Bloom and Scatter [Free! Zombie AU]

Notes

"Bloom and Scatter"

The title refers to cherry blossoms and its cultural significance to the Japanese. Cherry blossoms bloom en masse in spring but they wither and fall within two weeks, marking the beginning of spring (birth) and the transience of life (death).

They are considered to be the flower of the warrior, as they represent the values of true warrior: They who fall (scatter) at the height of their glory (beauty).

Appropriated as a military symbol during WWII, the first kamikaze unit was known as yamazakura (wild cherry blossom). The government also encouraged the public to believe that fallen warriors were reincarnated as cherry blossoms.

[Cherry blossoms] were used in propaganda to inspire "Japanese spirit," as in the "Song of Young Japan," exulting in "warriors" who were "ready like the myriad cherry blossoms to scatter."

(Piers Brendon, The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s, p441)

As this story is set in Japan, it was intended for many deeply embedded cultural references to be only lightly referenced, the same as it would have been should this story have been set in America with hand-waved references to American values and traditions.

Cherry blossoms hold two roles of significance in this story. One, of course, is the title, which essentially means "You are at your most glorious when you die". The second is the placement of the flowers within the context of the story. Whenever they appear, they symbolize hope. However, their appearance is frequently in fragile and delicate forms, i.e. in the shape of an origami crane in Rin's dream (chapter 5), withered and dried in the Iwatobi Swim Club courtyard (chapter 13).

The intended meaning overall is to convey that all beautiful things can be deceptive, even fatal. As with the dual meanings of life and death, this story also plays on dualities. Each chapter title describes its contents, but it is a mirror – Who lives? Who are the survivors? What is the truth? What is the payoff? And so on.

The Fog

The idea for the fog came from three main sources: Silent Hill, for which it is a staple element of the games; Miyakejima, which will be covered subsequently; and the annual haze which originates from Indonesia and plagues parts of Southeast Asia.

Every year around August/September, farmers in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia, burn their fields to make way for new crops. Smoke and dust is carried away by monsoon winds to parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

On August 11, 2005 a state of emergency was announced for the world's 12th largest port, Port Klang, and the district of Kuala Selangor after air pollution there reached dangerous levels (defined as a value greater than 300 on the Air Pollution Index or API). This was the first time the state of emergency had been imposed in Malaysia since the September 1997 haze. And I was in pain the entire time.

Living under haze conditions is extremely unhealthy. It is difficult to breathe due to the fine dust particles in the air, which is dangerous for the lungs and painful to the eyes. The dust also absorbs heat, which, coupled with the sweltering tropical humidity, significantly increases the ground temperature and leads to excessive sweating, nausea, and headaches, even for those indoors. Reduced visibility is also extremely dangerous. In 2005, you couldn't see two cars ahead of you on the road.

The haze is definitely what I envision the fog feeling like, from the physical pains and discomfort, to the looming, gloomy, discomfiting and oppressive atmosphere that takes an emotional toll on a person as it spreads out and envelops the land.

Gas Masks

The idea for the gas masks came from Miyakejima in Honshu. The centre of the island is Mt. Oyama, which has erupted in recent times. Residents are still required to carry gas masks on them for safety purposes since the last eruption in 2000, though they need not wear them unless the island's sirens go off. This is fact.

This was the picture that inspired the premise of the story. It is the one consistently associated with Miyakejima if one were to search for the term online, however there are no certainties as to whether or not these are actually Miyakejima residents. This is where fiction possibly starts. The stories online go that the Japanese government paid locals to live on Miyakejima both as research subjects on the effects of living with the gas, as well as to maintain its maritime borders.

Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1GUZ47HMTVP-ZHfpCsVWHYMQWzDc&ll=35.425789727179186%2C134.22627560976568&z=10