Here's the thing. The details are different but the emotions that drive the story are the same. Gods need faith or they die. You as a human will never understand what it means to need faith, but you can understand the need to survive. And that's the difference. If you write Kanako as a villain who is doing what she must to survive as a goddess then her motivation is understandable. If you simple handwave it with "because she's a god, and gods don't care about things we care about" you're just doing it wrong.
Totally agreed here. Any kind of handwave is bad. That's why you research the material beforehand, etc. For instance, I'd like to write about the Scarlets past, so I started to read about Europe at the XVI century to see in what kind of world they did start their lives. Reading about when Yukari or Kanako were young is much more difficult. The japanese pre-history is a lot of patriotic myths and few facts. But what I'm finding is interesting, at least
If a writer can't explain the differences between humans and other races but instead leave it to the assumptions of the reader, they shouldn't be surprised when the readers assumption ends up being the writer doesn't care. And honestly they'd be right. If you feel that a youkai's habits will make them do something completely inhuman, you've obviously thought of a reason WHY that is true, and you'd best give that information to the audience.
And if that reasoning casts them in a bad light, expect it to receive a thorough investigation.
Oh well, alright. It took me about 3 posts out of me running around the criticism the judges addressed against my Yukari's characterization. I feel defeated for having to show what pulls the characters' strings. A great part of the fun I have reading a book is trying to figure what's happening behind the scenes. Maybe for writing fanfic the rules are actually different. So, let me talk about moustache twirling Yukari, at once:
Yukari loves Gensokyo. It's the realm she dearly created and maintained for centuries, both as a personal retreat, and also as a general haven for her endangered species. While she didn't start the creation process alone (the original Hakurei helped) she has poured a great deal of power and influence into the land, more than any other being. So, Yukari's mindset for me starts at the very understandable love for her land.
With this love in mind, let's see how nicely Yukari actually behaves when there's something threatens Gensokyo, by reading her story mode in Scarlet Weather Rapsody. Fans of whimsical, lulzy Yukari will be utterly disappointed as she dishes out a no-nonsense beating that starts with Reimu ("why isn't the shrine restored yet?") up to Tenshi. For more of the same, check Iku fight against her on the same game. That's the Yukari I'm writing about. The one nasty enough to resort to the playground tactic of saying what your opponent is saying, only in reverse, and you can't even get angry. Because she's right.
Then there's the Scarlet sisters. I don't believe I need to explain at length why Yukari has for them the same love she has for Tenshi and Utsuho. And yet, she's forced (by who? the canon isn't clear, and this is one of the parts the fandom must supply. My answer for that is "Yuugi") to endure the existence of all these people in HER land. How to deal with it? The only Yukari-like answer I can find is by not being nice to these people, whenever is convenient and fun to do. This can be done by using Remilia's kiddy's enthusiasm to send the vampire on a rocket to the moon, or by witholding Patchouli's presence in a council, where the magician could say something sensible that troubled her plans. (Patchouli, unlike Remilia, is a great observer and it's actually very intelligent). Is it petty? It's very petty. Is it evil? Yes, because the
right thing is to forgive, but in Yukari's head, it's payback for the threat they are to Gensokyo.
I hope that this concludes the investigation as pertaining to that story.
As an aside, I'm not sure a series that takes stuff from an animistic religion and makes them MORE human is the best place to fight against things being human like in fantasy.
I for one plead guilty to thinking too hard about doujinshi shooting games about lolis in silly hats. Thing is, ZUN makes quite an effort on characterization, having released volumes of nothing but backstory. His writing, as seen directly in CiLR, is pretty keen on showing, for instance, that Mokou lives a completely alien life (because she doesn't need to eat, sleep, etc) but at the same time clings to Kaguya out of the very human need for company and acceptance. Likewise, every Remilia profile is basically a variation of: "This a terrible being of untold strength and power. Also, spoiled little girl." This is the cognitive dissonance I tried to show in the previous post and that I want to see on more stories. Remilia can flatten a building with her brain OR her brawn if she feels motivated, but she's also a kid who feels genuinely sad and lost if things are not going as she expected. Yukari is a combination of alien elder being/angry bitchy boss/imposing older sister. Ignoring any of these facets is, for me, demeaning to the original.
I'm all for gag-manga and general silliness, and I actually believe these all belong together in Touhou, and if possible in the same story.
And don't get me started on Eirin. If you guys read my fic and thought Yukari was bad, you'll gonna utterly hate what I do with miss Yagokoro.
Finally, the villains' bit: I don't believe in villains, period. I think that the most interesting stories are about people antagonizing each other without any obvious moral winners. I think Gensokyo is a pretty good setting for this kind of story, because it puts on the same pot a lot of quirky, bitchy, alien people all rubbing shoulders with each other. The "villain" in a Gensokyo story for me would be the entire human civilization (at least the ones who sent a war expedition to the moon) and even THEM would have a perfectly valid reason to antagonize the entire land of Gensokyo (there be monsters, kill them). It's just that I'd not want to change the POV to show their (ours) side.