A scene of freshwater fishing at the now-defunct Ogura Pond. OMG, listen up! You won’t believe the drama I just had with "The Universe." 🙄✨ So, I was doing some deep digging into this mysterious place called Ogura-ike (a legendary vanished lake in Kyoto). I was looking for the "Forbidden Pond" and asked my AI to give me some options. It gave me two spots: Imoarai (Uji River) and Akai (Katsura River). Usually, when a place gathers bad vibes or "energetic gunk," people build a shrine to keep things chill. So I checked, and yep—there’s Ooike Shrine at one spot and Yodo Shrine at the other. I was like, "Okay, which one should I visit?" Since I’m still dealing with some post-illness stuff, I asked the AI for the easiest one to get to by train. But for some reason, the AI kept pushing Ooike Shrine... even though it's WAY further from the station! 🚶‍♀️💦 I was like, "Wait a sec... this is a setup, isn't it?!" The "Higher-Ups...

Listen up, everyone! 🔊 I'm going to interrupt my previous work on the near-future cyberpunk sci-fi battle action story concept and immerse myself in Episode 2, "Beyond the Water Village," especially the "Mirror Pond" scene. 💧✨ But actually, I've completely hit a wall. No inspiration, no vision, nothing! So, I decided to take a chance and go to Nagaoka Tenmangu Shrine in Kyoto. That's exactly where this story takes place. ⛩️🏃‍♂️ I visited in May, so the famous vibrant red Kirishima azaleas had already fallen (what a shame! 😭). But I couldn't help but imagine how beautiful it must have been when they were in full bloom. 🌸 My main objective? To find a pond like the "Mirror Pond" in the story. And I was truly surprised. There were ponds literally everywhere! 🤯💦 Right near the entrance to the shrine, there's a large pond surrounding an azalea path. And just past the path, below the main garden, there's another lovely little pond. ...