to. The possibility of death looms over all of them, ingrained to the very core of their life forces.
Long time no talk, everyone! Brief update on me is that life and classes have finally let up on me to go to tumblr for a long while, and I haven’t abandoned this blog sksk.
Now, important future plans!
For those interested, a handful of posts for wbk gods au (officially titled Incarnations) have been queued to post within today, consisting of lore on the gods and worldbuilding and character profiles for the Furin brothers (Furin, Bofurin and Noroshi).
Ask box will be open right after the posts for anyone who wants to ask about the Incarnations AU or any other wbk-related things!
Three new long(-ish) analysis posts are on the way with the topics: (1) Tale of the Hare and the Tortoise: A Shishitoren tragedy; (2) Noroshi and their connection to the Eight Legions; and (3) The Dragon and Tiger of Class 1-1 (SugiSaku).
A future project that has been in the works since last year, but I’m excited to share now is the compilation of the Class 1-1 classroom graffiti (template and analysis). The front wall has been completed for a while (since january ngl) and I’m still working on the right and left wall, so let me know in the replies if you want me to post it when everything is completed or by segments!
Remake of the Endo Tattoo document because I accidentally deleted it, but that will take some time tbh 😭.
And that’s all! Sorry about my prolonged absence. 🙇
I’ve been kicking my ass about it too. Lastly, thank you to my handful of followers who've stuck around and are interested in my shit still 🥹🫶, y’all are amazing 😭.
Okay so the promotional cover does not do these actors justice. I have thoughts about this casting but this is in no disrespect to the actors (I think they’re all great especially since I’ve seen some of them before).
It’s my first time hearing of Ando and Yokoyama, so I’m not entirely sure what to expect which leads me to not knowing to feel about their casting. I think Suo’s looks are fine, I’m not really sold on Nirei’s makeup and wig. Yokoyama’s face is already cute (his twitter for reference) and that wig does not do his features justice (nirei’s freckles are not even prominent im crying). Now, how do I feel about Ishikawa being casted for Sakura? He’s not my first pick but honestly I’m not mad about it. I think he looks good in his solo pic. Just the promotional cover threw me tf off. Like he looks great even in his solo pic.
Nakamoto Taiga (Sugishita Kyōtarō) & Takahashi Karin (Tachibana Kotoha)
I also don’t know how to feel about Nakamoto since I never knew of him ‘til now so he might grow on me later on so idk. BUT HOLY SHIT TAKAHASHI! I knew her as Sailor Saturn in the Un Nouveau Voyage musical! This may be a biased take but I like it a lot.
Takahashi Shunichi (Hiragi Tōma) & Sana Hiroki (Umemiya Hajime)
Liking Hiragi’s looks so far, not super familiar with his actor but I do remember him and Choji’s actor being in the Prince of Tennis musical. Tbh with y’all, I already hc Sana as Tsubakino in my mind because he did an amazing job with Maraich Juschenfe from Patalliro! (GUYS PLEASE LOOK HIM UP I BEG OF YOU HES SO FUCKING PRETTY) so I’m a bit disappointed with his casting as Umemiya (that’s cuz of my expectations) but who knows maybe he’ll convince me when the play releases.
I like how Choji looks and Imamaki is chef’s kisses. Never heard of YUKI before but character appearance wise looks pretty good. Now, how to feel about Satonaka as Togame. I maybe so fucking bias rn because he played (my favorite characters) Bluewer (Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler) and Kyoya (OHSHC) in their respective musicals but hotdamn. Bonus for Satonaka’s voice. Also not my first pick but um I get it behind it. *tucks hair*
Kawano Ryōta (Arima Yukinari) & Chatani Yuta (Kanuma Minoru)
These two are the most familiar faces to me since Kawano was casted for Asahi in Gekidan Haikyuu!! and Chatani was Ojiro in the BNHA stage play. Appearance wise (in terms of similarities to the character and not their overall attractiveness), I like it. They look really good but um Arima’s wig is a little weird (but i’ll give it pass because undercut/buzzcut wigs are hard unless the actor willingly shaves off their hair).
Bringing this post back just to say that the cast successfully won me over 🙂↕️.
