Expiation App.
Player: Gray
Contact: PM
Age: 30+
Current Characters: Sigma, Bungou Stray Dogs
Character Name: Abe no Seimei
Character Canon: Onmyoji
Canon Point: Post-Season 1
Age: ??? (Adult)
Crime: Falsifying his own death
Background:
● A young Seimei was taken in by Kamo no Tadayuki as his disciple in the art of onmyodo. Tadayuki implored the other students under his tutelage to look after the child, a request only Tadayuki's biological son, Yasunori, took to heart.
● The other children had already heard rumors of one of Seimei's parents being a fox spirit, considering him "dirty" and treating him poorly as a result.
● One night while Seimei and three other students were escorting their master in an ox cart, a cluster of demons appeared in a cloud of fog before them. Only Seimei could see them and warned his master, who instructed all his students to hide under the ox cart and remain silent. One student was audibly worrying at prayer beads on his wrist, which Seimei tried to stop by grabbing their arm, and the student recoiled with a loud shout. Alerted, the demons came for the children, who screamed and ran in different directions save for Seimei. He was the only one aside from his master to survive the encounter.
● Rumors of that night spread quickly, painting it as something Seimei had done intentionally.
● Tadayuki continued teaching Seimei and Yasunori until his death by natural causes. Rumors spread of Seimei's involvement in the death regardless.
● An unnamed friend of Seimei's approaches him in his grief, asking a favor for someone who cares about him. This favor turns out to be finishing the job of killing the friend's dying father, which Seimei refuses to do, but gives his word to the friend that he'll tell no one of the plan.
● The friend doesn't take Seimei at his word and tries to have him killed. Seimei comes to him in the night to claim if they ever see each other again, he'll kill them. This is the night Seimei steels himself to make his journey through life alone.
● At some point Seimei receives a position at the Bureau of Onmyodo in Heian-kyo, and moves there to live in an empty house. Lonely, though he wouldn't admit it, he summons the spirits of two wisteria flowers from a tree in his garden as shikigami to keep him company: Mitsumushi and Mitsuyo. They live otherwise alone in the house for some time.
● At some point Seimei meets Ashiya Douman. The two enter into what Douman describes as a series of games, one where they cast a curse and Seimei counteracts it.
● Seimei meets Minamoto no Hiromasa, who asks his assistance in dealing with a demon roaming the capital. Reluctantly, the two work together to pacify the demon.
● Hiromasa comes to Seimei on behalf of a court noble troubled by another demon living at the city's Suzakumon Gate. They once again pacify the demon together, Hiromasa endearing himself to them and receiving the demon's flute that can only be played by those with godlike talent: Ha Futatsu.
● Hiromasa asks Seimei's aid a third time, on behalf of a noblewoman making herself deathly ill with grief. Seimei deduces part of the problem is Ashiya Douman, now in the shape of a young woman, who's begun another one of their games. Despite struggling at first, Seimei is able to solve the puzzle of Douman's curse.
● The spirit of a deceased poet that has been haunting the imperial palace has begun acting aggressively. Multiple nobles beseech Hiromasa to ask Seimei's help but he refuses, not wanting to simply be a ticket to the other man. Despite this Seimei has already arrived at the palace to investigate the matter himself, and learns that this will be a difficult exorcism without knowing exactly what the poet's grudge is. Together the two investigate, coming to the conclusion that the grudge is because a plagiarized poem won instead of his own, but this proves incorrect. Seimei is also introduced to Hiromasa's childhood friend, Atsumi, from whom he learned how to play the flute.
● Having failed his first attempt at exorcism, Seimei is informed by Yasunori that word of the ghost has reached the emperor and he's been ordered to deal with the situation under any circumstances.
● Seimei and Hiromasa's investigation take them to the poet's family home, where they learn he'd been associating with a strange figure for some time now. This figure turns out to be a demon, the poet's friend, whose grudge over his unrecognized poetry claimed him around a hundred years ago. Distraught that his friend has died he asks to see him, so he is brought back to the capital. The demon manages to break through the poet's undead haze, and with a heartfelt talk he begins to see hope for writing poetry once again. However, with the spirit feeling peace and thus easier to exorcise, Seimei takes this opportunity and carries out his orders. Hiromasa is furious at this, denouncing the humanity he thought he saw in Seimei's heart, and leaves him.
