Canon portrayals that you wish got used more in fandom

[Phlegeth]

Also Mokou is very cool and level headed in canon, well except around Kaguya.  But again, cause of her affiliation with fire, she's got to be rash and hot blooded.  And there's her and Keine.  And the Pandora's Box that is Mystia's Grill.  Don't get me wrong, I like Mystia's Grill, but where in canon does it hold any basis?

[Koakkuri]

Mystia's lampfrey stand comes from Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.

[game2011]

Mokou being a chain-smoker in fanon is due to her mentioning cigarettes in Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.

[Bias Bus]

Mystia's lampfrey stand comes from Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red.

I do remember once that there was some confusion on the fact that Mystia sold Eel instead of Lamprey, although I chalk this up to people being misled by how similar both an Eel and Lamprey look in body (once you get to the head, it's a different story).

Also regarding Mokou and Mystia, isn't Mystia supposed to be racist towards humans? :V

[Reddyne]

What's so questionable about saving youkai from human lynch groups and humans from youkai raiding parties?

I always liked Byakuren because she was such a saint but she's also got plenty of aspects that make her human. I never thought of her as perfect. She advocates for harmony between two different groups that are at each other's necks. Still, she starts out with a fear of death, supports the youkai simply to protect herself before learning to care for them, and eventually winds up confused about the whole human/youkai persecution thing. Besides,

Spoiler:

one of the endings of UFO specifically says that Byakuren is a good person. That's all I need to know.

And actually, Remilia was mentioned before for being "lol evil" and actually that's the only way I've ever pictured her. I thought that was her schtick. She's the spoiled, snotty, self-serving brat I've always thought of her as in every canon representation of her. I'm absolutely shocked the two could be lumped together in any way. Then again, all this is coming from someone who has Byakuren ranked at 5 and Remilia at, uh, under 125 through tohosort.

[Tiamat]

The latest chapter of Strange and Bright Deity features Mystia's stand.  Unfortunately, it's untranslated.  Gotta say tho that the pictures of Mystia dragging it around and cheerfully running it and interacting with Reimu and the fairies looks absolutely adorable, tho.

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

She's also frequently depicted as a tsundere (which is canon if you really like Inaba) towards Kaguya, or being Evil-Kaguya's chew toy and getting traumatized out the ass by her or being Evil herself and massacring Eientei.

Remilia I can get, but since it's Gensokyo, she's more like the highly incompetent villain.

(fuck i just imagined her as skeletor)

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

(fuck i just imagined her as skeletor)

Oh god I can't get the image out of my head.

[Iryan]

(fuck i just imagined her as skeletor)

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

[Fetch()tirade]

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

* explodes

[XephyrEnigma]

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

Fund it. Fund it now.

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

ilu Iryan.

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

I hate you forever.

But it's the Mokou kind of hate.

[Tengukami]

I hate you forever.

But it's the Mokou kind of hate.

You want to challenge him to a fishing competition?

Also: more fishing in fanworks. That's what I want to see.

[Phlegeth]

Also: more fishing in fanworks. That's what I want to see.

I concur.*Danbo warnin'

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

I wish to see more doujins that stick close to canon.

...

What?

[Tired/Warm]

This. Is an amazing thread.

I wish to see more doujins that stick close to canon.

Please. I also love things that aren't canon at all - but it seems very few things try. I realize everyone has their own headcanon- but it would be cool to see many more mainline works as well.

To be honest... Well, I'm not generally a fan of the way the fanon can sometimes run with the most 'moe' or one-dimensional traits. That doesn't mean I dislike those presumed traits!... It just means that they make the characters far too simple, and one of the huge appeals of Touhou to me is how each character feels very complex and interesting, even within a small amount of time + good supplementary work. Anyway. :wikipedia: One of the ones that I don't understand at all, is Sakuya and Meiling being at odds; they always seemed to have a healthy respect for each other, although I cannot remember if it's actually canon that gave me that impression. I've certainly never seen any evidence they hate each other. Also, Meiling being turned into an incompetent character - she was a decently challenging boss (I felt, although as all things go it may be different for some) and more importantly seems to be very competent in physical combat. Instead we just got some lolchina jokes which can be... Sort of funny, but most of the time just come off hackneyed to me. And occasionally really uncomfortable.

