[Video] 🌙 if you can't see the sky there's too much artificial light

[its_dad_sanzo]

[Koumyou turns the camera on with a smile. The sun is briefly too bright behind him, until he adjusts how he's holding the phone.]

Hm, I suppose it's safe for me to make one of these videos now, right?

Let's see, here.

[He turns the phone around and shows a small and pretty edo-style building. The shrine has an outdoor bell which can be rung to pay homage to the spirits and/or make a wish. Behind it, there's some kind of garden or park with cherry and maples trees' leaves blowing in the breeze.]

I'm told this is on... ah, Thistle Avenue and 8th Street, of the main city. I am its... caretaker, now? Anyway, make use of it if you wish. I've cleaned up most of the mess left behind. Ah--

[The camera pans down quickly to show a Silvanshee from the recent ruins exploration. It butts its forehead against Koumyou's shin, through his pristine white robes.]

Be careful of Mr. Wiggles if you visit. She can be a little territorial! She accepts opened cans of fish as tribute.

[Yes, there's a demon cat living at the shrine. W H E L P . That's what they get for putting Koumyou in charge.]

Oh, and before I forget! Again...

[He pans the camera back up to himself with another smile, his brown eyes barely open.]

I am priest Koumyou Sanzo. It's nice to meet you all.

Comments

[Video]

[badly_behaved_priest]

[Any warmth Sanzo felt at seeing his father was squashed when Koumyou introduced that creature. He grimaced at his phone.]

Master, why do you have that thing?

[its_dad_sanzo]

What is that look for? You already know why I have the shrine.

[badly_behaved_priest]

Not that. [It was hard to tell if Koumyou was being serious or deliberately obtuse.]

That thing, the cat.

[Sanzo turned his head and sneezed. Even thinking about the horrible beast sucked.]

[its_dad_sanzo]

[The answer to that question was 'yes'.]

Kouryuu, are you coming down with a cold?

You should drink lots of hot tea! With lemon.

[badly_behaved_priest]

No. [Ugh.]

Is that even a real animal? Isn't that one of those beast from the ruins? Why?

video

[juushinkan]

Oh! What an adorable cat! And she's so exotic looking.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Isn't she the cutest? The perfect assistant caretaker to a shrine, I think.

[juushinkan]

I agree! I've always been more of a dog person, but there's a lot of charm to a good cat. You're so lucky.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Dogs are great, too! And thank you~

Mr. Wiggles wants to say thank you too, don't you, Mr. Wiggles?

[Koumyou turns the camera down at the demon cat, who just peers at the camera and then yawns.]

[juushinkan]

Such a charming cat!

Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't even asked for your name, how rude of me.

[video]

[02crusnikabel]

Hello again, Mr. Koumyou Sanzo. Have you taken residence at the shrine? I have heard it was abandoned for some time.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Oh, not residence, no, though I suppose I could if I added to it a little... hm...

No, for now I take care of it and offer, ah, spiritual guidance.

[He laughs at that, because as a Buddhist 'guidance' is usually far less than what people expect.]

[02crusnikabel]

Ah, so you're taking care of the shrine. You mentioned Buddhism to me the other day. So...would that make you it's priest?

[In the video, he noticed cat meowed. Cute cat.]

What kind of fish you think she would like?

[its_dad_sanzo]

I suppose... that makes me its priest. I mean, that's my job now, isn't it?

But I don't think the shrine is particularly Buddhist. I don't much care who comes by.

[Case in point, meat for the kitty!]

Hm, I haven't seen her turn anything down! Not even the canned sardines I found collecting dust and cobwebs inside the shrine.

[02crusnikabel]

Well, I'm glad the shrine won't be lonely anymore. I hope you don't mind if I come by to visit later today.

[He's mighty curious what it looks like.]

And I'll bring something good for her. Salmon, most likely.

[Video]

[youfool]

[One dumb blonde deserve another]

Hah, would it have been dangerous before? I'd like to hear those circumstances, Mr...ah, name, please?

That's an...interesting cat. It got its ear pierced? Poor thing.

Forgive my ignorance, but how does one make use of that building?

[Video]

[its_dad_sanzo]

I needed to talk to my son before he saw me talking on the network! Or at least let that nice man he lives with tell him I'm here.

The earring was already there when I rescued her! She doesn't seem to mind it. Do you, Mr. Wiggles?

[There's meowing off-camera.]

Oh! It's a shrine. You know, the eastern type. Commune with the spirits, ring the bell, leave offerings or wishes written on folded paper, whatever makes a person feel better. I might set up a specific tree for the wishes, people like to tie them into the branches.

