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Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#1851: Nov 14th 2014 at 4:30:54 PM

Its on the shore of a lake, as I recall.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1852: Nov 14th 2014 at 6:09:10 PM

Well, now it is, but looking back over EoSD's script, both characters are looking for an island in Cirno's stage, and I wanna say other documents put the mansion on an island as well. Though I guess just because the protagonists were looking for an island doesn't mean the mansion was actually one one.

At least they didn't have to drain the lake to find the Incident-causing mansion that time.

Continuing on that thought, it was that sort of line of thinking ("following the strong" and "why not?") that led to the Vampire Incident in the first place, because she managed to sway many of the youkai, who were at a sort of low point at the time, to follow her as well, and she was able to form an army that could easily cause a serious mess in the balance of power and all that jazz.

What do you guys think?

Certainly sounds plausible. Come to think of it, since the kappa and tengu are generally content to stick close to their mountain, Remilia's household may have been the first case of an organized, active band of youkai since Gensokyo's founding. So that may have been more disruptive to the status quo than the fact that Remi recruited a bunch of fairies. Small surprise that other youkai banded together to check her (you just know Yukari was involved somewhere).

Hmm. Looking at PMiSS, in Reimu's section detailing the Vampire Incident, it reads "It's said that the raucous Scarlet Mist incident caused by that vampire was the first time the spell card rules were put to use," which would be a pretty clear indication that Remilia was behind two back-to-back Incidents. Of course, Akyuu says "they" say, and you could argue about translation errors.

...I wonder, did Remilia recruit just fairies? Or has she added some thematically-appropriate supernatural entities to her household that we just haven't seen yet? The mansion has a lot of space to hide in, after all.

edited 14th Nov '14 6:09:30 PM by Tacitus

Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#1853: Nov 14th 2014 at 8:55:25 PM

Wiki:

The Scarlet Devil Mansion (紅魔館 Koumakan, also referred to as the Scarlet Manor or Scarlet Mansion) is a European-style mansion owned by Remilia Scarlet. It is located on a ridge on the edge of the Misty Lake.

An ridge on the edge of the Misty Lake, next to the Youkai Mountain

BAIJR:

In Gensokyo, there's a fairly large and deep lake. Near this lake stands a western-style mansion painted in a conspicuous scarlet.

PMISS:

A red, European-style mansion with few windows built on a bank of Misty Lake.

If the wiki can be trusted anyway.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Starx Since: Jan, 2012
#1854: Nov 14th 2014 at 9:45:04 PM

Back then, in Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil, the protagonists were looking for an island:

Cirno: When you lose your way, it's because of the fairies!
Reimu: Oh, really? Could you show me the way, then? There was an island around here, right?

The other scripts say otherwise, as mentioned.

edited 14th Nov '14 9:46:29 PM by Starx

Everything is relative.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#1855: Nov 14th 2014 at 10:18:17 PM

I like to believe that Remilia decided that island living was the pits so she had Meiling move the mansion brick by brick and reassemble it near the bank.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Starx Since: Jan, 2012
#1856: Nov 14th 2014 at 10:57:45 PM

Yeah, imagine a vampire surrounded by flowing water.

Everything is relative.
Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1857: Nov 15th 2014 at 8:13:06 PM

Not sure if a lake qualifies as "running," but maybe it's best not to take chances?

Now: Remi is a venerable Touhou character, at least by Windows standards. She is also an enduringly popular character. This is a very good thing when it comes to doing a picdump for her, and very bad if you're trying to keep that picdump below a hundred entries. As it is, I think this puppy has at least 130 entries, and all came from just the top 50 pages of Remi stuff.


