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[plungeintofire]

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Comments

Youkai Hunger

[koishi_komeiji]

(Posting the question her to since plurk is being super drunk and this could be relevant and fun to more than just SatoriMun and I getting an official word on this might help. The question I have is rather specific but having a final answer on this concept may help other muns that are in a similar pickle regarding the NPCs without having to necessarily pester you guys :P)

At Touhoucon I learned a lot about the youki and setting of Touhou and the roots and actual myths of the different characters/what they're based off of that western people may or may not be aware of (and may never be aware of due to how open Touhou tends to be). It may seem silly that I didn't know this but youkai absolutely need to be feared/known by humans and/or to eat human flesh to survive (some need additional abstract qualities but more on that later). It varies a bit from story to story and from youkai to youkai. Even in different instances of the same story it can vary immensely. So because its so flexible it will only affect players of youkai from Touhou Project (or perhaps youkai in general) that choose to let it affect them. I wouldn't normally question something like this but the whole everglade event made me realize that this concept could possibly be a big deal for the youkai it applied to (or the ones their muns let it affect).

What I want to know is would the fear/known quality of the NPCs provide sustenance for youkai that need it? And would these NPCs provide whatever abstract quality a youkai would need if applicable? For example, in the fanworks OsanaReimu and ReiReimu, the youkai Rumia was interpreted as a "flesh eating youkai" but what she was really after was the darkness a person has experienced in their life.

I understand there may be settings where a creature absolutely needs emotion or whatnot to survive and if they don't want to deal with this it could just as easily be said that the false emotion generated by the NPCs is enough to sustain them. I know this seems to invalidate this whole thing but having an official final word on this matter will make it easier for those who do have a trait that could be affected by this to use it as an opportunity for CR when such a thing might otherwise e dismissed due to how infrequently its addressed in settings.

This is also going on the assumption the NPCs are physically human enough that their flesh would count as a passable human for a youkai that needs to eat people to survive.

Overall, from what I've seen, NPCs wouldn't have the emotional potency to sustain this type of need, but I wanted to make entirely sure with you guys. I think that something like this might open up some neat CR options or those who choose to let it affect them by either encouraging either some player-run shenanigans in order to create fear or some strong CR because of what they must do in order to survive.

Additionally, this might have some small ripple effects in that the affected youkai might realize the NPCs aren't real people a bit sooner than they might have otherwise. I've thought about it for awhile and I can't see this having any major huge impact though.

Additionally, this concept can apply to anyone who comes in with a kami that requires faith to survive. Is the false-faith of the NPCs enough to sustain them?


TL:DR- Do NPC emotions count as "real people" emotions?

Some youkai need to be feared/known to survive and/or to eat human flesh. Are the NPCs real enough/count as having enough emotional capacity to sustain the youkai that need fear or acknowledgement because it would provide some awesome CR opportunity if it could NOT sustain them. And due to the flexibility of youkai and their concepts this sort of thing would remain purely optional at least in regards to what I have presented here.

I just wanted to clear it 100% with you guys before talking with a few parties I know would be interested in this kinda thing so I don't overstep my bounds.

[plungeintofire]

They don't technically count as "real people" emotions. However, it would work temporarily. Eating some of the non-player characters would probably be like eating partial proteins for vegetarians. You have to eat more than one to get the whole effect (like peanuts and beans or whole grains and rice). Eating just one won't last as long and will likely not feel satisfying. Over time, it will become more and more obvious that it is not the same as the actual thing and may not seem to scratch the need they have as well. To prevent them from needing to eat anyone for players who do not want to go this route, it can be said that it is a dissatisfaction that is still possible to deal with if a little willpower is involved.

If they need to eat human flesh and not have a link to the associated emotions, however, eating the NPCs would sustain them just fine.

It's already a known fact in-game that those without pendants are not "real people" though there are occasionally some who disagree or would like more proof, so though they would not "realize it" sooner than anyone else, they would be able to act as fact checkers of sorts for anyone who is curious and OK with Touhous eating people to find out.

(This is just a note for clarity to anyone reading this so that they know it is not a blanket statement about youkai:) This effect will not affect youkai in general as that is not how youkai work outside of Touhou Project (in myth some do but not the majority and many fandoms containing youkai do not hold to a need to eat humans either), but those within Touhou Project cast may use this as a guide for survival means.

[koishi_komeiji]

From what i've been studying in actual myth, most actual youkai need flesh and/or fear to survive. Disregarding ghosts and spirits and whatever.

But yeah I'm gonna be chatting with Satorin about this. It will prove to be interesting.

[plungeintofire]

I've read a lot of actual myth as well! Some of them do, but many actual youkai also do things like lick grime out of bathrooms or give people rocks that look like babies then turn back into rocks. I've done tons and tons of research since I used to play a character who encountered a lot of them. It's a very fascinating subject. While many of them do eat human flesh as well, there's very little myth that says they actually need it in any case. The whole point of me saying that was to express that no one needs to adhere to what specific myths Touhou is basing itself on- particularly in Genessia.

[koishi_komeiji]

Ohh~ neat. I haven't gotten in really deep yet. but I'm excited to~ I guess i haven't gotten far into the more mundane ones yet