#she has been to gensokyo multiple times

[okulki]

AAAGHHHHH LIDIA I LOVE YOUUUUUU

Shes like a fabled legendary character to me frfr

[crimsonbits]

Anyway, on the topic of Touhou, now that it's 2024 and Akyuu is officially turning 30, I've seen a lot of people joke about whether she's going to die or not, and the answer is; she clearly won't, due to the already established Sazae-san Clause. That's been confirmed by the man himself. However, if ZUN has any sense of humor, I think he should actually kill her, only to have her continue being a present Touhou Character while she's chilling in Hell as a spirit waiting for her next reincarnation. Like, yeah we had a funeral and everything, but nothing's really changed other than her location. She continues to write guidebooks and Gensokyo Chronicle nonsense while chilling in some mansion provided by the Ministry of Right and Wrong in the most affluent area of New Hell. She just has to do paperwork for them as an exchange for the whole Miare thing. The heroines can visit her any time.

In a fantasy franchise where there's multiple easily accessible Afterlife Worlds and established undead characters, Mr. Ota has the chance to be the funniest motherfucker and deliver on an old hanging plot thread in the most inconsequential status-quo preserving way. It's his specialty.

[gensokyogarden]

⭐️ Errrrrm uhhhh PC-98 Reimu and Reimu because I wanna see what you could come up with on short notice lol (I DIDN’T FORGET TO TYPE REIMU AGAIN SHUSH OR ELSE I’LL THROW BRICKS /J)

"Huh, that's a little strange. I remember doing all those adventures but she seems to be a different person from me!"

Happy Reimu has, through blog interactions, come to accept the existence of multiple Gensokyo with multiple Reimus. She finds -98 to be interesting though because, despite having done at least some of the same adventures, this Reimu appears to be a different person than she is. It's the first time another Reimu hasn't, at least superficially, been the same person as her. She finds it really interesting so she often finds herself spending long amounts of time asking 98 about the elements of her life.

[megumu-iizunamaru]

Touhou 19 talk and predictions.｡.:*☆

Well well well.. He finally announced it! Touhou Juuouen ~ Unfinished Dream of All Living Ghost's demo will be released May 7th during the 20th Reitaisai. Predictions under Read More!

Story.

So first of all, UDoALG (one long acronym lmao) will be a direct sequel to WBaWC and UM, which is pretty cool! Looks like WBaWC will follow MoF and LoLK as one of the domino effect games.

The story is about animal spirits trying take Gensokyo over, basically? The story summary says "As a result of the markets opening up, all ownership of the ancient land has returned to nothing.", which probably means Chimata's ability affected the whole land. Gonna take a wild guess and say that the animals of Gensokyo and Animal Realm are pretty much having turf wars over certain areas of Gensokyo.

The question is, is the 'mastermind' going to be someone from the Animal Realm or someone from Gensokyo? And if it's a Gensokyan, then what kind of spirit or spirits is it going to be?

My first guess is going to be someone from the story of Momotar��, which features a dog, a monkey and a pheasant. Why? The size of the playable cast (19) makes me feel like there will be multiple masterminds this time around, and i really like the story! lol.

Second guess is going to be rogue spirits from the Animal Realm. I personally don't think any of the 4 yakuza bosses would be behind this incident, although it does sound like something Saki would do. Guessing the motive behind this incident could be that some spirits of the Animal Realm go take refuge in Gensokyo to escape the 4 yakuza clans, but eventually start taking it over due to their nature.

The Cast.

As for the cast of the game, I have no idea. Zun loves to add very unexpected characters to these kinda games. Just look at Gouyoku Ibun and AoCF. BUT I really like the idea of the cast being themed after the Chinese zodiac.

We already have Seiran (rabbit), Nazrin (rat) and Aunn (dog) as confirmed playable characters, and they do fit this theme.

We also do have some matching characters for a number of the zodiac, such as:

Urumi (ox), Shou (tiger), Saki (horse), Yuuma (sheep/goat), and Kutaka (rooster).

You could argue that the Satori sisters fit monkey, Kanako fits snake and Yachie fits dragon, but in my opinion they are probably not going to be in the game because they really aren't animal spirits, except for Yachie, who i personally do not see becoming playable due to her tendency of not getting her hands dirty.

However if these characters will be playable, then we will be missing a pig themed character. Could this be a new one? who knows.

So if hypotetically 12 of the 19 playable characters are based off the Chinese zodiac, then what about the rest of them? My personal picks are:

Mamizou: She has become a series regular since her debut, and i think the game's theme and story are perfect for her. She has been very vocal about wanting a high ranking position within the hierarchy of Gensokyo and this feels like a chance for her to take action.

Aya: Another series regular and Zun seems to love writing her, so why not? + Bonus points for being an animal yokai.

Orin: She is an animal, specifically a cat yokai, and in some versions of the Chinese zodiac, there is a cat instead of the rabbit. She also has been a lot more active recently because of Detective Satori, and imo it would be cool to see how a person who can manipulate spirits would interact with animal spirits.

Megumu: She was the mastermind behind the Ability Card incident, so i feel like she would be interested in the aftermath of that. She also could fill the "dragon" role in the zodiac because of her name (龍) is an alternative read of dragon.

Nue: This is a stretch but a Nue is a chimera with many animal parts so maybe.. (<- maximum copium)

Keine: She could fill the "ox" role, and i feel like she could get involved to protect the human village, which is one of the confirmed stages in the game.

Chimata: Bc why not.

(I have some doubts about the Chinese zodiac theme because afaik it's not that commonly used in Japan, and the missing zodiacs seem kind of random, mainly the pig. BUT i would love to finally get actual snake, monkey and pig yokai.)

Other thoughts.

Personally the premise is not that exciting to me. While I love both WBaWC and UM, I feel like it's about time we move on. This game could prove me wrong and be my favorite one yet, but those are just my initial thoughts.

The gameplay seems like it could be fun, PoFV was a decent game imo and making it more like the mainline games seems like a clear improvement. I personally am a bit bored of the ability cards and i feel like they will just overcomplicate things, but once again i could be happily proven wrong.

Anyways, I hope the OST will be a good one, a good amount of it will be re-used themes but that is not a problem.

Nothing else to add, excited for May 7th!!

*edit: replaced Saki with Orin, tired brain moment*

[demongirlgarlicbread]

Thinking about touhou project is a strong candidate for universes beyond. It has:

A large cast of identifiable characters with flavorful abilities that span the entire color pie

A setting that meshes well with the aesthetics of modern magic, that being fantasy with a few modernish elements

A number of different groups and individuals jostling for influence and control, which can be loosely divided into "gods, humans/their protectors, monsters, outsiders" for the precon decks

A great deal of unique and interesting locales to use for card art

A very large and passionate fanbase to attract to magic

A rights holder that has said and shown multiple times he's open to other people using his intellectual property, meaning he would probably be open to striking a deal with WotC

My breakdown of potential decks ended up being very lengthy so. Here's a readmore.

I think I would make the gods focused deck Sultai. Kanako and Okina as intended commanders. The gods of gensokyo are forces of tradition and the old ways, wholly rooted in natural orders and the Way Things Are. And yet they strive for more faith, and progress. Kanako specifically. She's ambitious and hungry for power and influence. Using progress and modernization to attain it, even as she herself is a creature of faith and tradition.

