To get what I want: Ashura-ou/Taishakuten (RG Veda)
Title: To get what I want: Ashura-ou/Taishakuten Manifesto
Author: von-questenberg
Fandom: RG Veda
Pairing: Ashura-ou/Taishakuten
Spoilers: For all of RG Veda and the most recent chapters of Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.
Notes: A day late. My bad.
Background
Six Stars will fall to this plane, the dark stars that will defy the heavens.
Shura will mean destruction.
If to Heaven, they will destroy it. If to Earth, they will destroy it.
The thunder of the new king will extinguish the flame of destruction, and go around the world.
When the flame burns out, the world will become the cradle of evil.
The wheel of time will turn and the Six Stars will gather.
The roaring flame that inherits your blood will raze the wicked.
Six Stars will overpower all others.
And eventually, they will be the schism that splits the Heavens.
This prophecy, first given by the seer Kuyo to Ashura-ou, is the linchpin of RG Veda (CLAMP’s first commercial series, loosely based on the Rig Veda) foretelling the entire story. Following this prophecy, Taishakuten, the god of thunder, violently overthrows and kills Tentei, king of the gods, and Ashura-ou, Tentei’s greatest warrior. Then three hundred years later, Yasha-ou, Taishakuten’s greatest warrior, frees Ashura, genderless child of the late Ashura-ou. For his rebellion, Taishakuten kills Yasha’s entire clan, which in turn leads Yasha to swear revenge on Taishakuten. Knowing the prophecy, he and Ashura, two of the Six Stars prophesied to ‘split Heaven,’ then begin to gather the other four- Karura-ou, Ryuu-ou, Souma, and Kendappa-ou- to overthrow Taishakuten. The Six Stars gathered together, Ashura awakens as the God of Destruction.
However, there is far more to this complex story, because Taishakuten did not overthrow Tentei for his own greed. He did it for Ashura-ou.
Characters
Ashura-ou
An enigmatic and ultimately very selfish man, he is considered the greatest warrior in all of the heavens and is the king of the Ashura clan. From his own intermittent visions and from a prophecy from Kuyo, he sees his future child’s fate to be awakened as the god of destruction, the incarnation of the Ashura clan’s deeply sealed true nature. He decides he will sacrifice anything to change Ashura’s fate, and begins to weave a complex plan.
Taishakuten
Taishakuten is cruel and vicious, also willing to do anything to get what he wants (but without the pangs of conscience Ashura-ou has). There is only one thing he wants, though, and that is Ashura-ou himself. Known as Raijin, the God of Thunder, he was a great warrior under the former Tentei, but was always an outsider in the court, being far more comfortable on the battlefield. He trusts no one. In his own twisted way, he does show mercy at times.
Relationship
When we first see Ashura-ou and Taishakuten meet, it is at a banquet in the imperial palace Zenmijou. Tentei tells Taishakuten that he may have a wish as a reward for his success in destroying demons. Taishakuten requests a fight with Ashura-ou as his reward, and Ashura-ou agrees. He uses Shuratou, the Ashura clan’s sacred sword, a sign of great respect to Taishakuten. The fight ends in a draw, and Ashura-ou walks out, only realizing in the hallway that Taishakuten had actually cut him. Taishakuten comes up and arrogantly announces to Ashura-ou that he always gets what he wants. Ashura-ou holds back his irate bodyguards as Taishakuten walks away, and thinks of Kuyo’s prophecy.
Later, Ashura-ou approaches Taishakuten in a deserted hallway.
“Taishakuten, do you think that destiny can be changed?”
“To get what I want, I’ll even make the stars move from their place.”
“Then, would you lend me a hand in changing the path of the stars?”
“Will I get what I want if I lend you my strength?”
“What is it that you want?”
“You.”
And so Ashura-ou’s plan goes forward- he marries the miko Shashi, who eventually becomes pregnant with twins, Ashura and Tenou (Ashura being Ashura-ou’s child and Tenou Taishakuten’s son*). Taishakuten and Ashura-ou plan the rebellion against Tentei; Taishakuten will rebel and seize the throne, and through pure brute force attempt to keep the Six Stars from meeting and inadvertently awakening Ashura as the god of destruction.
*Which is at best all but impossible with human biology, but hey, suspension of belief and everything.
Shashi, not knowing it is all her husband’s plot, betrays him as soon as the rebellion begins and runs to Taishakuten, becoming his empress. Then Tentei is killed, and only Ashura-ou is left fighting against Taishakuten. Ashura-ou tells Taishakuten he has one last request: Taishakuten must kill him and consume his body to take Ashura-ou’s power within himself, giving him even more strength. Taishakuten agrees. As Ashura-ou dies, he tells Taishakuten that everything he had is now Taishakuten’s. Alone, Taishakuten then fulfills Ashura-ou’s final request; as a result of his cannibalism, he is marked with the third eye, a divine sign of conduct worse than a demon’s.
