I would have thought that Meiling entered Gensokyo with Remilia who entered it years after the sealing.

Edit: Or maybe the sealing itself took place over 1884-1885. It would seem to be a big project.

edited 3rd Jun '11 8:17:43 AM by Bocaj

IT'S SO BRIGHT

SO VIVID

Yeah, it likely took a while.

edited 3rd Jun '11 8:19:59 AM by Fawriel

So in the interest of increasing your work load, I noticed that for the Kogasa repost, you listed the same write-up title twice.

That could be the case. By all accounts, it was in planning for a long time.

Hi, this is my second post / write-out. It’s about Yuka since she was mentioned in some posts.

Kazami Yuka, “Master” of the four seasons

Species: She is a Youkai (A Youkai “moe” according to ZUN) Subtitle: Master of the Four Seasons

Yuka Kazami is a very assertive youkai, whose experience derives from the long time she has been around. According to Mystic Square, she is strong but uncharismatic. She has been represented as both enjoying fights (POFV, Perfect Memento), and openly sadist (Mystic Square and the infamous “Mist of Atoms” in Lotus Land). She is often referred as a flower youkai, as her power is manipulation over them, but also has other powers, including the “original” Master Spark (even if retroactively Mima has been assigned Spark powers by some people).

She is also referred as a force of nature (by Akyuu), and that’s what I going to theorize about:

I say she could be actually a flower. In lotus land she is sleeping (in seed form) and then “blossoms” in stage 6. Also, plants can reproduce asexually, a process known as apoximis, and produces exact “clones” of the plant. Thus Yuka’s duplication is actually a manifestation of apoximis. Secondly, her use of Master Spark can be associated clearly with power over sun and its influence in flowers (solarbeam, anyone?) It also explains how her flowers survive so long (or never withers, in one case). Thirdly, sunflower (her trademark flower) is associated with both green politics, so it clearly explains Yuka's attitude against damage to her garden, they are her children, after all. Fourthly, Asteracae (Sunflower family) are recognized by the form of its petals, which clearly resemble a pentagram (and could have been influenced it) thus a link to magic and power in general. So, in conclusion, there are more links to plants in Yuka that her name and Youkai moeness.

Relationships:

Not much Canonwise, but Yuka has (by fan material) usually linked to Tenshi (BDSM), Alice, Cirno and team (9), Wriggle, etc. I particularly like her portrayal in “Touhou Tag Dream”, where she is something of a reverse Yandere, and has a sweet spot for Cirno. Other portrayals of a regular yandere-ness are more common, and make more sense canonwise.

Related Characters:

Dahlia Hawthorne (Ace Attorney series), similar theme and yandere-ness (funny thing, dahlia genus is also part of the Asteracae family)

EDIT: Fixed the fanon part, 'cause otherwise people will keep using that word.

edited 3rd Jun '11 4:53:51 PM by zealotglob

It's starting to grate on me that people throw the word "fanon" around so freely. It should mean that it's near-universally accepted as truth.

edited 3rd Jun '11 2:01:11 PM by SuperDimensionman

You've got a point. I could say that my version of Yuuka is actually secretly a Lunarian rebel trying to convert Eirin to her side by hanging out in a sunflower field doing nothing, but that doesn't make it fanon. It just makes me kinda weird.

So what's a word for unaccepted fan theories?

Manon? Because only one man believes in it.

edited 3rd Jun '11 2:09:26 PM by Horselesshorseman

Epileptic Trees and Wild Mass Guessing seem related, but given the nature of the Touhou fandom, I'm gonna have to say Alternate Character Interpretation. Crazy, I know.

edited 3rd Jun '11 2:07:40 PM by Clarste

Head-canon works, too.

Sorry, I actually thought fanon meant non-canonical material. No need to be rude. But yeah, fanon would be, for example, Alice being Shinki's Daughter / Creation. Word of Dante would be Koakuma and Daiyousei/Dai-chan "names".

edited 3rd Jun '11 3:01:55 PM by zealotglob

You're not the only one. If you were, then it wouldn't be a problem.

There's not much that's universally accepted by the fandom so by your definition there's barely any fanon.

Oh, that's a new one. A write-up for a character not yet "officially" dealt with. Should I note down the URL to link to it when it's Yuuka's turn, or can I count on you to be there for the occasion to repost it yourself, if you want that?

You clearly put a lot of thought into that. I'd buy it. The whole thing about her being a flower, I mean. I'm undecided on her personality.

Edited for politeness!

