WAIT WHAT

I love how both Yuuma and Chiyari have very clearly pointed and long ears in ZUN's art in Touhou 19 (especially Chiyari, like dang look at those)

I think theyre the first characters to very clearly have pointed elf-like ears in ZUN's art and i think thats cool

You may be saying what about Parsee or Nue, but i think its harder to tell if those were intentional or not? Correct me if i missed something, but i think SA was the first game where ZUN actually drew human ears on some of the characters instead of just hiding them behind hair, with Parsee being the first to have them And if you look at art of other characters from around SA to TD, pretty much everyone has those kinda weirdly shaped, vaguely pointy looking ears (realizing i have way more to say after seeing that SA was the first game where he drew ears on the characters so uh sorry lol) At first i thought Parsee having pointy ears wasnt something intentional but just something that got picked up by fans and then made its way into official art (and i get it cause pointy ears are cool looking) but with Parsee specifically being THE first character that ZUN bothered to draw ears for, im starting to wonder if it mightve been intentional, like, he imagined her with a sort of elf-like appearance, realized he had to draw ears for that, and then just continued doing it for some of the other characters (sort of like how i think ZUN ended up changing the very pale yellow he usually used for skintones until touhou 17 and onwards where it changed but thats for another post im already rambling so much) much to think about.

but anyways Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost has some of ZUN's best art i think everyone looks great

I’m a third of the way through inking the new chapters so you know what that means <3

How many Buddhist characters are there in Touhou, and which branch of Buddhism do they represent?

Putting aside the explicitly Buddhist Byakuren and the other Myouren-adjacent characters, who are presumably either Shingon or Tendai (I'm fairly sure I've seen both claims made regarding the semi-historical Myouren; I cannot check this right now, I'm sorry), the characters at the very least based on something Buddhism-related include: Yuyuko: her name is an allusion to Saigyo, who was a Buddhist monk, based on his reverence for Kukai’s teachings belonging to the Shingon school. Keine: hakutaku is hardly Buddhist, but her school is a terakoya, which is ultimately a (derivative of a) Buddhist institution, hence the frequent use of “temple school” in translations. I do not think ZUN ever addressed if there is a Buddhist temple in the village though, let alone what Keine has to do with it. Akyuu: while we know nothing about the personal beliefs of the semi-historical Hieda no Are, the term referring to Akyuu’s ability in Touhou, gumonji, is actually a real Buddhist ceremony belonging to the Shingon tradition. Ashiyama’s “officially unofficial” Gensokyo of Humans went all out with this. Eiki: while not exclusively Buddhist, the concept of kings of hell and related imagery did enter Japan in a Buddhist context. And her backstory is pretty explicitly based on the Buddhist notion of equivalence between Enma (Yama) and Jizou. Neither of these is exclusive to a specific school. Tengu, collectively: while the matter of tengu origin is complex, the notion of tengu living in an organized society, publishing own literature, etc. is rooted in so-called tengu scrolls from the Kamakura period, which are best understood as Buddhist political cartoons of the “I drew myself as the Chad and you as the tengu” sort. Arose due to rivalry between old establishment schools, Tendai and Shingon, with new ones like Nichiren in the Kamakura period. Tojiko: while nothing in the game really points at Tojiko herself being a Buddhist, I feel like it’s worth mentioning the Soga clan was the most firmly pro-Buddhist in the period when this was still a novelty not yet firmly rooted in Japan. The first schools established in Japan by Korean and Chinse missionaries are known collectively as Nanto Rokoshu. Miko: as we learn from the game itself, the semi-historical crown prince Shotoku was very much invested in spreading Buddhism, Miko's professed Taoist beliefs notwithstanding. I’m pretty sure ZUN’s idea is partially based on the Honchou Shinsenden, where Shotoku is presented as the Buddhist version of a Taoist immortal. Narumi: while Narumi’s in-universe status is sort of its own unique thing, Jizou is a firmly Buddhist figure as already discussed above, and she keeps the distinct iconography. Once again, not really tied to a specific school. Mai and Satono: directly based on Matarajin’s attendant deities, Chōreita Dōji and Nishita Dōji. Exclusively Tendai, and limited to genshi kimyodan rites at that, basically one of the deepest cuts in ZUN’s repertoire so far. Okina: based on Matarajin, probably the single most Buddhist character in Touhou in that her inclusion opened many doors (heh) for adapting irl materials for Touhou wholesale. Pretty firmly Tendai. Eika: the Ebisu theme is certainly there, and I do wish more was done with it, but her whole gimmick is largely based on Sai no Kawara, which is pretty explicitly Buddhist and ties into the Jizou and ten kings-related beliefs. Not really connected to a specific denomination though. Megumu: at the very least named after Iizuna Gongen, who is a Buddhist deity - not exclusively, but still. Ultimately associated with Shugendo more closely than any Buddhist school. Tsukasa is based on a youkai associated with practicioners of shugendo too. Bitten: sarugami are associated with multiple strictly Tendai deities like Sekizan Myojin and Sanno. Zanmu: based on legendary Zen monk Zanmu Nichihaku who according to a legend was actually a different, earlier Tendai monk, Kaison Hitachibo. Zun seems to focus on the Zen connection.