Also: more fishing in fanworks. That's what I want to see.

I concur.*Danbo warnin'

This! What could be more Touhou than a ridiculously hot summer day, fishing while talking to someone else who has thoughtfully brought a tea kettle and mugs? Maybe it's just that I fished a lot growing up, though, ehehe. I want to write it into my own works more... Eh, but how to do it without seeming cheesy. Oh, and one last thing.

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

... please. oh wow please.

"I am Reimu, Princess of Ephemera, and Defender of the Hakurei Border. This, is Marisa - my fearless friend. Fabulous Secret Powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic orb and said - by the power of Greysokyo!"

Also, a She-Ra edition.

Ah! And another thing! I wouldn't mind talking about the traits we use in our own works/art/etc and why. I'm very interested to here why individual people choose the traits that they do - people always have interesting reasons for their choices, and it might be kind of an interesting thing to discuss..?

[OkashiiKisei]

"Together we defend Castle Greysokyo from the evil forces of Scarletor."

HA-KUREI
AND THE MISTRESSES OF THE UNIVERSE

Well played, Iryan. Well played.

[capt. h]

Ah! And another thing! I wouldn't mind talking about the traits we use in our own works/art/etc and why. I'm very interested to here why individual people choose the traits that they do - people always have interesting reasons for their choices, and it might be kind of an interesting thing to discuss..?

I use a very rash Cirno and a very level headed Mokou. Ice powers work well (and in canon are) with hot-blooded characters and fire powers tend to work (and in canon are) with the cool-headed; the contrast does wonders in my opinion. Putting the two character types together just works; the two types really bring out the personality in eachother, and the power/personality mismatch makes the characters more interesting.

A number of my decisions are based on the character's powers and abilities. I don't like to seperate the character from the power, and I like to put a lot of effort into checking to see if I would behave the way my characters would in the same circumstances. You can add a lot of depth by considering what an immortal would consider important that a normal person would not, the differences between how a mind reader converses and thinks in contrast with everyone else, etc. I would love to see more Remilias where manipulation of fate is treated as an absolute and inherent part of her outlook on the world.

Incidentally, every time I forget to make the power inseperable from the character I consider a mistake; forgetting to add the extra dimension is no different than writing out of character. I'll be the first to admit I make mistakes, and I may have gotten a bit lazy as well; I use to write biographies for all the characters I wanted to add depth to so that I wouldn't forget anything, but I got tired of that and stopped. I should probably make a new one soon since I've used Cirno for a while now with no biography.

[Tired/Warm]

A number of my decisions are based on the character's powers and abilities. I don't like to seperate the character from the power, and I like to put a lot of effort into checking to see if I would behave the way my characters would in the same circumstances. You can add a lot of depth by considering what an immortal would consider important that a normal person would not, the differences between how a mind reader converses and thinks in contrast with everyone else, etc. I would love to see more Remilias where manipulation of fate is treated as an absolute and inherent part of her outlook on the world.

This is very interesting, and really makes me rethink my own writing. I tend to ignore powers - seeing them as being something that otherworldly but human-like beings might see as natural as we see an opposable thumb - in favor of examining years of age and the desired effect a character wishes to convey. For example, very old characters may or may not even have been treated like/as gods, once upon a time. That is likely to affect their view of what is acceptable and what is not in regards to humans and weaker youkai. Other youkai -from more modern times or with a more innovative outlook - might not see themselves as being that much different from humans. As for powers proper, I use them to propel actions forward and little else; Mystia enjoys singing not because it can cause insanity, but because she enjoys her songs, perhaps even feels compelled to sing them. She might be regretful of the effect on others, but for a youkai - well, it's either stop singing or keep singing, right?

Incidentally, every time I forget to make the power inseperable from the character I consider a mistake; forgetting to add the extra dimension is no different than writing out of character. I'll be the first to admit I make mistakes, and I may have gotten a bit lazy as well; I use to write biographies for all the characters I wanted to add depth to so that I wouldn't forget anything, but I got tired of that and stopped. I should probably make a new one soon since I've used Cirno for a while now with no biography.

