#Godslaughter

[elizadraws]

Six Yōkai references to Studio Ghibli films

An avid lover and aficionado of Studio Ghibli’s work, I see references to and from it practically everywhere. Most recently at an exhibition about yōkai.

Yōkai are a class of supernatural creatures that roam the realm of spirits in Japanese folklore. The Japan Foundation organised traveling exhibition titled “Yōkai: Supernatural Monsters from Japan” introduces these curious spirits through a diverse range of media, including nishiki-e prints, emaki picture scrolls, sculptures, toys and films.

Apart from the harmonious and subtle color palettes, the lush and peculiar imagination of the ancient artist, his experienced hand drawing each brush stroke, and the excitement of seeing a picture scroll in real life, what really intrigued me were the images that looked like a scene from a Studio Ghibli film. Listed below are some of the references I spotted.

1.Mount Ōe Picture Scroll and Princess Mononoke  First in line was this one illustrating the heroic tale of the brave samurai Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who, according to legend, exterminated the quintessential yōkai Shuten-dōji, a mythical oni or demon leader of Japan. Although decapitated, the demon’s detached head still took a bite at the hero, who avoided death by wearing multiple helmets stacked on his head.

Close-up of Shuten-doji biting at his decapitator. Source: The Japan Foundation

In Princess Mononoke, on a few occasions Lady Eboshi warns her people that it will take more than a single shot to kill a wolf god: “A wolf’s severed head can still bite.” Ignoring Ashitaka’s warning and attempt to stop her from committing yet another godslaughter, Eboshi succeeds in murdering the Forest Spirit. This victory is short-lived, however, as soon after Eboshi gets her well-deserved punishment for angering the gods when the wolf god Moro’s decapitated head bites off her right arm: “Moro’s head. It moved on its own,” feels like Eboshi had foreshadowed her own misfortune.

Wolf god Moro’s decapitated head after she mutilated Lady Eboshi. © Studio Ghibli

2.The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons Picture Scroll and  Howl’s Moving Castle  This is more of a visual than content resemblance. The big headed tengu and courtesan riding the cart instantly reminded me of the Witch of the Waste’s disproportionate head when she is similarly looking through the window of her palanquin carried around the city by her loyal henchmen.

Tengu and courtesan riding a cart pulled by a toad. Source: The Japan Foundation

Close-up of the Witch of the Waste. © Studio Ghibli

3.The Nue and Princess Mononoke’s Forest Spirit  If you have ever leafed through The Art of Princess Mononoke book you might know that the Forest Spirit (shishigami) didn’t always have that same soothing smile and piercing eyes that are both amicable and cruel. In the early stages of his development his face was more human-like and uncanny than it is now. Though at first glance he resembles a deer, the Forest Spirit is actually a combination of several animals. This blog post lists them as follows: a red-monkey face covered with blue patterns, cat eyes and nose, goat ears, big body of a wild boar, the fur of a serow, and the tail of a dog. As a whole his appearance is one overflowing with peculiarity.

The Forest Spirit preying on a Shinto tree branch. © Studio Ghibli

Similarly the Nue, a legendary yōkai or mononoke, in The Tale of the Heike, is described as having the head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, the body of a dog and the front half of a snake for a tail. In other writings it is sometimes depicted to have the back of a tiger, the legs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken.

The Nue is also said to have the ability to shape-shift, often into the form of a black cloud that can fly. Much like the Forest Spirit who at nightfall changes to the giant Nightwalker (deidarabotchi).

Another similarity worth mentioning is that in both cases the mythical creature is indirectly murdered by the Japanese emperor. Lady Eboshi intends to give the Forest Spirit’s head, which is believed to grant immortality, to the Emperor in return for protection from Lord Asano. In The Tale of Heike, the samurai Minamoto no Yorimasa slays the Nue, because its very existence causes fear in the Emperor who falls ill and is unable to recuperate.