PC-98 only has the dubiously Buddhist example of Konngara, who is clearly named after Kongara-douji, but I frankly do not see much of a reason to assume the name isn’t used randomly in this context.

All around, Touhou pretty heavily skews towards Heian and Kamakura Buddhism, ie. more towards a time period rather than a specific school. I do think it is notable Zanmu is pretty clear Zen though. We'll see if that will lead to introduction of Nichiren and Pure Land characters eventually.

Fic title- Of Savage Daughters and Sharpened Teeth

The day started like any other Sunday. Midoriya Izumi had finished her run, busy cooking breakfast for herself and her running partner Kirishima Eika. Iida was making his breakfast as he required a different style then the other two. Most of their class had come down, gathering simple cereals for breakfast or gulping down protein smoothies. Tsu had switched the news on, and Yaomomo was discussing a study session. 

 Then the news station went to static and a group of five masked men where on screen. The class froze, staring at it as the men moved to show four people tied to chairs. The oldest was a mutation Quirked person, her hair looking like ribbons and possessing skin that looked like fabric stitched together. She looked to be passed out, slumped in her chair. Next to her sat two younger teens, perhaps even preteens. Both had blue hair and eyes, and both were awake with gags in their mouths. They struggled against their bindings.

 The one that made everyone feel their stomachs drop though would be the youngest. A little girl with snakes for hair and thick glasses around her face. She looked to be crying from what the class saw.

 “Mama! Mommy!” The child cried.

 “Shut up,” one of the men said. “Hello Japan! We have some guests with us today that we’re dying to introduce to you!” He motioned to the tied up people.

 “Meet All Might’s weaknesses.” Cackled another. “My Quirk allows me to bring children from the future to the present! These are the children of All Might!”

 Izumi’s stomach twisted but then she saw it. The two middle children paused to exchange looks, and the youngest paused.

 “G’mpa Might?” The youngest child asked, looking highly confused. 

 The men all fell into silence.

 “… DUDE!” One of the men shouted. “You said you brought All Night’s future kids!”

 “He must have a child already!” The one who spoke about bringing the children forward said. “My Quirk connected to the kid’s Quirk then!” 

 Izumi’s stomach turned to ice. Connecting through the Quirks? 

 She looked at the four children, and her heart ached. 

 “All Might-sensei has a kid?!” Asked Ashido. “Those are his grandkids?!”

 “Midoriya-“ Todoroki looked to Izumi in worry. Normally she’d complain she wasn’t All Might’s secret love child. However she couldn’t then. Not when she held One for All, and not when a villain had connected to a Quirk to bring those kids here. 