● Seimei is called upon to "help" a young woman whose father insists something is wrong with her: Tsuyuko. She cares little for making herself a suitable bride, instead devoting her time to insects and various intellectual pursuits. Upon arriving at the estate, Seimei learns her latest insect, Kuromaru, is in fact a sekisanko, the result of a curse taught to the woman's father by Douman. Seimei warns her Kuromaru is dangerous and urges her to allow him to kill it, but with a heartfelt plea Seimei is reminded of Hiromasa's words and agrees only to kill Kuromaru should it emerge from its cocoon as something evil. Tsuyuko agrees.
● Douman arrives at the woman's estate with Hiromasa in tow to collect the sekisanko, claiming she intended to do so from the beginning to make it one of her shikigami. When Kuromaru finally emerges, he is instead a creature of benevolence and love instead of hate and curses, so Douman retreats. Hiromasa reveals that Yasunori told him of Seimei's orders to exorcise the poet, and forgives him.
● Hiromasa runs into a young boy on his way to Seimei's estate for a social call. Occupied with an assignment from an out of town temple, the two chat and Hiromasa agrees to accompany Seimei to a "once in a century event" come morning. Tsuyuko and Atsumi join in, help complete the assignment, and spend a nice night together. In the morning Seimei brings Hiromasa to the river, out of which springs three water dragons--the young boy Hiromasa had run into was the mother dragon's son, seeking a blessing from Seimei to help his mother give birth to his new sibling safely.
● On their way off the bridge, Seimei and Hiromasa are accosted by a masked demon who claims to have a grudge, and releases a sekisanko of his own. Thinking it for himself Seimei instructs Hiromasa to play his flute to help him with a barrier to protect them both, but a strange sound distracts Hiromasa and breaks the barrier, allowing the sekisanko to fly into Seimei's mouth. He collapses on the bridge, unresponsive.
● Seimei is laid up in his estate watched over by Hiromasa, Tsuyuko, Mitsumushi, and Mitsuyo. Yasunori arrives to check on Seimei's condition, fearing the worst, and suggests they make Tsuyuko's Kuromaru be swallowed as well to duel the other sekisanko inside Seimei for a chance to save him. If left alone, Seimei will die, so Tsuyuko agrees.
● Holding the sleeping Seimei's hand in worry, Hiromasa sees visions of Seimei's past through his dreams.
● Incredibly worried, Hiromasa is found by Douman and Atsumi, who instruct him in a ritual called the Lord Taizan Ceremony. In exchange for his godlike talent with the flute, Hiromasa bids Seimei's lifespan be extended.
● After days of waiting Seimei awakens, vomiting up the presumed corpse of the malevolent sekisanko. Once brought up to speed, Seimei, Hiromasa, Tsuyuko and Atsumi consider who the demon with the grudge on Seimei could be. Having witnessed suspicious behavior from Yasunori while Seimei was asleep, Tsuyuko suggests it could be Yasunori.
● Word of Seimei falling victim to a curse has spread to the court, many nobles eager for an excuse to strip him of his position and get him out. The noble Seimei had helped with the Suzakumon Gate demon vouches for his value, and eventually it's agreed upon that a contest of magic will be held at the court with the Emperor as its judge. Should Seimei win, he will keep his position. At just the right time, Douman arrives to volunteer herself as Seimei's opponent.
● The two onmyoji seem evenly matched in the competition until a group of floating heads descend upon the palace. Priorities shift to protecting the emperor and court officials. Though Seimei once again asks Hiromasa to play his flute to help erect barriers, Hiromasa finds some excuse to be unable to. Regardless, Seimei is able to destroy the ghostly heads and this proves to the court officials that he is still fit for duty.
