/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>47003912
>Vestiges of the elixir should still exist in the liver
I cast doubt on that.
The people who claim the elixir is stored in the liver are all not authorities on the subject, and the concept of it is explicitly mixed with other, similar legends such as the one about eating mermaid flesh, with the mermaid thing even being mentioned explicitly in the narration of IN's Extra Stage prologue.
Remilia is just reiterating things Patchouli told her about, which she may or may not remember correctly, and Yuyuko, while generally more reliable, wouldn't really know much more about the elusive Hourai Elixir either, other than fearing it due to the immortality it grants. She also seems to be under the impression that the immortality can only be transferred, rather than duplicated, which is why it would be so terrible for a gutless ghost to consume it, as it would be completely impossible for it to be passed on any further.
Meanwhile, in Marisa's route, Mokou remarks that there's no elixir left remaining, after Alice shows interest in it, with no suggestion to just extract it from the liver. She also talks about the nature of the regeneration and how the immortal soul would simply create a new container, which Mokou seems to agree with, which suggests that Mokou has had her body completely destroyed (or at least enough to damage it beyond repair), and still regenerated, which would've destroyed any remnants of the elixir remaining inside of her.
Once someone consumes the elixir, it probably cannot be passed on, and eating their liver wouldn't do anything.
>>47003955
>three sips rule
Probably not a thing at all, anyway. It's derived entirely by a single statement from Mokou, who is not an authority on its creation, and definitely didn't experiment with various dosages, as she by all accounts just chugged down the whole thing in one go.
Mokou was really just being chuuni there, trying to make a poetic statement about something that seems great at first glance turning out to be horrible in the end (and even then, it's just her, as the others have no problem with their immortality).
It's important to remember that the characters are all talking from their own perspective and they're often mistaken or outright making shit up.

>>46981287
>>46982261
yeah that comfy-lewd confident hag aura is amazing.

>>46981339
you hate to see it...
in a world where hagchads almost always cannot stop winning, the case of Yuka Mizuno is a very sore defeat
to make things "worse", her performances are 100x more intense nowadays to compensate; she's a great actress but it's just too saddening

>>46981510
>Revenge
YES it's fantastic, i was worried it'd be another one-off that they don't take advantage of
i know the age-old criticism of Madonna was all the reluctance-into-enjoy dramas but they've been more adventurous for a while now (maybe because most of the roster has already done entries for all the flagship series at this point)
>catch-up
looking forward! but please feel no pressure with providing the goods either

>>46981553
i've seen whirligig mentioned before

>>46981685
yeah she's so lovely, probably my favourite in the '23 cohort

>>46981727
very good, sir...
here's another ensemble picture

>>46981894
>Can this be used
i don't think so kek
>What would a younger man call his older lover in Japanese?
depending on the context, i think dropping all terms and/or honorifics and just using her given name is usually considered really spicy and taboo (especially if it's a stepmother/mother-in-law/aunt or even teacher, etc)

>>46982286
she is sexo incarnate

>>46982333
why would you ignore 1/5 of the human sensory experience?

>>46983294
what are you talking about, sir?
i think based on the available data, Kawakami is the woman who has aged the least in the history of JAV
she started at an earlier age than any other besides maybe Yumi Kazama and Maki Tomoda and is still around
still looks great to me in
>>46982503
>>46983000

>>46982965
you're welcome dear! and yeah it's strange, especially since her May release was really great as others have said

>>46983030
>>46983045
love these cheeky lads

>>46983349
kek i hadn't noticed it before but i see it now too

why is no one talking about reddit duck's stream here?

Why is no one talking about Watame's stream here?

I think it's time to start thinking about summing up the key insights from this thread. I think purely, directly Touhou related these would be
- Touhou lore draws from a wide range of real world religions and esoteric, occult beliefs
- Gensokyo is based on a real world location with history of reported paranormal activity
- The Mental Layer idea from CoLA, things about kami turning into youkai if seen only as a threat
- Whatever is going on with Grimoire of Marisa
- Suwa mythology having possible connection to Taoist believes
- At the very least extremely archetypal nature of Touhou
What else? How do we even begin to sum up everything else? I think the DJT threads have used some kind of AI, but she is a very rude girl and we don't want that here...
>>46943216
Careful now.
>>46943271
>Damon Brand's thing, I'm guessing?
Yes, obviously a pseudonym, haha.
>I may give it a look later, through entirely legal means, of course.
I forgot to mention this - one point of contention regarding that particular series of books is that supposedly they have some sort of "anti-piracy curse" in them.
>I presume you'd argue a connection between the personified virtues mentioned and the mentioned kami
Well, not directly, but the "personified virtues" are 12 of genius in the original sense from Roman beliefs. The concept is really, really close to kami.
>what archetypes are most compatible with the Reversed Hanged Man
Well, the cards are archetypes in themselves, especially the Major Arcana. Reversed Hanged Man - delays, resistance, stalling, indecision. Does it sound familiar..? Why'd you bring out the reversed Hanged Man?
>And maybe get an 'answering machine' of sorts as well.
Great idea!! I've heard of people saying that once you "get it" you can make all kinds of constructs with magic. Someone said they made an "alarm bell" that would "ring" when he had the attention of unwanted entities or people. Construction of "mind palaces" for storing information is a popular activity, but I think this is also mundane(?) mnemonic technique.

