madimpossibledreamer: Jotaro thinking 'yare yare daze' (jotaro)
[personal profile] madimpossibledreamer

Miyamoto couldn’t go to one of the traditional artists, such as Horimae, as a hyena isn’t exactly a traditional Japanese animal.  She found an unknown artist named Horikusa—turns out she was a failed apprentice of one of the larger artists, not from lack of talent but from an unconventional approach.

On the back she’s got her irezumi youkai, a laughing hyena, somewhere between the sumi look and wolf irezumi, tongue lolling out and looking half-mad.  One where it’s posed, action shot, approaching the viewer but looking to the right.  It’s the tattoo artist that helps summon and bind the spirit through the ritual of the tattooing process, but Xander had a dream.  The youkai chose her (at least, that’s the feeling she has).  That’s usually an inauspicious sign (to say the least) and should not be followed by errand girls, as that’s usually a trickster or malicious sign, and some do get possessed by their irezumi youkai following their session and have to be put down.  (It’s much rarer for it to happen later on, but it can.)  It worked out for Miyamoto, though probably also increased her worry about invoking or trusting herself.  None of the hyena meanings are Japanese as it’s not a Japanese animal, making it that much more of a transgressive choice.  It may also hint at other things; it’s possible Miyamoto isn’t fully Japanese (Akiyama and Natsukawa, in this universe, are) which would add to the bullying and the lack of feeling like she fits in.  It’s not known for certain.  She’s an orphan and doesn’t look particularly non-Japanese so it wasn’t as bad as it could be.

She was born, like Xander, in the year of the rooster, so she gets a rooster on the shoulder, plumage wrapping around to the back.  It’s red for feng shui (and also because red is a common irezumi color).

The design incorporates multiple botan throughout—on the back, on the sleeves, on the front.

She ended up getting the samurai as a sleeve as a counterbalance to the hyena, self-control to counter the utter lack of it.  She sees herself as a soldier.  With all her rebellious instincts, she’s still the type to take orders.  From the right people, of course, otherwise they can shove it.  There’s no sign that getting these additions of non-youkai actually influence anything, but the tradition’s still there, it still tells a story, and it makes her feel better, so she doesn’t care.

*hyena-wisdom, cunning, profane, pack instincts, night person, cowardice, catch corruption, misunderstood, playful, virility, agitator, maverick, and there’s probably something about transgressive sexuality given that female hyenas are sometimes mistaken for males for, er…google-able reasons.

*soldier-samurai-bushido, righteousness, heroic courage, benevolence, compassion, respect, honesty, honor, duty, loyalty, self-control

*rooster-chasing away evil spirits, Chinese meanings-civil responsibility, marital fidelity, courage, kindness, confidence, red-protection from fire, getting Amaterasu to return, lucky, divine messenger, divination, Zodiac-lucky for business, kindness, hospitality, quick-witted, efficient, confident, like challenge, change, devoted to work, suspicious, aggressive, try to do too much, don’t think before they speak, takes failure personally

*peony-botan, prosperity, wealth, elegance, (King) Queen of Flowers, (masculinity) femininity, strength, “devil-may-care”

*metal rooster-not a complete bonehead, don’t give up, trustworthy, too stubborn, practical, optimistic, idealistic, observant, “often communicate in an ironic tone” you don’t say, attachment to family.  Well, kinda, but mostly explains the eventual cursed dagger.

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madimpossibledreamer: Jiraiya|Yosuke jumping and using a throwing star (Default)
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