● Seimei confronts Douman afterwards, having seen her personal talismans burning up when he burned up the heads. Douman claims it was an apology for nearly killing him, having taught the demon from before the necessary spell to create a sekisanko. She also tells him he's going in the wrong direction for his investigation, but doesn't specify before strutting off.
● Seimei continues his investigation in earnest, looking in on every single court noble he can while a spell to revive the sekisanko corpse he puked marinates in his home. He brings Hiromasa along to its awakening once again for the effects of his flute, explaining that the sekisanko will now return to its owner instead of trying to kill anyone. Conveniently, the thing hatches and flies off before Hiromasa needs to make any excuses about his flute.
● The garden the bug leads them both to is dense with fog, and they become separated. In this fog Seimei finds Yasunori, whom he confronts, and who calls him an idiot for being so easily sidetracked from all the clues around him. Yasunori was not the demon and the sekisanko was not meant for him.
● Realization hitting him, Seimei immediately turns tail to try and find Hiromasa in all the fog. Eventually he is found...with a sword through his gut, held by none other than Atsumi. Struck with immense panic and grief, Seimei holds Hiromasa in his arms as he dies.
● Seimei is beside himself in mourning. He attempts to confront Douman for teaching the demon, Atsumi, the spell that started all this, to which she soundly knocks him on his ass and mocks him for not being able to see the signs and save Hiromasa. She further taunts him with the night she instructed him on the Lord Taizan Ceremony, revealing how Hiromasa traded his flute skills for Seimei's life. Seimei runs away with his tail between his legs.
● Yasunori visits Seimei's home. He reveals that some time before Hiromasa died, Yasunori placed a protective talisman on his person, which absorbed some of the fatal blow and held Hiromasa's soul within it. Because true resurrections are so risky, however, Yasunori advises Seimei to simply use it to release the soul and let it pass.
● Seimei is not having it.
● In frustration he seeks out the now demonically transformed Atsumi once more, but once he has the chance to land a killing blow he hesitates. Hiromasa's last request had been to forgive Atsumi. And so he retreats to come up with another plan.
● Offscreen, he recruits Douman and Yasunori into his new plan. Douman will once again be creating a sekisanko, this time in the shape of Seimei, albeit in a rush. Yasunori, as the emperor's personal onmyoji, will stall any official reactions to Seimei's actions as long as he can.
● Seimei steals Hiromasa's corpse and crashes a giant ceremony in the imperial palace meant to cleanse the capital of the taint that had lead those floating heads in. Seimei says he'll be the one to complete the ceremony in these other priests' steads, and plops himself right down to get to work.
● Atsumi, close enough to the ceremony, hears a distinctly familiar flute playing and runs to the palace in a rage, expecting Hiromasa. Instead he finds the demon of the Suzakumon Gate, who Seimei had also roped into his plan for the express purpose of luring Atsumi here. According to Seimei the only person who can truly save Atsumi is Hiromasa, which is why he will be revived. Further enraged, Atsumi attacks Seimei to interrupt the ceremony, landing a solid and visible hit on the onmyoji.
● Somehow, when approached, Atsumi sees the previous wound is gone. It's also too late to stop the ceremony, and as Hiromasa heroically steps out into the battlefield Seimei is taken by a godly glowing hand.
● The battle rages, and in the end it is indeed Hiromasa who quells Atsumi's inner fury and resentment, cutting off his horns and beginning the process of healing from his demonic transformation.
● Surprise! The Seimei everyone saw get taken away was in fact the sekisanko Douman had made in his image. Thankfully it was convincing enough both in appearance and spiritual energy that it seems to have tricked Lord Taizan himself. With one last flute duet Hiromasa and Atsumi calm the last of the latter's fury.
● Hiromasa is once again in Seimei's home, welcomed as a friend. Seimei reveals in order to convince Douman to agree to his scheme he gave her his "true name", which holds great power over him. Hiromasa expresses concern over this, but Seimei is content that it had to be done.
● Once again they're brought a spiritual worry from one of the court nobles, and they start off to take care of it together.
Personality:
And, well. That's correct.
