common sense need not apply
As I have already stated elsewhere, while common sense
need not apply, connecting Gensōkyō and common sense at random points may be a source of lots of fun and inspiration. So why not do that? At the other extreme, you can go absurdly nuts with just as good results (Nezumi, Ao Usagi).
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I don't think that design or way of speech is enough to say they are foreigners, unless it's mentionned, like for Remilia.
don't go stateing things like 'Mystia isn't Japanese' as if it's fact.
I wonder why anyone in Gensōkyō without at least foreign ancestry would have an English name (or, in Mystia?s case, other European).
Of course I am not stating ?Mystia isn?t Japanese? as a hard fact unless I see a Zun confirmation. I will, however, personally firmly believe in ?Mystia isn?t Japanese? as long as there is no evidence to the contrary. (And will probably keep it in my headcanon even if Zun nukes the theory, unless his point is either well-grounded or funny enough.)
Team 9 and the three fairies are fairies and youkai, and therefore can only exist ( and are most likely ) born within Gensokyo
I dare disagree. The SDM residents are yōkai as well. As I see it, yōkai can exist outside Gensōkyō, but the Outside World has been getting worse from their point of view for a long time. Gensōkyō has a more or less steady, if slow, influx of supernatural beings. I would assume that most of the relatively few per year that enter nowadays are foreigners, since the majority of those living in Japan came already in the late XIX century or soon thereafter.
Without proofs, saying they are obviously japanese is just as wrong as saying they aren't.
Agreed.
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Also still not seeing why it matters.
Not seeing why you would stress this. Are you implying it should not be discussed if it does not matter?
To give another reason: I am a fan of origin stories. While Marisa?s Russian ancestry is currently
not part of my headcanon, I must say I find the idea of her grandmother telling bedtime stories of Baba Yaga and Koshchey the Immortal most fascinating. Great fan fiction material.
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Oh, almost forgot to give a big
thank you for many interesting points that have been brought up in this thread by Raikaria, Purji, Linnah, and more.