Phoenix Ashes

A Fushigi Yuugi universe deathfic by otaku-no-miko


Author's Notes (December 2013):

Okay, so this isn't a new chapter, per se. I'm addressing something that a reviewer brought up – namely, that my timeline is confusing.

My first excuse: Watase-san's timeline is confusing!

Seriously! Okay, so if you look at official sources (I used the Fushigi Yuugi Wikipedia site), OVA 1 and 2 are approximately 6 months after the events of the original story, but in the book world, it's 2 years later. Ok, so 6 months in the real world is 2 years in the book world…

Except in Eikou-Den, it's 3 years later, and 10 years later in the book world! Going off her math, it should be 12 years later. Where'd those extra two years go?

Also, re: seishi reincarnation ages, they make ZERO SENSE. I think Watase-san just decided that since Hotohori and Nuriko were most popular, they were oldest, and Chiriko and Mitsukake were thrown in because they had to be. In my story, I kept the age gap the same as it was in their previous lives and went from there. This is where I begin differing from canon – all the seishi reincarnations would be alive during Eikou-Den in my story, just different ages.

…oh, and none of this addresses the Seiryuu seishi...

How old are they in the original series (we're never given an age for Ashitare or Miboshi)?
What is their reincarnation status (the famous "did Keika die?" question)?
Did they even get reincarnated?

All these questions I answer, in my way.

Anyways! If you read all that above, I applaud you. Now you understand just how little of a social life I have! Just kidding. (Somewhat.)

Under the line break you'll see my breakdown of the timeline, as well as "official" ages. I hope this helps in clarifying any confusion about where, exactly, in the timeline of Fushigi Yuugi this story might fall!


THE BEGINNING - Fushigi Yuugi: The Mysterious Play


Year: 1992*
Miaka/Yui: 15
Tamahome: 18
Tasuki: 17
Chichiri: 24
*the manga was originally published in 1992. From what I can tell, it was meant to be a "modern day" story at that time, set in 1992


APPROXIMATELY 6 MONTHS LATER IN THE REAL WORLD/2 YEARS LATER IN THE BOOK
OVA 1 and OVA 2


Year: 1992/poss. beginning of 1993
Miaka: 16**
Yui: 15
Taka: 19
Tasuki: 19
Chichiri: 26
**Miaka is listed as being born in May, while Yui has a birthday in October; this makes Miaka about 6 months Yui's senior. Taka also is listed as being a spring baby.


APPROXIMATELY 3 YEARS LATER IN THE REAL WORLD/10 YEARS LATER IN THE BOOK WORLD
EIKOU-DEN


Year: 1995
Miaka: 18
Yui:17
Taka: 21
Tasuki: 29
Chichiri: 36


APPROXIMATELY 4 YEARS LATER IN THE REAL WORLD/6 YEARS LATER IN THE BOOK WORLD
PHOENIX ASHES


Year: 1999
Miaka: 22
Yui: 21**
Taka: 25
Tasuki: 35
Chichiri: 42

**For the bulk of the story. For any future scenes, I will annotate what year it is (eg "Modern Day Tokyo, 2005") so math can be done accordingly if you so desire ;)


So!

The events of my story happen about 7, 7 ½ years after the original series in the real world, and about 18 years later in the book world. Confusing, huh? Believe me, it hurts my head too, if I think too hard about it.

My breakdown of seishi ages, for the curious, is below.


SEISHI AGES – ORIGINAL SERIES


SUZAKU
Chichiri: 24
Mitsukake: 22
Tamahome/Hotohori/Nuriko: 18
Tasuki: 17
Chiriko: 13

SEIRYUU
Miboshi/Ashitare: ? Unknown (I've seen guesses that both are in their 30's, but no official age)
Nakago: 25
Tomo: 21
Soi: 19
Amiboshi/Suboshi: 15


SEISHI AGES – PHOENIX ASHES


SUZAKU
Chichiri: 42
Tasuki: 35
Taka/Tamahome: 25
Mitsukake: 12
Hotohori: 10
Nuriko: 9
Chiriko: 5

SEIRYUU
Amiboshi/Keika: 32
Miboshi: 12
Nakago/Tomo: 8
Soi: 7
Suboshi: 5
Ashitare: 4


As you can see, by this timeline I've kept the "order" of the seishi accurate to their previous lives. In the series, Miboshi makes allusion to the idea that s/he is an older spirit that has been possessing bodies for millennia, so I made him/her the eldest of my reincarnated Seiryuu bunch. (Mitsukake's older by a hair, a point which will be revisited later ;) )

Ashitare is the youngest, as I figured he wasn't "human" for very long in the original series. Amiboshi/Keika never died. The rest I just kinda filled in.

For the Suzaku bunch, they are keeping their canon names from Eikou-Den. I came up with the Seiryuu seishi names. Y'all will see them when they are introduced :)

This "chapter-that-is-not-a-chapter" is done! I hope it clears some stuff up. Let me know via review if you agree/disagree with my math, chapter 6 is still forthcoming, and as always, I remain

otaku