And I'm priest Koumyou Sanzo, like I said.

Re: [Video]

[youfool]

[So excited to post he forgot to get to the end.]

Ah, right! Well, good she's acclimatized. Pleasure to meet you! What's that name mean, anyway?

...Oh, Sanzo's your son? Heh, in this case the apple fell very far indeed...

[Video]

[its_dad_sanzo]

Oh no, 'Sanzo' isn't a name at all, it's a title! Only the highest possible ranked Buddhist priests are Sanzos, and no more than five of us ever exist at a time in the entire world. Usually less than that, in my day! We only had four for most of my tenure, I had to do double-duty! While raising a son, no less.

That said, only another Sanzo can typically call us by our holy name by itself, which in my case is Koumyou. It means light, brightness, openhearted... or even lucid brightness.

[Koumyou is, after all, the moon. The moon who raised the sun!]

What would you know of the tree the apple fell from? Or of the apple itself?

[Koumyou digs around in his wide, white sleeve, finds his pipe, and lights it. He takes a drag of the tobacco before speaking again, smiling as gently as he almost always does.]

When asked why he practiced zen, the student said, "Because I intend to become a Buddha."

His teacher picked up a brick and started polishing it. The student asked "What are you doing?" The teacher replied, "I am trying to make a mirror."

"How can you make a mirror by polishing a brick?"

"How can you become Buddha by doing zazen? If you understand sitting Zen, you will know that Zen is not about sitting or lying down. If you want to learn sitting Buddha, know that sitting Buddha is without any fixed form. Do not use discrimination in the non-abiding dharma. If you practice sitting as Buddha, you must kill Buddha. If you are attached to the sitting form, you are not yet mastering the essential principle."

The student heard this admonition and felt as if he had tasted sweet nectar.

Re: [Video]

[youfool]

Oh! Well, I'd hate to tread on sacred things. Anything more common you go by?

Ah, um...well, he...likes guns, and uh...handles...birds. [The rest wasn't pleasant, and it probably wasn't polite to dump on someone's son when you've just met.

Ooh, a story/lecture! Completely unprovoked, too. Ted likes that, even if he understands it very little. Won't stop him from asking twenty questions.]

"Huh! Is 'zazen' a sitting art? Yet you say it's not about sitting. Isn't sitting very fixed, anyway? How can it be formless? Seems a definite position. What's a 'dharma'? Buddha must die, then, if he sits formlessly? What, then, is the essential principle?"

[Confusion and interest go hand-in-hand with him.]

[Action]

[badly_behaved_priest]

It was evening by the time Sanzo came by the shrine. He paused by the gate, taking a last drag off his cigarette, the red glow bright in the dim lighting. He dropped it and ground the butt out under his heel.

That cat had to be around, lurking. Sanzo tried not to dwell on that as he walked up to the shrine. It was tidier this time, in part thanks to his help. There were two people that could convince him to willingly clean and both existed on this world, of course. He grumbled but didn't truly mind, it gave him an excuse to visit.

He didn't have that excuse this time, but he was here, looking around for either Koumyou or that demon cat.

[its_dad_sanzo]

As luck would have it, Sanzo found both! Koumyou was crouched down in front of the structure that held the big bell and the offering plate, and he was twirling a bit of string for Mr. Wiggles. Mr. Wiggles was currently living up to at least part of her name, flailing around on her back to kick at the string with all four legs.

Koumyou looked up just as the demon cat managed to snatch the string away in her long, mean claws. "Ah! Kouryuu!" the elder Sanzo beamed, openly pleased. "Did you come to meet Mr. Wiggles properly?"

Mr. Wiggles continued to flail with the string, now engaged in a vicious kick-battle on her side.

[badly_behaved_priest]

Sanzo glared at the cat, mood already souring. He'd been in good spirits too, what passed for good spirits for him, at least. He hadn't been actively annoyed at anything in particular. Mr. Wiggles was a perfect target for his rising irritation.

"Keep that thing away from me," he snapped.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"What is this problem with cats?" Koumyou dared all those razor sharp claws to give Mr. Wiggles a belly scritch, and then sent her scampering away... for now. No doubt, she would lurk on the edges of Sanzo's vision, waiting.

"I don't remember a problem with cats before... but I suppose we didn't see many in the mountains, did we?"

[badly_behaved_priest]

"It's not important." If Sanzo had any luck, he could get Koumyou to drop it. The cat was gone, for now, that was enough to start cooling his temper. He'd come here to see his father, damnit, and to be pleased about it.

"Is that beast the reason you were out front?" It would be Sanzo's luck that Koumyou was expecting another visitor.