[Saint Seiya] The Coffin of Jing Shan

OOC warning. No CP, slow-paced, psychologically focused. Heavy on the preachiness, and updates are irregular. The characters' views do not represent the author's. If you don't like it, just leave. "This story has no social function. Whether I reply to comments depends on the situation, and I don't participate in community activities. Just read the story; there's no need to know me." Don't try to persuade the author. The author can't be bothered to persuade readers either.

Whether I respond to the emotional needs behind a comment depends on the situation. By default, I won't. If you want to leave a comment, be prepared for that, or wait until the story is complete.

If you consider yourself an omnivore and don't care much about writing ability, feel free to dive right in.

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Synopsis

After dying unexpectedly, Su Jingshan transmigrates into the world of Saint Seiya. The moment she lands, she is in the sea, holding the infant Athena, and her head is spinning. Once she realizes she has transmigrated and knows the story of Saint Seiya, Su Jingshan casually saves Sagittarius Aiolos, who is fourteen and on the run after being hunted down, barely clinging to life. But the many accidents that follow leave Su Jingshan unable to leave the Kido family for over a decade, and she is completely dragged into the civil war in Sanctuary. Jingshan, whom Sanctuary's goddess considers an ally, is utterly speechless.

With no other choice, she can only grit her teeth and try to live a few more years, accompanying Sagittarius and Athena through a series of events: the Twelve Temples, the North, and the sea battles, all while living in a body riddled with flaws.

Before any of it begins, after learning that the Sagittarius Cloth has gone missing, Su Jingshan desperately hopes she can undo the various butterfly effects she caused before the Battle of the Twelve Temples. For example, the lost Sagittarius Gold Cloth and the golden arrow inside it...

After thinking it over, Jingshan realizes that she saved someone by the seaside: Had the story already started deviating from the original before she transmigrated? Then just what...

And on the day Su Jingshan saved Sagittarius...

In the sea prison, struggling to survive, he suddenly sees the Sagittarius Cloth box floating past. He pulls it over to inspect it, only to find far too much blood on it. Gemini Dark Star Galan: "...?! Did Saga kill Aiolos?! So that means... Saga, you two-faced bastard, let me out!!!"

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A Saint Seiya fanfic that doesn't take itself seriously. The author's personality: an unconditional omnivore, with a touch of real life. I enjoy what readers like and what they don't. If the author's tastes bother you, I don't recommend clicking in. No character bashing allowed. Don't scrutinize the logic of this story too closely.

The behavior of some male characters and the analysis of male psychology are the author's personal interpretations. If you want to debate who is more right, then, unconditionally, you are right, reader.

The characterization of the special character Saga draws more from the manga side story's portrayal of the evil spirit. I'll also incorporate the characterizations from a few later side stories by Kurumada. If you can't accept that, please don't bother me.

Saori will retain the underlying traits of an heir to a financial conglomerate, but her personality will develop according to her stage of growth.

The author writes the characters this way purely out of personal preference and a director's itch. I can't be bothered to care what others think.

I don't intend to incorporate any settings that fans in the fan community associate with their preferred interpretations of any character, nor to reinforce, refine, or change any perceptions of the characters. If this story really does have that effect later on, I may take other action after careful consideration. The author reserves the right to interpret. Let me say this clearly, since people always think that posting something means you're trying to claim a second right to interpret a character, beyond the official author, in the end. To be clear, I don't do that!

The author isn't involved in fandom circles and has basically no long-term communication with fellow fans or writers in the same fandom. My views don't represent any particular group, and I refuse to have my content dragged in front of other fans by certain groups to fix, vilify, or freeze interpretations of characters' personalities and storylines.

The protagonist was a girl in her previous life. She believes that people come before gender, and that this is the underlying code. Fundamentally unable to adapt to ordinary human social life organized around gender or performing a social gender, she is a harmless shut-in who can't help analyzing and imagining the psychological activity of different people. This is the protagonist's everyday life and her hidden nature.

Note: The body the protagonist has after transmigrating has no gender. For convenience, she acts with the social identity and presentation of a woman. Later, she may also disguise herself with different identities and appearances as the plot requires.

The views of all the characters do not represent the author's views. The protagonist is genderless. In Chapter Six, when the protagonist speaks while playing a woman, it is only to fit into the "System" and acquire a social identity, being recognized as a woman. It is a practical choice to make things easier, not a statement about gender, nor an expression of disagreement with or criticism of gender. She is simply saying that neither framework suits her, and neither is the best fit. Chapter Six will discuss the necessity of categorizing people by gender. If you don't want to see that, I don't recommend reading this story.

A solitary writer with extremely irregular updates, possibly going months without posting. I recommend waiting until there are more chapters, or simply accepting a "sometime in this lifetime" reading experience. This story includes fictional explorations of real-world issues such as organizational logic, capital systems, theocracy, and medical ethics. All discussion is limited to the fanfic's fictional setting and does not represent the author's position or beliefs about the real world.

If you believe that even when the protagonist and author have completely different real-life personalities, just a one percent degree of identification with a first-person protagonist means the protagonist's words fully represent the author's real-life views, this story probably isn't suitable for you.

Most of the main characters and important supporting characters are written with a platonic, non-romantic dynamic. Occasionally, an individual character may show subtle romantic interest in the protagonist or another character. The main story won't have much romantic content between pairings that may not become canon. Maybe in an alternate-universe extra.

[Disclaimer About Fandom Boundaries and Emotional Blackmail]

The author dislikes factional infighting and especially despises the harassment of fellow fans that results from it.