Okina, meanwhile, is strongly Blue/Black, sitting in the shadows and steering things in her favor. She is a secret god, and a schemer. And in turn, she can control life energy and through it nature and the seasons. Black and green have been shown as the colors of the dispossessed as well, the cast off and the refused. Which fits her role as a god of outcasts and the ignored.

Junko as monoblack and Hecatia can be seen as Sultai too. It is admittedly more of a "Gods and Spirits" deck. Fairies fit in here too. Primarily green, with bits of blue and black.

The deck I think would be quite focused on the long game, closing out with flashy sorceries. Ramping as gathering faith, big mana spells as miracles. The kind of deck you could throw Emergent Ultimatum into and have it feel fitting.

The humans of Gensokyo I would place squarely in Naya. Reimu is very, very Naya. Go with the flow, keep order in Gensokyo, and pursue passion when she isn't needed. She has a temper, but is generally cheerful. Harmony defines her. She has ambition, but it's in spurts of desire that peter out quickly before she moves onto the next thing. Black and blue are not really part of her character.

As a partner commander I would go with Kasen. She's more active and moralizing, strongly white to Reimu's strongly green nature. Characters like Keine and Mokou fit neatly into Selesnya and monored respectively.

You could throw the buddhists, taoists, and celestials in as well. They'd be in line with Kasen, white tends to be religious, and they're not exactly malicious.

Mechanically I think it would be a go wide tokens deck. 1/1 humans, Kasen with 3/3 beasts. ETB effects and synergies, and some convoke. What you'd expect from Naya.

Monsters is obviously the native youkai of Gensokyo, and while Yukari would be fitting for the role, she is very much not Jund in character and presumed mechanics. I'll get to her later. Rather, I think the front and center commander would be Yuuka. She lives by her whims, she respects strength. She pokes and prods when she finds it amusing, and is physically quite strong. She's a youkai of the natural world, of life and growth. But in turn, the nature of youkai as a whole is solidly black. Black to the core. They are creatures of predation and fear, the thing that goes bump in the night and preys on humanity. They take as their desires demand, and seek to further themselves and fight amongst themselves for standing and prestige. Red and green is wild nature, red and black is passion and ambition, and green and black are the feast on the dead.

As a secondary commander, to represent the Animal Realm, I think Yuuma is the Jundiest of all three family leaders, a creature of instinct and consumption opportunism and greed. The tengu in turn are as black as black gets, with red sprinkled in here and there. Old hell's denizens fit in nicely here too.

It would presumably function as a beatdown deck. Ramp, sacrifice a few creatures for resources, develop a vicious board state and then swing hard enough to send your opponents over the fences. Gensokyo's youkai are held in check by custom and necessity, and if left to run rampant they would ravage the human population.

And now. The outsiders. This is I think is the loosest and most difficult category. There are a lot of forces at play in the world of touhou project, outside of Gensokyo proper. The moon, various denizens of the afterlife. Those who've come to influence Gensokyo but are not strictly native, or smoothly integrated. I deliberated a bit on how best to define them all. And they're disparate in their specific goals and their motives. But I realized. All of them seek or exert control, all of them plot and plan, all of them have ambition. The outsiders are best represented by Esper. As much as Yukari lives by her whims, and is a youkai's youkai, she is still an exemplar of a black and blue character who has reached the top, and keeps a stranglehold on power. She enforces harmony and control on Gensokyo, keeps tabs on everything, and uses tools like Reimu to deal with trouble. She's happy to sit in her corner and let others bumble through problems that always Work Out In The End. Returning to status quo.

While Hecatia is elsewhere, the bureaucracy of hell is very much Orzhov. The Lunarians are very strongly monowhite. Remilia is black and blue, and while her sister could be best represented by Rakdos, monoblack fits decently well. Patchy as blue, Meiling as white, Sakuya as blue/white. But finding a secondary commander is a different matter. So many candidates for the outsider deck don't match every bit of the shard.

But. Consider Zanmu. She's a charismatic and unifying figure. She's clever and ambitious, and described as intelligentsia. She's careful and considerate, and not prone to outbursts. And she seeks control of Gensokyo in its entirety for a greater good of peace, and only backs down from it after being convinced that Gensokyo would be better maintained by Reimu. She's perfect for the role, and she already has mind magic down pat with the ability to manipulate nothingness.

I think the outsiders deck would play nicely as control, taxes, and politics. Keep an eye on each opponent, and steer them into one another as you work towards your own winning position.

There are obviously kinks to work out. Edge cases, who's in what deck. How to manage non-legendary creatures when touhou is full up to the brim with named characters and has so little in the way of Generic Guy. But I think the bones are solid, and there's something here. Much, admittedly, to my chagrin.

[anueutsuhos-touhou-profiles]

The Three Fairies of Light:

The Three Fairies of Light are a recurring trio of fairies who cause pranks and hijinks all across Gensokyo.

They are Sunny Milk, Luna Child, and Star Sapphire.

Sunny Milk, the redhead, is the leader, and possibly the closest thing to the leader of all the fairies in Gensokyo. Don't believe the boasts, she's the strongest fairy in Gensokyo, not Cirno! She has the ability to manipulate sunlight, and this has even extended to controlling the direction of other people’s lasers! She's been able to put up a legitimate fight against two of the Sages of Gensokyo! She didn't win either, of course, but points for trying. She's also the smartest fairy, routinely manipulating Cirno into doing their dirty work and even outsmarting Reimu at times.

Luna Child, the blonde, is kinda the dumb one. She can manipulate moonlight.

Star Sapphire, the black haired girl, is kinda... crazy. She's excited to do things the others are scared of, and sometimes goes overboard in her pranks.

They were the main characters of the very first official Touhou manga. Its name has changed multiple times over the years so I just call it the fairy manga. Its most recent name is Visionary Fairies in Shrine. It ended for the time being in 2019 after starting in 2006!

They also were the first characters to debut in the manga only to later appear in a game! Specifically, they were the main villains and final boss of Cirno's own game: Touhou 12.8: Great Fairy Wars. They destroyed Cirno's igloo and now she wants revenge!

[twinfoxtails]

@lecherousmaidens

"'If you're actually Satori, say 'Fate/Stay Home'."

Got to be careful in case that the woman in front of her is actually Eri, so she had to think of something ridiculous. Definitely one of Lilian's stuff. Either way.

"Here you go, Satori. Pretty much the recent cases so far which happened a while ago. All I can say is, if you're still looking for any counter-evidence to clear the boy's name, you have alot of work ahead of you. A fool's errand."

And Anna's passing over a file as she puts her hands in her jacket. She's quite interested how would Satori tackle these cases, or… would she realize that the right thing to do is kick the kitsune out?

Either way. The file's right in front of the mind reader for her to look at… along with other video tapes for her viewing.

The video tapes on a glance has nothing but names written on the cover, such as:

Shikieiki

Ran Yakumo

Reimu Hakurei

Alice Margatroid

Flandre Scarlet

Nyalter

Satori Komeiji

… Satori may have a good idea what those video tapes are.

"Take your time watching through this. And trust me when I say that I know if you burn the evidence, Satori. I'll know."

She does keep backups, after all. As for the files itself…

---

-- Kitsune cases report file summary --

-- CASE 1 -- Name of Reporter: Tsuga Iena Name of Victim: Komi Izuhara Clan: Wakasatsu Summary: Two months ago, Tsuga has yet another love date with her girlfriend, Izuhara. The both of them had been having sex for quiet a while, but on that one particular instance, Izuhara suddenly looks inexperiences. She forgot most of her techniques, she was wondering what was happening, and she's just… really bad, it was like fucking a dead clam.