I've had the idea of making a "kami telephone" which would be one of those old timey phones with wires, but I don't trust my ability yet to get it right for a long, long time. I would need to be able to make a good enough barrier to keep it from getting unwanted calls all day and night.
>Out of curiosity, by this I assume you mean duplicitous people in general?
Yes, and people aproaching spiritual with hidden motives.
>>46943456
>i don't know anything that would suggest our souls are stratified, but i wouldn't rule out the possibility either
I suppose it might be more of a biological self/spiritual self divide, I may have been confused somewhere along the way.
>In my own theory the 'root religion' is really a philosophy that can syncretize all other schools of thought
I'm starting to think so myself. No idea yet what it is though.
>>46943499
>You know what they say about things smelling and being too good to be true.
Yeah, honestly I was concerned about this, but I don't feel like what has been offered has been "too good to be true". I've conceretely, directly asked for very few things. The most completely out of my hands thing was asking Kanako-sama to help you keep your promise.

They've also done something that I don't think impostor entities would ever do - held me accountable to other people. They told me I need to make amends to a family member I have a difficult relationship with before they want anything further to do with me.
>>46943927
>but honestly i don't understand in the slightest how they work
Me neither, my lack of background in sciences really hampers these type of pursuits.
>>46944084
A very concrete one was recently this motorized massage pillow thingy that I own turning itself on while I was talking with a friend about why nature spirits supposedly like honeycomb so much as an offering.

A wholly insubstantial one was when I had made my offering to Kanako-sama and started going back home. I received a communication from her that basicaly boiled down to "you really have no idea how to do these things properly, but that was a very endearing spectacle and a nice gift, I will help your friend, don't worry about it".
>>46944255
>"The energy flowing through a system serves to organize that system."
>See above?
Is this the essence of the ziran idea in Taoism??
>>46944270
At the very least, "information" is pretty much all we can grasp of reality in some sense..?
>>46944945
Well, obviously the "door to Gensokyo" is now slightly ajar to you!
>>46945104
>getting interviewed by Sakuya
What did they ask you?

I've only ever had one directly Genskyo related dream, or rather it was one of those post-dream, waking up infodumps that I've been getting occasionaly lately. It was basicaly a mandala-like aerial view of a town and "those who go to Gensokyo via legitimate means first end in Mayohiga, and only those of pure heart can go further". I have no idea what to make of it.

Why is no one talking about Aqua's stream here?

why is no one talking about polka's stream here?

>>46934603
I remember you posting your displacement experience before. That's a really profound one. I have had some very minor paranormal stuff all along my life, latest (possibly two?) this very week, but nothing that would compare to yours. That's actually a really scary one. Even at this point I would have difficulty integrating something like that.
>>46934617
>Sort of an expansion of memetics to allow for highly ordered structures that are capable of some analogue of thought and consciousness
In my post-horribly failed first attempt at magical practices perioid I once spitballed about the idea of "information organisms" as a way to talk about "supernatural" or "paranormal" entities in more scientific terms. There are, after all, theories that posit that the base "matter" of existence is information, not the substance. What do you think?
>a towering pillar of recursive complexity
Good way to put it, and I think there are some inteligences along the way that we don't really think about at the moment. There's something about the networks formed by tree roots and fungi which have incredible connectivity for a biological system that I just keep coming back to lately.
>there's absolutely no reason to think the upper limit has stopped or will stop at individual consciousness
Yes.
>By acting like we're meant to act, we maintain a kind of spiritual homeostasis, and our mental machinery is kept fed and running smoothly.
I've been also thinking about something like this too lately, and for some reason really visceral biological metaphors have been brewing along with some high-flying spiritual ones. Maybe it's the fact that I have radicaly overhauled my diet and I've been thinking about gut bacteria because of that, but to some extent I feel it's almost like..and I would never make this comparison as a disrespectful one...it's like cultivating a colony of beneficial micro-organisms vs cultivating a colony of harmful ones. Except we are talking about some kind of hyper macro-organisms here..?
>>46934658
>Call it mass hallucination if you want
Considering people report effects from interacting with the various entities and deities and paranormal that are really hard to write off as merely "hallucinations" I feel there is more to it...but yes. One of my favorite books is Case Against Reality where the author were strongly makes the case that we really aren't evolved as biological beings to see "reality", we evolved to see some slice of it that fulfills various biological imperatives. Interestingly enough, Why Buddhism Is True made the exact same points. Who knows what else there is out there?
>In the end, does it even matter which it is?
I am increasingly feeling that ultimately certain moral imperatives are far more important than metaphysical questions, as interesting and fun they are to talk about.

But I do feel like these imperatives are also related to such metaphysical questions. "We share this world with others" carries way more weight when you start to see that "we" and "this world" are both possibly immensively more vast than previously thought.

why is no one talking about pekora's stream here? where's all the nousagi gone?

>>46926693
>At no point I claimed NBA contacted them
That's good, because you'd be a complete and utterly drooling retard otherwise.
>Yes, there was a discussion inside Anycolor
Let's argue this point for you then: why, exactly, is it primarily EN then if Anycolor was making the shot calls? Why not split it down the middle, 15 EN's and 15 JP's, because EN's even in their heyday's were already barely making a quarter of the profit the main branch was. If their goal is to make money, which it is, then why would they include Millie in it and not Hiba-chan? I'm certain anon would love to support his lover. 23 and 7 is just a strange number.
>streamers unrelated
And we've already gone over how these idiots can't stop talking about things they shouldn't be talking about, but if you want to argue the fact they've managed to keep tight lips for once then sure you can have that one.
>Yes, previous Rakuten collabs had similar NDAs.
Are you sure about that? Can you say with complete confidence if I look up clips of people talking about it, there's not going to be one of anon's husband saying that Maimoto told her about one a week ago and she's been trying to hide her excitement?