From the anime
You'd think there'd be more than three uses of the sea_of_blood tag by now
Girl of white roses
Child of red roses
Vampire perch
I guess she has her own personal full moon effect that can follow her indoors
Before you ask, Patchy did it
Looking particularly childish
Once you've been there, you can never look at it the same way
"We are not amused"
Let the Remi win
Ick, a slice of lemon!
What's up with those deer?
Looks cheerful, then in child post...
Not an enormously effective cage
Maybe she misses someone
Roll out the red carpet
Nice eyes
The child post provides vital context
Look, it was just a phase she went through, alright?
Crackling spear of red energy
She upgraded her wings, means it's serious
I guess she was around for the peak of plate armor
Least no one's likely to steal it like that
Not the only Scarlet who cuts loose once in a while
I like the thought that she has a whole hall of portraits, each subtly different as art evolved over history
Remi is often depicted on a throne
Deigning to hear your supplication
Smirk
Surprise and clockwork
Tiny crown, tiny Bunny Sakuya
Flan isn't the best counselor, though
She is officially more relaxed than Skyrim's jarls
Sometimes she stands in front of it
Sometimes her absence is worrying
Like a boss
Maybe by the year 3000
If Sakuya isn't dead by then, this would kill her
There, more suitable attire
College-age, I think
Sure there's quite a story behind that eyepatch
Wing study: mid-back
Wing study: upper back
Wing study: lower back
A real sense of age in this one
Art!
White-haired Remi
Remi in black
I'm not sure that's... wine
And now you know
Playing with her food
Aww, someone sent her flowers
Not sure the rest of the comic is SFW, though
Sassy
Guess you activated her trap card
Ebony boots and metal wings
This one pic sums up so much about her
If you haven't yet, check out this artist, he's godly
Still, there is only one artist who I think does the definitive Remilia
Hey, she had to have servants before ending up with the cast we know and love
Reimu sure has big balls to challenge a vampire in her own lair
Don't see much of this
And maybe this is why
Nap time
This is even rarer
In her sibling's shadow
Groovy
Eclipsed
Paradox of duality
Red, white
Good news! Science has discovered a way to make these two even more terrifying!
Two sisters defying the sun
Symbolism
Guess their chapel doubles as a greenhouse
Something about Flan's expression here
Sisters snacking on the go
You know what they say, sisters who slay together...
Just look how happy they are!
This image suggests they were in Europe as late as the early 20th century
In the grim darkness of the far future, Flan has a teddy
She's stuck by her for five centuries, so there has to be something there
Good end
Cozy
Sakuya might be in this pic
Knife, spear, wand
And her little dog, too
That scene from Superman 1
Protect her, watch?
A rare look for her
Stupid sun
Roses by moonlight
This might be a suicide
Role reversal
Stylish Devil Mansion
Halls of the No-Life Queen
Big-ass moon
Just taunting with her crucifix immunity at this point
Let's bring in the full cast
Meiling goofing off in the background
Scarlet Devil Mafia
Scarlet Devil Music
Scarlet Devil Radio
Scarlet Devil Panzer
What the Fu is Patchy doing?
When "Let's Get Dangerous" means changing hats
Koa, come on, try to be badass for a moment
Invasion of Gensokyo-63
My favorite thing in this picture may be the teddy bear
Sakuya seems fine with the situation
I guess this is symbolic of how Remi is the SDM or something
Mmm, juice
Too charismatic to walk
Surprise!
So innocent
I think Sukuna's being one of those things you shoot at tanks that missiles lock onto
I wonder what context could possibly make this make sense
Remi has a flan
Flan has a Remi
Ladies, please
Had to include it

edited 16th Nov '14 6:28:12 PM by Tacitus

Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#1858: Nov 16th 2014 at 1:25:03 AM

I think a lake is the opposite of running water, or else that term has no meaning.

GAP Formerly G.G. from Who Knows? Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: In love with love
Formerly G.G.
#1859: Nov 16th 2014 at 2:27:44 PM

Still, I wonder if Remi cannot swim in water but also I wonder if she hates garlic, wooden stakes to the heart, silver and recently beans?

"Fan, a Mega Man character."
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#1860: Nov 16th 2014 at 2:28:31 PM

She hates beans so much.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1861: Nov 16th 2014 at 7:01:54 PM

It's a bit of puzzle, that crucifix/bean situation. The legume-based vulnerability suggests that Remi is being forced to comply with the mechanics of her new environment, which defines her as a "blood-sucking oni" and therefore expects her to share the ogre mages' weaknesses. Presumably she has no problem with beans, but because Remilia's foes expect them to hurt her, they do. Remilia similarly finds nothing inherently revolting about crosses, but unlike beans they don't hurt her, even though convention has it that holy symbols are harmful to vampires. The same cosmic forces that are making Yoshika more zombie-like are having no effect on this particular vampire weakness.

Possible explanations: first is that the people of Gensokyo haven't seen enough movies. They know from Japanese tradition that oni and things like them are weak to properly prepared beans, but they never heard of and therefore don't believe in the usual Western vampire weaknesses. The problem with this theory is that Remilia is still weak to sunlight and running water.

Second theory is that the cross is less important than the faith. In this case Remilia can tolerate a cross because Christianity is weak in Gensokyo, but the beans and other Shinto or Buddhist paraphernalia would harm her. The only way to really test this hypothesis would be to determine whether or not Remilia's immunity to crosses started in Gensokyo or earlier, and if it isn't new, this would cast doubt on the veracity of established vampire hunter lore. Remilia's ability to break and enter further suggests that Dracula was wrong.

At any rate, I'm intrigued by the thought that Remilia relocated to Gensokyo in part because she knew it would alter her weaknesses. Could she have been worried about her ability to survive in the outside world?

Starx Since: Jan, 2012
#1862: Nov 17th 2014 at 2:29:07 AM

Well, considering that they had crosses at their home, according to one of Flandre's spell card, I would say that they aren't weak to crosses prior to arriving at Gensokyo. Either that or it hurts them, but it is more of a nuisance and not really deadly.