Minamoto no Yorimasa defeats the mythical beast Nue. Source: The Japan Foundation

4.The Foot Washing Mansion and Spirited Away  This nishiki-e print depicts a large-footed yōkai monster that descends from the ceiling and demands to be washed. The story is one of seven stories in the famous Seven Wonders of Honjo and goes as follows: At the time when the flowers were sleeping and the ushimitsu plant was blooming, a horrible, rotten stench would invade the house, and a giant foot bristling with hair would descend from the ceiling accompanied by an enormous sound. If you washed the foot, it would soon disappear back into the ceiling. But if you didn’t, the giant foot would rampage through the house until satisfied.

The large-footed yōkai descending from the ceiling. Source: The Japan Foundation

Most of Spirited Away’s plot takes place within a bathhouse for gods and spirits, known as kami, whose proprietor is the greedy witch Yubaba. The majority of these kami habitually visit the bathhouse for a regular wash to keep themselves clean — unlike the unwelcome enormous and foul smelling guest who imposes his presence and causes turmoil. He smells so bad that at first everybody, unsuccessfully, tries to prevent him from entering the bathhouse. Eventually they realise he is harmless — only after Chihiro cleanses him and sets him free from the taint of humanity.

A kami being washed at Yubaba’s bathhouse. © Studio Ghibli

5.Tsuchigumo and Princess Mononoke’s Tatarigami Tsuchigumo, which literally translates to “dirt/earth spider” is a historical Japanese derogatory term for renegade local clans, and also the name for a race of spider-like yōkai in Japanese folklore.

From the Japanese middle ages (Kamakura/Muromachi/Azuchi-Momoyama periods, or the late 12th to the early 17th centuries) onward, these renegade clans i.e. Tsuchigumo began to be depicted as giant, monstrous spiders. In The Tale of Heike, the samurai Minamoto no Yorimitsu, a member of one of the ruling clans, is depicted how he heroically defeats a giant spider yōkai known as the Tsuchigumo — which is actually a metaphor for him exterminating his opponents.

The Samurai Minamoto no Yorimitsu defeats Tsuchigumo i.e. the clans opposing him. Source: The Japan Foundation

Tatarigami (i.e. “cursed god”) is the giant creature from Princess Mononoke that attacks the Emishi village and curses its last prince, the protagonist of the movie, Ashitaka. Behind the shape, resembling a giant spider covered in worms, hides the colossal boar god Nago. Nago is the first god that Lady Eboshi shoots using the then newly developed hand cannons. The iron ball lodged in the boar’s body causes him great pain, which only intensifies his anger and hatred towards humans. Blinded by his desire for revenge, he goes far to the east where, instead of Lady Eboshi, he punishes the native Emishi tribe. While trying to protect his village, Ashitaka kills the demon, but unfortunately the curse falls on him causing the young leader-to-be to leave his homeland.

The aboriginal Emishi tribe that Ashitaka comes from is one of these renegade clans that have been fighting for 500 years against the Japanese emperor — Yamato. They have been losing against him, and now, with their last prince being cursed to death, they are certain to die out.

Tatarigami getting ready to attack the village of the Emishi tribe. © Studio Ghibli

As the samurai Minamoto no Yorimitsu exterminated the opposing clans — Tsuchigumo, so did Ashitaka in a way, by killing the Tatarigami, wipe out this endangered renegade clan, i.e. his own people. Thinking of it this way, the weight Ashitaka bears is enormous.

6.Personified Daikon Radish and Spirited Away’s Oshirasama According to Japanese ideas of animism, spirit-like entities are believed to reside in all things, both the living and the dead, including natural phenomena and objects. Kami and yōkai inhabit the spirit domain and in shape or nature can be either humans, animals, plants, natural phenomena or artifacts. Like for example this daikon radish (can you spot it?) appearing on omocha-e play pictures made for children’s entertainment as early as the Meiji era (1868–1912).

Yōkai-themed omocha-e. Source: The Japan Foundation

Root vegetables like radishes and carrots have often become internet sensations due to the occasional deformations they suffer. Their wonky shapes might have displeased a farmer in the past and ended up in the garbage instead of as pickles. Similar destiny had already befallen the objects of a house possessed by spirits. Discarded while the house was being exorcised, the aggrieved objects transform into yōkai and start plotting their revenge.

