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My favorite character is Alice, and I'll just repost my old post about why again: Initially catching my attention because of her bizarre, but dangerous, playstyle in SWR, I really grew to love this character the more I saw of her. One of the more cool-headed of the cast, her finesse over force aproach to combat, her weird form of combat, the somewhat mysterious past, all of her great themes, but most of all is that there's actually some semblance of character growth during her time in the series. From aloof and vengeful in PCB to a friendly rival by the time of SA, there's a lot potential in her that sadly, we're not likely to see in the official series (especially since she doesn't appear any more). I admit it the fangames that have given me most of my love for the character, particularly her portrayal in Sengoku Gensokyo and Fantasy Maiden Wars Scarlet. I really like the friendly rivalry dynamic that she and Marisa had in IN and SA, they easily have many of my favorite lines from the series, and I always enjoy seeing a fangame that goes a similar path with them. But, to my long frustration, I have a great deal of venom for the Marisa/Alice ship. I dislike shipping in general, dislike it even more when it's applied to a story/series without romance, and what I've seen of the Marisa/Alice ship makes it a perfect example of why. If a fanartist/writer wants them together, the 'edge' and negative parts of the Alice are sanded away, leaving a less interesting character, or if they want Alice to be in love and that be a bad thing, they tear out the positive things, also leaving a less interesting character. I could write a fair bit on what think of Alice and Marisas' relationship (which is definitely part headcanon, no way around that), but that would take a while. I'll probably come back after I look at some more . . .

There's a lot there, and it seems you've been busy separating out the topics into different threads, so I'll probably go give full responses there. Still, a few short things: Welcome to the forum! I don't think we've met, but it's nice to see new people being active. The music seems to be most people's first 'encounter' with the series. A good thing, I think. I think the 'darkness' of the setting is product of ZUN dabbling in darker material and the 'Fridge Logic' inherent to many elements of the setting. The tone of the series is almost always light, and I have a long-winded idea about Gensokyo actually being about nostalgia and keeping traditions alive through pageantry, but that's a whole different discussion. Concerning terrible memes, well, I've been apart of this community for nearly ten years, and I've seen terrible memes come and go. This one will as well, even if it doesn't feel like it now.