Everything is relative.
Antimatter625 Baring hearts for years from my secret place Since: Jan, 2012
Baring hearts for years
#1864: Nov 17th 2014 at 8:15:32 PM

Second theory is that the cross is less important than the faith. In this case Remilia can tolerate a cross because Christianity is weak in Gensokyo, but the beans and other Shinto or Buddhist paraphernalia would harm her.

This would be my thinking. She moves to Gensokyo and suddenly crosses don't burn but beans do. Well, 'suddenly'. I imagine her trip to Japan involved several smaller hops across and throughout Russia and perhaps India, to say nothing of China. Plenty of time for a gradual change.

Could she have been worried about her ability to survive in the outside world?

Perhaps she moved to Gensokyo because... well, who believes in fate nowadays? It could be that her almighty power of control was slipping simply because belief in the concept it controlled was likewise waning.

Huh. I wrote a writeup... then I noticed I'd already done a writeup (dated 4/9/2012) that I never posted because she'd already been done when I joined in. So... uh... I'll post that one first, since it's a bit more comprehensive and unfocused. Then I'll post the other one later. There's going to be quite a bit of overlap.

So... time for a blast from the past mind of me:

The Cunning Vampire.

Remilia is noble. As in the social structure, not so much the morality. I see her as Machiavellian, but with fatehax.

I'm pretty confident she's the one who was behind the vampire incident mentioned in Reimu's profile in PMISS (And that Yukari and possibly Rin Satsuki were the "powerful Youkai" involved in resolving it.)

So, the first thing to discuss is her power. Unlike most other characters, she doesn't seem to rely on/use it that much. In fact, the only canon usage we see for certain, is… none. However, it is put forth in PMISS that she used it on Sakuya, with the name changing. Also, I think it's heavily implied to have been used in the Vampire contract in the vampire incident (It's an unbreakable contract… just because it's made with the/a devil? or because Remilia made it unbreakable?). So, Here's my take on Remilia's power, vaguely defined as it is.

It's a gamebreaker, triple 7's on the superpower lottery and then some. What's more, she can use it consciously. What prevents it from being "everything goes Remilia's way"? Well, first of all, I'm pretty sure everything does go Remilia's way. It's implied that the Scarlet mist incident was to get Sakuya to go out and meet people. Remilia Got to the moon, just like she wanted (I don't believe she ever expressed any real interest in owning it), She got her "beach" when she got back. She got her unbreakable contract with Yukari, supplying herself and Flandre with all the food they'd need, without working for it, on the stipulation that they don't work for it. Really, Remilia seems to have had everything go just how she wanted.

As for limits on her power? Well, my favorite way to limit it is to remove the necessary secondary powers: She can manipulate fate, but not sense it. So she changes Sakuya's name, and since "Sakuya" has no particular fate, it's easy enough to direct it as she desires. She likely did the same for herself, Flandre, Patchouli, and Meiling. She's older than Patchy, Hong Meiling has a fairly generic name, Flandre's name isn't… really a name, and of course she'd be alright with renaming herself, if it meant free reign over her destiny. Of course, outside the SDM, if her power still works (And as seen above, it seems to), she may need some other way to detect the changes she's doing. For instance, the SDM was around before her and had a reputation and name before she was really involved, so when she tried to change the fate of the mansion: Poof! "Where the heck are we?" Probably happened a few times before she ended up in Gensokyo and decided it was fine enough/that she was pushing her luck randomly teleporting.

So this lack of fate-sense would lead to various forms of fortune-telling… Tarot readings especially (It's all elegant and refined, you see), though tea leaf reading and such are probably also among her repertoire. Once she senses what fate threads are connected to what, she tugs, pulls, and weaves them how she wants. It's just that those threads are all really complicated, especially for people like Reimu.

It's also implied that her ability can potentially turn a human into a half youkai.

And she says that the meteor was aimed at the SDM and was fated for her sister to blow it up. Flandre doesn't buy it. Possible she's telling the truth, but just like Aya can't understand how Flandre's power works from her description, Flandre probably can't understand how Remilia's power works from how she describes it. General consensus from what I understand (And my personal headcanon as well) is that Remilia aimed it at the mansion to give Flandre a chance to show off/get known. Or just for skeet shooting because Flandre was bored. Clay pigeons are for the weak. Of course, given my idea that she's blindly pulling at fate strings, the meteor may well have been aimed at the mansion through her fate power, though she didn't intend it at the time. This would also explain why she doesn't use her powers much "Last time I tried, a meteor almost landed on our heads." Which means Flandre's telling the truth and the meteor being aimed at the SDM from the start was just Remilia posturing.

Also, as a brief aside, I think it's no coincidence that there's this thing known as "The red string of fate" and Remilia is heavily red-themed. She is the best matchmaker, probably does it all the time for fun. Remi's like a shipping fanfic writer but she writes using people's fates instead of words. Truly a responsible use of her power. Remilia and Murasa are always at odds, with Murasa sinking Remilia's fate-ships.