 A masked man who hadn’t spoken yet rifled through the youngest’s coat pockets on screen even as the class worried. He pulled out a small wallet, a green one that Izuku barely made out the word ‘Froppy’ on it. Opening it he grabbed an ID card.

 “Midoriya Noriko. Quirk: Medusa,” the man read off. 

 All of 1A’s heads snapped to Izumi. She didn’t respond, staring at the screen. The little girl sniffed, a frown spreading across her face.

 “You’re all mean!” She shouted angrily. “Imma bite you!” She bared her teeth and her teeth were shown to be sharpened, looking very dangerous. The snakes in her hair hissed, all baring their fangs. The man stepped back quick, as the twins shook in muffled laughter.

 “Like your brats of siblings,” muttered the man whose Quirk brought the kids, rubbing his arm. “Anything else?” He asked the man with the wallet.

 “A picture.” The man with the wallet pulled the photo out and turned it to the other and thus the camera. They’re close enough to it that it’s obvious what the image is of.  An older version of Izumi, with an undercut and a much broader pair of shoulders, stood next to the red haired form of an older Kirishima. They’re grinning and dressed in their hero uniforms, Kirishima’s hair much longer and her entire body just bigger in muscle mass. The oldest tied up person stood next to them in a UA hero uniform, grinning as the middle children stand there, holding the youngest with a grin. Noriko held a sign proclaiming ‘just adopted!’ 

 “Holy shit,” Kirishima said, eyes wide as she stared at the screen. She looked to Izumi who didn’t look back, eyes locked on the photo. A family in the future. A family at risk…

 The door to the dorms opened and Aizawa hurried in, followed by All Might and Present Mic. They didn’t turn off the TV, just checked on the students. 

 The entire class was freaking out. Not just about the kids on screen but also because of the fact two of their classmates apparently were the parents of the hostages!

 “So they’re like… none of them have super strength,” one man said. He walked over to the two gagged children and dig through their pockets. He didn’t come up with anything and he scoffs. “Where’s your identification brats?”

 “They have their damn gags on. And don’t take them off they bite.” The Quirk user said. He went to the oldest, digging in her pockets to pull out a wallet. This one was blue with Iida’s hero uniform helmet on it. He opened the wallet to look through it. “ID- Midoriya Tomoe. Quirk: Strings. She’s got a preliminary hero license… Raggedy Ann? Intern ID for… Hawks?” 

 “Strings? What the hell kinda Quirk is that?” The one with the wallet asked. 

 “This one.” Croaked out Tomoe, yanking her head up, she dropped her jaw, exposing sharp teeth and the strings that led from the sides of her mouth exploded from her body. Five flew towards the men and pierced them, causing them to scream in shock. Then they stopped. The Quirk user stiffly put the wallet back into her pocket and then moved behind her to untie her. The others went to the other three to untie them. 

 “Oh! A mutation mixed with a mental component!” Izumi said, watching the screen. Kirishima just looked relieved while the rest of the class shuffled around. 

 Once the kids were free, they got out of the chairs and the five men sat in them. Or four did. The fifth walked to a wall and then with a hard whack, knocked himself out. The two middle children removed their gags before one scooped up the youngest for a hug, Noriko crying as the other went around and began tying up the men. Tomoe helped with that. When they were secure, the strings detached from the men and Tomoe’s mouth became restitched.

 “What the fuck?!” The man with the Quirk shouted. He looked around in confusion as Tomoe lifted a hand to rub her jaw.

 “Fuck that huuuuuurts. Ugh, I need to wear sleeveless shirts. Using my arm strings would have been better.” She grumbled. 

 “Didn’t Hawks tell you to build your jaw muscles?” Asked the twin holding Noriko.

 “Hawks-Sensei can shut his chicken mouth.” Tomoe grumbled. She walked off camera. “Come on One, go and break into the Commission system.”

 “Can’t you?” Asked the twin not holding Noriko.

 “No, this is the old system. Come and be terrifying. Two has Noriko well in hand.”

 “Ah yes, leave your poor brother with the baby.” The twin holding Noriko said.

