Still losing my mind over the Animal Crossing series having a Turnip seller, Bug Catching enthusiast and whoever the hell this Beaver was who used to look like this
But now for New Horizons they look like this
Complete bimbo/babyfication
it’s their grandkids, are they not allowed to retire??
Absolutely not
It’s granddaughter and sons, and CJ even drags his dad saying he doesn’t actually know how to fish just eat them.
The new characters are a treat. Daisymae will send you bamboo shoots if you buy turnips often enough, Flick will basically pay off your house with his love of bugs, and CJ will talk about his boyfriend and buy fish, as well as hold the fishing tourneys in a much better way than old games.
Tom, Timmy and Tommy haven’t aged because they’re tanuki which are often considered yokai.
Blathers and the Able sisters got in with Nook early so he shares his power with them.
Kicks started as a young skunk so he can slowly age with the series.
Gulliver is essentially a sailor’s ghost stuck to sail the seas.
yeah that all tracks
Wait go back to the part where the Nook family are yokai because I don’t think we’ve fully unpacked that yet
Tanuki, or Japanese racoon dog, the animal nook, timmy, and tommy are actually based on (it’s only localized to racoon); is a famous magical trickster figure in Japanese folk lore.
They liked tricking humans into giving them money by trading them leaves magicly cloaked to look like other objects. Sound familiar?
They are not evil however, just mischivous, and in modern iderations of the mythos they generally bring good luck and fortune to small businesses. People even place their statues outside their stores to bring in customers.
Nook also started out as a small town businessman, down on his luck, and eventually with his quick wit grew his company into a housing empire where he builds homes, furnishes buildings, populates towns, and mentors others in good business practices ala Timmy and tommy, who were his pupils, and Lyle the otter later on.
Lyle being a former conman who likely got in over his head working with one kitsune…speaking of, one of the biggest bits of evidence of Tom nook being a yokai is his bitter rivalry with said fox, Crazy Redd.
Crazy Redd was a character in the series known for running a black market of fake and real art and would regularly con the player character out of their money selling them overpriced items and fake paintings.
In the back lore of wild world and happy home designer we learn that when Nook was young he went to the city with hopes and dreams to earn his fortune, but his dreams were crushed when all his money was stolen from him by a business partner he trusted, thus why he took Timmy and tommy and eventually Lyle under his wing and helped them learn better business practices to avoid, or at least get themselves out of, a similar fate. In happy home designer we learn that Nook once worked with a fox when he was young and he would never make that mistake again. Redd also makes multiple references to nook in that game as well, making fun of his home, ect. You can infer from this that Redd was the fox who cheated him and likely was the same one who broke his spirit in the big city. Tanukis and Kitsunes (fox yokai) have a similar bitter rivalry in mythos, to the death sometimes even.
Kitsunes also have the power of illussion but are much more malicious generally and regularly trick people into thinking sticks and leaves are valuable objects or food, much like Redd tricks people with his paintings.
Inshort Tom nook is a yokai cause Japanese myth inspiration in his character and species. However, this falls under and relies on the same assumption that Redd is also a yokai.
Before I forget again here’s today’s #ayokaiaday: a tanuki eating tanuki soba! Tanukis’ favorite trick is to disguise something worthless as something of value such as disguising leaves as money. Tanuki soba is made from leftover bits of tempura so it’s kinda like falling for a tanuki’s trick
This is a very old painting from my deviantART days. I think it was a commission or a gift for someone
Bake-danukis are cheerful and supernatural tanukis (raccoon dogs) from Japanese folklore. These shapeshifting creatures are auspicious: since they have eight disguises, they are associated with the number eight, which is lucky in many Asian cultures. Though bake-danukis are symbols of good fortune and playfulness, they can be impish, taking great pleasure in tricking people and making them appear foolish. One of the bake-danuki’s most notable features is its oversized scrotum, able to expand cartoonishly in size and shape for myriad uses. This magical scrotum becomes a raft for traversing water, a net for capturing fish and birds, and a sheet that shields the bake-danuki against the elements.
Meiji candy ad to win a Tanuki plush in the 11/1985 issue of Newtype. This plush can be wrapped with a furoshiki cloth that is inside of it. In order to win this, all you have to do is buy any of these 3 candies (kinoko no yama, takenoko no sato and rock’n tanuki) then enter in the lottery to win. 2,000 people a month can win the prize.
#Shikigami : Yokai that serve the will of the individual who has summoned them, known as an Onmyouji.
Just wanted to create some post to round everything up and show all the work together. I hope you guys enjoyed the series and thanks for all of your support.
If you’d like to learn more about Shikigami or my other series you can jump over to my Gumroad page and grab a copy of the digital artbook!
#Shikigami Tanuki - Shinobi. Prone to mischief and violence, Tanuki are generally viewed as a nuisance. While lesser Tanuki are more or less harmless, there have been multiple tales of greater Tanuki known to revel in causing destruction and chaos to their surroundings. Serving as a Shikigami, these alpha Tanuki must be respected and dealt with appropriately.
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I think the details in the explosion came out the best with this painting. It was also fun painting the jewelry on the Tanuki. Seemed like a nice touch to give a master trickster.
Hope you’ve all been enjoying Shikigami! You can help support my work by grabbing the Shikigami digital art book on my gumroad. It has complete descriptions of each character for some more in depth backstory about each. The digital art book for the Occult series is also available on gumroad exploring Agents of Sin, Agents of Virtues and the Lycans/Vampire series. You can help support me by sharing my work with your friends. The goal is to do more series of work like Shikigami on a regular basis for your enjoyment so anything helps. Hope you’re all doing well.
#Shikigami Tanuki - Shinobi. Shinobi work clandestinely as assassins or saboteurs. Tanuki are prone to mischief and chaos making them better suited for sabotage. Working with explosives, traps, and stealth, this version of Shinobi sows chaos; zoning their opponents and singling them out for their team.
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I never knew Tanuki had giant magical scrotums. So big and so magical it is said they can use them to fly and disguise themselves among other uses! Insane!
Support my work by jumping over to my gumroad to purchase the Shikigami digital art book or the Occult Series digital art book! You can also help support my work by simply sharing my art with your friends. The goal is to create art like Shikigami on a more regular and sustainable basis to share with you so any thing helps.
![Freedom by arcreyes [-ratamahatta-] on Flickr.](https://64.media.tumblr.com/637e2e75e6938e057e27e15c9095ced9/tumblr_mr70szChrj1r5rv9ko1_640.jpg "Freedom by arcreyes [-ratamahatta-] on Flickr.")