Most of the Seimei we see early on in the series is one whose space is being invaded by idiots for trivial matters not worth his time or attention. He goes so far as to refuse calling the emperor by his title, instead offhandedly calling him "that man" and enjoying the outrage that sparks in the more proper Hiromasa. This is best shown when in an audience with the emperor himself and a number of court officials frightened out of their wits that something evil might come to the capital. They all but beg him to do something and his responses essentially amount to "This is pointless. I don't want to, so, bye." (Granted it was pointless, but he didn't explain that before leaving.)
He's the best onmyoji the capital has and he knows it. While he doesn't flaunt that fact with displays of excess or tooting his own horn, the behavior he knows he can get away with because they can't afford to lose skill like his says enough.
This disregard for others clashes with the aforementioned Hiromasa. Seimei asks him why he would bother going out of his way to help these rich idiots for nothing in return, to which Hiromasa replies that he doesn't really have a reason. When he sees someone in need it's just natural for him to want to help.
This strikes a cord with Seimei that resonates for the rest of the season.
The poison comparison is two-sided--while he is like poison to others, he is medicine to his friends, like a flowering plant. He knows how humans and their emotions work, he is one, he's just locked that part of him away for who knows how long in order to bear the pain of being alone. Slowly we see him considering the feelings of others not just because someone feeling that way will help him get what he wants, but because he doesn't want to hurt them.
This too was sparked by Hiromasa, who may very well be Seimei's emotional center, seeing the most kindness from the onmyoji out of everyone from inviting him to see a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon to risking the possibility of trading his own life for Hiromasa's.
More on locking his humanity away: Seimei was taught from a young age that he is special, and thusly his path may be a lonely one. People will fear him for it, resent him for it, or try to take advantage of him for it, so it's just practical that he keep himself closed off and away from anything or anyone that could jeopardize his work with feelings like betrayal or envy. He readily admits that he's lonely, that this is just something that comes naturally to humans despite being solitary animals, and brushes it off like it's no big thing. Just part of being him.
He is getting better, though. Little by little. Surely being alone again in an alien world will do wonders for him.
Abilities:
Spiritual Sense -
Seimei was born with immense, innate spiritual power. One way this manifests is in sensing and seeing spiritual phenomena, able to clearly see spirits and demons even as a child when well trained adults couldn't.
Onymodo - (quick wiki link for the actual historical practice)
Seimei is very well learned and skilled in the science of onmyodo. Most of his skills below stem from this. This is also usually punctuated by his signature pentagram.
Shikigami -
Seimei can bind a spirit to a paper doll to act as his servant. Notably, once made into a shikigami, these spirits cannot speak.
Exorcism -
The ability to cleanse a human ghost from existence. If unwanted this process is painful, but if the ghost is at peace all goes smoothly.
Barriers -
Protective barriers, usually held in place by paper talismans or other spiritually significant objects. These barriers can either keep those inside unseen, keep a spirit in, or keep a spirit out.
Thaumaturgy -
This is the "etc" category because a few things we see him do just don't fall nicely into one. Think of it in D&D terms as minor, harmless spells, like lighting a candle or making a slip of paper float.
Inventory: Just the clothes on his back
Samples: TDM Toplevel | PSL
Questions: can i get a wiw kiss 🥺
Contact: PM
Age: 30+
Current Characters: Sigma, Bungou Stray Dogs
Character Name: Abe no Seimei
Character Canon: Onmyoji
Canon Point: Post-Season 1
Age: ??? (Adult)
Crime: Falsifying his own death
Background:
The wiki hasn't been filled out yet so let's do this bullet point style.
● A young Seimei was taken in by Kamo no Tadayuki as his disciple in the art of onmyodo. Tadayuki implored the other students under his tutelage to look after the child, a request only Tadayuki's biological son, Yasunori, took to heart.
● The other children had already heard rumors of one of Seimei's parents being a fox spirit, considering him "dirty" and treating him poorly as a result.
● One night while Seimei and three other students were escorting their master in an ox cart, a cluster of demons appeared in a cloud of fog before them. Only Seimei could see them and warned his master, who instructed all his students to hide under the ox cart and remain silent. One student was audibly worrying at prayer beads on his wrist, which Seimei tried to stop by grabbing their arm, and the student recoiled with a loud shout. Alerted, the demons came for the children, who screamed and ran in different directions save for Seimei. He was the only one aside from his master to survive the encounter.