 “Of course.” Tomoe called. “Us ladies can deal with this, watch the baby.”

 “And that’s on living with terrifying women, even if One is sometimes a guy.” Two said to Noriko who giggled. 

 The news came back, as they heard One call about shutting down the camera to Tomoe. Izuku simply stared at the screen for a second longer, as the reporters tried to come up with something.

 “… want to go on a date?” Kirishima asked. Izumi whipped around to stare as the rest of the class gasped.

 “Oooh yeah Kiri, claim your woman!” Ashido caller, even as Bakugou sputtered in rage. Izumi’s cheeks warmed.

 “Umm well…” Kirishima laughed. “I was going to ask soon anyway cause you’re super heroic and cool and… yeah.” She rubbed the back of her head with a blush. 

 “I uhh… I was going to ask you out soon… hopefully to.” Izumi said with her cheeks mimicking Kirishima’s. 

 “Really?!” Kirishima beamed, showing off her sharp teeth- the teeth their children would have and god was that a Quirk or did they go looking for it or- “Man I’m glad I held out hope! I think everyone thought you like Bakugou or Todoroki!”

 “Oh god no,” Izumi shook her head fast. “I’m gay.” Kirishima grinned, offering her fist.

 “Same!” The redhead laughed and Izumi gave her a fist bump. 

 A very interesting start to a relationship.

Notes: Story would continue on with cute moments and fluff. And the kids come meet their moms.

It occurs to me that ever since redesigning original species!Eneko a few years back, I never actually shared his design outside of Discord and ArtFight. Let's fix that! (Some of you that have followed me since WildStar probably knew this guy as "N" back in the day, and the FFXIV folks may recognize him as Ehn c:)

In his default/OC setting, he's a creature called an eika, which can be thought of as a western relative to the eastern kitsune. They're a fox-like forest folk that have a natural affinity for illusion based magic, with Eneko being in a small percentage that can use "thoughtshaping" to conjure up tangible constructs. Most thoughtshapers' constructs are usually minor things, and rarely suited for much outside of parlor tricks or extra help in their trades. Eneko's... well...

... let's just say his are... an unusually potent case...

DIY Holidays: Eikas and Your Own “Cycle of the Seasons”

In 270 BCE, the philosopher Epicurus of Samos, made provisions in his will for the members of his school The Garden to celebrate the 20th (Eikas, pronounced ee-kahs) of every month with a feast. I think it would be fun to bring back this celebration with a modern spin.

After the crazy last few years, any excuse to spend more time with our friends and the people we love is a welcome one.

So, get out there and create your own traditions to celebrate on the 20th of the month with your friends! It’s a great opportunity to get creative - compile a music playlist for your personal Eikas celebrations, figure out colors and decorations, symbols and associations. Or keep things super simple and just have a nice dinner with your friends.

I have some suggestions that you can use as a starting point, but the whole point of this is for people to start making their own traditions:

Music: Reconstructed Ancient Greek Music (like “Spirit of Socrates” by FM Records.)

Colors: Blue and White / Pink and Green

Home Decor: Garlands of seasonal flowers, or plastic flowers

Foods: Mediterranean food

Different months could have different themes. In March, June, September and December you could observe the solstices and equinoxes on the 20th. And it could be fun to use the 20th’s of some months as near-enough days to observe half-holidays like Half-Halloween in April, Half-Thanksgiving in May, or Christmas in July.

Happy Twentieth! Merry Eikas!

“-so I want to take her on a really nice date for our anniversary but we already spent, like, a lot of money on prom, plus there’s dinner and I thought . . . maybe my really cool uncle could comp me tickets to his next show?”

“Give it to me straight, Bennie. Are you in love with this girl?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Two tickets, third row center . . . if you walk Eika for the next three months.”

“Deal!”

Exordium Lore NOW‼️

EXORDIUM LORE INCOMING

Exordium is a high fantasy adventure story with teen protagonists, with a large political intrigue subplot featuring adult protagonists.

