If you give me a sufficient amount of time to remember where I found all of those pictures I can provide both Big Ass and Big Tits...
Nah I'm just kidding, I'm too lazy. Here, have a bunch of remixes.
Determination of the Heartbroken
Raised to be Sentimental to All...
Better Version Not Found Due to Copyright
Namusan Roasting on an Open Fire...
Myouren Temple Anime Series Opening
You're Fucked Part 2: Hijiri Will Protect The Ones She Loves!
Despair Leads to Happiness Someday
edited 7th Apr '15 10:48:31 PM by TheMageofFire
This. Cannot. Continue
Gah, so much good stuff I can't pick out which ones I like best! Demetori, O-Life Japan... thanks for finding mixes of "World's End" in particular, I don't have enough takes on that one.
The only thing I might add would be this short but sweet remix of "Emotional Skyskraper" from Devil of Decline. It cuts out the dramatic intro but keeps things mellow.
The problem is threefold: first, I'm limiting my searches to Safebooru, second, I have an Aristotlean appreciation of women so that a picture focusing on one particular body part will have trouble meeting my standards of "good," and third, artists who emphasize the booty often do so at the expense of the rest of the subject, making it even harder for me to consider it "good" art no matter how bootilicious.
So if I did a Big Ass Byakuren picdump, it wouldn't be very big-ass at all. It would actually be slight, bony, and uncomfortable to sit on without a good cushion.
All this to say, I think we've had a good discussion on Byakuren but things are winding down, so unless anyone has more to add, we can anticipate moving on to Suwako in a day or so.
Current earworm: "Time of Death"
Formerly G.G.
Is Byakuren some sort of lawyer? that would explain a lot of things.
"We are just like Irregular Data. And that applies to you too, Ri CO. And as for you, Player... your job is to correct Irregular Data."
I am pretty sure you aren't allowed to be both a lawyer and a monk. Like, polar opposites.
This. Cannot. Continue
Is she not a woman of scripture? Someone who helps laymen understand divine law? Is she not therefore the most exalted kind of lawyer that a mortal can aspire to?
A lawyer who might have cut some backroom deals and fixed some court cases for her personal benefit, but a lawyer nonetheless. Anyway, that's all in the past. She's totes legit now. And who else are you gonna see? The lawyer on the top of the bandit-infested mountain, or the law firm where all the ex-cons hang out?
Current earworm: "Time of Death"
This. Cannot. Continue
Alright, let's give the sound of both hands clapping for Byakuren! Next will be the wicked hermit and the super youkai warhead, followed by Hon Meirin, whoever that is.
But first, a lady with a very distinctive hat... or perhaps a hat with a very distinctive wearer?
Stage:
A Merry Japanese God ~ Moriya Shrine (Inner Sanctum)
BGM:"Tomorrow Will Be Special; Yesterday Was Not"
Theme: "Native Faith"
Spellcard Motif: Frogs and Divinity
Spellcards: MoF, 'Soku, GoM, DS, ISC
Party Start "Two Bows, Two Claps, and One Bow," Native God "Lord Long-Arm and Lord Long-Leg," Divine Tool "Moriya's Iron Ring," Spring Sign "Jade of the Horrid River," Frog Hunt "The Snake Eats the Croaking Frog," Native God "Seven Stones and Seven Trees," Native God "Froggy Braves the Wind and Rain," Native God "Red Frog of Houei 4," "Suwa War ~ Native Myth vs Central Myth," Scourge Sign "Mishaguji-sama," Spring Sign "Suwa Clear Water," Native God "Moriya God," Frog Nap "Can Always Hibernate," Scourge God "Mishaguchi-sama," Clap "Daidarabotchi's Worship," "Hellish Heat Geyser," "Magma Amphibian," "Divine Battle Above Gensokyo," Divine Sakura "Full Sakura Blizzard," Hime River "Princess Jade Green," Iron Ring "Mythical Ring," Native God "Mishaguji-sama," Green Stone "Jade Break," Frog Sign "Bloody Mound of Red Frogs"
Write-up:
One of Japan's native gods, and one who has taken the unusual step of relocating from her home turf - or rather she moved said home turf to Gensokyo. Over two thousand years ago Suwako ruled over her own kingdom thanks to her command of the local curse gods, only to be defeated by and subsequently team up with Kanako Yasaka. While Kanako serves as the face of the Moriya Shrine and makes her sales pitch to would-be worshipers, Suwako does most of the figurative heavy lifting thanks to those curse gods she controls.
This set-up is unusual, but then again Suwako is an unusual deity. She loves frogs but her divine portfolio doesn't include amphibians, and though ancient she often looks and acts like a child. Unlike Kanako she was willing to fade away from want of faith in the outside world, but since coming to Genskoyo, Suwako is definitely enjoying herself. And even though she seems benign, it'd probably best to stay on her good side. That's true of most deities, of course, but doubly so if they have curse gods as henchmen.