One last thing. It's possible that, because her power has such subtle effects and is impossible to detect the use of, and she so rarely "seems" to use it… that she has no ability to manipulate fate at all (at least, not any more than a normal person), and just lies and manipulates people to the same ends. Unlikely, as it's in her official profile, but this is about alternate interpretations (though I've never seen this used.) that wraps up my thoughts on her power.

Of course, she's a vampire, which is probably her most defining trait. She's typically referred to as "The vampire", as Flandre isn't quite as much in the public eye, leaving Remilia as the sole well-known example. My impression of vampires is that they're basically second best at everything. They're weaker than oni, slower than tengu, and less intelligent than the likes of Yukari, with magic power second perhaps to the strongest magicians. Of course, that means they're stronger faster, smarter, and more magically capable than most everything else. Oh, and they have unparalleled (so far note ) regeneration and durability: able to reform from a single bat or from an intact head. Physically, magically, and mentally, vampires are basically the cream of the crop.

Considering all this, though, cosmic powers decided that they were a little unbalanced, so they have slews of weaksauce weaknesses… daylight, holly branches, sardine heads, roasted beans (Which probably surprised Remilia, as she probably didn't have that weakness before moving to gensokyo), running water (rain included), etc. Oh, and they're also permanently children, physically and mentally. While this may give them tremendous learning capabilities, their ability to use their vast experiences and knowledge isn't as developed as an adults. That is, Remilia may have learned early on that sunlight hurts, but using an umbrella to block the sun? Probably didn't occur to her until it was in fashion among humans. That makes her sound stupid, but really, it just means she's not much of an innovator. Xanatos Gambiteers don't need to be innovative, they need to be cunning, and she is. (And having fate-manipulation helps, too.) Remilia may have a childlike intellect, but if you think that means she lacks cunning and guile, then you may need to hang around more 10 year olds.

I've mentioned it before during the note  Flandre discussion, but I'll repeat my thoughts briefly here. Vampire reproduction as I envision it: Adults sucked dry become the shambling zombies Akyuu describes, kids sucked dry become real vampires, Remilia is sterile because she can't drink enough to suck someone dry, and Flandre is sterile because there's nothing left of someone after Flandre's finished (A psychological restriction that can probably be overcome, but not without a lot of therapy she's not getting). They probably can not have children traditionally because they're prepubescent forever.

And moving on from vampires, we come to the Vampire incident. Here's my brief retelling of how I suspect it went. Remilia arrives in Gensokyo, finds it lacking in basic sustenance (human blood), and sees a bunch of other youkai walking around all crippled because humans weren't feeding them properly. So she wreaks havoc in Gensokyo, bringing forth a brief reign of blood and terror, invigorating the other youkai helping her as she does so, until eventually Yukari, as Gensokyo's protector, and Rin Satsuki, as a healer/human sympathizer/representative went to deal with Remilia. They beat Remilia, but Rin was lost in the struggle, and Yukari acquiesced to Remilia's demands for food despite having defeated Remilia. Threats of Flandre (Being way more destructive than Remilia) or fatehax may have been involved. They seal the deal in blood, and now Remilia has her constant food (and income, as abducted outsiders typically have some change to loot). However, this doesn't support the other youkai, and they start causing a general ruckus on their own, because now they've tasted human fear and excitement and it was delicious. Cue the spellcard rules being drafted by Yukari and Reimu to calm it and avoid a repeat of the vampire incident, and possibly suggested/approved/enforced by Remilia with another contract.

So, out of this, we know that Yukari is willing to make a literal deal with the devil to provide regular sacrifices of people for consumption (And these people almost certainly die. Remilia may be a light eater, but her sister doesn't give any indication of being such. Besides, way less work for Yukari if she just brings in a whole person, Remilia drinks, and Flan gets the leftovers cooked into delicious pastries. And Yukari doesn't generally do much more work than the minimum.) Especially noteworthy, because this deal requires Constant work on Yukari's (Well, Ran's, probably) part, and Yukari doesn't like unnecessary work. Thus, my thinking that Remilia scared the bejeezus out of Yukari, even though she lost: the death of a massively powerful youkai (Rin, in this theory), causes Yukari to be intimidated enough to want to appease Remilia.

5 years later, Remilia decides to do the scarlet mist incident. Ostensibly because she wants to walk around in the sun, but apparently more as a "Alright folks, we're all set up. Time to welcome us here." Why so long? I suspect Remilia and the SDM had a lot of things to do first upon getting to Gensokyo. Securing food sources (The vampire incident happening almost immediately, while getting other food sources for Sakuya and Meiling probably happened within another year at most), "hiring" appropriate numbers of maids, possibly training/raising Sakuya, learning japanese note , etc. It may have taken some time to brainstorm a good icebreaker incident as well.

Apparently (According to Remi's PMISS), the scarlet mist was some sort of miasma. In addition to chilling the world from lack of sunlight, it seems to have made people bed/house ridden. Really nasty stuff. One hell of an icebreaker.