● Rumors of that night spread quickly, painting it as something Seimei had done intentionally.
● Tadayuki continued teaching Seimei and Yasunori until his death by natural causes. Rumors spread of Seimei's involvement in the death regardless.
● An unnamed friend of Seimei's approaches him in his grief, asking a favor for someone who cares about him. This favor turns out to be finishing the job of killing the friend's dying father, which Seimei refuses to do, but gives his word to the friend that he'll tell no one of the plan.
● The friend doesn't take Seimei at his word and tries to have him killed. Seimei comes to him in the night to claim if they ever see each other again, he'll kill them. This is the night Seimei steels himself to make his journey through life alone.
● At some point Seimei receives a position at the Bureau of Onmyodo in Heian-kyo, and moves there to live in an empty house. Lonely, though he wouldn't admit it, he summons the spirits of two wisteria flowers from a tree in his garden as shikigami to keep him company: Mitsumushi and Mitsuyo. They live otherwise alone in the house for some time.
● At some point Seimei meets Ashiya Douman. The two enter into what Douman describes as a series of games, one where they cast a curse and Seimei counteracts it.
● Seimei meets Minamoto no Hiromasa, who asks his assistance in dealing with a demon roaming the capital. Reluctantly, the two work together to pacify the demon.
● Hiromasa comes to Seimei on behalf of a court noble troubled by another demon living at the city's Suzakumon Gate. They once again pacify the demon together, Hiromasa endearing himself to them and receiving the demon's flute that can only be played by those with godlike talent: Ha Futatsu.
● Hiromasa asks Seimei's aid a third time, on behalf of a noblewoman making herself deathly ill with grief. Seimei deduces part of the problem is Ashiya Douman, now in the shape of a young woman, who's begun another one of their games. Despite struggling at first, Seimei is able to solve the puzzle of Douman's curse.
● The spirit of a deceased poet that has been haunting the imperial palace has begun acting aggressively. Multiple nobles beseech Hiromasa to ask Seimei's help but he refuses, not wanting to simply be a ticket to the other man. Despite this Seimei has already arrived at the palace to investigate the matter himself, and learns that this will be a difficult exorcism without knowing exactly what the poet's grudge is. Together the two investigate, coming to the conclusion that the grudge is because a plagiarized poem won instead of his own, but this proves incorrect. Seimei is also introduced to Hiromasa's childhood friend, Atsumi, from whom he learned how to play the flute.
● Having failed his first attempt at exorcism, Seimei is informed by Yasunori that word of the ghost has reached the emperor and he's been ordered to deal with the situation under any circumstances.
● Seimei and Hiromasa's investigation take them to the poet's family home, where they learn he'd been associating with a strange figure for some time now. This figure turns out to be a demon, the poet's friend, whose grudge over his unrecognized poetry claimed him around a hundred years ago. Distraught that his friend has died he asks to see him, so he is brought back to the capital. The demon manages to break through the poet's undead haze, and with a heartfelt talk he begins to see hope for writing poetry once again. However, with the spirit feeling peace and thus easier to exorcise, Seimei takes this opportunity and carries out his orders. Hiromasa is furious at this, denouncing the humanity he thought he saw in Seimei's heart, and leaves him.
● Seimei is called upon to "help" a young woman whose father insists something is wrong with her: Tsuyuko. She cares little for making herself a suitable bride, instead devoting her time to insects and various intellectual pursuits. Upon arriving at the estate, Seimei learns her latest insect, Kuromaru, is in fact a sekisanko, the result of a curse taught to the woman's father by Douman. Seimei warns her Kuromaru is dangerous and urges her to allow him to kill it, but with a heartfelt plea Seimei is reminded of Hiromasa's words and agrees only to kill Kuromaru should it emerge from its cocoon as something evil. Tsuyuko agrees.