>>46923809
>except that's not the context here
the context here is letting "low skilled" aka low IQ violent brown immigrants into countries. so it makes sense to talk about low IQ brown immigrants. why would low IQ whites even factor into that? we're not talking about deporting people, just not letting unproductive people into a country. no one said anything about low IQ white immigrants because those aren't the type of immigrants we're getting.
>also i'm not a leftist
you're some libertarian open borders retard which is functionally the same shit. you both want to let white countries get raped by low IQ brownoids.

>>46903405
>>46903145
Follow up to earlier post

First some briefing before i talk about 'faith' irl:
So in touhou the source of the power of gods and yokai seems to be faith or fear respectively. One theory for the reason behind the creation of gensokyo is that a sort of natural habitat for both can exist, with the human village for example being a good source of respect and fear for both beings. The most powerful entities in gensokyo also seem to be gods or yokai with worshippers outside gensokyo. This seems completely unrelated to our reality at first glance, but if this is viewed through the philosophical theory of the 'god of the gaps' then it starts getting interesting. The theory is that as humans started observing the world and explaining it we first believed in a multitude of gods that explained each natural phenomena, and as we started better understanding those phenomena we started assigning faith to gods that were further and further from the material world and existed almost or completely in a different spiritual plane. This was because we could explain the things that the gods used to govern in the material world with laws that were more consistent. The scientific method is after all just an agreement to seek the most consistent formula for describing material existence, and nothing is as inconsistent as a free will. This is why some modern scientific theories were very hard to accept when introduced in the 19th and 20th century. For example quantum mechanics asserts a certain fundamental uncertainty in the universe, and asserts that that uncertainty is tied to the interactions of the subject. This combined with relativity allowing multiple contradicting viewpoints to be subjectively correct seemed to contradict the rationality of the scientific method. A 3 meter ladder traveling close to c could fit inside a 2 meter long hallway from a bystanders perspective, but if you were riding the ladder the hallway would just stretch to 3 meters. ZUN was definitely referencing this with Yukari as quantum physics has been used in a lot of occult theories.

Now this is all fine and dandy, a tree might be struck by lightning, and even if from a humans perspective it was a temper tantrum from zeus that burned the tree, from the trees perspective it doesn't matter, and the outcome is the same. The problem arises when this isn't the case. Lets make an assumption that being able to imagine how a broken clock should work increases the likelihood of you being able to repair it. This seems completely logical and self explanatory, but opens up a lot of questions if true. Let's say then that if a politician can imagine a peaceful future for their country then the likelihood of peace in the future increases, same the other way, if someone believes they will get in a fight the likelihood of a fight increases. This all seems pretty self explanatory. And of course sometimes it works in reverse too. Simply being able to think of something seems to manipulate the probability of it's existence, in relation to how improbable the existence of that thing is in a vacuum. Now it gets pretty interesting if you consider faith in gods and spirits. Thinking about gods or praying to them manipulates the probability of their existence by some amount. And probability theory knows no impossible things, there is no zero, though we consider things below some point to be impossible. So in a weird way thinking of gods really does seem to empower them, though it is uncertain if the chance of their existence could ever become so high to actually matter. Though as i mentioned earlier there is no need for universal events, if they can be locally true. The universal probability of a miracle can be near zero, but locally it might become more likely, if the result of that miracle is still 'plausible' to an outside observer it doesn't really matter what happened. Paranormal events being explained by unlikely coincidences later does not necessarily mean they didn't happen for the initial observer.

This is just a surface level touch into the subject and i feel like if i write any more this will seem like a schizophrenics word pasta. The more you look into this the more some characters like Yukari and Okina being the sages of gensokyo start making sense. I wholeheartedly support the guys worshipping 2hu:s since it would be pretty lit to revive some dead gods.

>>46912874
This seems to be almost exactly what i'm talking about :D

Why is no one talking about Watame's stream here?

I open my eyes, then blink repeatedly.

The world ahead is water and fog, foggy water and humid fog, both stretching much further than what I can see. I blink again, trying to breathe, yet nothing comes; hands touch my chest; it doesn't go up and down anymore. With broad eyes, I then notice my clothes: barefoot and a white yukata, only that. The yukata's collar is a reverse 'Y'…

“I'm dead.” I mumble to myself.

“Ho…” A familiar whistle calls my attention and what once was an infinite river—the Sanzu—is now but a small water crossing, cherry blossoms letting their petals fall on the waters and gravel margins as the fog subsides just a little, revealing a simple wooden boat moored to the ground by rope and… An oar stabbed into the earth. “Not everyone notices it so fast; mostly happens when they see me.” The voice was from the person perfectly balancing herself on top of the oar, crouching and holding a scythe over her shoulder—a big frame for a woman and hair the color of strawberries—looking at me from above. “Hello…” Komachi Onozuka hums. “… again, Keine Kamishirasawa~”

Again…? Why is the shinigami—

“Man, you gave me a bunch of work that day, y'know? There were so many feral souls to dispose of—sheesh.” She shrugs, swathing off a petal that fell on top of her nose. “Still, it's okay for you to not remember. Death is as remarkable as your name—and yours wasn't when your time arrived; I wonder if that's how you slipped right beneath my nose.” She leaps off the oar and lands in front of me, growing to her full height—a menacing half-head taller than me. She laughs. “… Or maybe because I was napping, but don't tell Eiki that~”

All I can react with is utter confusion. What's she talking about? 'Escaping beneath her nose'…?

As the seconds of thought come and go, clarity soon sparks like fireworks: death… No, no, this cannot be! Aki and Mochi need both their parents; it's my responsibility for adopting them! The revolution cannot work without me; it'll crumble and disappear without consolidation! Who knows what will become of its ashes? I promised hope for the children of Gensokyo—for those that suffer and aren't helped by shrine maidens!