The next morning, Izuahra was gone, and it turns out, the 'real' Izuhara was actually out on a mission. When confronted about what happened last night, she had no idea what was happening.

If it were any other shapeshifter, they would not know Izuhara's name, nor where her room is, so therefore, the only explanation is that it's Eri Philomele.

-- CASE 2 -- Name of Reporter: Amiya Mori Name of Victim: Amiya Mori Clan: Kakuneko Summary: One month ago, while she was doing her chores, Amiya suddenly felt like there was a spirit entering her body. Filled with lust and an urge to have sex with most of the kasha in Gensokyo, and so, she did so with multiple kasha, walking around naked and flirting with the others, and even going so far as to make her own harem.

However, the next day, she recall not knowing anything about it, and when she came to, she found a keychain of a white kitsune in her pocket, implying that it was, in fact, Eri Philomele possessing her, as the keychain was originally from his room.

-- CASE 3 -- Name of Reporter: Yonezawa Muranaka Name of Victim: Umeki Kagiyama, Fuwa Hikaze Clan: Shurei Summary: A recent case. Yonezawa's friend, Umeki went into the training gym when she saw a 'new, blond beauty' who has been practicing her kicks often. When Umeki approached her, Fuwa let out a smile before pushing her into the ground, striping her, and started having sex with her all day long, inside the training gym.

Of course, naturally, Fuwa doesn't know anything about it, nor does she know who Umeki is.

It's been rumored that because Fuwa has been hanging around Eri lately, Eri impersonated her and began having sex with her body, taking advantage of his junior's reputation without her knowing. No one has seen Umeki ever since, presumably killed off by Eri Philomele. When talked to him about this, he naturally feigned ignorance.

-- CASE 4 -- Name of Reporter: Hana Yokoyama (Anna) Name of Victim: Hana Yokoyama Clan: Hachitsume Summary: This is irrefutable evidence because I was there, Satori Komeiji.

It was a long time ago, when I found Orin looking at me, winking. She invited me to have sex with her, and so I did. The both of us made out with each other in bed, but I realized something was wrong. Thus, it turns out that Eri was in fact, Orin Kaenbyou after he revealed himself.

Naturally, I pretty much gave him a good pummeling after that.

You're pretty much running a fool's errand if you're trying to defend him. His reputation as a kitsune is solid enough. But if you do want to fight for him despite the mountains of evidence against him… well. Good luck.

---

"I already warned you, Satori. No use trying to fight against things which are already irrefutable. People like him deserve everything we throw at him. Not only is he a kitsune, he's also a boy to boot, the lesser gender in both Gensokyo and Chireiden. So what will you do?"

Well, even with Satori's mind reading, Anna clearly looks like she's telling the truth. The files and what she wrote have no biases at all. It's just reporting, plain as that.

Good luck!

[mimicteruyo]

The Little Teahouse Around the Corner

[Touhou Ship Week Day 7: Free day. KomaEiki + AkyuSuzu, 2.7k, crack/fluff]

---

If described very charitably, the construction before Eiki and Komachi could have been called a teahouse, exactly as the bamboo plank above the entrance claimed it was. More accurately, it was simply a large tent lit with red lanterns, standing conspicuously close to the Human Village.

"At least it's open?" Komachi eyed the obviously wet paint on the sign, then peered within. "I figured that at this hour, we'd have a choice between grilled lamprey and nothing this close to the village."

"Indeed." Eiki followed Komachi's example. There were certainly plenty of people within, each with a beverage in front of them, but the overall mood in the tent was quietly puzzled. Besides chairs and tables, there was also what looked bafflingly like an oden cart. "Something about this seems wrong."

"No worries, Sis! It ain't anything weird! We're runnin' a perfectly nice temp teahouse!"

They straightened up in unison. The speaker was a calico cat perched on a stool just barely to the side of the tent's entrance, grinning at them. "Lookin' for a cosy place to chat? We've got ya covered!"

Komachi grinned back. "Mike Goutokuji, right? Don't tell me this is your shop."

"It ain't. I'm just workin' here for a bit." Mike's tail swayed gently from side to side as she talked, its many-coloured fur catching the light of the lanterns. "I'm a barker! Which I know sounds really weird since I'm a cat an' all, but I can do the job. For a few days, anyway. Steady work doin' the same thing over an' over again ain't really my thing."

Komachi chuckled. "I know that feel— er."

Eiki chose to ignore the aborted remark. In any case, Mike's plans made it sound as though she was doing precisely what she supposed to do. Losing interest in things and loafing around were some of the chief goals in a cat's life, after all.

"Anyway," Mike curled up her palm. She beckoned three times. "Welcome to the Juniper Teahouse."

The next moment, Eiki found herself within the tent with no memory of stepping inside.

She halted, blinking in the sudden light. There were half a dozen customers within, humans and youkai alike, nursing teacups and expressions ranging from vexed to serene. Although there were multiple chairs for each table, every single customer was solitary. What had looked like an oden cart from the outside was precisely that; no-one appeared to man it, although the occasional bang and tuneful whistle from within it told her that someone was indeed there, just beyond sight.

"Komachi," she began, more puzzled than troubled even as she clutched the Rod of Remorse closer to her chest. "We should keep our eyes—"

It was at that moment that she became aware of a distinct lack of Komachi by her side. Only Mike was there, waving her legs in the air and looking very pleased with herself.

Eiki spun around. "Komachi?"

No answer. No sight of Komachi, either.

Standing by the entrance feeling foolish wasn't going to do anyone much good. Ignoring the slow blink Mike was giving her, Eiki stepped back outside.

And collided with an invisible barrier with enough force to momentarily bounce her off her feet. She staggered back in surprise.

Mike gave her an apologetic wince. "Sorry, Sis." Her tail swished low as Eiki studied her forehead for bumps. "After I've invited ya in, ya've gotta stay a while."

"Is this your ability?" Eiki prodded at the barrier with the Rod of Remorse. It proved as solid and unyielding as a ten-foot block of ice. "What happened to Komachi?"

"She'll be fine," said a familiar voice behind Eiki. "At least, she will be according to what Mike told me. You'll be a better judge of whether it's true or not."

Eiki turned to see a slightly less familiar face smiling at her close to the back of the tent and responded in kind. "I didn't notice you before. May I join you?"

Hieda no Akyuu assented with a nod. She waited for Eiki to take the seat opposite of her before continuing. "I hope you've been well. This present situation expected, of course."

Eiki crossed her hands on the table. "I would say so. The situation in Hell remains both confusing and volatile, but that's to be expected. Has your work progressed well?"

Akyuu took a careful sip from her cup. "It has, thank you. I've kept comfortably busy. And Kosuzu..." Akyuu's smile, which bore a distinct resemblance to that of her previous incarnation, brightened and then immediately dimmed. "I hope you don't mind my saying this, but I expected her to sit where you sit now." Her smile grew more rueful still. "Especially since she's the one who wished to come here."

"Has this establishment..." Eiki gestured at their surroundings and discovered that she couldn't call them that without correcting herself. "...Tent been here for long?"

