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The New New Touhou Character Alternate Interpretation Compendium

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Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3026: Dec 6th 2015 at 10:33:58 AM

Well, my attempt to jump-start the conversation didn't work out (there's probably a Suika allegory in there somewhere). Any final thoughts on Yuugi before we turn our attention to her former home?

GAP Formerly G.G. from Who Knows? Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: In love with love
Formerly G.G.
#3027: Dec 6th 2015 at 1:28:20 PM

I think that Yuugi is most Oni like Oni of the three. Yuugi is the one who stays true to herself even if she doesn't interact with their former frenemies.

"Fan, a Mega Man character."
Otherarrow Since: Jul, 2010
#3028: Dec 6th 2015 at 4:56:54 PM

Shit we were on Yuugi? Ah well.

Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Durazno Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#3029: Dec 6th 2015 at 5:56:11 PM

If you have anything, go for it!

[up][up]Alternatively, it's oni-like to be true to yourself above all else, and she's the one who's closest to the human idea of what an oni is when she does so.

Otherarrow Since: Jul, 2010
#3030: Dec 6th 2015 at 6:02:24 PM

Nah, I've been out of it for so long, that I'm probably just going to read for a few rounds. I am just bummed that we passed a character I liked right when I checked back in. Sorry.

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Durazno Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#3031: Dec 6th 2015 at 6:23:31 PM

No need to apologize. Also, there'll be review sessions and things, too.

Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3032: Dec 7th 2015 at 1:30:14 PM

On the topic of review sessions, make sure to speak up if you think we're due for one.

Let's have a raucous round of applause for Yuugi. Next up will be Mamizou, followed by a tiny, clever panzerkommander, and then a traditional old man and a stylish girl. But first, a landform:






Youkai Mountain

Themes: "A God That Misses People ~ Romantic Fall"note , "The Road of the Misfortune God ~ Dark Road"note , "The Gensokyo the Gods Loved"note , "Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall"note , "The Primal Scene of Japan the Girl Saw"note , "Cemetery of Onbashira ~ Grave of Being"note , "Tomorrow Will be Special, Yesterday Was Not"note , "Last Remote"note , "Youkai Mountain ~ Mysterious Mountain"note , "Unforgettable, the Nostalgic Greenery"note , "The Lake Reflects the Cleansed Moonlight"note 

Write-up:
Also known as "the mountain," and formerly known as Yatsugatake. Youkai Mountain has stood as a bastion for supernatural creatures since before the rise of mankind, and today hosts an advanced and tight-knit civilization of youkai.

The makeup of this community has not remained constant, however. The oni once used the mountain as their stronghold, raiding the surrounding human villages and lording over the local kappa and tengu, before giving up on the surface and relocating underground. Much more recently, the Moriya Shrine and its resident deities moved in from beyond the Border and brought a whole lake with them, then set up an underground geothermal research center between the mountain's base and the Underground. Through these changes, the kappa and tengu have endured, focusing their societies on metallurgy and tabloid journalism, respectively.

Youkai Mountain boasts dark forests, hidden valleys, streams and crashing waterfalls, hermit homes, and mysterious ruins inaccessible to both humans and youkai. Just tread lightly if you decide to go exploring, the locals don't take kindly to trespassers.

Said Locals

  • Hina Kagiyama (curse goddess)
  • Nitori Kawashiro (kappa)
  • Aya Shameimaru, Hatate Himekaidou, Momiji Inubashiri (tengu)
  • Sanae Kochiya, Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya (goddesses)
  • Kasen Ibaraki (wild and horned hermit)
  • Iwanagahime (smoker)

See also the previous compendium.

edited 7th Dec '15 4:22:44 PM by Tacitus

Lightblade Since: Jan, 2001
#3033: Dec 7th 2015 at 2:27:38 PM

So, there have been Youkai on the mountain since before the dawn of humanity, but don't youkai prey on human fear? I wonder how they sustained themselves in the days before humanity?

Otherarrow Since: Jul, 2010
#3034: Dec 7th 2015 at 3:32:42 PM

Maybe they fed on the proto-Lunarians?

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Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3035: Dec 7th 2015 at 6:35:43 PM

Well, the "dawn of time" thing comes from Akyuu, so...

Alternatively, it's one of those dealies where as soon as youkai were created, they had always existed. If you're gonna be afraid of horned monsters in the hills or amateur proctologist turtlefolk, you want them to be ancient monsters older than your species rather than some johnny-come-lately bogeymen.

edited 7th Dec '15 6:35:56 PM by Tacitus

Durazno Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#3036: Dec 7th 2015 at 10:02:10 PM

That makes me imagine a species of really, really weird youkai who don't seem to correspond to anything or link to any legends; it would transpire that they're around because they'll be created at some point in the future.

Prime32 Since: Jan, 2001
#3037: Dec 8th 2015 at 6:17:57 AM

[up] wild mass guess You know who's a really, really weird youkai? Yukari. wild mass guess

Durazno Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Drift compatible
#3038: Dec 8th 2015 at 8:05:55 AM

Potentially associated with a character from the future...

FalseDichotomy from Your mind :o Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#3039: Dec 8th 2015 at 5:41:10 PM

In Symposium of Post-mysticism it was said that the vengeful spirit problem from the incident in Touhou 11 was still pretty bad, and that Kanako was in charge of getting rid of them but she's basically been slacking off with that.

Even though, to my knowledge, it was never outright said I'm probably just stating the obvious but what are the chances that Kanako is using the vengeful spirits as leverage against the mountain youkai?