To die like this, to just accept…

—Everything stops. Suddenly, my body is not my own anymore.

“Don't fight it.” Komachi's voice reaches me, vigilant. “I should've done this that day, but controlling spirits just after suddenly awakening…? Not really viable,” she yawns, tapping the back of the scythe repeatedly against her shoulder. “Eh, guess I shouldn't be worried—history has shown that when the Sanzu swallows something, it never lets go… Still, just to be sure.” My legs walk towards the rowboat, Komachi watching like a hawk, mind slowly draining out any thought as if some type of hypnosis. I tried fighting, but the flame inside was constantly and rapidly assaulted by snow that damped and sapped life off anything, leaving in its wake a mere corpse… “Who'd have thought?” She muses. “Many have tried, and I've grown bored by their attempts. You gave me a scare once, but in the words this poet Kasen knew, ugh… They really fit this situation, but, um…” I barely register she's speaking, struggling dearly against becoming like that frozen corpse.

It was futile to fight the world and protect those two little babies; anyone in possession of a functional brain knows; only death waits, sooner or later.

“Eh, it doesn't matter. Just know one thing, Kamishirasawa: Death always catches up~”

History has shown time and time again…

My feet hit the wood, about to climb onto the boat, Komachi already having climbed, oar in her other hand, a lazy trepidation lingering in her mulberry eyes.

The Sanzu was the shortest I'd ever seen.

… But history is never written in stone.

I stop.

“… For fuck's sake.” She desperately tries to row the boat to the other margin, the other hand releasing the oar and trying to pull me inside—

That corpse is not Keine Kamishirasawa.

—the boat rocks as, with an abrupt pounding headache, I kick her away from me and fall back onto land, tripping and rolling on the gravel, everything inside of me shaking with agonizing pain.

Rage is hot and nigh impossible to hold beneath my skin, knuckles closing as my eyes meet Komachi's; she'd lost her smile, clutching to the scythe with tenacity—a sight to behold: Gensokyo's most notorious slacker, furious…

Around us, the rosy petals litter an arena of soft gravel, the Sanzu—an ocean again—eerily silent, though shadows of unfathomable size lurk right beneath the waters.

With deep breaths, I push myself up. “Komachi-san, I know Gensokyo wouldn't work without you to guide the souls of those that died, and I'm very sorry for being a nuisance…” Hurting still, I take a powerful tug on the yukata and, with a tearing sound, rip the inverted collar and let the frayed white cloth hang on the obi; my breasts are, gladly, wrapped in bandages, so I'm not entirely torso-nude. “… But I fear I must postpone my death just once more.”

Why is no one talking about furea? Is it because she is brown?

>>46896950
—
This is a side of her I… have never seen.

Yes, she is abrasive and carefree, and she does not have much attention span—it made her prenatal a nightmare—but rare glimpses emerge from time to time; glimpses of the person Koishi was before she closed her third eye, which is now watching like a hawk over the sleeping child in my arms. Koishi exudes a sweet and gentle personality—maturity like Yuugi’s and Orin’s—while Satori-sama hides a childish side… That, I suppose, explains why the storks chose her to have a child. Still, her words shake me, clarifying and untangling the puzzling mess that, as the day proceeded, became more and more muddled. But I need more, and the mother in front of me was happy to offer. “It is always the same song and dance with sister: dealing alone with the Palace and Underground affairs; all the work with spirits, onis and so much more, all which she does by herself—no wonder she never found a man; she is a pain in the ass!” She giggles wearily, and now I find strength to do so too. “… I know, Okuu, about what's happening around Gensokyo.”

The words stopped me completely, eyes bulging. W-What?!

“I had my baby in the HSE when I was still dead to the world; I was present when everyone got together to help Kasen and… Sister and I had a fight by that sword in the lake when I discovered Yukari could've used her Gap to open my third eye.” She looks at me, the tone shift weighing down my stomach. “I'm not sure about what'll happen when me and…” A faint smile comes as she reaches forward and gingerly ruffles the boy's hair. “Me and Junya separate; if I will or not close my third eye again now that my pregnancy is over. It's scary: to know the love I feel now, the thoughts and fantasies I have of us for the future will just… Fade. I cannot go to Yukari—not like this, at least—and sister's warnings are fair…” A 'but' lingers in the air yet never comes. Her trembling hands, even for this birdbrain, are enough of an answer. Her back hits the plush mattress, and she breathes a sigh of relief. “Despite all that, Okuu, that I may at any moment lose myself again and there's nothing I can do to change that… I know it won’t be as bad as before.” She turns to face me, eyes bright with life, though tired. “Because my little boy won't be alone—he'll be in good hands~” She muses, and foolishly, my eyes turn down.

My hands, holding him.

… Oh.

“Everyone has their flaws. You may be dumb and reckless,” ouch, hope that burn doesn't cause cancer… “But you're so incredibly passionate about us—your loyalty and your love for the things you do~I wouldn't have you any other way.” Pride swells inside, the eye on my chest rolling. “Sister hasn't told you anything because she cares too much; she wants you and those close to her to be safe—from Yukari, the HSE and others… Even if it costs her.” Koutei's sad eyes come once more to the forefront, though no mess of feelings follows. Things are much clearer now, which means I’m not settling down! Koishi notices and giggles. “Look at you, beaming like the sun again~”

A surge of energy fills these limbs like nuclear steroids, a flame burning within akin to a meltdown. “Yes! Now that you did the thinking for me, I can finally function again—the answer is clear!” I lift myself from the chair, my smile reaching critical mass. “I must nuke Satori-sama…” The mother pales. “… with words!”