And so, Taishakuten rules ruthlessly for three hundred years, until that ruthlessness results in the Six Stars joining together. Ashura awakens as the god of destruction, and begins murdering with glee. However, Ashura in the end comes back to himself and attempts suicide rather than kill Yasha. Ashura goes into a deep sleep over which Yasha faithfully watches for many years. Taishakuten dies, satisfied he fulfilled his promise to Ashura-ou, and Tenou takes the throne.
Clearly, Taishakuten deeply loves Ashura-ou in his own twisted way. Ashura-ou’s death even gives Taishakuten a form of empathy- he kills Karura-ou after Karyoubinga’s death and Kisshoten after Bishamonten’s death so they may find peace in the afterlife with their beloveds, and allows Kendappa to commit suicide after she kills her lover Souma, because, as he says, “it is painful to live in a world without the one you love.”
But what about Ashura-ou? His feelings are unclear. He uses Taishakuten to save his son, giving the man sex in exchange for his help, with no sign he actually cares about Taishakuten. Yet Ashura-ou is shown willingly opening up to Taishakuten beyond having sex. Ashura-ou doesn’t open up to many people, so this seems pretty meaningful (though obviously far from a declaration of love).
It’s possible that Ashura-ou did actually love Taishakuten, but in the end chose saving his child. Another view is that Ashura-ou could have, might have, even would have, loved Taishakuten under different circumstances, in a different world. This latter view is the view I tend to take. We may never know if they are soulmates, but if anyone is Ashura-ou’s soulmate, it’s Taishakuten.
Alternate Universes: TRC and Shoten
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
Currently, CLAMP is writing Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE. TRC is a large web of interconnected alternate universe stories for their previous series along with some original characters. One of the main characters, Fai D Flowright, comes from a cold, snowy world called Celes. He runs from Celes after sealing his sleeping king, Ashura-ou, deep in a pool of water within the palace, leaving his magical construct Chii to watch over him. The past of Fai and this alternate universe version of Ashura-ou hasn’t been explained, but they clearly have a very deep connection to each other; Ashura-ou seems to have saved Fai from being locked up in a tower (a la Rapunzel) as a child. In the latest chapters, Ashura-ou has awakened from his sleep. We’ve yet to see any sign of Taishakuten in Celes, but I do have hope for at least a mention.
Shoten
In CLAMP’s early Shoten doujinshi, there were also alternate universe versions of Ashura-ou and Taishakuten. Taichirou Imonoyama (Taishakuten’s reincarnation) is uncle to Nokoru Imonoyama and a member of the powerful Imonoyama Zaibatsu. The Imonoyama Zaibatsu owns the famous CLAMP Gakuen, a huge school and city within a city in the middle of Tokyo. Shura (Ashura-ou’s reincarnation) is a teacher at CLAMP Gakuen with whom Taichirou falls in love. I haven’t read the Shoten dealing with their story, so I don’t know whether Shura loves Taichirou in return, but I’d frankly like to think he does. There are a few small cameos of the two of them in the several commercially released CLAMP Gakuen series.
Why
RG Veda is one of my favorite CLAMP series, and Ashura-ou/Taishakuten is one of my three favorite pairings from RG Veda. It’s so creepy and twisted in many ways; it’s also a canon relationship with a lot of room for interpretation and theorization that I simply find fascinating. The pure fierce intensity of Taishakuten's love for Ashura-ou is truly frightening. I’ve also always loved very traditionally masculine men together, so it works on an aesthetic level for me too.
Fandom
The RG Veda fandom is very small but passionate, and Ashura-ou/Taishakuten is one of the more popular pairings, though not the most popular.
rg_veda - RG Veda LJ com
tsubasarc - TRC LJ Com
ashuraxfai - Ashura/Fai LJ com; I include it because it sometimes has Ashura-ou/Taishakuten too.
You can find some more info about the Shoten here.
Various fanficion, etc.
Cute little Taishakuten/Ashura-ou Comic by my friend fengtianshi. Yes, cute.
All of Me - Taishakuten/Ashura-ou porn, night before the final battle. Gives a good interpretation of their relationship.
And to See Him Smile - Fantastic requited Taishakuten/Ashura-ou fic, starting from when they first meet.
Promises - TRC!Taishakuten/Ashura-ou and KuroFai fic; fascinating original interpretation.
Night Jar - Another TRC!Taishakuten/Ashura-ou and KuroFai fic; WIP.