Since possession by one of those seems to be the only to destroy a youkai 100% and Kanako is one of the few entities that can deal with vengeful spirits, the mountain youkai can't really afford oppose her.

Like the whole cable car affair, the tengu don't seem too keen on it but like mentioned in So Pm they're not really doing much to stop it.

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#3040: Dec 8th 2015 at 6:15:59 PM

There's a chapter of WaHH where it's mentioned that the tengu were doing lots to stop the cable car, but after intense negotiation Kanako finally got the rights, and would do something with them someday (because gods are patient).

FalseDichotomy from Your mind :o Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#3041: Dec 8th 2015 at 6:34:52 PM

[up] I suppose my headcanon Kanako is a bit more cut-throat than what appears in the series. Reading up on that chapter (the teetotaler Sanae one, right?) I'm left with the impression that things were a bit more diplomatic than "do what I want or I'm feeding you to the sharks".

Still, the use of threats is part of Kanako's M.O. if I'm not mistaken. So who's to say that it didn't feature somewhere in the talks?

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#3042: Dec 8th 2015 at 10:52:22 PM

No, no, no. Kanako would never be so crude.

That's what Suwako is for.

She's the one who wanders around remarking on what a nice shop you have, shame if anything were to happen to it.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
FalseDichotomy from Your mind :o Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#3043: Dec 9th 2015 at 3:24:04 PM

I'm fairly certain that as head of Moriya Co.'s PR division, threatening would fall to Kanako.

edited 9th Dec '15 3:24:17 PM by FalseDichotomy

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#3044: Dec 9th 2015 at 3:58:26 PM

Good cop bad cop.

Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3045: Dec 9th 2015 at 6:20:54 PM

Speaking of divine extortionists, wonder why the Moriya Mafia decided to stick their lake on the very top of Youkai Mountain? Lake Suwa is not to my knowledge located atop a peak, and if Kanako hopes to connect with consumers down in the Human Village, putting her headquarters in the middle of the most solidly youkai territory in Gensokyo seems a bit counter-intuitive. And that's not even getting into how her arrival disrupted the tengu and kappa's power structure.

It's almost as if Kanako didn't fully think her plan through in a way that endangered both herself and others, but that would be ridiculous.

You know who's a really, really weird youkai? Yukari.

I wanted to be the one to say that...

DragonGeyser The Chew Toy of Gaming from a computer, DUH. Since: Dec, 2010
The Chew Toy of Gaming
#3046: Dec 9th 2015 at 10:12:49 PM

[up]I don't think she was able to plan far enough ahead to hash out exactly where the shrine would wind up in Gensokyo. As it's basically unknown in the Outside World other than by the hidden supernatural elements and the rare group of investigators, there may not be enough info on Gensokyo Outside for Kanako to even know the geography of the place. Even if she could triangulate the shrine's future position in Gensokyo, she seems to be so sure of her abilities in faith gathering that she probably views getting faith from youkai and/or humans who live very far away from her secular neighbors as a test of her skills as a deity.

Lampshade Hanging: It's a lifestyle.
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#3047: Dec 9th 2015 at 10:41:37 PM

Gods can freely travel across the border. She could have easily scouted it out.

FalseDichotomy from Your mind :o Since: Oct, 2015 Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#3048: Dec 9th 2015 at 11:40:01 PM

She isn't building a cable car because she put her shrine at the top of a mountain. She put her shrine at the top of the mountain so she could build a cable car.

What better way of showing off her power as a goddess of technological innovation then providing a safe and easy mode of transportation through youkai infested territory while allowing the average joe the ability to ascend to the heavens at the same time?

But then again she did give the power of nuclear fusion not only to an idiotic youkai but a youkai from a location INFAMOUS for rowdy and uncontrollable youkai without even thinking to stick around to make sure things didn't get out of hand.

Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3049: Dec 11th 2015 at 8:50:47 PM

So Youkai Mountain. Kind of modern, isn't it? Newspapers, tinkers, suspicions of smoke-producing factories that don't sound unreasonable. It's a society that took a major change, the departure of the previous ruling class, in stride. Forward-thinking, adaptable, if still isolationist.

Makes me wonder, when did all this happen? The timing of the oni exodus is vague, and seems to have started well before the Border went up, and completed either shortly before or after it. It'd be funny if the mountain's modernization happened after Gensokyo tried to seal itself off from modern influences, though that would beg the question of how this rapid technological advance could happen with minimal contact with the outside world. Maybe they knew a guy.

If the modernization happened before the Border went up, I wonder if the population of Youkai Mountain argued against the Gensokyo project. They don't seem to think that taking up modern tools will make them any less of youkai (and for that matter, if they're so isolationist, do they really need an antagonistic relationship with humans to retain their identities?). Or maybe they agreed since putting the Border up would more carefully restrict which foreign influences entered their society, thus reducing the risk that some troublesome ideas came in along with these fun new cameras and missile launchers.

At any rate, there's something ironic about Gensokyo's human population setting up a whole system to preserve a sense of magic and mystery, while it's the ancient supernatural creatures who are playing with contemporary technology. An isolated society within an isolated society facing the opposite direction.

Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#3050: Dec 13th 2015 at 5:49:34 PM

Welp, not much being said about this particular geological formation. Any final thoughts on the Youkai Mountain and/or its inhabitants before we move on to Mamizou?

edited 13th Dec '15 5:49:49 PM by Tacitus


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