What I'd like to see more in Touhou fan works:
- The inhuman/monstrous side of Touhou characters. Remember that the vast majority of Touhou characters are, you know, monsters and demons. They're not like you and I. They're not human at all. They're supposed to mysterious, eerie and alien. And it is this supernatural, beastly side that absolutely captivates me.
I take great enjoyment out of Touhou characters showing off monstrous, 'true' forms, using 'freaky powers' related to their species and abilities, exhibiting animalistic character traits and tics alongside their human ones and exploiting their innocent/alluring human guise to lure in victims. I love it when artists and writers point out how unearthly youkai act compared to humans, how their appearance is so unnatural (e.g. something off about their looks, beautiful to an impossible degree). I'd also love to see what goes through a youkai's mind when it sees a human. Is it curious? Is it indifferent? Is it smug? Or is it ravenously hungry?
We see a lot of the civilized youkai in works, but little of the true feral youkai. I'd love to read how a youkai slowly develops both physically and mentally from a man-eating, feral monster into an intelligent, whimsical, psuedo-human. There's tons of origin stories for the SDM, the Yakumos, the Moriyas, the Myourens etc. but there are so few on the smaller characters, like Wriggle or Letty. How did they come into being, and how did they grow into what they are today? What lessons did they have to learn to become more than just animals, and how?
- Linked with the above, more stories of humans becoming youkai/vampires/ghosts/whatever. And less "whee I'mma flyin' loli" and more "oh my fuck why do I wonder what my neighbor's pancreas tastes like". I want to see what goes on in their head as new instincts settle in and they slowly realize they aren't human anymore. How did they change anyway? Extreme emotional stress, enormous spite, a curse, an infection/possession from another youkai, prolonged exposure to supernatural activity, a deliberate ritual. Anything is possible, and it's all interesting in their own way.
I like seeing people becoming something vastly different, vastly inhuman. A form of corruption, or transhumanism. Point is, when they turn, what do they experience? How much self-control do they have? What do they decide to do? They can try and hide the fact, remaining among their human friends despite the risks. They can give in and indulge in the power and hunger. Or they can retreat from human settlements and seek a new life.
It doesn't have to be entirely about hunger for human flesh either. The problem can also be inherent malevolence against humans, or a need to cause terror and chaos to get the faith to fuel one's supernatural existence. A human turned youkai would need to go to extremes to keep existing in this belief and faith driven form.
In the case of ghosts, it's about people having to realize and coming to terms with the fact they are dead. They wouldn't have the bloodthirty aspects of their youkai counterparts, though ghosts could be vengeful enough still cause trouble. They'll also have to get used to a new life and see what they should do now. Who would they contact in this state? How can they make contact in this state?
This could be a great approach for certain origin stories, or for OCs. Or you can see what happens when one of the current human characters falls victims to this. Keine is already half youkai, so what's it like if she gives into her more feral side? And what if Marisa succeeds in becoming a youkai magician, but proceeds to take a page from classic fairy tale witches?
