Well, hello there

Ha-ha... just rememberd I had this on Steam, felt things, got inspired Dust: An Elysian Tail I remember how I first played this game in 2013; didn't know what I was getting myself into back then. Wasn't all that good neither with English nor with games as a whole, at that time. Had to power through and struggle with both gameplay and plot. But it was so worth it - I instantly fell in love with the game, its world and characters. Though I didn't get half of the dialogues on my first playthrough, I still was moved to tears with all those beautiful cinematics, music and voice acting. Every now and then I return to it, and every playthrough hurts just as much as the very first. But I don't think I can ever forget it. This is one of the games that will forever stay with me, not just as a game but an experience. One that even inspired my love for the medium as a whole.

Besides it's a great chance for me to take my mind off upcoming exams... and I really need it

This picture is of one of the most iconic sights from (三国大一山) 新倉富士浅間神社 Arakura Fuji Sengen Jinja

Heh, finally got my hands on Sakura's traditional chinese paints and decided to paint something fun.

The writing in the center says 化猫 「化け猫」 - bakeneko, one of the type of Japanese yōkai they often get confused with another cat-yōkai - nekomata 「猫又」.

Though their differences are ambiguos at best, due to the mixed folktales and legends, generally bakeneko is believed to be "nicer" than nekomata. Stories about former were at the peak of their popularity in Edo period, especially among chōnin (merchant class) and general townfolks public, they told tales of "strange cats" possessing supernatural powers, who could speak human language and sometimes even take form of a man, bakeneko played roles of pranksters of sorts, possessing homes akin to western poltergeist, playing musical instruments, throwing "parties" and what not.

Nekomata in that regard were more aggressive and vile, they knew necromancy and could possess or animate corpses to do their biding, or use ordinary cats as their minions, nekomata too could turn into human (usually woman) to decieve people, so they could kill them either for fun or for food (in fact they could do so just fine in their true form). In addition, both nekomata and bakeneko are said to have control over ghost fires.

However there are some stories where bakeneko too show their more sinister side: Saga no Yozakura or Saga Kaibyōden are good examples, there bakeneko kills two family members, takes their forms and torments the rest of the household.

In addition, stories about bakeneko describe them as one tailed, yet woodblock prints and illustrations often depict them with two tails, just as nekomata, which only adds to confusion.