"It appeared yesterday. As for me, I have been here for ten minutes. Mike informed me that it takes at least an hour for her invitations to be considered fulfilled."

"That's longer than I had hoped." Eiki frowned at the innocuous-looking exit and Mike, who was currently occupied with a moth circling the lantern nearest to the entrance before turning her attention back to Akyuu. "Can you tell me precisely what's going on in this place?"

"I can explain that!" a muddled but cheery voice called from the bottom of the oden cart.

---

Komachi had walked merrily along for several minutes, taking in the twilight air and seeing if she could get her breath to fog up in the lingering cold from the past winter, when she realised she had at no point decided to take an evening stroll. Moreover, she was now alone, something which was the exact opposite of her plans for the night.

She halted in the middle of the path and turned to look over her shoulder. The greenness of the teahouse tent blended into the evening behind her, but she could still see it when she squinted. Distance of course meant little to her: she could be back there nearly as soon as she decided upon it.

But first, it was best to figure what had happened. It was likely nothing serious: the situation had the feel of a fairy prank to it. Still, the fact that she couldn't actually remember what had passed rubbed her the wrong way.

"Alright..." She adjusted her scythe to rest more comfortably on her shoulder. "What happened here?"

So, there was the weird teahouse, and Mike, who did strike Komachi as bit of a prankster, but who had seemed earnest enough inviting them in. Had Mike addressed her invitation to Lady Eiki alone? No, Komachi was sure it had been extended to them both.

She recalled her only previous encounter with Mike, on a lazy afternoon not that long ago when she had wandered into Gensokyo and struck up a conversation with the cat upon meeting her on the road. Mike had mentioned arriving in Gensokyo not that long ago, having only recently left behind the temple she had been born at, and that due to circumstances she had done so before she had completed her training as a maneki—

"Damn."

At the moment of realisation, Komachi became aware of of running footsteps rapidly approaching her, just in time not to be entirely surprised by someone small but fast-moving crashing into her.

"Ow!" The person who had collided with her tottered back, holding a hand to her nose. Even in the dying light and with half her face covered, she was obviously Kosuzu Motoori. "I'm sorry! I just..."

Kosuzu trailed off. Her eyes travelled first up to Komachi's face, then to the blade of her scythe. She took a startled step back.

Komachi grinned. "No need to fret. You're not dying tonight."

Kosuzu relaxed quickly in that quietly alarming way of humans who made of habit of traipsing too close to the border of the mundane and the supernatural. As her shock drained away, it was replaced by an almost mournful expression, so out of place it was almost comical.

"What's the matter?" Komachi almost began walking to see if Kosuzu would follow, but she had a funny feeling it would only result in Kosuzu crashing into her again. "It's not wise for you to run alone on a dark night like this. Did someone refuse to return your favourite book?"

Kosuzu fidgeted with her sleeves. "No, nothing like that." For a moment, she looked hesitant to speak, but once she did, the words spilled out of her in a tumble. "Actually, it's our anniversary today."

"Whose?"

Kosuzu's cheeks flushed pink. "Mine and Akyuu's."

"Really?" Komachi couldn't help but chuckle. "That's a funny coincidence."

"What is?"

"Never mind." Komachi relaxed her stance. "Let's see if I can guess what happened. Since it was your anniversary, you decided to go out to celebrate."

"That's right."

"And you happened upon a new, strange teahouse."

"Exactly!" Kosuzu halted her eager nodding to blink. "How did you know?"

"Because it sounds like we're in the same figurative boat."

"Oh." Kosuzu smiled weakly. "I suppose that's better than a literal boat. Um, I mean..."

Komachi laughed. "That'll be another day." Before Kosuzu could become too unsettled, she nudged her head towards the road behind them. "Come on. Let's go find our dates."

---

"Here you go." Suika Ibuki slammed the teacup onto the table with enough force to make half the liquid within leap into the air. Miraculously, not only were both the table and cup undamaged, but the drink returned into the cup without so much as a single drop spilling. She winked. "I'd say it's on the house, but I'm guessing you'd take that for a bribe."

Eiki took the cup gingerly. Seeing its contents in the air had already made it obvious it was filled with anything but tea, but the scent confirmed it. "Is this sake?"

"Well, yeah."

"The sign outside said you're running a teahouse."

"Yeah, yeah. Is there a law saying you can't serve sake in a teahouse?"

Eiki had to concede the point. "Not in Gensokyo, no."

"See? Try it. It's good." Suika turned towards Akyuu. "Care for a refill?"

As Akyuu murmured a demurral, Eiki took a sip from her drink. It was indeed rather good, but that was beside the real matter at hand. She looked up. "Suika—"

Suika had already left the table. Eiki watched her stalk around the tent, grinning as she went, gathering empty cups and refilling others with seemingly no input from the patrons.

"So where was I?" She returned and cheerfully pulled out the remaining seat for herself. If she was discomfited by any lingering memories of the less than auspicious circumstances during which she had last encountered Eiki, she showed no signs of it, instead beaming with the brightness shared by the very innocent and inveterate liars. "A story of some kind?"

"You were about to explain why we can't leave."

"Yeah, that's right. So this teahouse is just a bit of fun. I'll get going as soon as Reimu finds out I've set up shop this close to the village." Suika grinned. "Actually, I think I'll wait for her to show up. It's more fun that way."

Akyuu offered her a polite smile. Eiki pushed her cup aside. "And then you hired Mike?"

"That's right." Suika took Eiki's cup and downed it in a single long swig before continuing. "Of course, I don't really need her to gather customers. I can use my foregathering ability to bring people over just fine. But it feels more like a proper teahouse with an employee, doesn't it?"

"A floor might have a similar effect," commented Akyuu dryly.

"Anyway, since Mike can only invite one person in at a time, I decided to gather people into the area so that even if only half of them got in we'd still have plenty of customers. It worked really well, too. Until people tried to leave. I tried making the people disperse once they got stuck, obviously, but for some reason it only worked on those who hadn't been invited in at all. I'm guessing our abilities got entangled in some mysterious way."

Eiki nodded. "I see."

"Anyway, you don't have to worry. Everyone gets to leave eventually. Even the person stuck for the longest managed to walk out after two hours."

Akyuu set her cup down. "At least one of us may not have to wait for that long." She raised her voice. "Mike?"

Mike, who was no longer paying attention to the moth and was instead swinging her leg back and forth, jerked her head upwards. "What's up, Sis?"

"Can you step out for a moment?"

"Sure." Mike dove out. "Now what?"

Akyuu stood up and nodded at Suika. "Thank you for your hospitality." She gestured at Eiki to join her at the tent's entrance and waited until they were both there before speaking again. "Mike, can you attempt to invite us outside?"

"Oh, I see." Eiki smiled as she grasped Akyuu's intent. "Even if the invitation can only work on one of us, it still means one of us will be free to go."

"I hope you're the one invited out." Akyuu's smile was thin but sincere. "Unnerving as it is being this close to multiple youkai, I have made my peace with waiting here. After all, by remaining in one place I have better odds of re-uniting with—"

"Akyuu!"

They turned to look outside. Kosuzu hovered right behind Mike, bopping her head around in an effort to see past her. Behind her, calm but still curious, stood Komachi. Upon noticing Eiki, she gave her a cheery little wave.

Akyuu's smile immediately warmed to the point where its brightness was a match to the lanterns. "Everything is fine, Kosuzu. It's only a small supernatural obstacle."