Oshirasama (Radish Spirit or Great White Lord) is the white, hefty, slow-moving guest at Yubaba’s bathhouse who resembles a radish sumo wrestler. His name, Oshirasama, is also the name of a kami of agriculture in the Shinto faith.

Radish Spirit riding the elevator alongside Chihiro. © Studio Ghibli

Have you noticed any of these? Do you perhaps know of another reference I might have missed out. How about re-watching the above mentioned films with this newly gained perspective?  Japanese folklore is rich, extraordinarily original and beautiful. And so are Studio Ghibli’s films.

Source

[mythicalcrumb]

ares would have loved percy if percy didn't kick his ass. percy is dangerous. he can be extremely violent.

and i also think ares would hate annabeth. because she keeps percy grounded. everyone agrees that had it been annabeth disappearing for 6 months, percy would have started a manslaughter (or like. monsterslaughter. or godslaughter). she keeps him in track.

[kirbyofthestars]

dark nebula spread that rumor because it simultaneously makes him sound cooler and kirby sound worse

“kirby beats up some random pussyass spirit of darkness over cake” just doesn’t have the same ring to it as godslaughter does innit

[kohaive]

gaslight gatekeep godslaughter

[saltineofswing]

Here’s some old art of HAWKMOTH, a character I have played with a bunch but that never made it onto Tumblr. Hawkmoth is ‘prodigiously and perhaps even detrimentally clairvoyant’, to the point of spending most of his life literally just walking around and stumbling into food, shelter, and problems that need solving at exactly the most opportune time. Don’t ask him when you die. You’ll get a serious – and, probably, correct – answer.

Hawkmoth is a member of the clandestine Order of the Moth, an order of oracular servants of the Road’s native-born god of time Thysan Thaumeta – which is, literally, an enormous moth. If the moth dies, time ends. So, pretty important to have a small town’s worth of well-trained guardians to protect it. Their compound, high in the dense forests of the Green, is miles away from any outpost, town, or settlement. They are insular and weird, but not unfriendly or unhelpful. 

Hawkmoth is the most powerful clairvoyant of any of them, to the point of finishing people’s sentences, answering questions that haven’t been asked, or providing portents of future events to people out of nowhere. He sees a multitude of timelines, often simultaneously, meaning that he can aggregate the likelihood of a certain event happening relatively easily. Mostly, this power works in regards to his own day-to-day life, although he can extend it to others especially if their ‘path’ crosses his own in a meaningful way. He spent most of his life eschewing any kind of agency, and simply went along with whatever his powers told him would happen.

He usually doesn’t act on his premonitions because, usually, his premonitions also include what he is going to say or do. So for a long time, he was so reliant on his powers that he just assumed he would be in the ‘right’ place, at the ‘right’ time, to say the ‘right’ thing, for whatever outcome he predicted was most likely, in every situation he found himself in.

His powers also mean that he is an absolute fucking demon in combat – he knows every move you and he are going to make the second you unsheathe your blade, and he knows every opening in your guard, and he has the ability to play the fight in his head a hundred times before you even know you’re going to be fitting. Hawkmoth is still bound by the limits of his physical body, but as long as his opponent has an exploitable weakness, he can find it – all the trial and error he needs to do is already done, in a version of events that won’t happen because of Time Bullshit.

Hawkmoth befriended August En-Zaied during the events of the Wild Hunt (see: Godslaughter), after his time-based powers allowed him to overcome Ganzrig Khalgar’s luck-based powers and he defeated her. When the Home Team defeated Glory and their slain allies were brought back to life, Hawkmoth vowed to help August return Ganzrig’s ashes to her family back on their homeworld of Ismes. But when he left The Road and was separated from Thysan Thaumeta, he lost his clairvoyant powers almost entirely (basically giving him a brain aneurysm. He walked it off). Eventually, with the help of August and his family, Hawkmoth grew to develop his own agency and decision-making abilities. His powers of clairvoyance returned, and Hawkmoth was able to save the En-Zaieds from certain doom. Now, Hawkmoth is less like a robot operating on a script, and has been accepted whole-heartedly into August’s family.