I also can't be bothered with people who use public spaces to pursue their own selfish interests and fight for control over an IP's storylines or characters, or with the emotional blackmail directed at me, including baseless accusations and emotional coercion such as, "When the victim is hurt, you have to do something for them."

I do not accept assumptions about my position or attempts to assign me a fandom allegiance.

No matter which side the person asking assumes I should support, or what fandom label they want to pin on me, my answer is: I won't take sides. Even if my words about one side seem mild, that doesn't mean it's my position.

Please understand that posting online doesn't mean someone is seeking attention or chasing traffic. Stating your position and proving yourself "innocent" are essentially social currency within fandom. I don't socialize in fandom, except one-on-one, so I don't need those tokens to prove myself. Being misunderstood, called self-righteous, or considered a good person means nothing to me, because those are just passes people need when they get involved in socializing with particular groups.

I posted this because many debates about boundaries implicitly suggest that "viewers have to choose a side." I'm just offering some information and a reminder out of a little goodwill and boredom: not choosing a side doesn't mean you can't be won over, much less that you're a potential enemy. Reality isn't a multiple-choice question. Often, many kinds of people exist at the same time, and everyone perceives the boundaries between public spaces and private fan circles differently.

Emotional projection and empathizing with certain aspects of one's own sense of self-worth are among the foundations of fan communities and fan creations.

But when the boundaries of emotional projection and empathy are overstepped, they can leave the mind and manifest in words and actions as a "monopoly on discourse." This includes interpretations and portrayals of characters and storylines, and the way a group "fixes" their boundaries by "expanding or shrinking" them. "Group" here refers to any group, whether positive, negative, or neutral, that engages in this behavior. This isn't about right or wrong; I'm simply pointing out the behavior. If even stating things plainly is offensive, then you're right, I give up. The author isn't saying this to criticize the behavior.

Pointing it out isn't the same as denying emotional projection and empathy.

There is a world of difference between denying something and pointing it out!

Why say this? Because when some people are called out, they feel angry and offended. In fact, it's because they feel that emotional projection and empathy represent a part of themselves. The author doesn't mean that.

What a character is like and what a story is like are matters of personal taste.

But please note: whether someone externalizes something that was internal, talking over others or attacking them with words or arguments, is another matter. Please don't conflate the two.

If you think the current environment makes it impossible to separate these things, the reason lies in changes to the environment and platforms, not in creators or readers. Don't try to make one side offer a solution or take the blame, and don't harass others. The author doesn't want to see that happen. "Moderate" and "restrained" emotional projection makes it easier for readers to enjoy a story without feeling attacked because of different tastes, or thinking that the author has a problem or is being "cringey and out of touch."

(If you think my pointing this out is cringey and out of touch... you're right, I give up. The views above are simply my perspective and a little reminder, not an attempt to lecture or control anyone. Feel free to disagree. We can leave each other alone.)

No part of this story's warnings, synopsis, or main text may be excerpted, stitched together, or distorted and then used to call someone out, stir up a fight, or create the false impression that "the author contradicts themself." If anyone does this, it shows their goal isn't discussion but attack. The author does not accept accusations based on stitched screenshots and will not respond to them.

[General Statement About Inferring Things About the Author from Their Work]

The protagonist is genderless because that's the result of the plot's setup. It is not a projection of the author's views about gender, nor an allusion, criticism, or negative opinion. This is not a declaration of the author's sexual orientation, not a reflection of the author's mental state, and certainly not a reflection of the author's real-life experiences.

The reason something is written a certain way is that I researched it, worked through the possibilities, and thought seriously about how the characters survive and how the system operates, not because I experienced it. This statement isn't competitive. By competition, I mean having to determine a winner or loser, decide who is better, or compare abilities. That's not what I'm doing! There will always be things I missed or things the author thinks can be revised. Fanfic writers don't need to be so meticulous. If you think this passage makes the author sound boastful, then you probably have a rather high level of social Darwinism in your thinking... But that's due to the environment. Such a mindset isn't unusual, nor is it a negative symptom. If you feel offended by this statement, it's probably because your worldview is too different from the author's. There's no need to force mutual understanding.

Please don't make malicious assumptions about the author based on how the work is written.

Please don't treat the character's setup, thoughts, or actions as clues to guess the author's real-life identity, gender, sexual orientation, or mental state. Don't assume that because I wrote about a particular kind of suffering, I've experienced that suffering.

Don't speculate about what I've done in real life because I worked through how a system operates. Don't assume the author lacks empathy just because the protagonist's perspective is detached.

The logic of "you wrote it, so you must be" is essentially a malicious attribution, no different from accusations like "you wrote about murder, so you want to kill people."

If you can't enjoy this story without knowing or being able to confirm the author's gender, sexual orientation, or mental state, or without using the work to speculate about the author's real-life experiences, then this story may not be suitable for you. I recommend leaving and not reading it.

If anyone tries to use any sentence in the synopsis above to turn around and speculate about the author, that means the very existence of these warnings has already struck a nerve. The author has nothing to hide, so I'm not afraid to make things clear in advance, nor am I afraid of being misunderstood or thought to be some kind of weirdo.

If you insist on using the warnings in reverse, that's your business. I'll update them when I can. If you can't accept them, leave, because the warnings are there to prevent pitfalls and reading scams. If you insist on using them for some other purpose, there's nothing the author can do about your assumptions.

Writing morally gray characters isn't an invitation to debate. Making a character morally gray isn't an invitation to start a debate forum...

Theme: Reflections on the world of Saint Seiya and its goddess, observed by a genderless humanoid