The adventure portion begins three-fold, in the plane of eternal day, Wickrath, in the plane of eternal night, Musaphia, and in the plane between the two, Eikas.

In the previous age of heroes, at the conclusion of a divine war, the heavens were rent night from day in an attempt to prevent the Moon and the Sun from fighting, even going so far as to divide their realms entirely.

However, the seams between aren't as neat as the gods intended for them to be, with a contingent of travelers and explorers working to undo what seems for many to be an arbitrary split. Others, with less noble intentions, are only interested in manipulating the system to their ends.

And so, it was in this way that the triplets, Ellie, Elthrandor, and Elythra came to grow up in different worlds.

In Wickrath, the Day-Plane, Ellie Turley grows up in the shadow of a giant, one of the few ways to survive living in a world where the sun never sets. They live a life of scavenging in the scrap heaps, building war machines for the giants. When a war machine from another mountain separates them from their family, help comes for them in the form of a mysterious spirit inhabiting an old roll of tape, who puts them on a path towards ending the giant wars.

In Musaphia, the Night-Plane, Elthrandor lives a life of luxury as a prince, until a kingdom-destroying threat traps her mother, the Archmage, in a time loop locked in battle with it, failing over and over. Elthrandor and their bodyguard run for help, discovering the forgotten daughter of the heroes of the previous age, a nephilim that's been waiting for centuries for her parents to come home.

In Eikas, the Twiling-Plane, Elythra lives with their father, trapped on an island plagued by magical storms that his human constitution can't withstand, and slowly coming to the realization that everything around them is a fake created by the spirit trapping them there.

Exordium is about the triplets stumbling into each others' paths, about solving the problems they can in the worlds in which they live, and about being manipulated by higher powers that aim to pit them against each other to unknown ends.

Right now, I'm in the process of getting a sense for the prose and the voices of the main characters, weaving together their storylines as best I can through outlining and playing around. I intend for this project to be primarily novel-like for now, with illustrations interspersed for dramatic effect.

Iz’an Family

Eika “Erica” Iz’an (Dimple Kapadia)

Deceased (old age)

Species: Erkuss

Eye color: Gold

Adopted Alioth after her wife died

Moved to Earth with Ali a few years later

Before leaving Kyrasha, she worked as a hotel manager. 

On Earth her and Ali moved constantly to hide her son’s true identity. She worked multiple different jobs and would have a wild resume if she could be honest on it.

The picture here is an old picture of her, since she died of old age.

Allana Iz’an (Mandy Moore)

Deceased (car accident)

Species: Erkuss

Eye color: Violet

Allana passed away before Ali was born, but Eika kept many pictures of her in all their homes and told him stories about her, so he still feels like he knows her and considers her as his other mother. 

She was a vet, hence the Iz’an’s love of dogs. 

Allana and Eika were married for about fifteen years before she died.

Their dream was to adopt one day, but sadly it didn’t work out until after Allana died.

I have a Persona 5 oc based within the world, and I'm really struggling to figure out a good design/aesthetic for his metaverse outfit. I've had a few ideas previously, but nothing that really matches his personality, his interests, and flows well with the other rebel outfits. I've researched a lot of metaverse outfits and ideas, (I run a Persona 5 role play server, and I help everyone else with theirs), and there's this idea that the metaverse outfit represents the users idea of a rebel. For example, Haru's is based off "rebels" of literature she might appreciate, daring stories like the three musketeers and Robin Hood. Ryuji's is based off that bad boy and punk stereotype he's gotten. I'd really appreciate some help developing him!

Here's some basic info on him. (Not everything is here cause I might change other things based on the aesthetic I choose)

Name: Zander Ethnicity: South Asian/Japanese Physical Appearance: Messy Black hair, Tan skin, glasses, brown eyes.