Koishi didn't look amused. “I just gave birth! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!” Her voice, slightly louder than before, awakens Junya in my hands and, in sudden panic, I pass the newborn back to his mother's arms. We whisper among us, pointing at his twisting features—cute~—before Koishi is able to get him back to napping. “… You’ll be talking to sister, then?”

“Yup!” I show her a thumbs up, feeling revitalized in mind and body!

Wow, a good talk sure helps with the problems of the brain! I wonder if there's someone who does it professionally… Eh, likely not; Gensokyo would have one otherwise.

“It'll be a talk so insane, I'll overwhelm Satori-sama and so force her to stop being a dumdum~!”

Koishi smiles sweetly, one hand playing with her green baby. “I wish you luck—”

“—You're coming too!” I invade her personal space, hands firmly on her shoulders. “You and Satori-sama never solved that fight of yours, right? Then we'll solve it on top of a cool dragon's head, drinking soda and eating fish!” Koishi looks at me wide-eyed, unsure what to say, but I do not mind. I'm fed up with secrecy and mysteries! All's being solved between everyone—oh, everyone indeed~! “You said you had Junya-kun in the HSE, right?! So I'll go to the HSE and fetch the man AND the stork that got you pregnant!”

Oh, it’ll be glo—

“Stork…?”

“Yeah; how else would you have gotten pregnant if not by holding hands with a man, then phoning a stork—”

“—By the traditional method, Okuu: Anon, the father, penetrated my vagina with his penis and ejaculated inside my womb! There was no stork!”

… W-What…?

>>46880619
—
“No, we need to go to Koishi! She just gave birth!” I scowl and raise my fists in the air, not letting the cannon's extra weight stop me. Okina—who is this grandma?!—stares blankly at me, her creepy smile growing bored as she keeps tapping on the top of Satori-sama's head, making me want to just vaporize her, but Yuugi's display and hold prevent me... Still, nothing changes; Koishi just had her baby! “Koishi needs her older sister, c'mon! It's a new life, a new f-family member; you wouldn't want to lose that, right, Satori-sama…?” My heart pounded as frantically as thunders surrounding a mushroom cloud, mouth slightly agape and mind about to give up; so much thinking… Why are they stopping me from clearing us off this old lady?! Just because she may be strong? I AM THE FUCKING SUN!

“Calm down, Reiuji! I'll figure this out.” There was a trembling in her voice, and the words of appeasement felt bitter. “Okina, are my sister and Kokoro at Eientei?”

“… I'm starting to feel like you three are wasting my time,” she muses, and I'm about to prepare my arm cannon for a second bout, but again, Yuugi stops me. Perhaps I should've given her cancer. “Feh, yup; Kokoro called in 'distress' yesterday, so I took the two of them and the cat to Eientei. You're lucky I'm the most benevolent goddess to have ever lived~” Something flashes across Satori-sama's face—an anger without name that causes her lips to purse—yet nothing comes out. “… But I fear we'll need to make adjustments; Satorin here is very important to me, especially now with that problem right there.” She glances towards Koutei, her sickening smile growing ever more punchable. “And I see our disappointing friend is talking to him right now, but her powers aren’t enough. Everyone lies, even dragons—but one's mind doesn't lie~” She shrugs, and Satori-sama looks away. “That is why you two are going to check out green mama and green baby, and Satorin will be touring me around.” Suika, disappointing…? That thought is just a spark in the massive reaction that courses adrenaline through my veins; why is she stopping an aunt from seeing her sister’s newborn?! Can't she just wait a couple of hours before getting Satori-sama's help— “Do you have anything to say, little bird? Your feathers are so ruffed; reminds me of Shameimaru~” Beneath her arms, Satori-sama freezes.

Oh, do I have some mean words for this creepy old hag—

“She does not.” The tone kills my thought process and I stare at Satori-sama in utter disbelief. “Make sure Koishi and my… nephlings are being competently taken care of. I'll solve this problem.” No—no, no, this ain't right! She should be there for her sister, not being caught in whatever schemes an old lady is putting her through! I try speaking again; my fists clenched so hard the knots are white, but Satori-sama doesn't bulge. “This is an order, Reiuji. Go.”

“Go, you've overstayed your welcome, Ms. Clean Energy~” Okina repeats mockingly and, in front of us, opens a door that leads to somewhere very bright and green. That's the world above…

I try saying anything, reaching for whatever possible to get through her, but nothing comes, so my mouth just opens and closes multiple times before—rather tenderly—Yuugi leads me inside the door, my brain processing it too late, the magical door closing with a loud bang. “HEY! Open this thing! We're not done yet!” I shriek, frustrated and oblivious to my surroundings, and then a small, floppy-eared woman sprints toward me and stops right in my face, seemingly unafraid of the enormous oni or of me. “Wha—”

“SSSSHHHH!” She makes a sign of silence, annoyed and frowning, and I feel compelled to obey her command—perhaps it was her protuberant belly, similar to Koishi's until recently, or all the other weirdos, all seemingly annoyed, staring at us? “Silence in the hospital, you fool! There are patients sensitive to sound!”

“Sorry for her; she's a little stressed.” Yuugi takes over, standing nearly four times the size of the fluffy monster. “We're here, um, searching for Koishi Komeiji.” And sounding shy as if half her size… The nurse looks between us, at least a little suspicious, before checking the brown board filled with papers she carries.

Remembering where half of my anger stems from, I turn to Yuugi. “Why did you stop me from atomizing that pervy old hag?!”

