Bloody Petals Musings

[madimpossibledreamer]

It’s fascinating, because as much as Miyamoto and the others started out that way because ‘oh ryu ga gotoku’, that is not where they went with it.  At all.

A Cup Overflows and Phoenix Spirit show a very different Miyamoto than Xander or the one depicted in future stories (which might be a Y0 parallel, dunno).  She’s not quite comfortable in her skin yet, and sees the whole “crossdressing” thing as something wrong with her.  There’s probably some weird abuse type stuff going on with Kumai.  Possibly not intentional, possibly to protect her lieutenant (the yakuza aren’t known to be the most progressive of organizations, and Miyamoto probably had to deal with enough people picking fights even when she was kinda careful about it), but even then kind of giving her the impression that no one would accept her like Kumai would.  (I dunno, I find Jesse not being a saint that much more interesting with the grief that Xander goes through, and maybe as a fan of Xander it’s easier to displace most of the worst of Whedon to him?  (Plus I really liked Pike from the movie, so that might be carrying over a little.  Yes, the noncanon movie.  No, it wasn’t perfect.  Yes, it was good.  And pseudocanon, because if I remember correctly there was a canon comic that referenced it.  The hammy vampire death scene at the end [youtube video I found says his name is Amilyn] was hilarious.  The only stuff we really saw from Jesse was his unrequited and kinda creepy crush on Cordy, which isn’t entirely something Xander doesn’t do but it seems…I dunno, creepier from Jesse?  Though in this one Jesse|Kumai’s supposed to be the Nishiki analogue, so she’s not completely evil so much as a little too jealous, a little too ambitious, a little too insecure.)  She’s also quiet, respectful, kind of nothing that Xander or later Miyamoto is.  Again, I’m thinking that’s Kumai insisting on ceremony…to keep Miyamoto in line?  To have it reflect well on her?  To prevent Miyamoto from outshining her?

Miyamoto pulled the idiot Xander thing and didn’t warn anyone else.  To be fair, it’s Japan, and there’s the extra layer of trying to save face…which is someone else’s, but still.  She’s internalized the Tony Harris message that she’s worthless (his equivalent probably exists in this universe, too), and remains somewhat suicidal like Majima.

The later version of Miyamoto is more at ease, and feels like she can be herself.  Complete and utter geek, kinda nuts.

I’m not sure quite how to get there from here, or how her recruiting would go.

 

I just have this very strong image of Natsukawa|Buffy holding a katana at a slant to let the blood drip off with sakura petals falling around her.

 

The tragic (or not-so-tragic) thing is, Maki-san|Giles did have a warm, loving relationship with Kimiko|Joyce, but the Chairwoman couldn’t be seen to have weaknesses.  Including actually having a healthy relationship.  Not even the kids (Akeru|Dawn and Renyo|Buffy) knew for sure.  So it was kept as very, very quiet secret…that was also a rumor, but could be framed as someone trying to undermine Maki or the previous Chairwoman.

 

The weird thing is, Miyamoto|Xander is probably their PR Matriarch.  She can act as their male representative in places that don’t respect women as much (i.e. most of the rest of the world) and actually knows passable English.  The Chairwoman|Buffy doesn’t understand Miyamoto, but is okay with eccentricity, particularly when it’s useful.

 

Faith probably exists.  Not sure what to do with her, though—rival Chairwoman of the Omi Alliance analogue?  Off-and-on trustworthy matriarch?  Lieutenant?

Kate Lochley’s analogue has to be involved because we need a cop or two.

 

I want to include at least Spike or Angel but I don’t know if I want to genderbend them, and if I do I only want to have one vampire irezumi.

 

Are guys the common prostitutes/telephone club workers/cabaret club workers?  (Not a question I’d usually ask, but this is set…well, probably not Kamurocho, given that that’s a fictional name for a not-so-fictional place, but the equivalent.  This is actually relevant for worldbuilding.)  Hostess clubs were added relative recently, so that’s a thing, but…  And what about the women without magical power?  It’s not super common, but it does happen.  Do they get made fun of, like all the dumb machismo stuff for guys?  Do the seductress supernatural youkai actually all occur as males?  What about all the terrifying ghosts out for revenge?  What about the folk heroes/important myths like about Susano’o?  Does anything change?  In the case of Susano’o is it reframed so Amaterasu is the right one in that situation?

 

Akiyama|Willow is the Queen of Blackmail, similar to Awano’s role in Y0.  Extortion’s her thing, but her other job is keeping control of the supernatural black market.

 

I’m not sure who the PC is.  Unless it’s a multiple-character situation, like Yakuza 4 (which…was a mess with some cool moments), in which case Miyamoto|Xander is probably one of them.  Buffy|Natsukawa probably would be more of a PC, except she’s Chairwoman so she’s a little more restricted than she otherwise be, so at least she’s not the sole PC.  Anyone have ideas on who else should be included, even if briefly, and who else should be a Matriarch?