Relations:
- Kanako Yasaka (partner)
- Sanae Kochiya (great-to-the-nth granddaughter)
- Mishaguji (would be a shame if they happened to someone...)
Interpreations:
"Earth Frog"
by Otherarrow
"A Brief Discussion on Batrachian Symbolism"
by Tacitus
See also the previous two compendiums.
edited 21st Apr '15 11:59:38 AM by Tacitus
Current earworm: "Time of Death"
Formerly G.G.
What does Suwako look like a child though? I know it is to save faith but she seems to really like that form?
"We are just like Irregular Data. And that applies to you too, Ri CO. And as for you, Player... your job is to correct Irregular Data."
Funny but not helpful
Kanako is taking care of the 'serious' work so now Suwako can just play around and have kappa build a giant robot themed giant balloon for her.
So, she's a kid. Because that's how she's living.
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Rainy Echoes
Suwako Moriya:
The true god of the Moriya Shrine. But she's retired from the faith game. A very relaxed and fun-loving god.
In her prime, Suwako commanded an army of curse gods. And I bet she still does, she just hasn't found a reason to deploy them. Hm, they inflict curses and stuff. I wonder if Hina has a secret relation with Suwako, what with being a curse god herself. More on this front when Hina steps in!
She loves having fun, like a kid. Perhaps that's why she prefers her current form. Not to say adults can have fun. She just thinks its way cooler to look like a kid? Or maybe it's because she was extremely fond of Sanae's childhood days...
Her hat is the ancestor of the Hypnotoad. Be grateful that it doesn't have its descendant's hypnotic sta- ALL HAIL SUWAKO'S HAT!!
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Akyuu says that unlike Kanako, Suwako "does not have a spirit as a base from, and instead consists of pure faith." So from that we might conclude that Suwako's form is tied directly to the amount of faith she's receiving, and her childishness is therefore a sign of the hard time she's fallen upon - I'm pretty sure I remember a doujin that used the same logic to create a tiny Kanako. But Akyuu also says that "like all gods, the form she adopts is mostly meaningless," and mentions that Suwako also likes to hop around in frog form to give froggy blessings.
All things considered, Suwako looks like a precocious child because she wants to. So now we can speculate why she wants to, whether it's an aesthetic thing, she feels it best reflects who she is inside, or whether she wants people to see a cute, innocent child rather than a canny, ancient goddess.
Current earworm: "Time of Death"
One Winged Egret
She definitely still does, since the basic MO of the Moriya Shrine is a protection racket: "worship us or else." The threat of the curse gods is more important than the use of them.
Although "blessings and curses are two sides of the same coin", so it's not like the curse gods can only do that. They're described as fallen harvest gods that bring decay with their breath and growth with their... tails, I guess? Fertile Feet, except snakes.
Maybe this is just me, but I loathe the use of the word "goddess" to refer to these characters. Japanese has a perfectly good word for "goddess", 女神, but ZUN never uses it. Personally, I feel like this is probably because 女神 is a word created to translate the foreign word "goddess" and therefore has no place in ancient Shinto beliefs (the Japanese word for "queen" has a similar origin: originally a female ruler would also just be called a king), but ultimately I just don't like the sound of it. God works well enough as a gender neutral word.
Earth Frog
Suwako is one of the deities (is that a sufficient gender neutral term?) of the Moriya Shrine.
A long time ago, in the age of myths, she was the deity of the shrine, even having used her control over the Mishaguji, powerful curse gods, to create the kingdom of Moriya (written in Japanese differently) in Suwa. However when the gods of Yamato came down to subjugate the other gods of the land, Suwako was defeated by sky deity Kanako when the latter used her power to rust the steel weapons of Suwako's armies. Kanako was unable to control the Mishaguji and gain the faith of the kingdom's people, so she basically enlisted Suwako as her co-deity and installed a imaginary god to serve as puppet ruler, leading to both becoming the true deities of the new Moriya Shrine.
Closer to the present day, Kanako is the main power behind the shrine, and Suwako is basically in retirement, spending her days loafing around and having fun. When faith started to deplete in the outside world Suwako was content with how things were going (despite it meaning that she'd die), but went along with Kanako's scheme to move the shrine to Gensoukyou to start anew. She had no regrets leaving the outside world, and hey, Gensoukyou is fun. Better retire there than Florida.
Well, I say "retire", but with her powers over the Earth and control of the Mishaguji, Suwako remains a prominent power behind the shrine. She is called on to perform miracles related to harvest and the Earth, and insure that, oh, nothing bad will happen to those who believe, if you get my drift. However, it's all but stated that she uses those powers on Kanako's request, and doesn't do any independent campaigning.
