The New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium!

Gotta admit that actual discussion of Captain Nightsparrow's getting pretty sparse up in here.

Spellcards... I think "Howl of the Horned Owl", "Sphingid's Wingbeats", "Poisonous Moth's Dance in the Dark", "Ill-Starred Dive" and "Human Cage" actually sound pretty cool.

Her supplier... I think she catches them herself. She's a bird of prey. And it's an excuse to draw her in a swimsuit. Well, there's the issue of where they live, but screw that noise, this is Gensokyo.

Anything else... I've got nothing.

I'd still like to write a thing for her, but it's not the highest thing on my list of priorities right now.

edited 9th Aug '11 2:01:15 AM by Fawriel

I like to think that she uses the children she captured and brainwashed as a vast lamprey fishing squad.

'..and as more children come to buy fish from me, I capture them and use them to fish for more lamprey, so I can lure more children. AND SOON I WILL HAVE A VAST ARMY OF BRAINWASHED CHILDREN, WHICH I CAN THEN USE TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD! NONE SHALL STAND IN THE WAY OF MYSTIA LORELEI AND HER BEAUTIFUL MUSIC! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! AAAAAAAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!'

'...can I have my fish now?'

EDIT: Like Hansel and Gretel, but with fish instead of gingerbread. Also, I seem to like thinking of people as supervillains.

edited 9th Aug '11 3:52:16 AM by asterism

Heart of Stone

The disbelief of the outside world of ever seeing river lampreys has resulted in an abundance- perhaps even an overabundance- of them in Gensoukyo.

I sure said that!

I am amused at how her customers don't care about Mystia's lolevil and just want some fish. Then again, she doesn't look that threatening.

I think I commented on this (much) earlier, but is the whole "things appear that are disbelieved by the Outside World" thing actually. without a doubt real? Unless the Hakurei Border has some magic "reverse belief polarity effect", that makes no sense to me. It doesn't help that the idea was originally proposed as a theory by Rinnosuke. (One that, if I recall correctly, isn't proven as an exact truth even in universe). Sorry, I got rambling.

ON TOPIC: Mystia flies. OK, so everyone flies, but Mystia flies special like. Because she is a bird.

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Heh. I didn't mean for that theory to be taken seriously, hence the use of .

I sure said that!

That sounds halfway feasible and it scares me slightly because of it.

Modernization

Anyway, we've done a lot of talking about Mystia as stall owner, some of her as a singer, some of her as an ebul predator, and a little of her as a Team Niner.

A thing I have thought about in terms of Mystia as a stall owner is that it can fit into a theme that ZUN may or may not be going for. Youkai represent nature and its hazards and the things that go bump in the night. The unknown. Anything that can kill you if you wander too far from safe havens. And sometimes even kill you where you think you're safe because how dare you feel safe within your own home, you should have known better. A common theme of mythology is explaining the unknown as a monster.

Mystia as a predator represented a part of that. The fear of the night, the fear of predators, the fear of getting lost and never finding your way again. You thought you knew these woods - and you do, during the day - so you were just going to take a shortcut through them. Now, you're stumbling around, lost, barely able to see in front of you fearing that you'll never get home. Fearing that your loud progress through the underbrush will attract some unfavorable company or that you'll trip in a ditch and break a leg. All three of these fears come true. And when you don't come back, the people that knew you don't want to believe you were so dumb as to cut through the woods at night shake their heads and say "he must have been misdirected by the night sparrow." And thus the night sparrow exists.

But Gensokyo is slowly and creakily becoming more modernized due to the conspiracies of the new gods. Its already had a rocket launch to the Moon and how many fantasy stories can say that?*

There's a nuclear reactor. The gods are working on cold fusion. There's a rumor that a train is occasionally spotted in the land. There's a temple where youkai and humans can worship freely together and they do because location is important. Where does this leave youkai? Will there be a fear in what goes thump in the night when the night is lit with electric lights? We haven't gotten that far yet. The technological innovations that the gods brought are mostly limited to Youkai Mountain. But it will come some day. The gods want faith and electricity is their gift to help raise it.

So a youkai that is the fear of the night, fear of predation, fear of getting lost. Where does that leave her eventually? Purposefully or not, by her or by ZUN, she's already started a transition. Fear of the unknown might become "dear gods, what is in this?" Fear of what all this fast food is doing to your health. Fear of her song might become the crotchety conservatism of old men worried about what this new-fangled music is doing to the youth in terms of the inspiring bad behavior and trends. Fear of predation becomes fear of predation but less eating and more conning. Fear of your stupidity being exploited.