Remilia identifies as a noble. Perhaps its her wealth or influence, but I suspect a lot of it is that she was nobility in the real world, possibly before but certainly after she became a vampire. It's also possible that she merely took on noble airs after arriving in Genoskyo and establishing herself as a major power figure, but given her expertise with subtlety, I suspect she had some experience in noble social circles previously. Whatever the case, there's no denying that she's certainly the closest thing Gensokyo has to nobility now. She has servants, money, the residents (Yukari) tithe to her, she doesn't work, she's rather distant to the "lessers" like humans, etc. She's polite, but haughty.

Blood is amazing! If she's actually using blood for her spellcards, then she's definitely gotten a lot of humans from Yukari over the past years. I suspect she decided on blood magic simply because it fit a vampiric theme, rather than because she's particularly good with it. She's no mage like patchouli, but she does have considerable talent within her field. Rarely explored, as GOM is a pretty recent release, and Remilia has enough interesting from her many other characteristics as well.

"Charisma break" Remilia: I'm not a fan, though someone once pointed out that charisma break Remilia is still charming… so her charisma is just colored differently, rather than being any less. I mean, could you attack a cowering/lowblocking Remilia? I doubt I could. At least, not without seriously preparing myself to do so. Weaponized Moe, so to speak. Akyuu mentions their having charisma… and I wonder if she means the other definition of of that word: divinely granted power. It would certainly fit.

Remilia, like everyone in Gensokyo with servants, likes abusing them. Particular case in point: telling Meiling to fix the garden when they both know its impossible (Meiling's PMISS). I suspect Remilia suggested Patchy make the "crop circle" herself, solely so she could troll Meiling like this. Sakuya seems to have adapted. The infamous broken teacup debacle: Sakuya knows that if she brings a fixed replacement cup, Remi would just say "This one isn't broken". Like all the masters, Remilia is also whimsical. I suppose it's a thing when you're full of power that you just do what you want. Eirin's pretty much the only exception to this (Well, unless you count Earth in a Pot... ok, nevermind, she's also like that).

Fairy maids work at the mansion for… well, probably fun, honestly. I have a strong suspicion that the fairy maids are different ones each day, and some just wander in and out or use it as a second home like the three fairies of light did. Considering no one expects them to do anything, and Remilia still apparently gives them vacation time and throws parties for them, they're obviously just decorative. Because a princess needs a lot of servants (even if only one is any good.) The three ones we usually see are probably more permanent residents who've actually taken a liking to the roleor just can't really leave because the mansion is sitting on their blades of grass or whatever.

Remilia has a spellcard themed after Gungnir, and her sister one themed after Laevateinn. I doubt these are the actual artifacts, though if they do exist in Touhou's cosmology, then they may well be. I can see Remilia fating all these artifacts into her possession… then her sister asks for a sword and she obliges. More likely they just went with the matching themes to emphasize their european background in a japanese world.

Remilia sleeps in a coffin on a bed…? Uh, wow. that's… what? I guess nobles sleep in awesome beds and vampires sleep in coffins and she had to compromise somehow. Well, that's a child's mind at work, folks.

Why does she lie about being a descendent of Dracula? It's Doubtful Gensokyans have any idea who the heck that is, so it's probably just a carryover lie she was used to spouting in the real world. No one seems to call her on her bluff, so she seems to be a good liar (or at least, no one knows why they might question it), unlike Marisa, who's merely a compulsive one.

She can't hide her wings, which is noted to be unusual. I wonder why this is? Perhaps she can and just feels it would be wrong for whatever reason to hide them. Vampiric pride, perhaps. It could also be that the Scarlets' transformations went poorly. Flandre got stuck with crazy and Remilia got stuck with permawings. Then Flandre made wings to "match."

Remilia's got few actual friends. More "people she won't leave be." Patchouli is her closest friend because she's A: being given free room, board, and access to a library made specifically for her, and B: She's willing to play along with Remilia's whims/contain Flandre, do favors here and there, etc. So yeah, a pretty healthy relationship, actually. They each get something from it. We see them lightly trolling each other in a friendly manner here and there (like in the 3 fairies manga where Marisa has the 3 fairies prank Reimu by making her think her sun-raising ritual failed).

Where did she get Hong Meiling? Did they meet in Europe or China? Why does she hire Meiling? those are more questions for a Meiling writeup, but I think Remilia's motivation in hiring such a mediocre guard is something to consider. Idea: If they can't get past Meiling (herself of roughl;y average-above average power), then they aren't worth bothering with. Also, it gives a human face to the mansion. Also she's a fantastic prank target. And shares Remilia's Manga interests, apparently?