(As if there was any doubt to begin with lmao)
My thoughts now:
Ishikawa's performance as Sakura was absolutely incredible!! From the mannerisms to vocals (esp his singing voice!! like sir take my entire heart in your hands please), he killed it!! They did so well in translating his fighting choreography to stage and they def preserved his defying gravity kicks. The gags he finds himself in with the other characters especially Sugishita, they're almost always pressed up against each other in the first half. And ahh his duet with Takahashi (Kotoha) made me tear up.
Speaking of, Takahashi K. put her all in the role and exceeded my expectations! Her Kotoha was lovely to watch and loved every single moment she was on stage. She gives off so much nee-san vibes, i love herr.
THEN WE HAVE ANDO AND YOKOYAMA! Y'all these two post the funniest photos online & they're feeding the SuoNire nation so good. I see you Ando (Suo), I see through your agenda with your "beloved disciple" and "Nirei cute cute". Back to their performance, I have gushed about Ando's earring twirl & mannerisms but I have yet to talk about Yokoyama's (Nirei) rapping?!?! LIKE HE WAS SO CUTE THE ENTIRE TIME. I was vibing and jamming, like go king 💅. They both did their characters justice (like everyone else did) and i can't wait to see more of their interactions and works.
When I tell you Sana (Ume) grabbed my heart and told me to follow my dreams, I followed it straight to him. I'm a converted believer in SanaMiya like he captured Umemiya's big brother so well and his VOICE. HIS SOLO AND THEN DUET WITH ISHIKAWA. I might as well be just as obsessed as Nakamoto (Sugi) is with him. During in their curtain call, Nakamoto started a call-and-response with "Umemiya-san" aND I GAVE HIM MY VOICE. Also did y'all see the photo he took holding up SanaMiya merch?? Cuz he's so valid for that. ALSO Sana's interactions with Takahashi S. (Hiragi) WERE THE BEST, MY UMEHIRA SENSES WERE GOING OFF. The way every single time Ume gets on Hiragi's nerves and the latter starts hacking sent me laughing hysterically multiple times. HE EVEN PUSHED HIM ON THEIR WAY TO CURTAIN CALL LIKE HELLO?!?! THEY'RE SO FUCKING CUTE. Also my new roman empire is Sana and Takahashi S. holding hands in a rehersal photo.
NOW SHISHITOREN, GOD ALL OF SHISHITOREN CAST WAS MORE THAN WORDS CAN POSSIBILY SAY.
Satonaka (Togame) has the voice of an angel. My god, I could not take my eyes off of him. Was just sitting there, mouth agape, clutching my Togame-nui in one hand, enraptured. He was like if a divine being personally came blessed to him. I love him actually, like I BE KNEW WHEN I FIRST HEARD HIM AS BLUEWER! HE GAVE THIS PERFORMANCE SO MUCH. I LOVE his interactions with Ishikawa (Sakura) and Imamaki (Choji), they really didnt have to get that close to each other. BUT. THEY. DID.
AND IMAMAKI WAS THE PERFECT CHOJI! He kept that energy throughout the entire play and I was in awe. His Choji was so much more chaotic and terrifying than I initially expected and I loved every single bit of it. Him & Satonaka cranked up the TogaChoji moments to a 100% and was living for it. Like sleeping on Togame's lap, jumping for a piggy back ride, and so much more. ALSO VISUALS. THE RAFTER VISUALS AND CHOJI'S MINDSCAPE IM CRYING.
WHICH REMINDS ME, YUKI (Sako)!! Yuki, I freaking love Yuki and his performance in the Sako vs Hiragi fight was just amazing. I love how they did the backstory sequence and just the desperation from his Sako was a tearjerker. AND THE WAY HIRAGI HANDLED HIM WHEN HE WAS PASSED OUT I WAS BAWLING. LIKE IF THAT ISNT LOVE IDK WHAT IS.
I love how Chatani (Kanuma) and Kawano (Arima) handled their roles as well. I kept thinking these two did so well in getting me to adore them right away like Chatani's way of speaking for Kanuma and his banter with Ando's Suo was one of my many highlights. My SuoNuma heart was singing for joy. AND KAWANO'S SOLO MY GOODNESS. They ate and took no crumbs at all.
