#I feel like I don’t talk about her enough even tho she’s my pfp

[elizabethzoopzoop986]

Aois just like wtf is wrong with these people 😭

[nekoprankster218]

10 Touhou Characters I Really Like

I did a 10 Characters, 10 Fandoms post and couldn’t come up with a singular candidate to represent TouHou Project, so this is my answer.

1. Fujiwara no Mokou

She was super close to being my pick for the previous list. I started having a bigger appreciation for Mokou around a year ago, and I think writing fanfiction and shipping her with Kaguya is mainly why. Love her design, and her dynamics. And all the angst potent in writing- (but also how laidback she actually is in canon).

2. Toyosatomimi no Miko

Also came close to being my pick for the last list. The gif pretty much explains everything: her hairstyle, her cape, her headphones, her wife. She and Tojiko are another of my main Touhou ships. I could honestly talk a lot about that. And my Touhou ships in general. I should make a list on that-

3. The Scarlet Sisters (Remilia and Flandre)

Originally was just gonna be Flan, but found this nice gif of the both of them. Flan was the first Touhou character I declared my favorite, and the SDM remain my favorite group from the franchise. Also love the sisterly relationship they have, as well as Remilia’s balance between formal and immature. If I could just find a nice gif of the whole mansion crew, I would’ve just put that as my Touhou entry on the 10 fandoms list.

4. Suika Ibuki

I remember drawing her on my old school binder (and Flan too actually). And despite the fact I intended my current AO3 pfp to be a placeholder, chibi Suika remains the face of my AO3 account. Like Remilia, she has a balance of maturity and immaturity, but for completely different reasons (they key reason being alcohol). I just really love my one fanfc (crossover, and really long) where I embrace the Shuten-douji aspect of her character. And by embrace, I mean drill deeeeep into that iceberg.

5. Clownpiece

I have yet to play LoLK, but I did play one of the fanmade mobile games, and oh my god how I spammed my Discord friends with that torment. Still! I’m weak to her aesthetics and theme songs that I just can’t stay mad.

6. Eiki Shiki

You can blame Memories of Phantasm for this. (and her theme song; actually that’s a pretty good explanation for a lot of my favorites...) I know she’s probably not actually that short, and she isn’t as strict, but fanon is fun! Although I do love the idea of her giving lectures in the mortal world because she actually does care about keeping people out of Hell. She should really be allowed to leave PoFV and not just be a cameo or brief mention in recent games (and least the literature still uses her from time to time).

7. Medicine Melancholy

And speaking of “please bring back earlier casts”! A PoFV character so underrated, there was only 3 gifs of her with gif search. I really fell in love with the theory that the real Medicine is the tiny doll and Su-San is the human body being controlled. But I also just love child characters with more serious characteristics.

8. Seija Kijin

Another case of “blame writing fanfiction”. There was something really special about experimenting with her, given I didn’t pay much attention to her at first. I started to love the potential for arcs and dynamics just her ability brought, given how her very nature as an amanojaku means she kinda has a passive ability of always reversed in a way.

9. Daiyousei

I feel like Daiyousei and Koakuma are less underrated than Medicine (and probably other early, lower stage bosses), even tho they technically don’t have official names. I swear that one Halo-Touhou crossover fic completely shaped my character appreciations, because I also liked Dai more because of it. She’s a cutie, but canonically kind of a blank state. Which really makes it fun to speculate and explore relationships, personalities, and backstories with her. So I guess in a way it makes her more of a doll than Medicine too.

10. Hieda no Akyuu

Akyuu’s special, in a way no Touhou character really has matched. She’s the only one with true visible aging in a setting that feels like it’s stuck in time, and maybe that’s partially because of who she is - the Child of Miare. The one who’s not gonna live past her 30′s. My favorite version of her is when she’s like 10, for the same reason why I like Medicine and charismatic!Remilia. But in recent time I’ve grown interest in her older versions, especially with one lingering thought (and fear). Is Zun really gonna kill her off in a few years? Will future Touhou media feature a dead Akyuu in the Ministry of Right and Wrong? Or is she gonna find a way to live longer? I really can’t say for either (heard one of the literature mentioned her getting interested in youkai books, which may be early seed planting). But Akyuu may just be the first Touhou casualty (that wasn’t part of a backstory), and whether or not it happens, I’m excited to see what the dramatics of it all may stir up.

Unless Zun decides to retcon or ignore it. That’d just be disappointing.

Honorable Additions Because 10 Just Isn’t Enough

11. Komeiji Sisters (Satori and Koishi)

12. Utsuho Reiuji

13. Nitori Kawashiro

14. Kyouko Kasodani

15. Saki Kurokoma

(no gifs...?!)

16. Narumi Yatadera

17. Chen