Arcana: Judgement Ranged Weapon: Flare Gun Affinities: Psychic and Gun Persona: Houdini (Harry Houdini) Persona Appearance: A large, thin, female humanoid monster wearing purple and black escape artist attire, surrounded by chains and purple smoke. (Is a woman for lore reasons)

Personality: Relaxed, calm, witty, head in the clouds, over-emotional, over-dramatic. Occupation/Hobbies: He's a computer guy, doing coding, but his hobbies include graphic design and digital music

Backstory: (Taking Place between Futaba's Palace and Okumura's)

Zander’s mother was Japanese and his father was Pakistani, but he’s not really involved in the backstory. Anyway, his mother was a researcher working on an experimental drug. She worked on it with her associate, Eika Lyaire. Lyaire had a daughter about Zander’s age and the two were friends. Lyaire and his mother were close, but she was arrogant. During the final stages of the drug, which was supposed to help with insomnia, an argument broke out between the two women on who would get rights, and who to sell to. Zander was young at the time, so didn’t remember much, but Lyaire slipped some of the drug into his mother’s coffee before she left for the night. Because of it, she crashed her car that night and ended up dying on impact. Zander was also critically injured, but Lyaire’s daughter donated blood to him and he eventually survived. Zander was taken in by Lyaire, but was guilt-tripped every day of his life by her. Eventually, this weaker and more submissive Zander drew Lyaire’s daughter to be like her mother, and he basically became a slave for them, and eventually anyone. He assumed everyone around him was using him, but he deserved it. He did owe them. This led to him gaining a palace. A cult, where he was the false god that everyone took more and more from.

The Phantom Thieves got involved by a student who saw him acting strange on the Phan Site. They attempted to causally approach him as friends, just to get the palace information. When Zander found out about this, this made him very antagonistic toward them, until he accidentally stumbled into his own palace. Inside it, he was put to death by a shadow version of Lyaire, and his heart actually did stop the moments before he awakened. He then finished up the palace, learned the truth about his mother’s death, and Lyaire was subsequently arrested, and her daughter was horrified to learn the truth, begging for forgiveness

I just woke up from a dream that gave me a great idea for a video game.

The dream was that I was on vacation, but I was underprepared and somehow lost all my clothes - so when I got to the train station in the middle of the night, I found this Joe Pesci-looking guy who sold me some clothes because I had met him on a previous vacation and I knew he could help me out.

He told me about a girl he had reconnected with the last time I had been to town - like a former quest in a questline - and how someone had killed her with like radioactive sand, or "eika" as it was called. He wanted me to look into the eika scene and see if I could find someone selling the dosage that killed his girlfriend.

The idea of the game is that you start your vacation with ten thousand dollars. You can spend as much as you like, but there's a sweet spot somewhere around 4k-3k because that money is your entire savings and you need to maintain a healthy bank balance to pay your bills and not sink into crushing debt when you go home.

When you land in the city where you'll be vacationing, you'll be completely unprepared. You need a Metro card to get on a train, but by the time you land and have lunch and all that (like in a forced tutorial that walks you through the experience), it's too late to buy a Metro card because all the convenience stores are closed. You go to the station and see this shady Joe Pesci-looking guy, and if you humor his ball-busting humor and vague threats of violence he'll let you scan onto the train with his Metro card.

The thing is, the Metro line is how you get around for the entire one week vacation, so you're gonna see this guy again. The idea is that you repay him and as you get to know him, he's actually a lot more affable than you'd think. He's kind of like a friend you make on the holiday.

You have a checklist of things you want to see or do, all of which cost money. The places open and close on different days, and often opening and closing times overlap so you can only do two or three things a day. Sometimes you won't have the money to do everything, so you bolster your trip by finding new places to eat, new activities to do and new side characters like the train station guy who have the potential to spawn multi-step questlines.

You start the first vacation unprepared without a Metro card and all that, but if you decide to do a second run, you keep the Metro card and the train station guy remembers you from last time. Every vacation you take involves a new step in that character's questline; if you befriended him the first vacation, you'll be able to start the new quest. If you didn't, you'll see him in a jam your second time through and you can help him, which helps you become friends and unlocks his second quest if you play the game a third time.