Kosuzu gave a distracted nod, then turned towards Mike, looking almost ready to put hands on the cat. "Please invite us in!"

Mike's eyes darted from Komachi and Kosuzu to Akyuu and Eiki and then back. She frowned. "Kay, how about we try somethin' like this?"

She positioned herself in the tent's entrance, one foot in, one foot out. Before anyone could do anything to stop her, she beckoned with both hands. "Welcome!"

The next thing Eiki knew, she had collided with something unyielding but relatively soft.

"Oof." Komachi staggered back, then reached out to steady Eiki. She grinned. "At this rate I'm going to be qualified to work as a roadblock."

Back on her feet, Eiki looked around. She was outside again, with Komachi's hands on her arms and the tent securely behind. "Who knows how far I would have walked if you hadn't stopped me. Thank you for catching me."

"Did you ever doubt I wouldn't?"

Eiki smiled back at her. "No. I didn't."

They looked back. Within the tent, Kosuzu was clinging to Akyuu's arm, speaking rapidly but too quietly for any discernible words to make it outside the tent. Mike was watching them from her perch, smiling with self-satisfaction.

"Well, that worked out great." Suika came to the entrance, beaming as though Mike's success was hers as well. "Must be fate." She winked. "And don't worry about paying. The drink was on the house after all."

Given that most of the drink remained in the house, Eiki found little cause to complain. "Thank you." She frowned. "Don't invite more people in until you have understood what causes this. Consider—"

"Yeah, sure." Suika made a sweeping wave. "Have a good night!"

She retreated back into the tent. Only Mike remained near the entrance, still pleased with herself.

"That didn't exactly work out, huh?" said Komachi, smiling all the while.

"Yes, I suppose it didn't." Eiki watched Akyuu and Kosuzu retake the table Akyuu had previously occupied, smiling at each other all as though they were the only two people in the world. "But it doesn't seem to have done any harm, either. Should we consider the grilled lamprey stand?"

"Funny. I was just thinking I was in the mood for some fried fish." Komachi let go to adjust her scythe, which had nearly fallen from her shoulder in the collision, then held out her hand. "How about we go see what else fate has in store for us tonight?"

And so they did, continuing down the road together, filled with newfound appreciation for the beauty of spring nights.

[kirbymongerr]

So for my own satisfaction I'm gonna write the Reimu rundown I've been cooking up but put it in a readmore so anon don't get spoiled

Reimu is the core of touhou in multiple ways. The central character, consistent protagonist, emblematic of many key concepts.

Her job is to be a sort of magic sheriff. Keep the peace, keep unruly folks in line, handle troublemakers.

She enjoys the doing of it, going out a doing some Danmaku (or cleaving a ghost in half) to sort shit but hates the importance and the responsibility. Maintaining the status quo in Gensokyo isn't exactly cut and dry since the humans need to be afraid, but not so afraid they fall into despair. Reimu's job isn't exclusive Youkai busting and explicitly not to save everyone. It is to keep Gensokyo running smoothly, and Gensokyo was made for the Youkai. This burden and contradiction, where her key stated task is Youkai Extermination but she's there to keep their peace too, weighs on her. She likes when it's as simple as an incident, go out smack some chumps upside the head in laser dodgeball, be home in time for tea, but that's more a once a year deal.

Reimu likes being counted on and seen as reliable, but dislikes the responsibility because it's something to live up to.

Reimu is a straight talker in a world of metaphor, fantasy and monologue making jerks. This endears her to a lot of people who are tired of sly folk and sycophants, which leads to Reimu infuriatingly making multiple friends by calling them a dumb asshole (in less explicit terms) and beating them at Danmaku. In turn, she's stuck with those friends because outside of specific Youkai Extermination work, Reimu rarely has the heart to be really mean (by her standards, she's normally just blunt and direct). So in turn, Reimu is so quick to go to "see Youkai during incident, blast em" that in touhou 14 where the characters are partially possessed by their tools which makes them crueller and violent, Reimu's dialogue doesn't change regardless of if she uses the cursed tool or not.

She's both genuinely nice and not happy to hurt people, yet also will jump to violence as quickly as possible when it's a viable option.

Reimu lives in a place shaped by fantasy and metaphor, yet hates wishy-washy vague statements or outcomes. She wants things sorted, done and dusted, cleanly resolved. She gets endless vaguery and regular interaction with Youkai which are by nature vague and flighty.

Reimu detests hard work yet will put in a massive amount of effort when motivated. She'll try get rich quick schemes one after the other, yet when the actual path to success is consistent somewhat difficult work, she does it long enough to one-up a rival then drops it.

A key one is Reimu is incredibly powerful. The Danmaku system was developed in part because Reimu has an ability that is utterly unbeatable she'd definitely use in serious fights. Then she's so good at Danmaku no-one can beat her at that anyway. She stays intriguing because she's not great at most other things. She can't stay healthy, struggles to keep deadlines and will ignore an incident while it benefits her. Yet still she's dedicated, takes her role seriously and will dole out no-nonsense Youkai Extermination when it's called for.

Reimu just is, complex. Multifaceted. Contradictory yet so understandable. And still I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. I once tried writing Reimu, and was frozen there's so much to her, yet she's so simple deep down. How do I capture that? How can I sum her up in her words like ZUN can?

I can't. That's just how much there is to Reimu Hakurei. No one person (besides ZUN) sees more than part of her, understands more than a few facets of her. Serious and reliable to some. Woefully incompetent to others.

[occasionaltouhou]

[ran voice] it’s not illegal if they don’t catch you

Yakumo Yukari had shown up that morning unannounced and declared that she would be staying over for a few days.

It was hardly unusual for her to do that; and at this point, Hakugyokurou had a guest bedroom permanently reserved for her, so it was simply a matter of Youmu clearing out the dust and moving all her bags into the room. More than once, Youmu had wondered why Yukari didn’t simply use her abilities to immediately tailor the room to her liking, but she assumed that it would be a needless waste of energy when Youmu was right there.

Still, it was mid-afternoon when she returned to the main room to announce that her work was done.

Yakumo Ran, the gap youkai’s shikigami, was dutifully pouring tea for Yukari and Yuyuko. Youmu wondered if Ran had the same kinds of thoughts that she did about Yukari’s abilities, then decided against it; even ignoring the shikigami’s programming, she was far too diligent to have any such thoughts about her master.

As she made her announcement, Yukari grinned one of her catlike smiles, the kind that you could never be sure what they really meant, and remarked, cheerfully, “Finishing that early means you might be able to take Youmu on the shopping trip with you, Ran.”

Ran glanced at her, but said nothing, so Yukari continued.

“We’ll need a lot of food this time. I’m planning on staying for at least a week, if not longer. And we might have some events, too~! Not that it isn’t lovely to just spend time in your company, Yuyuko dearest, but it’s important to keep things interesting, isn’t it~?”

“Of course, of course,” replied Yuyuko, drinking her tea and smiling to herself. “Maybe we could invite the Prismrivers over… get an exclusive performance from them.”

“Those ghosts with their music to sway the listeners’ hearts, hmm~? Oh, that would be very interesting to see…”

Youmu, seemingly forgotten after her entrance, began to turn around, but Yukari’s voice interrupted her mid-step.

“So, Ran, you should take Youmu now, hmm? After all, we might even be able to get them tonight, and we wouldn’t want to be short on food.”