● Douman arrives at the woman's estate with Hiromasa in tow to collect the sekisanko, claiming she intended to do so from the beginning to make it one of her shikigami. When Kuromaru finally emerges, he is instead a creature of benevolence and love instead of hate and curses, so Douman retreats. Hiromasa reveals that Yasunori told him of Seimei's orders to exorcise the poet, and forgives him.
● Hiromasa runs into a young boy on his way to Seimei's estate for a social call. Occupied with an assignment from an out of town temple, the two chat and Hiromasa agrees to accompany Seimei to a "once in a century event" come morning. Tsuyuko and Atsumi join in, help complete the assignment, and spend a nice night together. In the morning Seimei brings Hiromasa to the river, out of which springs three water dragons--the young boy Hiromasa had run into was the mother dragon's son, seeking a blessing from Seimei to help his mother give birth to his new sibling safely.
● On their way off the bridge, Seimei and Hiromasa are accosted by a masked demon who claims to have a grudge, and releases a sekisanko of his own. Thinking it for himself Seimei instructs Hiromasa to play his flute to help him with a barrier to protect them both, but a strange sound distracts Hiromasa and breaks the barrier, allowing the sekisanko to fly into Seimei's mouth. He collapses on the bridge, unresponsive.
● Seimei is laid up in his estate watched over by Hiromasa, Tsuyuko, Mitsumushi, and Mitsuyo. Yasunori arrives to check on Seimei's condition, fearing the worst, and suggests they make Tsuyuko's Kuromaru be swallowed as well to duel the other sekisanko inside Seimei for a chance to save him. If left alone, Seimei will die, so Tsuyuko agrees.
● Holding the sleeping Seimei's hand in worry, Hiromasa sees visions of Seimei's past through his dreams.
● Incredibly worried, Hiromasa is found by Douman and Atsumi, who instruct him in a ritual called the Lord Taizan Ceremony. In exchange for his godlike talent with the flute, Hiromasa bids Seimei's lifespan be extended.
● After days of waiting Seimei awakens, vomiting up the presumed corpse of the malevolent sekisanko. Once brought up to speed, Seimei, Hiromasa, Tsuyuko and Atsumi consider who the demon with the grudge on Seimei could be. Having witnessed suspicious behavior from Yasunori while Seimei was asleep, Tsuyuko suggests it could be Yasunori.
● Word of Seimei falling victim to a curse has spread to the court, many nobles eager for an excuse to strip him of his position and get him out. The noble Seimei had helped with the Suzakumon Gate demon vouches for his value, and eventually it's agreed upon that a contest of magic will be held at the court with the Emperor as its judge. Should Seimei win, he will keep his position. At just the right time, Douman arrives to volunteer herself as Seimei's opponent.
● The two onmyoji seem evenly matched in the competition until a group of floating heads descend upon the palace. Priorities shift to protecting the emperor and court officials. Though Seimei once again asks Hiromasa to play his flute to help erect barriers, Hiromasa finds some excuse to be unable to. Regardless, Seimei is able to destroy the ghostly heads and this proves to the court officials that he is still fit for duty.
● Seimei confronts Douman afterwards, having seen her personal talismans burning up when he burned up the heads. Douman claims it was an apology for nearly killing him, having taught the demon from before the necessary spell to create a sekisanko. She also tells him he's going in the wrong direction for his investigation, but doesn't specify before strutting off.
● Seimei continues his investigation in earnest, looking in on every single court noble he can while a spell to revive the sekisanko corpse he puked marinates in his home. He brings Hiromasa along to its awakening once again for the effects of his flute, explaining that the sekisanko will now return to its owner instead of trying to kill anyone. Conveniently, the thing hatches and flies off before Hiromasa needs to make any excuses about his flute.
● The garden the bug leads them both to is dense with fog, and they become separated. In this fog Seimei finds Yasunori, whom he confronts, and who calls him an idiot for being so easily sidetracked from all the clues around him. Yasunori was not the demon and the sekisanko was not meant for him.
● Realization hitting him, Seimei immediately turns tail to try and find Hiromasa in all the fog. Eventually he is found...with a sword through his gut, held by none other than Atsumi. Struck with immense panic and grief, Seimei holds Hiromasa in his arms as he dies.