I can't agree to the definition of "fanon" as something "almost universally agreed upon". What would you even be left with then? To be of any use, the definition needs to be wide enough to work for recognizable movements of various sizes, like Emo-Hatate. I think as soon as it's repeated often enough to be recognizable by name, it can be considered a popular fanon theory.

I'm not entirely sure what that says about the way zealotglob used the term. Tenshi is definitely considered a masochist by a large part of the fandom at least...

That's right. There's almost nothing that I would consider Touhou Project fanon. All of those things are fan theories or fan interpretations or fan opinions, to be sure, but calling them "fanon" gives them undue weight. Calling something that implies a pretension to being "correct" that makes me uneasy.

I've already been told that I'm being rude. Once is enough.

edited 3rd Jun '11 3:29:45 PM by SuperDimensionman

That's why I guess this is the 'Alternative Character Interpretation Compendium' instead of the 'Fanon Sounding Board'.

The Touhou fandom is vast and unknowable, and rather tangled. It's certainly eclipsed the games in size, and I don't think that's happened with anything else...

EDIT: reading that over, I could probably use a better word then 'unknowable', but I like the way it sounds. It pairs up nicely with 'vast'.

edited 3rd Jun '11 3:51:26 PM by asterism

The Touhou fandom is a void. A dark, unknown void.

Anyway the only reason I wrote that post is because I was hearing "Inanimate Dream", then suddenly it all made sense! I know this Compendium is mostly about accepted theories but I wanted to spice up things a little. Also I thought Yuka was already debated (because huge-post), otherwise could just waited and then post it.

The laws of the universe mean nothing then?

edited 3rd Jun '11 4:02:01 PM by zealotglob

The compendium is in no way about accepted theories. What a thought, ha!

Yuuka is a troll. Shikieiki calls her out on it.

Hey. Hey. Hey. SDM. I've got something to tell you. But it's a secret. A secret-y secret. Hey. Listen. It's something I've just got to tell you. Come here. Closer. Cloooser. Hey. Listen to this. Listen.

Kaguya is from the moooooooooooon.

I know. It's shocking. But after the way you were acting, I just had to say it. Please tell me you won't be angry. I just had to say it! We can be best friends again, right?

That very nearly crossed a line. Be glad I don't flag your post.

I'll say. I'm shocked — shocked! — that anyone would dare post such a thing.

Since we're discussing the boundaries between fanon and headcanon, what better set of characters to look at next than...

Eight Clouds

• Yukari Yakumo

Yukari is the gardener and Gensokyo is the garden.
-by Clarste

Uncommon Sense
-by Hylarn

The Youkai Revolution
-by Fawriel

The Yakumo Family
-by Kyler Thatch

Yukari Yakumo - Locked Doorway To Nightmares
-by [MODE]

Who is Yukari?
-by Raz Fox

Yukari-High ELO Player & Yakumo Yukari - Eastern Wonderland
-by WORLDTree

Yukari~The Border of Thought and Instinct & Sleepwalker
-by yarrunmace

• Ran Yakumo

Tenko – Heavenly Fox and Heavenly Child ~ The beast that was tamed and became the herald of a new world order
-by Fawriel

Yukari/Ran/Chen — The Yakumo Family
-by Kyler Thatch

• Chen

Gensokyo's Shonen Heroine
by Chagen 46

Untitled
by Clarste

A Feline, First and Foremost
by Durazno

'Yukari, Ran, Chen - The Yakumo Family
by Kyler Thatch''

Chen - Heir to a Forgotten Legacy
by [MODE]

Chen ~ Wild Young Rebel
by Raz Fox

Chen - Those Lacking Leashes
by yarrunmace

edited 3rd Jun '11 5:02:01 PM by Fawriel

Trials of the Unanchored

Kogasa is adrift because she has no anchoring function in Gensokyo. In order for a youkai to have a place, they must have some function. Rumia eats people, Lily White announces spring, and so on. Kogasa has no function, due to her terrible scaring skills, and is thus adrift.

Letty, in contrast, is adrift because she has no anchoring image. Reports on Letty are largely conflicting. Akyuu describes her as cold towards humans. Aya depicts her as a big softie. Her conversations with the PCB heroines are civil. She has no clear image in our minds, and is thus adrift.

Out of the three that Faw picked, the only one that I classified as adrift was Kogasa. Komachi's pretty set in her ferry business and Letty's quite fine with being the winter youkai. I would have chosen Koishi and Hina or Medicine to fill those spots.

Are we going to return to a one-character focus now? Can I vote for Parsee? ...nevermind

By the way, nice write-up, zealotglob. I liked the connection with the Asteracae

edited 3rd Jun '11 5:05:53 PM by yarrunmace