“Of course not, Lady Yukari. I’ll head out immediately.”

“Make sure to get everything on the list, Ran~ I won’t take any excuses this time.”

“Of course, Lady Yukari.”

Ran sighed, almost imperceptibly; the kind of sigh that only the long-suffering servant could identify. Youmu would have glanced at her in surprise, but she was still barely keeping up with the conversation as it was; any conversation between Yuyuko and Yukari tended to give her a headache.

So instead she followed Ran outside, still dressed in her somewhat dusty outfit, and watched as the kitsune stood in Hakugyokurou’s courtyard and began to make gestures in the air, gestures that left orange trails of flame that began to take on their own shape, a writhing, blazing golden symbol floating in the air.

“Wh-where are we going?” asked Youmu.

Ran glanced down at her, but didn’t cease in her casting. “Outside.” Then, she sighed again. “Lady Yukari always overdoes it when she comes here, even taking into account Lady Yuyuko’s appetite… and there’s only one place to get all the food we need.”

Youmu supposed that was true; every time that Yukari came over, they inevitably threw a party that involved dozens of dishes she’d never seen before. She considered herself lucky that it was Ran, rather than her, who’d had to manage the kitchen in preparing them.

Then the actual response to her question caught up with her thoughts.

“Outside?” repeated Youmu. “Like… Outside outside?”

Ran nodded, and made a final gesture. The seal began to spin, and as it spun, the world around them was swept away, and another one took its place; a world of cold white lighting and tiled floors, and seemingly endless metal rows filled with food.

Ran had changed in appearance, too; her indigo tabard had become an indigo jacket, whilst her white dress had become a white shirt and ankle-length white pants. Her ears and tails, too, had vanished… and yet, there was still the illusory impression of a pale golden haze around her; that something was there, and it simply wasn’t visible.

But before she could think any longer, Ran was already walking off quickly, taking a list from a pocket she hadn’t had a moment ago and grabbing something that resembled a wheelbarrow made of thin pieces of metal. By the time Youmu had begun to collect herself, the kitsune had already begun to remove things from the shelves and put them into the odd wheelbarrow.

As she went, Ran meticulously ticked each item off the list, but even as she did, she seemed to be putting things in without ticking them off. And normally, Youmu would have asked, but this strange, bright world was overwhelming her with other things to pay attention to. As she walked next to Ran, she took a small metal can off one of the shelves and looked at it. Its labelling was written in a language she didn’t recognise, but there were pictures of tomatoes on it, so she supposed it must be full of tomatoes. Still holding the can of tomatoes, she followed after Ran once more.

“Where are we?” she asked, as they turned into another corridor lined with cans.

Ran hesitated for a moment. “It’s… somewhere in America,” she replied. “It’s just a supermarket. Lady Yukari likes Western food, and they have a lot of it here, so it saves me multiple trips.”

Youmu nodded, then was silent for a moment. “What’s a supermarket?”

“It’s like a market, but bigger.”

Youmu nodded again. “And they have lots of these in America?”

“Quite a lot, yes.”

Ran went back to silently filling the wheelbarrow, and then another thought occurred to Youmu.

“Am I allowed to be out here?”

Ran glanced down at her, and smiled. “Allowed?” she repeated. “There’s no rule preventing youkai from leaving Gensokyo, it’s merely risky. In Gensokyo, our existences are secure; outside of it, we’re at the mercy of human belief. That’s why I placed us under an enchantment, even though there’s no-one around.”

“Are there normally more people…?”

“Of course. But it’s early in the morning over here, and the workers who should be filling the shelves have all decided to take a break.” Ran smiled to herself, and something in her smile was more Yukari-like than one would expect; a clever, sharp kind of smile, almost bordering on cruel. “The cameras won’t see us, and even if someone does happen across us, they’ll just think we’re meant to be here. Humans are so easy to manipulate… they only want to see what they expect to see, so if you give to them, they’ll give you no trouble at all~”

“M-miss Ran…?”

Ran glanced back down at her in surprise. “My apologies. I usually do these trips on my own, so I’m used to talking to myself… And you’re half-human, yourself, of course. Although, you aren’t so vulnerable to illusions as these ones are.”

“Mhmm…” There was another silence, and then, “Miss Ran, why do you serve Lady Yukari?”

“Why I chose to become her shikigami, you mean?”

Youmu nodded, and for the first time, Ran stopped moving the now-overstuffed wheelbarrow.

And then she grinned, and this time it truly was a sharp grin, with sharp teeth, and glittering golden eyes.

“When a kitsune has nine tails, she’s become truly powerful -- but she’s also reached the limits of her ability. Lady Yukari offered me to go beyond those limits, and I accepted, without hesitating. Now, let me ask you -- why do you serve your Lady Yuyuko?”

Youmu opened her mouth to reply, and then frowned to herself. Ran took up the handles of the shopping wheelbarrow and resumed walking.

She supposed it had been a rude question to ask, Youmu thought, and she should have expected that kind of answer, but she’d never really thought about it before. Serving Yuyuko was simply what the Konpaku family did; she’d never had to think of a reason for it.

For the last few minutes of the journey there was silence, until they returned to the slightly-more-open space where they had initially appeared, and Ran began to cast a blazing symbol in the air once more.

“Lady Ran?”

“Yes?”

“Is it alright… if I don’t have an answer?”

Ran raised an eyebrow. “I think you do have an answer, though. You just might not recognise it for what it is.”

Youmu looked blank for a moment, and Ran smiled; not her fierce smile from earlier, but a calmer, gentler one. “I confess… I lied a little bit, earlier. That’s why I chose to become Lady Yukari’s shikigami, certainly, but that’s not why I stayed. And the truth is, she’s a difficult employer… she leaves me with a lot of work, and is rarely ever grateful. Even with the power she offers, I could simply refuse to take it, and leave…”

The mark was almost complete once more.

“But the truth is, it’s interesting to follow her. And it’s fun, in its own way. And what about you, Youmu? Do you have fun doing what you do?”

Youmu thought for a moment about the work she put in around Lady Yuyuko’s home, work which was rarely acknowledged beyond an offhand comment. Then she thought about the parties and events she accompanied her to, and invariably had to clean up after, and often had to put up with teasing during.

And yet--

Whilst she was having them, she was certainly having fun, right? Fun she wouldn’t have been able to have, with people she wouldn’t have been able to meet, in places she wouldn’t have been able to go, if she weren’t Lady Yuyuko’s attendant.

Indeed, why had she even hesitated?

“Of course I do!”

Ran grinned again, a smile that was washed away with the rest of the world as that stark white world was replaced with the cool shades of the Netherworld’s evening.

The wheelbarrow had somehow become an immense sack which Ran held over her shoulder effortlessly as she strolled back into Hakugyokurou; then, she unfurled it, and Yukari immediately began to critically examine the pile of food.

After a moment, she nodded. “This should be satisfactory. As usual, excellent service, Ran.”

“Of course, Lady Yukari. And Miss Youmu’s assistance was greatly appreciated.”

“I’m sure it was~” replied Yukari in a singsong voice.

“Of course it was, Yukari,” said Yuyuko, nudging her with her shoulder and smiling brightly. “Youmu’s extremely capable, so I’m sure she did a fantastic job, as always!”

And somehow that made all of it worth it.