● Seimei is beside himself in mourning. He attempts to confront Douman for teaching the demon, Atsumi, the spell that started all this, to which she soundly knocks him on his ass and mocks him for not being able to see the signs and save Hiromasa. She further taunts him with the night she instructed him on the Lord Taizan Ceremony, revealing how Hiromasa traded his flute skills for Seimei's life. Seimei runs away with his tail between his legs.
● Yasunori visits Seimei's home. He reveals that some time before Hiromasa died, Yasunori placed a protective talisman on his person, which absorbed some of the fatal blow and held Hiromasa's soul within it. Because true resurrections are so risky, however, Yasunori advises Seimei to simply use it to release the soul and let it pass.
● Seimei is not having it.
● In frustration he seeks out the now demonically transformed Atsumi once more, but once he has the chance to land a killing blow he hesitates. Hiromasa's last request had been to forgive Atsumi. And so he retreats to come up with another plan.
● Offscreen, he recruits Douman and Yasunori into his new plan. Douman will once again be creating a sekisanko, this time in the shape of Seimei, albeit in a rush. Yasunori, as the emperor's personal onmyoji, will stall any official reactions to Seimei's actions as long as he can.
● Seimei steals Hiromasa's corpse and crashes a giant ceremony in the imperial palace meant to cleanse the capital of the taint that had lead those floating heads in. Seimei says he'll be the one to complete the ceremony in these other priests' steads, and plops himself right down to get to work.
● Atsumi, close enough to the ceremony, hears a distinctly familiar flute playing and runs to the palace in a rage, expecting Hiromasa. Instead he finds the demon of the Suzakumon Gate, who Seimei had also roped into his plan for the express purpose of luring Atsumi here. According to Seimei the only person who can truly save Atsumi is Hiromasa, which is why he will be revived. Further enraged, Atsumi attacks Seimei to interrupt the ceremony, landing a solid and visible hit on the onmyoji.
● Somehow, when approached, Atsumi sees the previous wound is gone. It's also too late to stop the ceremony, and as Hiromasa heroically steps out into the battlefield Seimei is taken by a godly glowing hand.
● The battle rages, and in the end it is indeed Hiromasa who quells Atsumi's inner fury and resentment, cutting off his horns and beginning the process of healing from his demonic transformation.
● Surprise! The Seimei everyone saw get taken away was in fact the sekisanko Douman had made in his image. Thankfully it was convincing enough both in appearance and spiritual energy that it seems to have tricked Lord Taizan himself. With one last flute duet Hiromasa and Atsumi calm the last of the latter's fury.
● Hiromasa is once again in Seimei's home, welcomed as a friend. Seimei reveals in order to convince Douman to agree to his scheme he gave her his "true name", which holds great power over him. Hiromasa expresses concern over this, but Seimei is content that it had to be done.
● Once again they're brought a spiritual worry from one of the court nobles, and they start off to take care of it together.
Personality:
Seimei is described as rude, insubordinate, and like poison to those who would handle him carelessly.
And, well. That's correct.
Most of the Seimei we see early on in the series is one whose space is being invaded by idiots for trivial matters not worth his time or attention. He goes so far as to refuse calling the emperor by his title, instead offhandedly calling him "that man" and enjoying the outrage that sparks in the more proper Hiromasa. This is best shown when in an audience with the emperor himself and a number of court officials frightened out of their wits that something evil might come to the capital. They all but beg him to do something and his responses essentially amount to "This is pointless. I don't want to, so, bye." (Granted it was pointless, but he didn't explain that before leaving.)
He's the best onmyoji the capital has and he knows it. While he doesn't flaunt that fact with displays of excess or tooting his own horn, the behavior he knows he can get away with because they can't afford to lose skill like his says enough.
This disregard for others clashes with the aforementioned Hiromasa. Seimei asks him why he would bother going out of his way to help these rich idiots for nothing in return, to which Hiromasa replies that he doesn't really have a reason. When he sees someone in need it's just natural for him to want to help.
