It's the old question - is she a god dreaming she's a fairy, or a fairy that has happened to slip on a god's mantle? Has she undergone a metamorphosis in the past, or is a great change still in her future?
While assembling this cute little picdump, I was initially going to complain that Eternity's osmeterium
being everted is going to be her version of Kagerou's wolf ears and fur being visible when it's not a full moon. Then I double-checked official art, and yeah, looks like Eternity's always got the yellow doodad showing. So there's a new interpretation for her: cute as a button and perpetually pissed off.
Or else just constantly threatened by all the nutjobs around her. Anyway...
Happy bug
Big bright eyes
Feel her flower power
A very quick sketch without the stinkamajig
With her attendants
Wonder if she has any control over butterflies and if that cancels out Wriggle's power?
She should try shorts, they're comfy and easy to wear
Sassy in a backless dress
There's something about her expression in this one
Koto Inari gives her the "ugly cute" treatment
Persona!
Curious whether Mefomefo will put her in Mexican dress at some point
Part of Chamaji's lineup
Nobody likes Mandays
This guy gets it too
Butterfly by the waterfall
More elegant than most births
Maybe this is how Cirno and Wriggle met too
Helps her look more feminine, at least
Gyate gyate
Not sure if gonna gyate
Eternity the catapilla
These tunes can go on for an Eternity.
Accumulating Desires
Hope in Blue
Summer Sky
Fairy's Dream
Fairies of Summer
Midsummer Concerto
Escape the Hellish Dream
GOING CODE
Blue Star
Wings of Creation
Fossils are just the evidence of the Lunarians' failed experiments. Wait, do fairies leave fossils?
The other complicating factor in figuring out what the deal is with Eternity is that we now have Clownpiece as an example of a non-traditional fairy, so everything we know about Cirno and Those Three Rascals may not apply to Eternity. Or "fairy" is getting watered-down to the point where it covers any supernatural being with wings and the ability to regenerate. Not that we've seen Larva regenerate.
Huh, if she's a butterfly-theme fairy(?), maybe every time she comes back she takes a new form. Like a Time Lord.
Oooh, that "Blue Sky" mix by LENK64 is something, that mix of soothing pipes and harsh electronic blatting. And that rock vocal remix was quite a surprise - I never expected someone to be singing in Japanese in a voice like a soul musician. Good finds.
edited 4th Mar '18 7:57:49 PM by Tacitus
Eternity Larva:
A swallowtail butterfly fairy who first appeared when the seasons were thrown out of balance. Summer makes her excited. Quite...perspective for a fairy.
I suppose it's safe to assume that Eternity is smarter than the average fairy. Is this the catalyst that shall bring forth fairies of higher intelligence!? Perhaps not, it's just that those Three Fairies are good at attracting smart fairies.
Eternity's ability is just scattering her scales. Shield Dust would be her ability if she was a Pokemon. She also can sense or see the quintessence of all things it seems. Her handling of Clownpiece's madness flame was quite impressive. I suppose it comes with the territory of possibly being a divine fairy.
Something less immediately destructive than Clownpiece's plan for a bonfire festival, at least.
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Stages: Solitude on the Scarlet Mountain ~ Red Mountain Loneliness '
Mountain in Autumn Colors
BGM: "The Colorless Wind on Youkai Mountain"
note
Theme: "Deep Mountain Encounter"
note
Spellcard Motif: Rain, Murder with Implied Cannibalism to Follow
Sample Spellcards: HSiFS
Rain Sign "Captive Autumn Rain," Rain Sign "Cursed Torrential Rain," Blade Sign "Yamanba's Kitchen Knife Sharpening," Blade Sign "Yamanba's Oni Kitchen Knife Sharpening," Exhaust Sign "Mountain Murder," Exhaust Sign "Bloody Mountain Murder"''
Write-up:
A mountain hag who lives a lonely existence on Youkai Mountain, by design thank you very much. Non-aggression pacts allow yamanba like her and the local tengu to live in peace, a peace that is shattered when an intruder confronts Nemuno as the focal point of the autumnal energy affecting the mountain. This inevitably results in a firefight, but afterward Nemuno doesn't seem to hold a grudge, and even finds herself liking her opponent.
Her attempt to have her new friend over for tea doesn't go over well, though. Might have something to do with Nemuno threatening to add her visitor to her larder beforehand. But we shouldn't expect fine-tuned social skills from a hermit.
Relations:
- Tengu (good fences make good neighbors)
"Girl" nothing, see that bit of meaningful horizontal shading? Which means we can speculate uselessly over whether Nemuno mentioning "that legendary Kintoki kid"
when talking with Marisa is just a reference showing her age, or an indication that she might have been said legendary kid's foster mother, which in turn would connect her to Suika and add another tangle to the Touhou relationship chart.
Maybe while living alone she stumbled upon one weird trick for youthful skin. Or maybe it's dietary, eh?