Modernization doesn't mean the fears have left. It just means they've undergone job retraining.*

I have a problem with brevity.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:22:03 AM by Bocaj

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Interesting. I agree that could make sense. So, in other words, when it comes to Youkaidom, Mystia isn't an oddball, rather she is ahead of the curb and already beginning to adapt to the "new world" that's coming?

Sorry, I am not very good at responding to big long posts in a big long meaningful way.

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Honestly, that's really brilliant. I honestly think that Gensoukyo will always be kinda Schizo Tech, but modernization is inevitable. The adaptation of the youkai to more modern ideas of fear, rather than fade away, as was once feared, is something I really like.

edited 9th Aug '11 7:30:25 AM by Pulse

I sure said that!

Its alright. I'm not very good at writing big, long posts in a meaningful way.

I had meant to write something about Mystia as a Team Nine member.

Thanks. And schizo tech Gensokyo sounds like it would be neat to read.

edited 9th Aug '11 7:27:12 AM by Bocaj

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^^^^ inb4 Faw asking you to slap a title on that

I wonder if something like that will happen to the theoretically large numbers of feral youkai. There may be numerous questionable youkai businesses in Gensokyo in a few decades. Akyuu may have to add a "best shops" section to the next volume of PMiSS

edited 9th Aug '11 7:26:47 AM by yarrunmace

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

Akyuu hangs her head and realizes that her Perfect Memento is no longer needed due to the odd peace between youkai and humans. Her lives purpose over, she resolves to stop reincarnating and- wait, youkai are still dangerous except financially now? Akyuu away!

And then she formed the Better Business Bureau.

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And there was much rejoicing.

Except from the non-better businesses.

you'll then have a grave in the clouds where you won't lie too cramped

Or PMiSS will become a shop and resturant critique book.

I sure said that!

That reminds me, when it comes to Mystia's songs, is Akyuu one of the youngsters who like it, or one of the old fogies who dislike it?

edited 9th Aug '11 7:52:46 AM by Otherarrow

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She's writing from the perspective of warning people about youkai so she might be saying that its dangerous for young people to like her songs or she might be agreeing with the elder youkai and saying "shut off the dab-blasted music, you young whippersnappers!" Its hard to say.

Although I do find it amusing that either Akyuu asked older youkai what they thought of Mystia's songs or that they volunteered the information without being asked and sound so much like old humans while they do it.

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Akyuu's ability is (I think) retaining memories from her preincarnations, so basically she just gets a new body every few years or so*

. So whilst she may be eleven physically, mentally she's about 650.

In short, she's an old fogey. I think she hints at disliking Mystia's songs, which would place her sqaurely in the elderly camp.

Heart of Stone

... but it's a brilliant thought in the way it describes a very real and very dramatic social turnabout and turns it into a goldmine of comedy that is both hilariously absurd and strangely true and relatable.

._.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:08:00 AM by Fawriel

Hieda no X*

might actually be a bit younger than that. I think Akyuu notes that there is about 100ish years between reincarnations?

But yeah, I can totally see her complaining about that night sparrow noise that those kids listen to.

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That face is scaring me a little.

But you do want me to slap it?

In that Karaagetarou doujin that was posted what with the lampreys scaring Mokou, Akyuu acts kind of like a dirty old woman in a child's body.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:10:39 AM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers

I ask you to kindly refrain from slapping my face. Anything else, go ahead.

And it's bloody amazing.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:14:53 AM by Fawriel

That's because blood is amazing.

I'll just go now. Far away.

I have no horse, and I must ride. I accomplish unlockments.

I guess I won't slap your face. FOR NOW.

And I guess I'll put some bolded text on top of that thing. Also FOR NOW.

And I agree with you about the Akyuu portrayal. For always, perhaps.

And is it weird FOR NOW that I've done two write-ups for one character?

Blood stains are notoriously hard to get out. Same for blood memes.

edited 9th Aug '11 8:25:22 AM by Bocaj

Forever liveblogging the Avengers

Mystia is so thought provoking.*

edited 9th Aug '11 8:25:36 AM by Otherarrow

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We've been known to get good discussion mileage out of flat characters with but an interesting trait or two to their name. See also, Yamame and Kisume.

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Yamame is both a superhero and a supervillain, Kisume has a terrible and tragic past.

Heart of Stone