The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

You could kind of spin this as a darker take on one of the more popular Yukari-Yuyuko theories.

If you wanted to, you could turn this into commentary on Shinto vs Touhou!Taoism. One mystic system is about harnessing and harmonizing with the (super)natural world, channeling various entities or striking pacts to get what you want. The other brute forces the system.

Though I suspect non-Taoists have some way to create Shinto zombies, so it may not bear close inspection.

I hope I never see this thread become a place where folks feel disinclined to express themselves. Write what you want how you want, so long as you follow the Tao of Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Theodore Logan.

I think last time we even had someone write up Touhou's goddess a la Dungeons & Dragons. Suwako's favored weapon was the chakram.

Well if you don't give it a title, what am I gonna call it when I put a link up under the profile?

edited 28th Apr '14 10:47:28 PM by Tacitus

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

That does remind me of how someone once speculated that Yoshika and Seiga were kinda spoofs on the fandom portrayals of Yuyuko and Yukari. As if ZUN were to say "heh, sure, you want a mindless eating machine? Here, have a literal one. Want an amoral, mischievous schemer? Look at how silly she is stealing Christmas".

In retrospect though, that does seem like a massive stretch, especially considering how they've developed, and it assumes that ZUN cares enough about fan portrayals to make commentary on them.

But yeah, I think that you probably could make a story that is a dark parallel between Seiga and Yoshika with Yukari and Yuyuko. Probably won't be canon, but shrug.

Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.

I dunno... something stupid and violent?

I feel kinda stupid for not drawing comparisons to Yuyuko and Yukari. Then again, I tend to forget about "big eater^2" version of Yuyuko. Mindless? Well, there was that one time on Steam... no wait, that's was still a Yoshika RPer.

For a zombie, Yoshika is portrayed pretty cutely in most fan works. I guess being a corpse that can eat anything doesn't automatically kick you out of the cuteness circle.

edited 29th Apr '14 7:30:09 AM by nuclearfairy

"Creative" doesn't mean "good", but it's fun no matter how you slice it.

Yukari is a schemer and chessmaster but she will step in if it gets too dangerous.

Yuyuko is a glutton but she is also a whimsical, mentor to Youmu and she is very clever person who knows who the perpetrators who are responsible for the latest incident.

Seiga is a schemer who only cares about her experiments and is just plain 'evil'

Yoshika is a literal meat puppet who doesn't have mind of her own and just likes eating people.

Could Seiga and Yoshika be flanderized versions of Yuyuko and Yukari? Could they be their Shadow archetypes? That is up to fans as ZUN is really meticulous when it comes to canon but he also encourages fans to interpret the universe in the their own way.

edited 29th Apr '14 12:32:25 PM by GAP

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

To e or not to e?

That is the question.

---

But yes, they sure seem to be, at least down the rude you guys are taking the discussion.

Yeah, Firefox frozed on me that time.

edited 29th Apr '14 12:33:49 PM by GAP

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

Didn't he pick up on the fan hate for Tenshi, though? And tried to cast her as the victim? So he might be paying attention.

I guess the test would be to go through the rest of TD's cast and look for other proxies.

Yeah, I forgot to switch the dan for a safe when I started on a Yoshika picdump, and goodness! Is it because she's Chinese (in a matter of speaking) and therefore exotic? Or is it the "mindlessly obedient" angle? Seiga's still got more non-safe fanart, though, despite having less fanart in general. So maybe there's nothing statistically significant in what that NSA agent is seeing in my browser history.

The flipside I guess is, well, how else should we expect fanartists to depict Yoshika? Consistently cadaverrific? In a setting that's all about turning horrifying beasties into cute monster girls? Surely not. But I'm trying to find a good array of creepy Yoshika pics all the same.

I almost called the writeup that until I noticed you'd added an actual title.

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

Aside from the intentional parallels between Byakuren and Miko the only think I can think of is Futo and Youmu both being silver haired doofs who pretend to be competent.

Also, that Stage 1 boss seems suspiciously similar to the end boss of PCB.

So yeah. I got nothing.

edited 30th Apr '14 4:37:27 AM by Otherarrow

Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.

Tojiko also parallels Mima in that they both have ghost tails but that is the only similarity they have.

Byakuren is also a nod to Shinki especially since in their final attacks, they kind of reveal reveal their legs and you fight them in the Makai.

"Eratoeir is a Gangsta."

So Yoshika can eat anything. My headcanon's that she can also eat abstract concepts such as hope and despair. Since she can eat anything, I believe her taste is a cut above her other senses. Oooo, maybe she can taste their flavor!

"Fear's chilly."
"Hope's a little spicy and very sweet."

Nya ha!