Suwako is a rather mysterious and whimsical character; it's hard to tell what she is thinking due to her childish facade and aloofness from others. The person closest to her (excepting Kanako) is stated to be her descendent Sanae, who still doesn't know much about her (to the point where Sanae didn't originally know why her shrine had two deities). Suwako is, as stated, basically in semi-retirement. She does what she pleases to amuse herself, even if it seems bizarre to outsiders.
Suwako likes frogs and will often take the form of a frog when in split form; indeed, her blessings are embodied by frogs. However, Suwako does not have dominion over frogs, so complaining to her over frog related incidents won't fix the problem at all. In fact, Suwako will likely instead side with the frogs and curse you for plotting against them.
She can also swim in the ground as if it was water, leaving her hat above ground like a shark's fin. Don't mess with Suwako.
edited 11th Apr '15 11:38:42 AM by Otherarrow
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She definitely still does, since the basic MO of the Moriya Shrine is a protection racket: "worship us or else." The threat of the curse gods is more important than the use of them.
Although "blessings and curses are two sides of the same coin", so it's not like the curse gods can only do that. They're described as fallen harvest gods that bring decay with their breath and growth with their... tails, I guess? Fertile Feet, except snakes.
The way Akyuu puts it, Suwako does the terrain shifting, and rather than using her own powers commands the Mishaguji to do the work. And since their breath is described as making the land barren, I can only assume they improve soil quality by tunneling like earthworms.
Which is kind of cool, a innocuous little froggy goddess with a swarm of Shai-Hulud under her command.
Suwako seems to identify as female, and picking one gendered form of god/goddess to use when referring to all such characters runs the risk of implying that it is superior to the other.
Probably, though "divinity/divinities" may also be acceptable. Worked for The Elder Scrolls.
Hmm. Do you think they ever have fights, and a teary-eyed Suwako yells "You only need me for my curse-snakes!" before storming out of the shrine?
More seriously, that's kind of the key difference between the two deities. Suwako is rock-solid and constant, she's got her curse-snakes and she knows how to use them. Kanako has ambitions, knows which way the wind is blowing, and can pull out tricks like those rusting vines, but she doesn't have as much substance to her campaign. She gets to keep thinking what new gimmick will attract worshipers this year, while Suwako knows that people will always need blessings (for fear of curses).
Current earworm: "Time of Death"
One Winged Egret
I don't think "god" is a gendered word at all, but I'm an atheist so what do I know?
Formerly G.G.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Suwako is a.....something-goddess-queen that commands Mushaguji and and she is retired.... I think.
Part of the Problem
I had this argument with some mates a few weeks back. The conclusion we came to was that "God" is gendered, and refers to a singular deity; while "god" is genderless, and can be used to refer to any deity.
I guess it's like if there were a human named Human.
More like how in Christianity, there's only one god, so calling "God" instantly refers to the Christian God.
It's more skin to how the Human Village is called "the Village", or the Youkai Mountain is called "the Mountain". Since there's only one, you instantly know what's being referred to.
Funny but not helpful
Unless you read certain translations of the old testament which are always talking about how other gods are wimps compared to YHWH
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Formerly G.G.
To be fair YHWH is hardly the only that does this but YHWH can back it up. Suwako is a goddess but she and Kanako are partners in crime in their protection racket however who is the face of the shrine and who is the power behind it?
Funny but not helpful
Kanako is the face and they're both the power behind it in different ways using their different powers and sometimes borrowing Reimu's.
Forever liveblogging the Avengers
(Not) A Game Master
You're making me wonder whether or not the Biblical God in the Touhou universe is just a particularly powerful and old deity.
...OK, yeah, this is heresy.
Wondering about the disposition of the God of Abraham in a fictional universe? It doesn't strike me as especially heretical.
One Winged Egret
...maybe it's because I was raised an atheist and took philosophy in college, but YHWH doesn't seem particularly male either. From the way theologists/philosophers talk about it, it's some abstract collection of extreme properties, like omniscience and omnibenevolence. It's pretty much impossible to imagine such a thing actually having a gender, in the same sense that it's hard to imagine the theory of relativity having a gender.
When gods are closer to people though, they just seem like a kind of fantasy race, like elves. I don't feel the need to specify he-elf or she-elf every time I talk about them, so similarly I feel like the word goddess is entirely pointless and in fact only emphasizes their femininity for no reason. Actually, there's probably a perfectly good reason, but it can only be an insulting one: to emphasize their otherness from a standard god, implying that female gods are the exception.
For the record, we are also getting the Byakuren Big Ass Picdump too, right?
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