Yuugi stares at me for a while—… s-surprised? What’s she surprised about…? “Huh, I thought you'd have picked up by now.” The paper flipping continues, and a slight blush grows on my cheeks as I watch her fetch her plate of sake, which instantly fills with booze—should I be aware of anything else? “Okina would obliterate us in a duel, Utsuho. Me, you, Suika; the entire Underground—Satori even works for her, too, which means Okina is also your boss.” I can only blink. “Ah, you're really off the loop, huh?”

I feel like I know her now that Yuugi says it… but from where?

“Oh, you match the description—the portal and all, too—follow me, ladies~”

why is no one talking about aqua's stream here?

While I can't say I've fallen in love with a 2hu (as that would require, well, bonding with that 2hu, and that's impossible due to obvious reasons), I can say with full certainty, out of all of them, who it'd be most likely.

>Write confessions for that character you love.

"Satori. You know why I am here, but I will speak it in any case. I love you, with everything that I have, and everything that I am. I won't promise you eternity, for I am human, unless I become a youkai at some point. I won't promise you that I will always know the right thing to say, like you will due to reading hearts, but I will try to learn if you would teach me to love you right. I love you with all of my heart and soul, because there is no other way to love, in my mind, and in my heart. If you're not interested, then merely reject me, and that will be the end of it. It will hurt for a while, but I will bounce back eventually. But if you are, if you feel the same, then I will love you with all of my heart and soul, until in my heart there's no blood left to bleed. This is swear, and this I vow. I love you."

>Explain how you would conquer them.

Unironically, I'd let my heart do the talking. Sure, she could in theory use her ability to, well, mess you up horribly, and to lead you to ruin. But in fact, that has never canonically happened. Thus, I would trust her, because I'd know, she would not abuse her power. And I would do my utmost to be there for her. It helps that... I've always had a sensitive heart, and over time, I learned how to help others with their troubles, because I could not stand to watch them suffer. As a result, my intuition is sharper than any blade on that front. Thus, I'd offer to be there, and she would know this offer to be genuine, because the heart cannot lie.

>What would you do if you already were a partner with them.

Well, first off, there's this spot I want to share. Back when I was in uni, there was this place I'd go to, to watch the sunset over the waves, from the cliffside. It became my spot, where I'd go to reflect on things and just... think. I'd want to share that with her. I'd also make sure she treated herself right, and if anyone tried to harm her, I'd fight with everything I had, even if it meant death.

>Say what you love about them so much.

I can't help but feel we'd be kindred spirits. I'm no satori, but ever since I swore not to be a bystander back when I was 16, I've strived to help hundreds. I bore witness to a lot of suffering, but... I have no regrets. That said, there were points where I didn't keep myself in check, where I helped whoever I could every single day for hours at a time and it... it broke me. Helping one to see ten more suffer. Helping ten only to see the hundred you could do nothing for. Helping a hundred to be crushed by the thousand still crying out in pain... It was... Hell. While this might be fanon on my part, considering how satori youkai are treated, I think she stays in the palace to avoid seeing all that darkness and I... I understand it.

Dragons are resistant to nuclear attacks. Crazy, huh? Like cockroaches.

I like to kill cockroaches, the smug bastards.

“Hm… An overwhelmingly big nuclear explosion didn't destroy these chains or even bothered you, and the weird sword in the lake drained all the radiation I spread—very cool, though~new way to dispose of waste!” The dragon under me merely huffed, his massive head resting on one of the stone spikes surrounding this lake that's appeared out of nowhere. Orin told me not to mess with it because it’s Yukari's boring magic or whatever, but still! Disposal site that neutralizes radiation and disperses it safely?! That's, like, incredible! But there's the dragon and the weirdos who got mad at me. Eh, what can a girl do besides nuking the threat? The existence of a dragon so close to the palace could, theoretically, negatively impact Koishi-chan and her babies too… “How the hell am I getting rid of you…?” I ask the dragon, his elongated body spanning the entirety of the spiky hills surrounding the lake shifting a little, probably to scratch an itch somewhere along it. “Are you resistant to alpha radiation, by the way?” Taking after him, I scratch my wings too before lying on his iridescent scales. “Like, everyone kinda is… Until you ingest it. Maybe if I poison that waterfall with a BIG dose of alpha radiation and you drink it, then you'll die?” Again, the dragon huffs, heavy movements of the weird chains that bind his neck making cascades of dust. That's not a 'no'! “Hell yeah, that may work!”

The chains clank again as one of his hands—paws? Something in between?—moves, and the entire world seems to hold its breath as it approaches me. The red eye doesn't feel fuzzy or eerie, so no danger, but I can't help but wonder what he's—

—one of his claws gently petted the top of my head for a while before rescinding to its resting position under his chin.

Hey… That was very nice~

“Heh, I'll make sure to give my all and produce, like, a THOUSAND years worth of alpha particles~! I got you, Mr. Dragon!” Another huff, though it feels… amused? “You know, when I say I'll kill someone using radiation poisoning—like the fairies—they always scream or try to fight back. It's very funny.” I laugh aloud at the memories of screeching fairies before they are vanquished by overwhelming force. “But, even when I threw a sun at you, you didn't try to stop me… Do you want to die, Mr. Dragon?” I ask, puzzled. Never considered that: why would anyone wanna die? Life is so damn fun~!

His sudden silence, though, is upsetting… Confused, I move forward, sliding off his forehead and end up sitting on his snout, tailing his narrowed, kinda sorrowful gaze. He watches the people—either on the shore or walking on the water—rebuilding their weird shrines to Yukari's sword and peering back at us in awe, some even bowing…

Mr. Dragon is sad 'cause of that? The people can see it for sure, but don't stop anyway… What a bunch of losers!