Yukari (in CILR) finds herself a bit envious of Remilia. While Yukari can just gap to the moon, Remilia gets to have a bunch of fun recruiting everyone to make a rocket, researching how to make it get to the moon, and then spending an anxious time in said rocket for a few weeks. Remilia gets an adventure, while Yukari just... arrives. This idea that the journey is more important than the destination is a theme that comes up in some other places as well (Tenshi is another good example of this), and suggests that Remilia's got her priorities straight. Remilia didn't go to the moon to conquer it, she went there to go there. A simple attitude perhaps, but certainly one that'll give her what she wants. Heck, I'm envious of such a plain, pleasing mindset.

Remilia gets a bit of lip from her sister. Eh, Flandre's probably just sore about that whole "Patchouli makes it rain because you want to go outside" thing. Well, and she doesn't seem to accept that Remilia can really manipulate fate. Flandre follows the "If a big explosion didn't happen, then nothing did." school of thought that Marisa subscribes to, so it's no surprise she doesn't really "get" her sister, who prefers Yukari's sorts of more subtle strategy.

Remilia is on good terms with Aya: she realizes that Aya's the press, so to make herself more widely known, she interacts with Aya as much as is reasonable. She's all for playing the villain in an entry too. She wants all the attention. Just like… you know… she's a child or something. And Patchy keeps butting in. Aya is so disappointed when she finds out the scarlet mist's shape was just a big shadow puppet.

Remilia is very polite, but if you throw fried beans in her face to try and exterminate her or otherwise get on her bad side you might be blown away… given that she's under contract not to attack Gensokyans, this is either Akyuu warning outsiders, or an indication that Remilia's contract doesn't extend to her subordinates (And Patchy would be A-OK with blowing someone away if Remi wanted them gone.) That's right, Akyuu is telling you her weaknesses not so you can exterminate her, but so that you don't accidentally piss her off. That's how badass Remilia is.

Remilia likes B type blood the most, apparently note  I don't think it would taste that different. I'm not a vampire though, so what do I know?

Remilia goes on sunbathing viewings. Where she watches others sunbathe. Totally not creepy.note 

Remilia seems to enjoy the banter while Sakuya is trying to get Remilia sold on the idea of buying a broken teacup.

Apparently the SDM paper is noticeably different from the Japanese paper. They must either have a large stock from when they moved, or just use a different process to make it. Either way, a neat little factoid that no one notices because it's buried in COLA.

edited 17th Nov '14 9:32:17 PM by Antimatter625

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.
Starx Since: Jan, 2012
#1865: Nov 18th 2014 at 2:12:01 AM

Whatever the case, there's no denying that she's certainly the closest thing Gensokyo has to nobility now.

There's Kaguya... and less so Yuyuko, as she was appointed to be the boss of the netherworld.

Fairy maids work at the mansion for… well, probably fun, honestly.

Well, there is also free food. 3 fairies got kicked out by Sakuya for not working.

Everything is relative.
Clarste One Winged Egret Since: Jun, 2009 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
One Winged Egret
#1866: Nov 18th 2014 at 2:19:41 AM

Akyuu is totally nobility. Like, literally. She also has the trappings: servants and whatnot. Akyuu is certainly the closest thing Gensokyo has to nobility.

Also, you know, Miko.

Antimatter625 Baring hearts for years from my secret place Since: Jan, 2012
Baring hearts for years
#1867: Nov 18th 2014 at 3:42:43 AM

All good points. Kaguya in particular I should have made note of, but when I wrote that Akyuu hadn't yet really been revealed as much of a noble, IIRC. And I don't even think Miko existed yet. Hm.

Well, there is also free food. 3 fairies got kicked out by Sakuya for not working.

Yeah. I imagine the fairies basically just clean up their own messes and that's about it, though. Remilia's just giving the poor stupid things a place to live and spare food since she has so much. Noblesse oblige at its best.

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.
Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1868: Nov 18th 2014 at 10:17:41 PM

Well, considering that they had crosses at their home, according to one of Flandre's spell card, I would say that they aren't weak to crosses prior to arriving at Gensokyo. Either that or it hurts them, but it is more of a nuisance and not really deadly.

Maybe it's an acquired resistance Remi has cultivated over the centuries a la the Count de Magpyr. And then she moves and suddenly she's getting torn up by beans, because seriously, who could've anticipated beans?

I imagine her trip to Japan involved several smaller hops across and throughout Russia and perhaps India, to say nothing of China. Plenty of time for a gradual change.

Hmm. I wanna say she moved northeast, then east to flee the enlightenment, dallying in Scandinavia long enough to pick up the Gungnir and Laevatein references, maybe dipping down into Transylvania to try and claim Dracula's legacy before crossing Russia. But she is definitely (hah) French, so it's also tempting to say she followed her home country's colonial efforts, and therefore may have wound up in Vietnam at some point before going up through China into Japan. Maybe she was around for the Boxer Rebellion?

The Cunning Vampire

Oh boy, we're going back in time time time...

Also, I think it's heavily implied to have been used in the Vampire contract in the vampire incident (It's an unbreakable contract... just because it's made with the/a devil? or because Remilia made it unbreakable?).