Cooool- I keep all my notes in my head, or on the walls. Don't laugh - I have mountains of post-it-notes and scraps of notebooks in my room for various writing projects, as well as notes for things like science, recipes, etc... A friend once joked that if I confused my writing with my experiments and my experiments with my cooking and my cooking with my gardening things might become pretty funny pretty fast. Biographies sound like a great idea, though. I used to make up huge backstories for the nameless soldiers in games like ogre battle or custom characters in games like might and magic 1/2, but for Touhou, I feel kind of like I know everyone already. Presque vu.

I use a very rash Cirno and a very level headed Mokou. Ice powers work well (and in canon are) with hot-blooded characters and fire powers tend to work (and in canon are) with the cool-headed; the contrast does wonders in my opinion. Putting the two character types together just works; the two types really bring out the personality in eachother, and the power/personality mismatch makes the characters more interesting.

In terms of writing - I tend to make my older youkai think differently than humans. My image of Yuuka is of course someone who is very capricious - not truly a sadist, but who simply enjoys the pleasure of things that aren't considered acceptable anymore; violence is one of those things. Then again, there are also things she finds abhorrent as well. One of the hardest characters I find to write is Flandre... I'd like to write more about her, so I can get into her head. Someone cooped up that long - I feel like much of her demeanor is a reaction against the life she lives, if it can even be called a life. Anyway, I agree that well-written opposites work amazingly together. I also like it when people appear to be completely different, and yet have far more in common than they first seem. Anything else, hmn.. For those who are wondering, I don't actually consider Reimu a jerkass at all. I guess I'm just more of a youkai than a human, dohohoho.   :derp:

[_cf]

Nope. Mokou is frequently depicted in fanart as a chain-smoker, despite official material stating that she's a health nut. It would be ridiculous to make her a smoker in that case, but for some reason or another the fandom made her one anyway. Probably because of her fire magic, tomboy look and because it's 'cool'.

Mokou isn't a health nut at all, but very much its opposite: she casually abuses her body. That she smokes fit nicely into this theme of abuse, but I cannot find a canon source for it now. The "tobacco litterings" in BAiJR's interview was a cover for the forest fire's real reason (almost certainly her own fiery aura and bullets).

The "health nut" and "yakitori stand" were other two (badly thought up) lies to justify first her unchanging appearance and then what exactly she's doing all the time in the bamboo forest.

[game2011]

Guess I'll talk about the character portrayals for my SSB/Touhou crossover.

The basic plot of the story involves eleven of the girls getting transported to various different worlds from some of the series represented in the SSB series.

Reimu: I made her pretty close to her canon portrayal, I think.  She sort of dislikes getting into business that doesn't concern her, though she admits feeling guilty if she doesn't do anything about evildoers.  She has an obsession for money.

Marisa: I think she's pretty close to canon too.  She likes excitement and battles.

Youmu: One of my reviewers said that she's supposed to be aggressive.  I sort of made her a "ask first, attack later" kind of person, but asides from that, I think she's pretty in-character.  Oh yeah, she's also afraid of ghosts.

Alice: She almost always looks cold and expressionless, complete with half-closed eyes.  Despite this, she's actually very kind and is calm and collected at all times.

Meiling: I'm sure I made her almost the same as her canon portrayal.

Nitori: I pretty much dropped her shy personality when being around humans, though she admits feeling a bit nervous when there are too many humans around her.  She has a large interest in machines and is a great inventor herself.

Cirno: She's always proud of herself, not to mention rash.  She's not very bright either. 

Spoiler:

She can't tell the difference between Captain Falcon and Blood Falcon.

Reisen: She's quite a worrywart and shows a lot of concern for various things.  I also made her somewhat knowledgeable in the medical department, so you can say she's the healer the group.

Remilia: Charismatic, confident, calm and collected, etc.  Pretty much identical to her canon portrayal.  She does lose her temper if her opponents are giving her a hard time.

Aya: Likes to boast about her speed.  She's also has quite a bit of curiosity, so she tries to gather as much information as she can on various subjects.

Sanae: Kind, sweet, and loving, but becomes very worked up when it comes to exterminating demons (what I call youkais) . 

Spoiler:

She tries in vain to kill Dry Bones and refused to listen to Luigi when he told her that only Starmen are capable of destroying them.

