✮ Lillemor ✮

(Oh, here’s a Backrooms’ version as a treat as well.)

My Mononoke ship in a nutshell:

Hello again! Back at it again with another theory about who possibly mothered our beloved twins from the Mononoke trilogy! And this time, I got more historical information. (Light warning, many ideas of this theory comes from historical and logical sources about the actual Ooku and the Q&A’s, so I will have my sources linked below if that helps)

First of all, we gotta look at the ages. The twins are implied to be 10, as they are in their training stages of becoming a shrine maiden, which typically happens around the preteen or teen stage. While Hokuto’s age is unknown, it’s likely that he’s middle aged since many Shinto priests like him had to attend lessons and school to become one, so he at least has to be a bit older than 20. Now, while we don’t have the ages for all of the women within the Ooku, we do have an age chart from the official Mononoke account’s Q&A! With this in mind, we can see that a few of the women (who joined before Asa and Kame) are technically adults.

Typically, we may think Kitagawa is the mother of the twins but there is a key issue. Kitagawa was 18, which would make an extremely problematic situation since she would have been 8 at the time if she were the twins mother, considering that they are implied to be 10. Also, we should look into the rules of The Ooku, which is the Jochū Hatto. Now you may ask, Lille, what is the Jochū Hatto? Well, the Jochū Hatto is the strict set of written rules created for the lower ranking maids to follow after joining the Ooku, some include taking an oath to secrecy, remaining loyal to the Ooku unless you are kicked out, or even preventing lower ranking maids from having romantic relationships, which was heavily punishable. Plus, Kitagawa mainly focused on her duties as a scribe so she likely wouldn’t even have the time to be a mother if you consider her lore.

The paper held in Utayama’s hand during the festival preparation scene is likely the Jochū Hatto, which was typically in possession of the lady in charge of the Ooku. Now unfortunately, I cannot find any physical copies of the official Jochū Hatto as it was a crime to leak it to the public. But overall, with these rules in mind, the maids like Awashima, Mugitani, or the other low ranking members could not partake in romantic relationships with men as it was heavily against the rules. So, they’re off the list. It can’t any of the concubines either because they were legally tied to the shogun/emperor, so having another man’s baby would not look good for said concubine, especially considering they had attendants with them at all times to tend and keep an eye on them. And they usually lived within the deeper parts of the Ooku, which is typically only accessible to monks or the shogun himself.

Now, let’s actually take a deep dive into Hokuto’s role within the Ooku and how it may help. As you all know, Hokuto is the Ooku’s priest, a Shinto priest to be specific. Within the Shinto belief, shintoist priests were allowed to get married and have children, and his daughters are shrine maidens in training since it was a common practice, until the Meiji Period, for priesthood to be a hereditary job for priestly families. Uniquely, despite the Ooku’s strict “no men” rule, there were some exceptions like doctors, clergy members, and guards. Hokuto obviously fits into that clergy exception, which means he is allowed access within the Ooku, even if it may be limited. But here comes a thought, what if Hokuto’s daughters were born within the Ooku? Typically, any female child born in the Ooku tends to stay in the Ooku, but do we have proof of an idea that Hokuto’s wife was in the Ooku?

Yes, yes we do. With this Q&A posted by the official Mononoke account, it mentions something about Hokuto’s wife and how she hasn’t seen anyone in a long time. With context from the last section with the rules, it’s said that any of the Ooku’s members could not visit their families due to the Ooku’s isolation of the maids, and it mentions a key detail, which is “a long time”, so his wife could have been in the Ooku for an extended period of time, making her also middle aged like him. This can be tied down to a few women who may be middle aged during the events of the movie! Also, if we take into consideration that Hokuto is probably middle aged, it’s likely that he knew this person for a bit.

With these in mind, I connected the dots on who the potential mother of the twins are. And that woman is Utayama, the Ooku’s previous head lady! Typically, a woman of Utayama’s rank is from an extremely high ranking family and is often in their 30’s or 40’s (I know, it’s weird that her rank is called “Old Lady” but life expectancy were way different back then), which is a clue. Now, if you check my previous post, you will know that I personally headcanon Utayama and Tenshi as half siblings which would give Utayama a high status boost. And, Hokuto and Tenshi were childhood friends, so with that logic, Hokuto has had to at least meet Utayama a few times which may have resulted in them having something going on. Oh, there’s also some physical appearances as well. For example, eye color, Hokuto has a pit of purple in his eyes while Utayama has dark blue eyes, which could possibly mix into Futsukazuki and Mikazuki’s eye color. Also, due to my theory of Utayama and Tenshi being related, black hair is a recessive gene that she got from her mother (Tenshi’s mom) and it passed onto the twins instead. Also, the twins have a similar chin shape as Utayama, even if they got a bit of a baby face. I would include hair texture and all that stuff but it’s sorta hard to tell so I won’t include that.