My favorite part about the Shishitoren cast is just their chemistry with each other (not to say Bofurin didnt have one, they did but SSTR's was a lot more noticable to me in my first watch). Like just the little things that made it like "Ah yes, my dysfunctional lil found family".
ALL IN ALL, I REALLY LOVED THE PLAY AND DEF GONNA REWATCH IT AGAIN.
Me when they announced the play back in September: oh, hmm. Interesting.
Me after watching the stage play:
GUYS IM OBSESSED WITH THE CAST & CREW. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES BEING SANAMIYA (Sana Hiroki - Umemiya Hajime), SATONAKA (Satonaka - Togame Jo), IMAJI (Imamaki Hikaru - Tomiyama Choji) AND ISHIKAWA (Ishikawa Ryota - Sakura Haruka) OMG THEIR VOCALS?!?! THE URGE TO REDRAW THEIR INTERACTIONS ON THEIR TWITTER IS SO REALL.
THE CHOREOGRAPHY, THE SILLY JOKE ADDITIONS, THE STAGE INTERACTIONS!!!
THE SINGING?? THE SOUNDTRACKS?!?!? i fear i'll be replaying this for the next couple of days. ITS SO GOOD 😭.
—
If you'd like to avail tickets for viewing the stage play + extras (cast talking about the play & their experiences), you can check their availability on ABEMA PPV and/or Theater Complex Town! There's a general ticket (viewing until Jan 26th) and 22-week archive (viewing until Feb 2nd).
This week will most definitely be 80% of me vaguely talking about the stageplay. More specifically how Ando (Suo) made Suo so babygirl from beginning to end, me praising Satonaka's (Togame) & SanaMiya's (Ume) vocals and my absolute favorite background interactions. Of which there are a lot but I'll mostly be alluding to the ones Nii-sensei already drew and the improv ones.
Me when they announced the play back in September: oh, hmm. Interesting.
Me after watching the stage play:
GUYS IM OBSESSED WITH THE CAST & CREW. MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITES BEING SANAMIYA (Sana Hiroki - Umemiya Hajime), SATONAKA (Satonaka - Togame Jo), IMAJI (Imamaki Hikaru - Tomiyama Choji) AND ISHIKAWA (Ishikawa Ryota - Sakura Haruka) OMG THEIR VOCALS?!?! THE URGE TO REDRAW THEIR INTERACTIONS ON THEIR TWITTER IS SO REALL.
THE CHOREOGRAPHY, THE SILLY JOKE ADDITIONS, THE STAGE INTERACTIONS!!!
THE SINGING?? THE SOUNDTRACKS?!?!? i fear i'll be replaying this for the next couple of days. ITS SO GOOD 😭.
—
If you'd like to avail tickets for viewing the stage play + extras (cast talking about the play & their experiences), you can check their availability on ABEMA PPV and/or Theater Complex Town! There's a general ticket (viewing until Jan 26th) and 22-week archive (viewing until Feb 2nd).
The current design sheets for this au because Sakura’s is on pause due to the sheer lack of understanding in what i'm doing with his U anatomy. Kotoha’s has been done since like christmas week and i still have no clue on Sakura
Ah, I just realize I might have to do a mini character sheet for Sasaki...anywayss
In this AU, Sakura and Sasaki are foster brothers. Partly because I miss Sasaki and the other half of me doesn’t want to make an OC when best younger brother shaped Sasaki from Chapters 5-29 is right there!! anyways, i miss my son.
Also, yes, Umemiya is dead in this AU. The plot of this AU couldn’t start without it. I had originally planned on using the late Umemiyas in place Suzu’s (Belle’s protagonist) mother but I was convinced by a moot to kill of Umemiya for the one-two punch.
hello! Digging this blog out of its grave to say (for those who care) that i'll probs be unable to continue that semi-regular streak of talking about the chapters with my schedule now but i will try to put out smthing of essence once in while :,D.
Anyways, to those who follow this blog, I'm warning y'all that I may or may not be making the windbre stage play my whole personality for a week or two so forgive and bare with me! Or join my insanity fawing over the cast and crew skks.
who’s the scariest bofurin member? the answer to that—well, knowledge is power after all.
the fully rendered piece is over on my art blog <3 || credits and all the kudos @/officialmiintee for their future third year designs with the furin 6 as it was a big inspiration, especially for sakura's design!
