anueutsuho - Tumblr blog

[anueutsuho]

utsuho and orin

[anueutsuho]

[anueutsuho]

Nah, she got her degree in psych. I know she would.

You know, if Maribel becomes Yukari and disappears into the past to make Gensokyo before she would normally graduate, would that canonically make Yukari a university dropout?

[anueutsuho]

I feel like an idea a lot of people talking about the "Youkai Expansion Project" are missing out on is the cyclical nature of the whole thing.

Think about it, if Gensokyo is a land where the forgotten end up, what will happen in 7 billion years, when all of mankind's history, architecture, and culture is erased by the planet's absorption into the sun? What will happen to the lunarians, who, if they don't escape the sun's wrath in time, will eventually succumb to this fate too. What will happen to the Milky Way once it collides with Andromeda? And for when the inevitable heat death of the universe happens, what will become of Gensokyo when all of time, space, and existence is forgotten? Will the universe inevitably become a part of a much larger Gensokyo? Which then begs the question, can we even call it Gensokyo anymore? And when Gensokyo is no longer Gensokyo, will the youkai soon no longer be feared due to the inevitable advancement of technology? Will there need to be a new Gensokyo inside of the old one? Are we in a Gensokyo within a Gensokyo right now? Will all the Gensokyos eventually collapse in on themselves?

I feel like I'm gonna go on forever if I keep asking questions like this, so I'm just gonna stop here and go to sleep since I'm tired lmaoooo

[anueutsuho]

hi

[anueutsuho]

I wonder how Utsuho’s clothes doesn’t catch on fire. Utsuho is pretty cool (kinda ironic) :)

I think this might be my best one so far

8/9 of the drawings I got suggested to draw today on Twitter

[anueutsuho]

okuu

(i really like this piece of fanart so i thought id share it here)

[anueutsuho]

How does touhou Kanako show her spirit animals notable Snake traits? Suwako represents the frog. How do I look at her as the Snake as in aesthetic speaking?

Funnily enough, this is actually a common misconception with the canon. The snakes technically have nothing to do with Kanako, those belong to Suwako.

The snakes are called "Mishaguji". They're curse gods that Suwako tamed during her time as the only goddess of the Moriya Shrine. When Kanako took over, she still needed Suwako's assistance since she could not control the Mishaguji. If Kanako didn't ask for help, she would likely be constantly fighting the Mishaguji to prevent them from cursing the land and destroying harvest. Not an easy task. I'm sure Kanako would love to have all her followers believe she is controlling the Mishaguji, but the credit all goes to Suwako.

The Mishaguji are probably a lot weaker than they were in the past, but they're still around. Suwako still uses them in her spellcards. (Notably, Kanako has never used them.).

So you might be wondering, if Suwako is the powerful frog that tamed the snakes, why the heck is Kanako the "Snake"? Why is there so much art depicting Kanako with snakes?

Don't worry, you're not being pranked by fanon this time.

ZUN said in an interview that Kanako is based on two gods: Takeminakata and Yasakatome. These two gods are housed in the real life Grand Suwa Shrine.

Takeminakata is worshipped as a god of wind, water, war, and agriculture. This is very similar to Kanako. As for Yasakatome, her folklore is a bit all over the place so it's hard to pin her down. She's mostly associated with water. Kanako's first name; Yasaka, is derived from Yasakatome.

What's important is that both of these gods have been depicted as snakes in folklore. (sometimes specifically a water serpent). This is where Kanako's symbolism with snakes come from. When Takeminakata is depicted in other japanese media, it's a bit common to use snakes to symbolize him. (Dragons are also an association with him, but we're talking about snakes here).

Kanako and Suwako's backstory heavily resemble a specific piece of Takeminakata's folklore. He conquered the Suwa region by defeating the local gods of the area. The most famous battle was against Moreya, whose iron weapons were defeated by Takeminakata's wisteria vine. (wisteria is a plant. A flowering vine.)

Sound familiar?

Moreya still has his own shrine called the Moriya Shrine. Yup, that's right it's a real place and not something ZUN made up. However, if you look into it, Moreya isn't depicted as a frog. Where the heck did that come from?

Well, Takeminakata has another piece of folklore with a frog involved. He calmed the waves of the raging seas by defeating a frog god. This story commonly depicts him as a snake as well. (Snakes eat frogs in real life!) The frog in this story is sometimes interpreted as one of the local gods, which could be the Mishaguji or Moreya.

"The Mishaguji"??? Aren't they the snakes in Touhou? Well...yes! It's just that they're local gods just like Moreya was and...and....we're in too deep!

Folklore is commonly spread through word of mouth! It's a mythological game of telephone! The details can change based on who is telling the story! I haven't even told you the many other names Takeminataka goes by. If I went over all the nuance with the folklore and its connections to Touhou this would be a gargantuan post!

Ignoring that, what's important is that this is where Kanako's symbolism with snakes come from. Even if she doesn't control the snakes of the Moriya shrine, Kanako IS the snake that defeated the powerful frog and conquered its land.

[anueutsuho]

First day home after absorbing Yatagarasu, Okuu needs to adjust to her new height.

[anueutsuho]

quick okuu since i seem to suffer from a curse that forbids me from ever finishing touhou art

[anueutsuho]

[anueutsuho]

NUCLEAR FUSION

[anueutsuho]

Is that Kug from Super Mario Sunshine?

Super Mario RPG concept art of Mario using aerosol spray cans to attack enemies.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source

[anueutsuho]

REFS I MADE OF THEM IF I WANT TO DRAW THEM IN MY STYLE

[anueutsuho]

Concept art for the Cookatiel boss from Super Mario Odyssey, seen in the Art of Super Mario Odyssey book.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source: see bottom of image

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Unused animation of Luigi either struggling or throwing a tantrum, found in the files of Luigi's Mansion.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source