Afterword

Niy here. Ah, finally done...! It was rough as always, but I somehow managed to finish without greater trouble.

Well then, thank you very much for reading "Yasaka Kanako's War".

I had to be a bit heavy-handed with the exposition to make it fit the short page count. That's why I chose a dream-like theme for the story, where events and people can be introduced in quick succession, as Kanako is merely reliving her past in the Dream World. I wanted to draw a contrast with the Kanako who reigns as a leader of Youkai Mountain and the one who grieves her past in her dreams.

As far as I know, in the actual myths Takeminakata-no-Kami doesn't actually die, but Takemikazuchi drives him out of Ashihara (modern Izumo) and into Suwa. The events leading up to the "Great Suwa War" are a perfect fit. However, apparently some people think that "Yasaka" is actually another name for Ashihara. If Kanako's still carrying that name, and wanted so much to stay that she'd rather fight than be driven out, wouldn't that mean that she still feels homesick even after conquering a new land to live in? That's how I imagine Takeminakata-no-Kami and Tome-no-Kami must have felt.

But so, this was a story about Kanako. "Yasaka Kanako" in the original Touhou Project is a strong and intelligent leader obviously based on the god Takeminakata-no-Kami. On the other hand, there's very little information about his wife Yasakatome-no-Kami, only a short passage professing her good character, which is a shame. But in the end, what I wanted was a story where Yasakatome-no-Kami = Yasaka Kanako, and this was a chance to do just that.