---

Hey, nuclearfairy, I forgot to mention that your Fire Emblem post was nice. It also made me think of the best skills for Yoshika to have. They are:

Renewal
Aegis+
Pavise+
Dual Guard+
Counter

Yeah. So Yoshika.

edited 30th Apr '14 8:43:33 AM by Diamite

I refuse to say that Yoshika has outdone the goat in the eating of unconventional things... erm...

Still, that would be one hell of a Yoshika to fight. You've even accounted her lack of Skill.

Slightly off-topic: I don't usually mind the whole "flanderized" aspect of the creation process, as long as stuff happens to develop them farther than that. While not TD, Komachi can be seen as the "China-quality" Meiling seen in some fanon.

On-topic: so if Yoshika bites Youmu, would she be a half-ghost/phantom/marshmallow, half-jiangshi? Would it work as intended? Does it only affect humans, or does it extend to youkai and fairies?

Zombie fairies. Damn you, Seiga.

edited 30th Apr '14 1:27:00 PM by nuclearfairy

"Creative" doesn't mean "good", but it's fun no matter how you slice it.

Youmu's human half is practically a jiangshi anyway, so it probably wouldn't affect her much.

Do jiangshi still have a haku?

That one's the one tied to the body, right? The little girl Youmu rather than the wisp!Youmu? If so then yeah. I think the higher soul's gone, but the lower soul is basically what's being 'ordered' by the talismans to do stuff. And without orders it just sits around and recites poetry 'cause that's what the body wanted to do.

That is, I think if it didn't have its earthly soul, it would just be inactive when not given orders.

edited 30th Apr '14 9:20:26 PM by Antimatter625

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.

So apparently, when ordering Yoshika pics based on voter score, the cute stuff floats to the surface, while artwork that treats her as a spooky undead predator, to say nothing of an actual ambulatory corpse, is left for the lower levels.

And since I do my picdumps from "rest" to "best," guess what this one has a bunch of?




Distracted by the glowy
Interesting background
Look into her eyes
Get some sleep, girl
Colorful
Cuddlebug
Relaxing
Dead girl's tears
Looks like an "edgy" girls' toy
How many ofuda does she need?
Chinese costume
Lecherous Egyptian
Military uniform
Electro-claws
Keep forgetting she's a vampire
Guardian of the graves
Wispy spirits
Half-baked
Alert
Having a wonderful time at the cemetery
In for a surprise
At least Seiga's supportive of her condition
Both of them are unsettling in their own way
Still a better love story than Twilight
All-natural eye shadow
She will bury you
Border of cute and creepy
A bit more monstrous
(f7)eiki
Dynamic combat
Her and her big mouth
She's either consuming spirits for chargin' her lazer
Could do a "BRAINS" faux-Obama poster
Resident Evil?
The great communicator
Like when your computer goes into power saver mode

Alright, we're getting into particularly creepy and/or bloody territory from here on out.
That graveyard feeling
Lurching out of the shadows
Pale skin, red lips, beautiful, right?
Take my hand
The colors at least are soothing
Oooh, the glowing ofuda is a neat idea
"blue_eyes" tag? Really?
Pretty detailed blood splatters
Rise
Disarmed but not unarmed
She watches you sleep
One of the best Creepy Yoshika pics, and only rated a 1. Tsk, tsk.
WARNING: GROSS!! But still rated "safe" by Danbooru

And end with some cute stuff to make up for the yuck.
Ultimate showdown
Hey everybody do the Zombie Stomp~
And call her George

edited 1st May '14 9:10:04 PM by Tacitus

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

While finishing the picdump, I had a thought - we've made comparisons to computers, and how basically Seiga programmed a Yoshika-shaped bunch of meat to be a certain way, which works because there's enough leftover, animating soul for the ofuda to boss around. What I'm wondering is how much of Yoshika's spaciness is due to the state of her brain, or whether Seiga intended her to be this way.

The theory would be that Seiga has enough affection for pre-death Yoshika that she's deliberately kept her jiangshi's programming "light" in hopes that more of that genuine Yoshika-ness will shine through. This would work well as a tragedy, of course, as the only signs we've seen of Yoshika's pre-mortem character is when Seiga's control is removed. So the ol' "you can only get what you want when you let go" scenario, and then we see whether an ofuda-less Yoshika instinctively attacks Seiga or not.

Just an idea. Picdump!