Taishakuten - My own small addition to TRC!Ashura-ou/Taishakuten.
Author: von-questenberg
Fandom: RG Veda
Pairing: Ashura-ou/Taishakuten
Spoilers: For all of RG Veda and the most recent chapters of Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE.
Notes: A day late. My bad.
Background
Six Stars will fall to this plane, the dark stars that will defy the heavens.
Shura will mean destruction.
If to Heaven, they will destroy it. If to Earth, they will destroy it.
The thunder of the new king will extinguish the flame of destruction, and go around the world.
When the flame burns out, the world will become the cradle of evil.
The wheel of time will turn and the Six Stars will gather.
The roaring flame that inherits your blood will raze the wicked.
Six Stars will overpower all others.
And eventually, they will be the schism that splits the Heavens.
This prophecy, first given by the seer Kuyo to Ashura-ou, is the linchpin of RG Veda (CLAMP’s first commercial series, loosely based on the Rig Veda) foretelling the entire story. Following this prophecy, Taishakuten, the god of thunder, violently overthrows and kills Tentei, king of the gods, and Ashura-ou, Tentei’s greatest warrior. Then three hundred years later, Yasha-ou, Taishakuten’s greatest warrior, frees Ashura, genderless child of the late Ashura-ou. For his rebellion, Taishakuten kills Yasha’s entire clan, which in turn leads Yasha to swear revenge on Taishakuten. Knowing the prophecy, he and Ashura, two of the Six Stars prophesied to ‘split Heaven,’ then begin to gather the other four- Karura-ou, Ryuu-ou, Souma, and Kendappa-ou- to overthrow Taishakuten. The Six Stars gathered together, Ashura awakens as the God of Destruction.
However, there is far more to this complex story, because Taishakuten did not overthrow Tentei for his own greed. He did it for Ashura-ou.
Characters
Ashura-ou
An enigmatic and ultimately very selfish man, he is considered the greatest warrior in all of the heavens and is the king of the Ashura clan. From his own intermittent visions and from a prophecy from Kuyo, he sees his future child’s fate to be awakened as the god of destruction, the incarnation of the Ashura clan’s deeply sealed true nature. He decides he will sacrifice anything to change Ashura’s fate, and begins to weave a complex plan.
Taishakuten
Taishakuten is cruel and vicious, also willing to do anything to get what he wants (but without the pangs of conscience Ashura-ou has). There is only one thing he wants, though, and that is Ashura-ou himself. Known as Raijin, the God of Thunder, he was a great warrior under the former Tentei, but was always an outsider in the court, being far more comfortable on the battlefield. He trusts no one. In his own twisted way, he does show mercy at times.
Relationship
When we first see Ashura-ou and Taishakuten meet, it is at a banquet in the imperial palace Zenmijou. Tentei tells Taishakuten that he may have a wish as a reward for his success in destroying demons. Taishakuten requests a fight with Ashura-ou as his reward, and Ashura-ou agrees. He uses Shuratou, the Ashura clan’s sacred sword, a sign of great respect to Taishakuten. The fight ends in a draw, and Ashura-ou walks out, only realizing in the hallway that Taishakuten had actually cut him. Taishakuten comes up and arrogantly announces to Ashura-ou that he always gets what he wants. Ashura-ou holds back his irate bodyguards as Taishakuten walks away, and thinks of Kuyo’s prophecy.
Later, Ashura-ou approaches Taishakuten in a deserted hallway.
“Taishakuten, do you think that destiny can be changed?”
“To get what I want, I’ll even make the stars move from their place.”
“Then, would you lend me a hand in changing the path of the stars?”
“Will I get what I want if I lend you my strength?”
“What is it that you want?”
“You.”
And so Ashura-ou’s plan goes forward- he marries the miko Shashi, who eventually becomes pregnant with twins, Ashura and Tenou (Ashura being Ashura-ou’s child and Tenou Taishakuten’s son*). Taishakuten and Ashura-ou plan the rebellion against Tentei; Taishakuten will rebel and seize the throne, and through pure brute force attempt to keep the Six Stars from meeting and inadvertently awakening Ashura as the god of destruction.
*Which is at best all but impossible with human biology, but hey, suspension of belief and everything.
Shashi, not knowing it is all her husband’s plot, betrays him as soon as the rebellion begins and runs to Taishakuten, becoming his empress. Then Tentei is killed, and only Ashura-ou is left fighting against Taishakuten. Ashura-ou tells Taishakuten he has one last request: Taishakuten must kill him and consume his body to take Ashura-ou’s power within himself, giving him even more strength. Taishakuten agrees. As Ashura-ou dies, he tells Taishakuten that everything he had is now Taishakuten’s. Alone, Taishakuten then fulfills Ashura-ou’s final request; as a result of his cannibalism, he is marked with the third eye, a divine sign of conduct worse than a demon’s.