This sounds real plausible, except for the fact that nobody's spoken about it in canon. By which I don't mean "it's only plausible if it's official," but because if Remilia was instrument to the formation of the spellcard rules, and her fatehax was enforcing them, I'd expect her to brag about it every chance she gets. And try to leverage how the youkai "owe" her for it towards her own purposes.

Of course, maybe that's why nobody mentions it, snobbery that some newcomer foreign bat lady came in and achieved such a coup.

What prevents it from being "everything goes Remilia's way"? Well, first of all, I'm pretty sure everything does go Remilia's way. [...] Of course, given my idea that she's blindly pulling at fate strings, the meteor may well have been aimed at the mansion through her fate power, though she didn't intend it at the time.

Maybe it's an almost Xanthian power, something that ensures that Remilia will always benefit somehow from its use, but not in ways she can predict or control. She yanks on fate, an Incident happens, and Remi loses the fight, but gains an object of fascination. Remi gives it another try and a meteor nearly flattens the manner, but her little sister gets some good publicity and a chance to have fun.

The perfect sort of power for an immortal child, in other words. Though I wonder what the fallout would be if Remilia met the Moirai...

She is the best matchmaker, probably does it all the time for fun. Remi's like a shipping fanfic writer but she writes using people's fates instead of words.

An eternal, aristocratic child with power over relationships? Shinki help us all...

That makes her sound stupid, but really, it just means she's not much of an innovator. Xanatos Gambiteers don't need to be innovative, they need to be cunning, and she is.

Aww man, this makes me think about how hard it would be to stat Remi. On the one hand she has more life experience than formal knowledge about how the world works, which suggests a high Wisdom, low Intelligence build, but her longevity and childishness would also support high Intelligence, low Wisdom too. At least it's safe to assume that her Charisma is in the triple digits.

Threats of Flandre (Being way more destructive than Remilia) or fatehax may have been involved.

Whoa, that's right! Remi's got the equivalent of a nuke in her basement. The SDM is like Gensokyo's North Korea.

So, out of this, we know that Yukari is willing to make a literal deal with the devil to provide regular sacrifices of people for consumption

Hmm, past!you might be making too much out of this. I thought Yukari made arrangements for all of Gensokyo's youkai to get snacks, so it's not like she's giving Remilia special treatment. Unless the interpretation is that it was Remilia's arrival that inspired Yukari to start the youkai-assisted suicide program.

Whatever the case, there's no denying that she's certainly the closest thing Gensokyo has to nobility now.

This is where I bring up my pet character, except princess or not, Kotohime isn't particularly noble.

Blood is amazing! If she's actually using blood for her spellcards, then she's definitely gotten a lot of humans from Yukari over the past years.

Might hunch is that it's a special effect. Waste of good food to fling it around like that, you know.

She can't hide her wings, which is noted to be unusual. I wonder why this is?

They are dangerously close to being asswings, so maybe it's a more serious "birth" defect. What muscles are they even anchored to, anyway?

Remilia's got few actual friends. More "people she won't leave be."

Probably because Remilia considers herself to have few people. She might feel affection for lesser creatures, but they're more like pets.

Remilia gets a bit of lip from her sister. Eh, Flandre's probably just sore about that whole "Patchouli makes it rain because you want to go outside" thing.

Or they're just being siblings.

edited 18th Nov '14 10:18:32 PM by Tacitus

Antimatter625 Baring hearts for years from my secret place Since: Jan, 2012
Baring hearts for years
#1869: Nov 19th 2014 at 6:45:53 AM

This sounds real plausible, except for the fact that nobody's spoken about it in canon.

You know, good point. As a counterpoint, it's possible that some of the fine print she missed was "Ye shall not boast about this." Or maybe she does boast all the time, just off camera. Or maybe she's not proud of how she basically put a leash on all the youkai everywhere. Maybe she's just... kinda forgotten. Like... come on, it was like a -decade- ago, who cares? As for everyone else, I doubt any of them would even believe her. There are a few reasons for it not coming up in Canon.

Maybe it's an almost Xanthian power, something that ensures that Remilia will always benefit somehow from its use, but not in ways she can predict or control.

It's like a rope labeled "Pull for Super-Fun-Times!" How could she -not- pull it every once in a while?

An eternal, aristocratic child with power over relationships? Shinki help us all...

Why do you think she and her mansion are by far the most popular topic for doujin? Mhmmm. She's got mad power, yo.

Aww man, this makes me think about how hard it would be to stat Remi.

A high Int, low Wisdom is more fitting. street smarts are still a high int, you're just putting the skills somewhere else. Mostly she just has a lot of levels though.

I thought Yukari made arrangements for all of Gensokyo's youkai to get snacks, so it's not like she's giving Remilia special treatment.

Remilia gets deliveries. Well, 'sacrifices'. Which strongly implies they're given to her. Other youkai go out on unting parties. Remilia? It's breakfast in bed.

Waste of good food to fling it around like that, you know.