That winning smile
That blank stare
Looks Final Fantasy Tacticsy
Charismatic zombie
:D
:P
No good emoticon for this one, sadly
Must be symbolism
So is this
Using her head?
Clocks and skull
Needing repairs
Buried treasure
This one was fast
Back in the day
...and then the (living) tag led to this
Embellished
Black and red
Persona!
Are the purple fingertips a jiangshi thing?
Well that's different
Like some crazy witch doctor
The rare worksafe and non-brain-breaking ao usagi
Her cute pincushion
The "cicada block"
I like this guy's stuff, it's distinct and unconventional
The wonderful world of the TD demo
Big snail, tiny fairies
Getting friendly there, Rin
Cheese it!
It keeps happening
Another pic that ignores Meiling's canon-pants.
Glorious Mother China
Meiling's really cute, Yoshika not so much
Flexible and dextrous
Dead eyes
Luminous in the moonlight
Deep in thought. And blood.
Half asleep?
You gonna get et
Yeah, there's a few non-cute stuff in the highly-rated pics
Pretty good alarm clock
Someone begging for a pogo stick
How do fork?
Gathering some magic
It's not really morning, but Kyouko, you know...
Wonder how long she's been waiting in ambush
Imposter!
Kind of a natural yukkuri face
Nightmare fuel
Fearsome undead predators
Delicious tire
And away they go

Current earworm: "Awe of the Unknown"

Interesting Idea. I can picture a slightly different Seiga pulling off the charm and waiting... And when Yoshika starts reciting poetry, waiting to hear if any of it is about Seiga. "Can love live beyond death?" I figures she's certainly vain enough to consider this, but...

That's probably a little too romantic for Seiga, but it's still an interesting take, I think.

It also gave me another idea; that by programming her 'light', she'd be hoping that Yoshika might 'fill in the blanks'. That is, become a person, but one whose initial parameters were programmed by Seiga. In other words she wants to make an AI. That fact that it's able to infect others is just a pure coincidence by the way, don't worry.

edited 4th May '14 7:19:43 PM by Antimatter625

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.

I like the idea that the way Yoshika is was actually a mistake. Seiga's first meat puppet contained numerous programming errors that gave it a quasi-personality. Seiga being Seiga just shrugged saying "Well this should be fun." and proceeded to grow rather attacked to her botched underling's spacy poetry recitals.

The eyes are the windows that let us gaze upon the soul.

Yoshika Miyako is the name of an actual historical person. A famous poet, who supposedly trotted off into the mountains and became a hermit. The Touhou implication is that he (she?) died and Seiga is using her corpse. So it's doubtful that the poetry comes from a programming error.

edited 5th May '14 3:50:19 AM by Clarste

Unless the programming error is failing to fully scrub the poet's memories from her rotting brains.

Wow, I only just realized how morbid having a historical figure appear as a jiangshi is.

As I noted, the historic poet and the zombie's name are written differently in Japanese. Of course, SoPM implies that they are the same anyway, but interesting to note.

Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.

Well, it only shows up when the 'programming' is 'turned off' via having the talisman removed... so i dunno... something something hard drive not defragmented or something. I'm not comp sci major or anything so I dunno, but keeping passive power running through it or something? Shoot. I feel like there's a great metaphor just out of reach.

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.

Screensaver mode

Booting from CD.

Maybe? Sounds about right. I tend to remember Yoshika better as an arcade machine; her idle/attract mode is reciting rotted-away poetry until you do something so you can issue commands. 'course that analogy breaks down when you realize that you have to provide constant input.

And that Yoshika's not a screen display, but that's besides the point.

First things first, I'm wondering what the historic poet's name means. Since it's written differently, it means that it carries a different meaning, right? (note: does not Japanese... or Engrish for that matter)

Well, if zombie Yoshika and old man poet Yoshika are one and the same, why is the spelling changed (so to speak)? Did Seiga do it to maintain plausible deniability? "Oh, she was just some nobody who seems to liked poetry."

Maybe, when she raised the man for whatever reason, he kinda came back wrong (for some people, right. Dammit) Couldn't just leave the girl with a masculine name; it would imply that she made a grave error in the raising ritual. (my personal fanon)

Or maybe, simply, some random person jotted down Yoshika's name and made a (wrong) guess. When finally asked for confirmation, Seiga just said, "looks good to me." (my crackfanon)

On the other hand, they might not be related. The problem with taking this stance, though, is that it brings up a few questions. Why does Yoshika recite poetry on her 'breaks'? Why does she (sorta) have the same name as the famous poet? Maybe it's all a coincidence, but two things being coincidences are... well, not unreasonable, but I'm reminded of a Judge quote from Ace Attorney: Case 1-4.

Can't seem to remember it, though.

I tend to see Yoshika as a morality pet of sorts to Seiga, one that is petted and kicked by Seiga for the most part. Sometimes both on the same day. Leaves people around her confused, and Seiga wouldn't have it any other way. Yoshika, on the other hand, just doesn't give a damn.

edited 5th May '14 7:48:09 AM by nuclearfairy

"Creative" doesn't mean "good", but it's fun no matter how you slice it.