So with this theory in mind, Hokuto has “befriended” Tenshi’s sister. But seriously, even though we may never know who the twins’ mom is, this theory could at least bring some possible insight on who their mother possibly is.

Theory inspired by the lovely @purplealmonds!

Credits:

Hello Mononoke fans, if you stuck by my TikTok account for a bit, you might see that I personally headcanon Emperor Tenshi and Lady Utayama as half siblings, but is there proof to back that up?

Now, as we all know, Utayama held the rank of Ō-Toshiyori (Elder Lady) around the events of the first Mononoke film. Interestingly, we don’t get much information about Utayama’s past, other than she comes from a noble family and that Utayama herself is quite secretive but dedicated to her job. Now you may ask, why does Utayama’s rank and hierarchical standing matter to a silly headcanon? Well, historical wise, many Ō-Toshiyori’s were typically elder, educated women from samurai, noble, or potentially royal backgrounds, but Utayama has one special thing to consider. In the second film, Mononoke: Hinezumi, Utayama’s father is among the men who have administered for the Ooku. While Utayama’s clan has been “abolished” after the death of Utayama, it’s likely that the clan was powerful enough to hold influence within Japan’s politics, specifically within the Ooku. So, with that in mind, Utayama’s clan would have likely been political allies to the royal family for years on end, further showcasing possible interconnections between clans. So funny enough, Utayama Sr (Utayama’s father) and Suikyoin could have possibly been a thing in the past.

While that could provide logistical support, we can also look at character design to help. Through a kimono analysis made by the lovely @purplealmonds (go check them out), the colors for royal kimonos consist of red, white, and black. Utayama’s kimono has two of these colors, but it’s hard to tell since she wears a purple haori over her kimono which conceals details about the potentiality of what her kimono may have looked like. Another thing to point out, the kimono is also layered similarly to the kimono of Tenshi’s mother, Suikyoin, which contrasts to other maids of the Ooku (Ex; Awashima or Kitagawa). But, it can be put into consideration that royal kimonos may vary, as Lady Yukiko has a green obi. And this is a small design that I like, but Utayama and Tenshi have hair that semi-resembles the wings of certain species of moths, but that’s likely just a design choice. But uniquely, Utayama bares some resemblances to Suikyoin, like facial structure, expressions, and even with the nose shape from certain angles (specifically the side profile). While this could also be a major misconception, they still have a fair resemblance to each other, even though Suikyoin is elderly so she’d naturally look a bit different from Utayama. While Tenshi on the other hand bares only a few resemblances to Utayama, and none to her father so it’s possible that they share the same mother, but different fathers, which could also impact if Utayama is technically royalty or just a noblewoman of an extremely high rank.

(Items of similarities I made and highlighted)

Another thing, Utayama’s dedication to her job directly impacted certain aspects of Tenshi’s rule within the Ooku. Specifically, involving his children (The postponement of the Birthing Ceremony, concerns about his bloodline, etc), or the oppressive settings of the Ooku that have likely been used for generations, causing heavy tension throughout the first film as she enforces these rules to a major extent, but it’s almost like if she grew up with these rules and simply went along with it because of how she views work. With that mindset, it could be possible that she grew up in a setting where these ideals were heavily rooted, and what area could better influence feelings than the Ooku itself? In rare events, a emperor’s sister could live within the Ooku at a young age, so if Utayama had lived within the Ooku since childhood, it’s likely where her seriousness and unbinding commitment to the Ooku and Tenshi would have started from, as her guidance has made many into hard workers, even though it made them lose themselves in the process. Utayama herself has lost herself to a role within the Ooku’s inner chambers, to the point where it became oppressive for many who worked with her. That is what many noblewomen possibly grew up with, which makes me believe that Utayama had some outer influence growing up which influenced her, like Suikyoin whose concerns are typically over Tenshi’s rule. But hey, it’s just a theory.

I might make a part two, but this is just some of my rants about my favorite Mononoke character. I’d love to hear anyone else’s ideas in the comments!

More lore on the goth! (And new oc made by my bf!)

So to cut to the chase, the Goth has a cane now due to her being injured during a heavy pregnancy! (Blame the Intruder, she may have shot him in the face) And now her fiancé, The Mortician (guy at the bottom) has a chance to show up if both the Little Girl and the Goth are in the house, but he resides in the office instead of the kitchen to “save up space”, both the Goth and Mortician are confirmed to be human, mainly because Goth’s brother is the Vigilante.

The Goth (NINAH OC)

Lore drop:

Just a little Utayama x Awashima thing I made (Kitagawa is their daughter, she told me herself)