[toho-literature]

Perfect Memento in Strict Sense: Pages 130-132 - Heroic Legends: Kaguya Houraisan

Eternal Princess

Kaguya Houraisan

Occupation: Unknown

Ability: Manipulation of eternity and the instantaneous

Residence: Eientei

The princess of Eientei.

Even her current activities are unknown.

Eientei is a mysterious place which keeps lots of rabbits, even youkai rabbits, and it seems that she is its mistress.

Lately Ms. Yagokoro has started selling medicine there, but until then nobody even knew of its existence.

What have they been doing until now? What is the significance of this mysterious woman's organization? The mysteries surrounding Eientei only continue to intensify.

However, as the mansion has recently begun to host events and the inhabitants are beginning to appear in the human village, the opportunities to meet the proprietor of Eientei are increasing.

The princess of Eientei is surprisingly refined in the art of conversation (*1) and will engage listeners in a variety of old tales.

Perhaps, she is a descendant of the biwa hōshi or something.

Ability

She possesses the ability to manipulate eternity and the instantaneous.

As eternity refers to a world with no history, it is also a world where change is eternally unknown.

No matter how much you may try to bring about change in such a world, it is futile in a world where time has essentially stopped.

It is believed that Eientei suddenly appeared in human history and began to experience the passage of time because she undid the effects of her eternity magic.

Under the effects of that magic, Eientei would probably have never appeared in the human world, forever remaining hidden in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost (*2).

However, a perpetual world denies any sort of change.

She may have lived for a very long time without having changed at all.

Her other ability regarding the instantaneous is complementary to her manipulation of eternity and allows control over extremely short time durations.

It allows her to act just using aggregates of instants so short as to be imperceptible to human beings.

That time interval is composed of instants, so it cannot be perceived by normal humans, even though time progresses normally.

Using this time, she can have multiple parallel histories at once.

As both of these abilities are abilities to manipulate time, they far surpass what normal humans are capable of.

The Lunar Capital Exposition: “All Creations of the Lunar Capital”

The exposition was an event where Eientei opened itself to the public to display various Lunar goods and informational exhibits, giving the public a chance to learn about the manor and the moon.

Relations between Gensokyo and the Moon ceased long ago.

The exposition was a great success with both humans seeing the subjects of the exhibits for the first time and with youkai who came to reminisce about the past.

Since the nobles of the Lunar Capital are hesitant to even talk with beings of Earth, it has been a long time since any free discussion occurred.

The sudden opening of the exhibition sent a shock throughout Gensokyo, and there were few whose interest it didn't capture.

Most of the displays at the exhibition could be divided into three categories.

The first is the classic category of amazing items, such as carriages that fly through the sky, garments that make the body light enough to float through the air, the rabbits' mortars, etc.

These exhibits allow viewers to imagine the life of nobles in the Lunar Capital.

The next group, the military category, provided a stark contrast to the classics category: a vulcan cannon light enough to wield with one hand, an ultra-small Planck bomb, a roving tank designed for lunar exploration, and other modern weapons.

This gave viewers a glimpse at the incredibly advanced technology of the Lunar Capital.

The final group, the academic category, consisted of document exhibits: the books of lunar history, divine medicine, mathematical philosophy, mad grimoires, etc.

Even though the books were written on paper, they still used advanced technology: the pictures moved, solid forms would pop out of the pages, and unfamiliar words in the text would be explained in incredible detail if you simply touched them.

Unfortunately, they were all written in the Lunarian language, and thus, completely incomprehensible.

As the exhibition was extremely popular, the proprietress announced her intention to hold it yearly.

It appears that they're preparing some sort of a stage in order to hold a performance next time.

*1: Though her manner of speech is quite dated.

*2: Even its name "House of Eternity" implies this.

[gensokyogarden]

I think you all have strong points and if my brain were more together I'd ramble about them in detail but since it's unfocussed I'll ramble quickly.

Amber: You pay very good attention to events. Like, I miss muse birthdays and the like all the time. But anytime someone has something special going on you're sending something in for them.

Ran: Sometimes I can barely keep track of my own headcanons from a month ago but you manage to incorporate details from years of portraying your muses into how you write. Also you have a lot of interesting ideas that gives you unique takes on characters. For example I think your Sanae stands out in several ways. Plus you do full story arcs for your characters and that's real cool.

Anne-mun: You are literally so detailed in your lore and when you write longer replies you're similarly detailed in what you write. You're also very dedicated to projects like your smut-spam. You're also better than me at boardgames. Based on just about every one we played together.

Ruler: I called Frozenfairy the funniest but you're also incredibly funny. You're also the only person I know that only writes a single muse and I think that's allowed you to really make your portrayal of Seiga iconic. To the point that I kind of just think of your Seiga when I think of the canon character.

Sethy: You write muses from very different fandoms, and multiple versions of the same character, very well. Your muses always come across as sweet and charming, which makes you very fun to write with.

Nep: I only just met Nep tbh so I'm limited in what I can say, but I think that they lend a lot of life to their muses in the way they write them. In particular I think they've got a really great dynamic any time they write with Ran.

Aurora: First off your pfp is sooooo cute, I don't think I ever said that. On top of that you've got a lot of enthusiasm. Maybe that's a strange way to put it but you're always happy to share things about your muses and to put it into what you write about them. You're also the only person I've ever seen make danmaku for their characters and that's really cool.

Vel: You're able to take a, in my opinion, quite obscure character (Lily Black) and make her fun and interesting. I also think that Mugi and Maki are real fun oc ideas. Expanding on the rabbits that serve under Eirin is super rad. Also, you always have fun ideas about little mini event things. I quite enjoyed the little lottery box thing you did not long ago.

Argo: This isn't a roleplay strongpoint but you're always there to check in on my health and things. I really appreciate that. As a strongpoint of roleplay, I think you adapt to stuff really well.

Kay: I think Kay's most unique strongpoint is her confidence. Kay radiates bad bitch energy and I highly respect it. Beyond that I don't think I need to say much but you've been a real good friend to me.

Noka: Noka you write even more muses than I do and I think anytime you write a muse you make them interesting. I am always excited to roleplay with your muses and I think we need to have them go on more cute adventures.

Soup: You're incredibly funny and also a master of non-sequiturs. Also you give attention to some real unrepresented characters and that makes me happy. Also the music that you make is really cool and I'm always excited when you share it.

Sats: Of course Sats is a really great writer but I think her real strong point is her great knowledge about folklore and how she incorporates that into her muses. The level of detail on some of her muses, notably Parsee, is genuinely so astounding to me.

Sarience: You're always there to make fun in character comments on the little things. Also you give attention to some characters who don't have much of a presence in the rpc like Hecatia. But also you're very good at writing Neka as just a sweet little bud to everyone in Gensokyo. I really like Neka.

Zane: I think your strong point is being dedicated to staying true to your muse's emotions and exploring how they should be feeling. Like when Eri left and you had a full arc of Nyalter working through her emotions. I greatly enjoyed that.

Swigg: You have ideas that go against the standard grain of fandom perceptions and I really like them. For example, your Nazrin is my favorite Nazrin. I also think you've done a great job of both breathing life into technically canon characters (Chang'e) and creating really lovable ocs (Hana).

Kyo: I do not write with Kyo enough but Kyo makes all their muses fun. I particularly love Kyo's take on Marisa. Generally though I'd say your strong point is the energy that you bring to your muses.