And so, Taishakuten rules ruthlessly for three hundred years, until that ruthlessness results in the Six Stars joining together. Ashura awakens as the god of destruction, and begins murdering with glee. However, Ashura in the end comes back to himself and attempts suicide rather than kill Yasha. Ashura goes into a deep sleep over which Yasha faithfully watches for many years. Taishakuten dies, satisfied he fulfilled his promise to Ashura-ou, and Tenou takes the throne.
Clearly, Taishakuten deeply loves Ashura-ou in his own twisted way. Ashura-ou’s death even gives Taishakuten a form of empathy- he kills Karura-ou after Karyoubinga’s death and Kisshoten after Bishamonten’s death so they may find peace in the afterlife with their beloveds, and allows Kendappa to commit suicide after she kills her lover Souma, because, as he says, “it is painful to live in a world without the one you love.”
But what about Ashura-ou? His feelings are unclear. He uses Taishakuten to save his son, giving the man sex in exchange for his help, with no sign he actually cares about Taishakuten. Yet Ashura-ou is shown willingly opening up to Taishakuten beyond having sex. Ashura-ou doesn’t open up to many people, so this seems pretty meaningful (though obviously far from a declaration of love).
It’s possible that Ashura-ou did actually love Taishakuten, but in the end chose saving his child. Another view is that Ashura-ou could have, might have, even would have, loved Taishakuten under different circumstances, in a different world. This latter view is the view I tend to take. We may never know if they are soulmates, but if anyone is Ashura-ou’s soulmate, it’s Taishakuten.
Alternate Universes: TRC and Shoten
Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
Currently, CLAMP is writing Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE. TRC is a large web of interconnected alternate universe stories for their previous series along with some original characters. One of the main characters, Fai D Flowright, comes from a cold, snowy world called Celes. He runs from Celes after sealing his sleeping king, Ashura-ou, deep in a pool of water within the palace, leaving his magical construct Chii to watch over him. The past of Fai and this alternate universe version of Ashura-ou hasn’t been explained, but they clearly have a very deep connection to each other; Ashura-ou seems to have saved Fai from being locked up in a tower (a la Rapunzel) as a child. In the latest chapters, Ashura-ou has awakened from his sleep. We’ve yet to see any sign of Taishakuten in Celes, but I do have hope for at least a mention.
Shoten
In CLAMP’s early Shoten doujinshi, there were also alternate universe versions of Ashura-ou and Taishakuten. Taichirou Imonoyama (Taishakuten’s reincarnation) is uncle to Nokoru Imonoyama and a member of the powerful Imonoyama Zaibatsu. The Imonoyama Zaibatsu owns the famous CLAMP Gakuen, a huge school and city within a city in the middle of Tokyo. Shura (Ashura-ou’s reincarnation) is a teacher at CLAMP Gakuen with whom Taichirou falls in love. I haven’t read the Shoten dealing with their story, so I don’t know whether Shura loves Taichirou in return, but I’d frankly like to think he does. There are a few small cameos of the two of them in the several commercially released CLAMP Gakuen series.
Why
RG Veda is one of my favorite CLAMP series, and Ashura-ou/Taishakuten is one of my three favorite pairings from RG Veda. It’s so creepy and twisted in many ways; it’s also a canon relationship with a lot of room for interpretation and theorization that I simply find fascinating. The pure fierce intensity of Taishakuten's love for Ashura-ou is truly frightening. I’ve also always loved very traditionally masculine men together, so it works on an aesthetic level for me too.
Fandom
The RG Veda fandom is very small but passionate, and Ashura-ou/Taishakuten is one of the more popular pairings, though not the most popular.
rg_veda - RG Veda LJ com
tsubasarc - TRC LJ Com
ashuraxfai - Ashura/Fai LJ com; I include it because it sometimes has Ashura-ou/Taishakuten too.
You can find some more info about the Shoten here.
Various fanficion, etc.
Cute little Taishakuten/Ashura-ou Comic by my friend fengtianshi. Yes, cute.
All of Me - Taishakuten/Ashura-ou porn, night before the final battle. Gives a good interpretation of their relationship.
And to See Him Smile - Fantastic requited Taishakuten/Ashura-ou fic, starting from when they first meet.
Promises - TRC!Taishakuten/Ashura-ou and KuroFai fic; fascinating original interpretation.
Night Jar - Another TRC!Taishakuten/Ashura-ou and KuroFai fic; WIP.
Taishakuten - My own small addition to TRC!Ashura-ou/Taishakuten.