[salavarte]

Wybjorn's Threnghelleon divinity, the light in his chest that anchors him to his identity, provides him with the powers of the aspiration domain and mastery over his physical form, has been forcibly stripped from him to feed a nefarious, occult machine. This has returned him to a similar state as when he was an effigy, but the mosaic of divine magic that freed him from Ethem-Cailo's influence still makes him something much more than stone.  One thing is certain, whether he chooses to nurture the strange energy that lingers within him to become something new or reclaim his former glory from that which stole his light: there is suffering ahead.

Pose referenced from the statue "Marble Statue of a Wounded Amazon", a Roman statue from 1st-2nd century AD.

[salavante]

These pencils are a little on the old side, I think I drew these this past summer, which just tells you how long I’ve been planning our post-campaign one shots. But I’ve always liked em and Kuirik is about to become important so I figured I’d revisit them. All the Khalgar gals in one place. 

[scartar]

dabi: bitch thanos: blocked dabi: hold up ive got something to tell you thanos: unblocked dabi: bitch 

[robotise]

godslaughters replied to your post: that last post is from the official land before...

but he is shown to be guilty of racism,

as ru said ... dinosaurs: become human

[bewitcheds]

thanos loves cats (jinx) but does jinx love them back

jinx takes up all of thanos’ attention and when it seems like theyre not payin attention to him, he just moves around before settling back into their lap. ismahan doesn’t really treat jinx as a pet because ... you don’t really need to take care of him, he just takes care of himself. he’s more like company? in a way. so if she pets jinx, it’s because SHE wants to do it but yea jinx likes thanos ^_^

[mythicalcrumb]

ares would have loved percy if percy didn't kick his ass. percy is dangerous. he can be extremely violent.

and i also think ares would hate annabeth. because she keeps percy grounded. everyone agrees that had it been annabeth disappearing for 6 months, percy would have started a manslaughter (or like. monsterslaughter. or godslaughter). she keeps him in track.

[ancestars]

godslaughters replied to your post: america has freckles all over her body but mostly...

THANOS AND AMERICA MATCHING STAR FRECKLES

america blows a kiss @ her while flying over head

[saltineofswing]

Devouring the devoted.

[salavarte]

MASTER / APPRENTICE

This is purely speculative, though Ethem-Colias does exist in our main game canon. An AU scenario where Jovix-Cailo returns to the world under his own auspices 10 years after he's killed by Osmanthus Quince, and is able to rescue his daughter before the cult successfully indoctrinates and trains her to become a weapon. A better life for them both. Some meta context under the cut.

In oh, I dunno, SEPTEMBER, there was one of those art-things going around twitter that was your character’s original design with an option to draw them with either a “Corruption Arc” (if they were a hero) or a “Redemption Arc” (if they were a villain).

 I couldn’t help but notice that results skewed pretty heavily towards the former, and wanted to even the odds a bit. IDK I don’t think that the domain of “greed” necessitates that an entity is “bad” (look at Greed from FMA, for example), JC is/was just kind of an asshole about it and may have even settled down in a few hundred years into being a cooler guy, but would have caused too much mayhem in the interim. I had also wanted to draw him as he normally is but tbh, I’ve sat on this piece long enough. I started this before my hand took another dive for the worst (almost three months ago) and have only just recently managed to push this from 80% done to 100% done. That said, kind of a fun AU that I wouldn’t mind revisiting. I never got to play the new God of War and have daddy issues so this whole concept really tickles me. 

[salavante]

Inktober 10 & 11: LUCKY STRIKE and TOUGH BREAK

Al Fortuna of Ismes, God of Chance, Fortune and Misfortune, has two champions under their prevue - Ganzrig Khalgar, a brash and brusque folk hero who never misses a shot and is always in the right place at the right time, and August en Zaied, a pensive sailor with an aura of bad luck that he has learned to manipulate to his advantage. 

Inktober Commission Sale / Artblog 

[scartar]

how did i kno this was u before i even looked at the blog. it just emits Zander Energy

i hate the fact that you could tell prolly bc of how edgy it is