#or i can just use inari. their gender is unclear and their messenger animal is a fox which is well-known for shapeshifting

[elliottjpg]

Woe! Transgender samurai be upon ye!

-pulling my old OC out of the filing cabinet and giving him a shampoo- LOOK I HAVE A NEW CHILD!! :D

I've decided to rework an old story/universe from several years ago, so here we go again, from the top:

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暁の物語 Akatsuki no Monogatari

光 Hikari

Hikari, aka Shitaikou, is a young ronin, a master-less samurai, wandering around Edo-era Japan on a soul-searching journey.

He was raised as a girl named Sayoko (小夜子) by a samurai family, and taught swordsmanship and the arts like his brothers, although he was never destined to become a warrior. When the time came to find him a husband, he stole two swords, ran away and changed his name.

He now walks the roads of Japan on a quest to find [insert as-of-yet undefined quest here], and offers his assistance to villagers on the way. In doing so, he often runs into yokais and other paranormal occurences, to the point where in time he becomes an expert on the occult underworld of Japan and is often nicknamed the Demon Samurai.

Hikari is accompanied in his travels by Chihiro (千尋), a kitsune, and by Mochi (餅), a totally normal cat with the usual amount of tails and absolutely no supernatural powers, no siree. He is also regularly involved with an onnagata (a cross-dressing kabuki actor) and a yokai-hunting Buddhist monk, both of which I have yet to name (Mochi's name is also susceptible of being changed soon), and meets all kinds of strange people on his travels.

Hikari has a kind heart and a strong sense of honour. His driving force is his desire to help others; although he is very naive at first, and misguided altruism often gets him in trouble. As the story progresses, he will grow more mature and cynical, often preferring the company of yokais to that of humans, but trying to retain hope and faith in his fellow men.

(You can see older drawings of Hikari, including different outfits, here)

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Akatsuki no Monogatari (the Tale of Dawn) takes place in the very beginning of the Edo era, in the transition years between the warring period of the Sengoku-Jidai and the two hundred years of peace under the Tokugawa shogunate. It is a story about change and beginnings, both of a person and of a country.

Some name lore under the cut!

The kanji Hikari 光 means "light". Hikari is a "public first name", sort of an official nickname. It was common practice in feudal Japan (at least among the samurai class) to go by a public name and keep your real name private. In Hikari's case, that is also because he often frequents yokais and magicians, who could use his true name against him.

His real name is Shitaikou 志泰光 . The kanjis composing it mean "aspire", "gentle" and "light". He chose it as a reminder to himself to strive for kindness and to make the world a better place.

("Hikari" is the last kanji composing this name. When used with other kanjis, it is pronouced "kou". Such is the messed-up way kanjis work. -frustrated weeb noises-)

Hikari doesn't have a last name; he gave up his family's name when he ran away and saw no use in taking a new one: as a ronin he is not tied to any family.

His birth name, Sayoko 小夜子 , is composed of the kanjis "small", "night" and "daughter". Hence the title, Akatsuki no Monogatari, the tale of dawn, or how the night turns into the light.

#formerly this universe was called hakatsuki no monogatari because ihad somehow convinced myself that akatsuki starts with an h (???????????) #the as-of-yet undefined quest may be a quest for a gender-transing yokai or deity #i need to do more research into shinto and buddhist deities i'm sure there must be one that fit the bill #or i can just use inari. their gender is unclear and their messenger animal is a fox which is well-known for shapeshifting #anyway i need to draw the rest of the cast and find a name for the onnagata #spoiler she's hikari's gf and they're T4T <3 #my ocs #hikari #akatsuki no monogatari #samurai #ronin #japan #edo #transgender #blorbo from my brain