Maybe you find like an underground casino because someone writes a code onto a bar napkin, so if you take a second trip to the city you can make a beeline straight for the casino because you already have the code. But it's closed during the day, and if you try to visit during the day there's a chance that it'll attract the attention of the cops - they'll raid the casino the next night and arrest you, which puts a damper on your holiday and costs like a thousand bucks to bail yourself out of jail.

So the idea is like a time- and money-management vacation roguelike game, where checking every vacation item off your list will bankrupt you but which you can supplement with new friends, special events you run into and cool new places that makes your holiday worthwhile.

Just found your stuff and the student council au really drew me in. Wanted to say that I am invested in your OCs and want to find out more about them. Bc I noticed you seemed self conscious about them a lot so just wanted to put that out there. Good luck 👍

OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH HOLY HECK,,,

i have,,, so much stuff in my sketchbooks I hope to digitize eventually,,,, and I’m currently at. 47 pages sketched out (and some completed) of the actual. Like. Story comic for the student council au. I’ve got a smol mini comic that should post Wednesday ,,,

I’m now realizing tho that when I introduced them I never introduced their elements or their pronouns lmaooo so here’s those

Who's kamouichihime? Who's Chimata no kami? And are they related to Chimata Tenkyuu from Touhou 18 Unconnected Marketeers or she's based on them?

Kamuōichihime (神大市比売) appears exactly once in the Kojiki, in a purely genealogical passage explaining that she is a daughter of Ōyamatsumi (no mother is listed), spouse of Susanoo (well, one of them at least, the same paragraph still brings up Kushinada too), and mother of Uka no Mitama and Ōtoshi. She makes no subsequent appearances there and she is also absent from Nihon Shoki. In the most recent Kojiki translation Gustav Heldt goes with rendering her name as “Lady Sacred Great Market”; while I don’t think theonyms need to be translated this does seem to check out more or less - she is indeed associated with markets, commerce and the like.

Before this ask I had no clue anyone was trying to connect her with Chimata, admittedly. There are no references to her anywhere in Chimata’s design, spell cards or any supplementary material, so I’d hazard a guess there is no connection. According to my friend 9 it’s a theory floating around in the Japanese fandom because a shrine dedicated to her holds card purification ceremonies and distributes amulets on the new moon and the full moon (for more info see here). I’m skeptical if that’s what’s being referenced, tbh; anything hinting at the rainbow motif Chimata has going on is entirely missing, and given ZUN’s recent naming patterns he’d probably name Chimata differently if she was his take on Kamuōichihime.

Chimata no kami (巷神, 衢神, 岐神)  is a generic designation for kami associated with crossroads (岐) - in other words, exactly what it says on the tin. It’s written with different kanji than Chimata’s name (千亦), but it’s safe to say it’s an intentional nod. Historically markets could be held at crossroads, though in scholarship the role of such locations in purification rites tends to be stressed more.

Bernard Faure in Rage and Ravage (p. 284) notes chimata no kami is essentially a synonym of dōsojin (道祖神), and by extension sae no kami (障の神)/sai no kami (塞の神). These categories are slightly nebulous, but generally all refer to figures of strictly local importance believed to shield villages or other locations from misfortune (for example by metaphorically blocking roads through which illness travels), protect travelers and all around bring fortune and ward off misfortune. I think assuming Chimata is, nomen omen, simply supposed to be a generic chimata no kami is more sensible - this would mean that conceptually she’s closer to the Akis than to Okina or Eika, I suppose. It makes sense that Gensokyo, a fictional location, would have a fictional figure fulfilling a role which is highly localized irl. Once again, I’m not sure where the rainbow connection comes from though. 

N had been smart enough to leave a note before he left that morning, indicating that he was hoing to his usual haunt in a small park. That's where he remained for most on the morning, his head leaned against one particular tree, nails dug into the bark. And as usual, while the animals chattered above, the tree itself remained silent.