/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>48523246
Somehow that fits her, doesn't it?
>>48523284
>It's not lost on anyone how fan art, music, memes and merch like fumos are more prevalent than ZUN's very own lore, as much merit as the latter holds.
One has to also keep in mind that if we are truly dealing with spirits, ZUN isn't the only one who can have them as their muses. We all have our own particular filters, especially when it comes to things that can be as vague as the initial forms of spirit contact...
>My own experiences have led me to believe that, to some extent, spirits are influenced and formed by the ever-changing currents of human faith.
All perception is projection too, and there's few - if anything - permanent in this world.

It's even in Touhou canon that the kami can change over time, become deities of other things than they were before. And youkai are in Shinto canon basicaly kami that have become so scorned it's extremely difficult to appease them. Angry spirits can be appeased to become kami, offering guidance on caligraphy instead of raging storms. The tengu can become guardians of mountains instead of hostile opponents. Who says that kami or youkai can't try to self-direct this evolution too..?
>I was always paralyzed from the waist down (and therefore a sub)
I'm very much under the impression that in 99% of the cases it's like that and being only paralyzed waist down is a luxury haha.
> From what I have seen, if you show spirits the respect they deserve and make a point of being an honest and positive person, you may begin to form a special connection that goes beyond the merely parasitic, the sycophantic or the sexual
That would be my understanding and experienced too. Of course there are some that are either so difficult to work with or so hostile to humans that it isn't worthwhile for the absolute vast majority. The kami of Gensokyo (which just might be real deities in cosplay) are worthwhile. They definitively work in the framework of a religious aproach at the very least - respect, reverence, gratidute, worship.

Speaking of old gods in cosplay, I only fairly recently checked Suwa Grand Shrine's official website and apparently they have 10 000 branch shrines. This is probably because they gave the meat consumption permits back in the day. That's an exceptional number and probably explains why Kanako-sama has so much oomph. For comparison, the Inari Okami shrine network is the largest one at 34 000.

If we look at these things through this lens, some things start to make a lot of sense. For example, this particular artist who likes Keiki-sama a lot feeling compelled to chart out the Haniyasu shrine network in Japan...
>>48523879
Merry Christmas to you too!
>>48525461
The idea of kami is closer to a lot of animistic entities from all over the world. Things like the Roman lares come pretty close to the idea. The major kami do have qualities we would associate with deities though.