“Can I evaporate them?” I ask, about to reach for the arm-cannon strapped to my back, but Mr. Dragon merely huffs, negating with his head—the movement shakes the mountains—something I don't understand inside those gigantic eyes. “Bleh, my head hurts… Trying to understand an assortment of huffs and give each different meaning is a pain!” I complain with a sigh, head spinning for real. Mr. Dragon laughs at my expense; the sound low, rumbling and quite apocalyptic… I pout. “You jerk—I'll make the alpha radiation taste incredibly sour ‘cause of that!”

As Mr. Dragon's laughter fades, he seems less sad~

“Another day, another Yukari scheme…” A sudden voice calls my attention to the familiar people that approach: the small oni, Suika, and the giant one, Yuugi. “Ya got caught on it this time, huh, Koutei?” Suika finishes, landing on Mr. Dragon's—Koutei, I guess—nose. “That purple bitch…” Koutei nods in agreement, and so Suika glances towards me, a big, silly smile adorning her big, silly face. “Yo, Utsuho-chan~nice seeing you fooling around with Koutei here! It wasn't as nice seeing that massive sun from the city, though, and dealing with the panic was a pain.”

“It wasn't that bad,” Yuugi muses, drinking from her plate. “It'd be fun to wrestle a nuke someday, though—I don't understand an ounce about nuclear energy anyway~” I make sure to remember such words for posteriority.

“The only weakness of the Underground is our lack of sun; you should be glad I graced you with one for a minute or two,” I shrug, watching as they sit around me, an amused sigh coming from the small oni and a thunderous laughter from the big oni. “Eh, whaddaya want anyway? We were talking about killing each other~”

“Sorry for interrupting the gripping subject matter, love birds,” Suika jokes, putting her sake gourd down. “Just wanted to have a little talk with Koutei about Kasen, nothing much. You can stay to listen if ya want, but I warn you that it may be boring, heh.”

A talk with a dragon being boring? Man, Suika must be REALLY drunk…

why is no one talking about reddit duck's stream here?

>>46813407
(2/3)
—
“Say, Anon…” An abrupt voice jolts me out of my stupor, and I turn to see Reimu sitting on our futon by the lit stove, a collection of warm oranges and yellows gracing her silhouette and Hana's against the darkness of the shrine, our small girl sprawled on her mother's knees and sleeping soundly under a bunch of blankets, tenderly holding onto Aunn, who also sleeps, their faces touching slightly. My back is against the kitchen's wall, and the kotatsu's blanket is over my shoulders, keeping a little distance away to give Reimu some space. As my drowsiness subsides, I see her missing arm—not a dream, Jesus... “Would you give me a second chance?” She asks, uncaring about her arm but rather having her eyes on Hana—eyes that bore a mother's warmth uncensored.

Those final words, however, ring all the alarms in my mind.

“W-What are you… R-Reimu, what happened? W-What are you talking about?” Is this some sort of trap…?

The lack of arm, cut so thoroughly as if by something sharper than any sword, makes me wanna puke—

— “The pain I caused you is great, and you've been hiding it all for quite a while now, haven't you?” I freeze, hands clutching tightly to the blanket, heart frantic and sweat makes my skin itch. “All Because you want Hana to grow up happy. You'd go to any lengths to protect her childhood; give her the happiness she deserves… Our little daughter.” Examples from the past overlaid her words: often desperate cries for forgiveness for every disgrace she would bring forth.

Reimu just stares at Hana, her only hand gently caressing the threads of brown, her face calm. No disgusting begging, no manipulation clear as day that I'd fall anyway—but… there's love there. Love that I saw before adorning her finger with a ring. “Reimu, I…” There is massive pushback, both physical and mental, and my breathing becomes tenser with each passing second, the only sound being the soft crackling of the fire. This body knows what'll come if it disrespects her or tries to 'betray' her. It's so sudden, too; I still feel the phantom sensation of her body in my arms… And the seconds pass.

They pass and pass in stillness.

Puzzled, I look at Reimu, a feeling unknown overtaking me…

Why is she…?

… She patiently waited, meeting my eyes and smiling briefly, her hand stopping caressing Hana's hair. “There's no need for haste, Anon—despite, ugh, fruits~” She stutters a little, the shadow of a Reimu I knew appearing in that awkward smile, playful eyes on Hana. “Haste is just no good… Especially now,” she sighs, swinging what remains of her arm. “Well, I guess you'll have to get a job at the village again.” I blink. H-Huh…? “You could work at the Geidontei, your food rocks; or perhaps try the Suzunnan—that poor waif, Suzu, works so hard~—; or maybe teach at the Temple School? Nah, not good that last one; you'd surely embarrass Hana by being super supportive.” She snickers and, before I can understand it, I giggle too. “Or just outright manual labor; you're on the strong side, after all… Anything you choose is good.”

Simple words, but a unique, odd thrill rises inside—one I‘d forgotten I could feel. “I… I will see what I can do.”

“The shrine needs some renovations, too, so I guess I'll be the one fixing it—should start the heavy reforms by spring, so this winter will be dedicated to smaller stuff… Do you wanna something? Like, a painted wall?”

Silence permeates, thick as molasses. Reimu doesn't demand an answer; just waits calmly…

I stare at her, ruminating on those words she'd said before about forgiveness and second chances. Merely tasting the concepts towards her floods my mouth with bitterness—years of abuse, of the loss of the dream of a happy marriage, of isolation…

Why would I give her any kind of forgiveness if not out of fear of what may happen to Hana? What may happen to me?