This strikes a cord with Seimei that resonates for the rest of the season.
The poison comparison is two-sided--while he is like poison to others, he is medicine to his friends, like a flowering plant. He knows how humans and their emotions work, he is one, he's just locked that part of him away for who knows how long in order to bear the pain of being alone. Slowly we see him considering the feelings of others not just because someone feeling that way will help him get what he wants, but because he doesn't want to hurt them.
This too was sparked by Hiromasa, who may very well be Seimei's emotional center, seeing the most kindness from the onmyoji out of everyone from inviting him to see a once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon to risking the possibility of trading his own life for Hiromasa's.
More on locking his humanity away: Seimei was taught from a young age that he is special, and thusly his path may be a lonely one. People will fear him for it, resent him for it, or try to take advantage of him for it, so it's just practical that he keep himself closed off and away from anything or anyone that could jeopardize his work with feelings like betrayal or envy. He readily admits that he's lonely, that this is just something that comes naturally to humans despite being solitary animals, and brushes it off like it's no big thing. Just part of being him.
He is getting better, though. Little by little. Surely being alone again in an alien world will do wonders for him.
Abilities:
⛤
Spiritual Sense -
Seimei was born with immense, innate spiritual power. One way this manifests is in sensing and seeing spiritual phenomena, able to clearly see spirits and demons even as a child when well trained adults couldn't.
Onymodo - (quick wiki link for the actual historical practice)
Seimei is very well learned and skilled in the science of onmyodo. Most of his skills below stem from this. This is also usually punctuated by his signature pentagram.
Shikigami -
Seimei can bind a spirit to a paper doll to act as his servant. Notably, once made into a shikigami, these spirits cannot speak.
Exorcism -
The ability to cleanse a human ghost from existence. If unwanted this process is painful, but if the ghost is at peace all goes smoothly.
Barriers -
Protective barriers, usually held in place by paper talismans or other spiritually significant objects. These barriers can either keep those inside unseen, keep a spirit in, or keep a spirit out.
Thaumaturgy -
This is the "etc" category because a few things we see him do just don't fall nicely into one. Think of it in D&D terms as minor, harmless spells, like lighting a candle or making a slip of paper float.
Inventory: Just the clothes on his back
Samples: TDM Toplevel | PSL
Questions: can i get a wiw kiss 🥺
How's My Driving?
Am I doing something very wrong? Very right? Let me know here.
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THE SHORTEST CURSE IN THE WORLD is a name. SUMMARYSeimei is an onmyoji, an astronomer whose studies also allow him to deal with the supernatural, in service of the noble court of Heian-kyo. When he decides to show up, at least. Seimei is known as rude, sarcastic, and insubordinate throughout the capital, along with many other unsavory rumors such as being the child of a fox. Even so, he's undoubtedly the best at what he does, so they keep him around both to enjoy his services and in fear of what may happen if personally provoking his wrath. More often than not, though, all he really wants is to be left alone. Spoilers beyond this point. ABILITIESSpiritual Sense - Seimei was born with immense, innate spiritual power. One way this manifests is in sensing and seeing spiritual phenomena, able to clearly see spirits and demons even as a child when well trained adults couldn't. Onymodo - (quick wiki link for the actual historical practice) Seimei is very well learned and skilled in the science of onmyodo. Most of his skills below stem from this. Shikigami - Seimei can bind a spirit to a paper doll to act as his servant. Notably, once made into a shikigami, these spirits cannot speak. Exorcism - The ability to cleanse a human ghost from existence. If unwanted this process is painful, but if the ghost is at peace all goes smoothly. Barriers - Protective barriers, usually held in place by paper talismans or other spiritually significant objects. These barriers can either keep those inside unseen, keep a spirit in, or keep a spirit out. Thaumaturgy - This is the "etc" category because a few things we see him do just don't fall nicely into one. Think of it in D&D terms as minor, harmless spells, like lighting a candle or making a slip of paper float. AUFor an easier time in crosscanon threads, if so desired. WIP WIP WIP, I'll write up some stuff here eventually EXTRAWishlist
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