There's not much art of Nemuno yet, but I haven't come across anything like that, sadly. The most variation I could find to the standard pattern was Mefomefo giving her some scars
and another artist exaggerating the disparity between myth and fandom
.
She's half his size what the hell
What is this, a schmup for ants??
Forever liveblogging the AvengersOr perhaps "hag" is a race you can be born into, like "half-phantom," so you can have an adorable, baby-faced hag still in elementary school, a curvy twenty-something hag striking out on her own for the first time, a mature hag trying not to worry about crow's feet and spending weekends at the spa to keep her youthful glow, etc.
Also, reading her dialogues, it's hard not to feel like Nemuno wouldn't fit in with the witches of Lancre. She can't be havin' with this danmakin' about at her age.
Also also, her interactions with Cirno are kind of adorable:
Nemuno: What? This here's s'posedta' be my territory.
Cirno: Like I care! I'm the fairy who shall soon lord over Gensokyo! I can go anywhere and do anything I want!
Nemuno: An overlord, eh? Well, sure, have fun with your lordin' or whatever. More importantly, you oughta git on outta here.
Nemuno Sakata:
A self-sufficient yamanba residing in a secluded area in Youkai Mountain. Due to not leaving her domain often, she is not up to date with current Gensokyo happenings.note
The chances of Nemuno appearing in cameo manga panels are just as likely as Flandre's; not happening. Unless it's a Youkai Mountain related topic.
Since Nemuno's so self-reliant, She must have a ton of potent tonics for various ailments. No lunar medicine required.
If any kid were to get lost on her turf, she'll probably make sure to get them home safely. If that fails though, well, she'll just make 'em as tough as her.
Come to think of it, Nemuno's sort of the odd woman out when it comes to her game's additions to the cast. We've got Eternity running around with the fairy cast herd, like ZUN decided to put together an official Team 9 or something. We've got Aunn as the Hakurei Shrine's newest and cutest resident. Narumi's now another magician in the Forest of Magic, so between her and Marisa and Alice we've got the foundation of another manga series. And Okina and her back-up dancers are behind the scenes, ready to pop up anywhere. But Nemuno gets left out, since while she's now confirmed to be another resident of Youkai Mountain, she's one who minds her own business and doesn't interact with her neighbors, by treaty.
Unless that pact is now null and void because Aya violated it in her route. Which sounds like a fun plot bunny, come to think of it, the once-isolationist mountain hags asserting themselves in Youkai Mountain's politics in the wake of this blatant tengu aggression.
Not really impressed with the Nemuno art out there so far, as mentioned before, but I found what I could. And the "oriental hatchet" thing is bothering me - call it what you want, but that's a cleaver. That in many cases seems to be evolving into a buster sword.
Wonder what bird that is
Isolation can be boring
She's got sharp eyes
Spends a lot of time outdoors
It's a rough life out there
Alternatively, make her glamorous
That cleaver gets longer with every picture
Bones and broken spears
Unorthodox adoption methods
Persona!
If Rumia's interested in your meal, what are you cooking?
Helping a ne'er-do-well
Another
lost child
Enjoying some local flavor
The artist finished the most important bit
Friend to animals
She's tired but her nails look nice
Woman in the gray forest
Lady in the woods
Lady among the spider lilies
A girl and her bloodstained cutting tool
How to make friends
How to look harmless
Chibi with a cleaver
Gyate?
EAT
A wild concerned mother figure appears
Simple country living builds character
A story in which Aya is a jackass and Nemuno is not
Happy to note that there's much more art of Nemuno being a nice lady than art of her actually being a cannibal. Though there is of course more art of her just posing with her weapon than the other two categories combined.
Y'all be treadin' on Nemuno's sweet alone time. And she was just about to relax to some good tunes.
Beckoning Gale
Threatening Defender
Battle in the Woods
The Wind’s Message
Bulwark of the Secret Domain
edited 18th Mar '18 11:46:23 AM by Diamite
She's got such a nice stage theme...
But yeah, cannibalism. Nemuno's profile says mountain hags "often send lost adults back with a warning, and take custody of lost children, who they raise into upstanding human beings." Her threats and puns about inviting her unexpected guests to dinner might be a way of maintaining the sort of animosity and fear required of youkai.
I wonder if the adopting of orphans is too, though? Like the Kintaro story has led to an expectation that yamanba have enough of a good side to raise lost kids, so Shiki might show up and lecture Nemuno if she wasn't nice to children and only scared people.
Also wonder how well any hag-raised children integrate back into what passes for city life in Gensokyo. They come back with good morals from the sound of it, but probably little to no knowledge of how to set up a mortgage or anything. Might be good as somewhat rustic ctiy guards. Or the ultimate "outsider" politicians.

Should probably mention that Eternity's working with Clownpiece now.
And has apparently learned from the events of HSiFS and is getting better at manipulating life force or something. And it looks like we can expect to see more of this odd little butterfly in the future.
And the question of whether she's a fairy or a deity doesn't seem any closer to being resolved.