A Touhou Fanfiction
set between the games 'Mystic Square' and 'Embodiment of Scarlet Devil'. While acting as a bit of a link between the two eras, it's mostly its own, self-contained story, with few characters from the games making an appearance to make room for the Original Character villains (And Shujiko).
The story begins when a mysterious red-haired girl attacks Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame and Mima at the Hakurei Shrine, successfully defeating them before kidnapping Reimu. Marisa and Mima, enraged at their defeat (and possibly also at Reimu being kidnapped) set out with Genji to find the assailant, beat her up and foil her evil plans, which are a tad darker than the norm.
The sequel, Tsugi Monotgatari, beginning right after EoSD ends, starts off with Shujiko taking a stroll through the forest and encounters an insane youkai devouring a human. Later, she arrives at Hakurei Shrine, badly wounded, and the insane youkai turns out to be an accomplice to an equally sadistic girl, and a mysterious man with past connections to Yuuka Kazami and Mima, whose goal appears to be plunge Gensokyo into total chaos.
A spin-off story, Envy Within Sacred Flames which ignores Tsugi Monogatari, stars Shujiko as she decides to resolve an Incident by herself. Random girls around Gensokyo are being kidnapped by a mysterious being, and it's up to the Will Youkai to save them.
Tropes used in Touhou Tsukuribanashi
- Barrier Maiden: Tara's ability is to create barriers, with the gem in her forehead as a focus point. Removing it can mean death, and striking the barriers hard enough can cause a mental whiplash.
- Crazy-Prepared: Anya's book contains lots and lots of stories written by herself, covering all kinds of viewpoints and morales (From being alone to living in paradise) to try and expand upon the amount of people she can affect with her Lotus-Eater Machine - like ability.
- Deus ex Machina: Chapter 10, in which Mima transfers her 'existence' into Reimu to counter the killing curse from a dagger-inflicted wound. Lampshaded in the title, and excused as something a ghost/spirit is able to do.
- Foreshadowing: Near the end of the story, Mima whispers something to Marisa that neither the other characters, nor the reader hear, which will be explained in the sequel story.
- Heel–Face Turn: Rena resolves to atone for her crimes after realising what a crazy, jealous bitch she was.
- Hot-Blooded: Shujiko can become this when snapped out of her depression and fights with all her might.
- Humans Are Bastards: Christina and Rena done nothing to deserve their hate, and were feared simply because they were youkai.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Rena's goal is to completely destroy Gensokyo when 'ambient magic reaches its peak at the full moon', which will result in a world-destroying backlash of power when Reimu is killed, as revenge for the humans killing her and nearly Christina as well.
- Lotus-Eater Machine: Essentially Anya's ability. By writing in a certain book, then reading it aloud to her victim, she can transfer them to a dream world based on the story she created. However, the target has to meet certain criteria (Like sharing a name, goal, etc. as the main character of her story). In her earlier days, Anya used it to write her own little stories about the Daidouji's.
- Stepford Smiler: Lyra. She used to smile all the time because she loved her mistress, but thanks to Rena's plot...
- What Kind of Lame Power is Hair Manipulation Anyway?: the ability of Christina and Rena. They can change the length and colour of their hair at will, and others if they come into contact. According to Christina, she can grow more than just head hair... Also serves as a hint to their connection.
Tropes used in Tsugi Monogatari
- Affably Evil: Artimus. Sure, he's trying to screw up Gensokyo, but he can be quite polite and admit to certain miscalculations on his part! He's also not a big fan of mind control.
- Ax-Crazy: Mion and Kathy. Mion loves to kill, Kathy loves eating everyone she finds.
- Big Damn Heroes: Happens a lot in this story. If a village is being blown to bits or a character finds themself ambushed by the enemy, someone will arrive to help sooner or later.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Several flash backs reveal that Elly wasn't always happy about being Yuuka's servant.
- Darker and Edgier: While not explicitly intended to be a Dark Fic, TM is a tad darker than its predecessor, which was already slightly more dark than the games.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Artimus laments resorting to brain-washing Flandre, since it deprives her of the ability to enjoy the carnage she causes.
- Heroic BSoD: Rena gets one when Mion shows her images of a blood-soaked village, then Christina has one when Lyra dies a few minutes later.
- Innocent Fanservice Girl: Well, as much as depraved, evil characters can be 'innocent', but Mion and Kathy aren't too concerned about modesty, or talking to Artimus while bathing.
Tropes shared amongst the stories
- Shout-Out: Mima channeling Saix during her fight with Rena, and Artimus chanelling Aizen in the sequel.
- Tsundere: Marisa acts this way whenever someone (usually Genji) teases her about how she really feels about the shrine maiden.
- Worf Effect: Lyra is stated to be very powerful, yet is said to be weaker than Rena, would no doubt have lost to Marisa and Mima had they fought, was easily beaten by Yuuka (which is understandable), and was killed by Mion, albeit with Artimus' help. On another note, Rena is also stated to be quite strong, but hasn't displayed phenomenal levels of strength beyond a surprise attack at the beginning of Tsukuribanashi.