Reimu doesn't deserve forgiveness…

… And yet, the way she holds Hana and Aunn, the kind and sweet smile on that face, a posture straight and confidence behind movements unseen before—gone was the paranoia—and the way she makes my heart still pound…

“What happened to you?” I ask, anxious.

“I died.”

… I stare, flabbergasted.

“But I came back. I'm still flesh and bone, not a spooky ghost~” I don't laugh. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have. “… All I had in my afterlife were thoughts of my family, of the sins I committed, things I wish I'd done; love that I should've given… There were so many regrets that I decided to come back and, ugh, do b-better, I guess?”

I blink, stupefied. She guesses, huh…?

… Wow…

My hands join and I stare at shadows, echoes beating those walls—of pain and rape, of a life that'd crumbled to dust. My fingers, unconsciously, ran around and ended up rubbing the surface of my wedding band… I take one glance and, in the fire, her wedding band refracts a beautiful hue.

Tired, all I can do is sigh, “… Green.” Her ears perk up. “Our room’s walls would be prettier if they were a mossy green.”

Reimu smiles.

Alright Anonymous, we'll be at the camp soon, let's go over the rules one more time. If you notice any of the tents smelling funny... That's right, we call the morgue and they'll send out people with proper protective equipment to deal with it. If one of them starts talking about aliens, the government, etcetera, always agree, if you contradict them they could get angry. Well, unless they think YOU'RE an alien, in that case stick a hand in your pocket and keep your pepper spray ready. If you get mugged, though, just pay up and we'll compensate you when we get back, the spray's only there as a last resort. You can leave anything you don't want to lose here in the glove box. Let's see, what else... Oh! I never told you what we'll be doing here today, did I? Well, today's main objective is to check the residents' feet for any wounds or infections. Their socks and shoes are always poked full of holes, some even go barefoot, and with how much time they spend moving about they get problems down there a lot. If even a little thing is wrong with one now they could have lost the whole foot by the next time we see them, so it's important to do these inspections regularly. Oh, I know, it's certainly not the work I'd choose for a volunteer's first day, but, what with how understaffed we are, we had no choice but to throw you right into it. So, the basics... Splinters from glass bottles and stuff like that can be hard to spot, so you'll need to hold their feet up to the light and get in close while you're looking them over. They'll probably be sore, so you have to work slowly and gently, like you're giving them a massage. You should give them a few squeezes, too, so you can feel if there's anything going on underneath the skin, and make sure you check between their toes, if gravel gets stuck there it can rub the skin down to the bone. Move on to another when you're finished, then once we've worked through them all, the first aid crew will come over, we'll tell them who needs what, and then we can go, that's all there is to it. To be honest, I don't really look forward to jobs like these either, but, well, these people have no one else who care about them... I hope we can get a few more to join us at the shelter this time... Okay, now we take a left here, and... *car reversing alarm* *handbrake ratcheting* *engine cutoff* *seatbelts unbuckling* *doors unlocking* *doors slamming* *heels clacking* Alright, here we are, let's get straight to it. Why don't you start with the one by the bins over there, they don't look so scary, right?

>>46802553
I'm not very familiar with the pc98 games and canon, but I think there is a character from the future there who tries to prove the existence of magic with science. There is also apparently some stuff lifted from Shin Megami Tensei which is..extremely powerful in itself and probably introduced a lot of people in Japan to strange new ideas back in the days.
>>46802764
>I believe the Internet has fundamentally altered the fabric of the collective consciousness
It's also possible that we have been steered towards creating the internet.
>>46802815
>In other words, you inspire them.
This isn't an entirely new thing though. Religions and spirits have inspired art throughout the ages, but it's interesting how it seems to be at the very center of what is going on now.
>That it can't be spiritual because it's not scary enough, not deep enough, not authoritative enough
I think it's a case where there are a lot of people who simply do not fully quite perceive the full spiritual implications of Touhou. And that might be exactly why it is as it is. There's an exoteric and an esoteric side. If it was wholly religious or esoteric there would be no fans. It was just exoteric there would be no deeper side to inspired people. It's like that union of opposites thing, found in one of the religions depicted within the game. Hmm.
>>46802826
>A daily ritual. Oh yeah, we got that. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Haha, well, something like that was also part of some religious practices in the past too...I remember reading about a cult of Aphrodite/Venus where they had a statue of her that was so attractive that the male followers kept...doing that one particular ritual to it. Sexuality is also involved in tantric practices. But I do have a pretty strong feeling that they would very much apreciate less lewd forms of worship too. I believe the creativity they inspire loops back to this. It's both a tool of spreading their influence and a tool of worship.
>specific cults dedicated to individual gods
...and you coul still worship and revere several or all of them at aproriate times and places!
>>46802909
Yeah when I started playing the games I had been trying to move away from occultism and esoteria and such. I started feeling really, really strange about the mandala battles, occult symbolism and the really unusual numinous quality just seeping out of these games very fast.
>>46803112
Yeah, you get it.
>>46803139
Some of them certainly have started feeling like so. I'd say that they are more like evolutions and hybridizations of certain archetypes, both a thing of their own and something with ancient roots.
>>46803475
Same here. I even got myself a copy of Tao Te Ching because of these games. But taoism is just one thing I got interested in. These games rekindled my interest in shinto, japanese folklore and western esotericism and made me interested in buddhism and taoism. I don't quite know what to make of it all yet, but I'm glad I got interested in them. Some of the ideas in all the three religions portrayed in the game are extremely resonant with me.