Yeah, Sakuya isn't one of the main characters, though she does make minor appearances in the story.  However, I did plan to use her at one point, along with Mokou and Keine.  To be precise, I actually thought it would be a good idea to use Mokou after I started posting chapters of the story onto FF.net, but obviously, it's already too late.  I originally dismissed her inclusion due to her immortality.

[ふとくていなねこじょおう]

Holy shit, YOU'RE the author of that fanfic? I love it!

[game2011]

That's good to hear!  Thanks for enjoying my story!

God bless you!

[TAKE IT CACODEMON!!]

Rash Cirno is canon. Then again, all fairies are rash. (Reminds me, I should play Great Fairy Wars eventually.)

Just wondering, how approximately rough are Komachi and Mokou's style of speech? Works either make their accents into sounding like a redneck/city slicker (respectively) or don't do it at all.

[OkashiiKisei]

Mokou isn't a health nut at all, but very much its opposite: she casually abuses her body. That she smokes fit nicely into this theme of abuse, but I cannot find a canon source for it now. The "tobacco litterings" in BAiJR's interview was a cover for the forest fire's real reason (almost certainly her own fiery aura and bullets).

The "health nut" and "yakitori stand" were other two (badly thought up) lies to justify first her unchanging appearance and then what exactly she's doing all the time in the bamboo forest.

That is pure speculation. The fact Mokou is immortal and often gets damaged doesn't completely ru
e out the possibility. It's pretty obvious that you can't become immortal by just being a health nut, so I doubt it's a lie and that Mokou indeed considers health important. Akyu already knows that no mater what Mokou doesn't die, even though she doesn't know how this is possible.  Even though she may abuse her own body, she can still consider the health of others important. This actually makes sense: the healthier Mokou's friends are, the longer they'll stay alive. Though it is inevitable that Mokou will see her friends die, she can at least try and make them stick around as long as possible.

[a_certain_kappa]

That is pure speculation. The fact Mokou is immortal and often gets damaged doesn't completely ru
e out the possibility. It's pretty obvious that you can't become immortal by just being a health nut, so I doubt it's a lie and that Mokou indeed considers health important. Akyu already knows that no mater what Mokou doesn't die, even though she doesn't know how this is possible.  Even though she may abuse her own body, she can still consider the health of others important. This actually makes sense: the healthier Mokou's friends are, the longer they'll stay alive. Though it is inevitable that Mokou will see her friends die, she can at least try and make them stick around as long as possible.

All I read from your post is "Mokou abuse her body"  :3
I want to see more of that.

[_cf]

That is pure speculation. The fact Mokou is immortal and often gets damaged doesn't completely ru
e out the possibility. It's pretty obvious that you can't become immortal by just being a health nut, so I doubt it's a lie and that Mokou indeed considers health important. Akyu already knows that no mater what Mokou doesn't die, even though she doesn't know how this is possible.  Even though she may abuse her own body, she can still consider the health of others important. This actually makes sense: the healthier Mokou's friends are, the longer they'll stay alive. Though it is inevitable that Mokou will see her friends die, she can at least try and make them stick around as long as possible.

Alright, I'm citing Cage in Lunatic Runagate, 4th chapter. This is Mokou narrating:

The cold woke me up. The room was completely dark. It seems I'd fallen asleep for a bit.

The moonlight crept into the darkened house. The moonlight brought no warmth with it. It only served to bring a chill to my already cold body.

My immortal body was in quite good condition, despite how I neglected it. And that was quite a bit.

I hadn't made anything for dinner yet. I may be immortal, but I get hungry and my joints hurt in the cold. Still, it better suited my personality to bear a bit of discomfort than to find a way to keep warm or eat a bit of nutritious food.

Yes, after all, no matter what happened I wouldn't die.

It wouldn't have any effect on my body at all, whether I slept until I was completely satisfied, or whether I kept waking up until I finally succumbed to drowsiness.

As you can plainly see, she's not a health nut, but the very inverse: she doesn't mind about her health.

[Hanzo K.]

Due in part to the old mindset of "Oh hey, I'm immortal. Doesn't matter what I do anymore, since I'll just heal from it all."

[Savory]

I'd really like to see an instance where "dirt-poor Reimu" doesn't appear. Yes, Reimu doesn't get many donations, but she's not so poor that she has to dig in trash cans for simple sustenance. A good example of fans going way too far with character interpretations.