Maybe it's gone bad? But yeah, probably just a theme.

What muscles are they even anchored to, anyway?

They look like shoulder wings in most cases, though I'll admit it's not always very consistant or easy to tell. And yes, those first two are both from different BAIJR articles (So equal 'levels of canon'). So it really does depend a lot on the artist.

I suppose I should link to some of my stories. Remilia does feature prominently in several of them. First the short stories (Which, truth be told, I wrote for this series of threads and ended up posting on fanfic.net instead.):

''The Vampire Incident'' is about... uh, the vampire incident. Specifically my take on one way it might have gone down. There are some minor plotholes, but yeah.

''The Darkness Without'' Is... uh, about Remilia and Flandre chillaxing through extreme violence. As superpowered kids do.

And of course Remilia has a hefty role in both A Satori's Tale and my current crossover fic. Her role in the latter has only begun, but in A Satori's Tale She was one of Satori's primary antagonists, because Satori kept foiling like... every one of Remilia's schemes. It kinda drives Remilia a little nuts. Since Satori basically snatched away Remilia's shiny toy after letting it dangle there for a while and did this several times. Well, and then adding in "You can play with this when you're older. Which you'll never be."

Remilia in A Satori's Tale also surprised me once. In essence I was like "Ok, Remilia. You're going to fall for this trick and that'll set stuff up later." And then I wrote it and Remilia didn't fall for the trick. And I was like "Remilia, you need to fall for this trick." And she was like "No, I'm not an idiot. Screw the terrible trick."

And... that had pretty drastic changes on the 'script' down the road. So yeah... One of those times the characters really feel alive, and... well, it was fun to work around. Remilia's got a... strong identity, I guess? She's fun to write though in any of a number of incarnations, I'll say that.

edited 19th Nov '14 6:46:31 AM by Antimatter625

I write some fanfiction. Satori's Tale is done... but I'm not.
Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1870: Nov 20th 2014 at 9:37:26 PM

I'd say it's probably a good sign when you know your characters well enough that you can't force a plot onto them. Means they're characters, not play-doh.

I thought Yukari made arrangements for all of Gensokyo's youkai to get snacks, so it's not like she's giving Remilia special treatment.

Remilia gets deliveries. Well, "sacrifices." Which strongly implies they're given to her. Other youkai go out on unting parties. Remilia? It's breakfast in bed.

Hmm. Conjecture: it's a vampire thing. Someone like Rumia goes human hunting, and they clean their plate so to speak, gorging themselves on sweet, sweet manflesh and disposing of the evidence at the same time. So it's easy to write off those incidents as suicides or disappearances as opposed to monsters feeding on victims.

Vampires, though, they're blood drinkers, and while you could go through the trouble of disposing of the corpse, if you slip up, well, what're the muggles going to think when they see an exsanguinated body with two neat holes in the neck? And on top of that, Remi's a light eater. She'd either have to hit-and-run and leave behind a witness, or drag them back to Gensokyo anyway.

So it's probably less work to bring a vampire's food to her than it is to allow her to hunt and take the steps necessary to keep her existence a secret. Also, if Remi got hunting privileges, Flan might feel inclined to do the same, and yikes.

Tacitus Since: Jan, 2001
#1871: Nov 22nd 2014 at 9:22:38 AM

Well, I think Remi's definitely had a good run. Now'd be a good time for any last vampiric thoughts before we shift to turtle power sometime late tonight/early tomorrow.

joergenjetsam from The city of constant rain Since: Dec, 2012 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
#1872: Nov 22nd 2014 at 9:50:59 AM

Regarding the vampire immortality thing...

The way it's phrased, sorta how they discard their growth and maturity for it makes me wonder if you can reverse the process. Discard immortality for the ability to develop physically and mentally.

Conception is sin Birth is pain Life is toil Death is inevitable
Otherarrow Since: Jul, 2010
#1873: Nov 22nd 2014 at 9:53:09 AM

Remilia once fatehax'd her way into getting a library pool.

...Uhh, I got nothing. Remilia is cool and has cool hats.

Don't PM me. We don't like being PMed.
Bocaj Funny but not helpful from Here or thereabouts (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
Funny but not helpful
#1874: Nov 22nd 2014 at 10:28:32 AM

The moon trip taught Remilia that the journey and forcing your servants and friends into paving the way for you is better than the destination.

Hopefully she'll remember this should the whim ever arise to visit Mars.

Forever liveblogging the Avengers
ImposterMetaKnight Grand Practitioner of Fairy Logic from Studying crop circles Since: Jul, 2013 Relationship Status: Wishing you were here
Grand Practitioner of Fairy Logic
#1875: Nov 22nd 2014 at 10:31:10 AM

wild mass guessThe name "Septette for the Dead Princess" is (was) forshadowing of the next game. Septette, Sept = seven (refering to TH 07 PCB) and "Dead Princess" refers to Yuyuko being the "Princess of the Netherworld".wild mass guess


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