Momi: you haven't really been around in the rpc lately, which I understand (miss you though), but just in case ya ever see this I don't wanna leave you out. I think your someone else whose strong point is the level of detail you put into your muses. Like the thought you have on your muse lore is astounding and I aspire to do that some day.

Xana: Xana is a sweetheart. I think her strong point is the humor that she brings to her writing. Also she gives Mima rep and that's a super plus in my mind.

Cobalt: Is someone else that I think has their sense of humor as their strongpoint. Also am I able to say that the way they write Chen is a strong point in general? Like I absolutely adore how Cobalt writes Chen and gets excited any time they're on my dash.

I have no idea what to call Letsspringintoaction and I've been too embarassed to ask but they genuinely feel like the heart of the fandom in my mind. Always showcasing different fanworks on their blog.

Now none of y'all say you don't have strong points or I will go fucking feral.

[halfthoughtthoughts]

Outside looking in

It was nice to be alone. You get to notice all kinds of things that you don’t usually do when distracted by another person.

Like, have you ever looked inside one of Yukari’s gaps? Inside, inside, not just looking at the “Eyelid” from the outside like a macabre painting. It’s like its own alternate dimension space, that Yukari uses for surveillance and the like. This was where she actually went during her “hibernation” in the winter.

Yes, she spied on everything and everyone. It’s what she does.

This was where she currently was, too, even though it wasn’t winter yet. Her eyes flicked between a dozen gaps in front of her - though these gaps were inverted, showing Gensokyo inside of the eyelids instead of the usual purple void. One of the gaps catches her attention, one that was… also leading back into the purple void?

She grins like a champion about to receive their prize, striding over to a seemingly random spot in her world. She reaches out her hand and- Hey, hands off lady! No! That’s not-

…

Apologies. I needed you out of the way for what I wanted to do. I’ll release you shortly, just let me finish what I need to do.

Hello there. You. On the other side of this… Border? No, not quite. Something similar to a border. A veil between worlds. A mirror. A… A screen. That’s the proper term, yes?

Well, I suppose it would be difficult for you to respond. The… screen, only goes one way, as far as I can tell. Despite my reputation, I’m not nearly as omnipresent as I make myself out to be. Though, I’m certainly doing well enough at keeping up the ruse.

Unfortunately, my powers over boundaries are something I still don’t quite understand. Or rather, something I still haven’t quite found the limits to. Every time I think I’ve found a limit, I end up breaking that limit a short while later. Days, weeks, months… Years, sometimes. Ran was a particularly slow going process.

I’m sorry, I’m rambling quite a bit, aren’t I? Quite frankly. I miss being able to do this. Reimu is always grumpy, and Yuyuko is unable to join me on my escapades. Even Ran is… Especially Ran, really. She wasn’t the best at social interactions. Though, she manages Chen well enough.

I should get to the point.

I realize that, despite all my powers in Gensokyo, and even in the outside world, that I am quite powerless right now. Even now - Especially now, I’m at the mercy of you. The outside forces, on the other side of the screen. Thoughts, that turn to words, that turn into actions.

I suppose I should be angry about my lack of free will for this part, but… I’m not. Can’t be. Gensokyo has always been a hard teacher of there always being a bigger fish. You are the bigger fish to me. To us all.

Speaking of us, I have a request to make. Multiple, actually, but the main one is - Please, take care of us. We’re only trying to live out our lives, here, meager as they may be in the grander scheme of things. Reimu, Yuyuko, Ran… Even my rivals, like Eirin, or Kanako.

If nothing else, I ask on their behalf for mercy. At the very least, let us make it through whatever plans you may have for us.

That’ll be all. Excuse me while I release our indisposed Narrator.

Oh, their name? They cast it off a long time ago. Whether or not they tell you their name is their decision, not mine.

See you.

…

…

…

Bitch.

Yukari slips through another gap, this one leading to the Hakurei Shrine. She offers a jaunty salute, closing the gap behind her. Without her presence, the alternate dimension falls silent, the reddened eyes closing one by one.

[uncheckedtomfoolery]

Nitori Kawashiro

Featuring a total absence of clever subtitles because your humble narrator is currently a worn out husk.

Before you read on, please understand that I am a terrible choice for this because I actually like Nitori, so I’m likely to have Opinions, and a personalised take that gleefully diverges from canon here and there. Take it with a grain of salt. Better yet, carve off what parts you like, and adapt it for your own use. With that said, presenting: Nitori. Long post ahead!

There are several questions to be addressed when it comes to Nitori, before I can get to other stuff. I’ll leave one for later, and address two right away. For a start, the whole science thing. I expand it a bit for kappa, where tinkering is the main pursuit, but mostly they’re just driven and obsessive, and tend to find others a bit apathetic by comparison. Most kappa are, by someone else’s standards, a mad something. Why? My personal theory is that they’re running on a whole lot of backlash and trying to redefine themselves (content warning I guess, the origins of the kappa legend are unpleasant).

The second point is the ‘discrepancy’ between her MoF depiction and that of Hopeless Masquerade on. This, I answer with what I’ve been told is a copout: People can have multiple facets to them, and act differently depending on context. Extradiagetically, it may well be an artifact of ZUN changing his mind, or wanting to show something else, or the shooters being an inadequate place to show much about a character. Maybe all of them!

Nitori is not a good person, a fact which comes as a surprise to no one (except, I can only assume, Shinmyoumaru). Nitori isn’t a very bad person either, much to her disappointment. It’d make things a lot easier, but no, she’s not that lucky. She hates anything she perceives as owing a favour (even if there’s no expectation of repaying it), jumps at any chance to help friends should they need it, and has some strict (if outwardly sometimes arbitrary) lines on what is acceptable, shrewd business versus scamming someone.

As I noted here, from other kappa, she’ll take anything but monetary payment. This model doesn’t translate well to non-kappa friends, so she ends up going ‘okay sure, I’ll do it for nothing, you owe me,’ which is something she never actually follows up on. Similarly, Nitori is a bit of an educator towards anyone who’s clueless but eager to learn. She won’t like it and there’ll be a lot of ‘listen carefully because I’m not doing this twice’, but she will do it.

She will usually claim, somewhat accurately, that this is for her benefit so she has someone to talk to that can follow what she’s saying. Basically, Nitori’s decent enough that it gets in her way and annoys her constantly. She’s also more down to earth than most kappa, more on that later. Nitori’s willing to be relentlessly pragmatic, but only to strangers and people she dislikes. Past that the whole thing, much to her dismay, comes unglued.

The elephant in the room is - even leaving aside the whole framework wherein almost all youkai prey on humans in various ways, because that’s how humans imagined them - the kappa attitude towards humans, and let’s be clear, it’s not just Nitori here. They like humans. They are also, at best, somewhat condescending towards humans. Leaving aside wildly differing cultures and predominant mindsets, they also (usually rightly) assume humans don’t have the first clue of what kappa are doing, and parse that as a kind of endearing idiocy, or at least ‘listen, you’re nice and all, but don’t touch anything’. While this is an exaggeration, golden retrievers may be a useful analogy: You might like them, and find them adorable, but you would be somewhat perturbed to find one driving the car you’re in. It’s not exactly a pretty attitude (though, exposed to more humans and also Sanae’s furious avalanche of nerdery, I imagine Nitori’s eased up on it), but there you have it.

I mentioned that Nitori’s more down to earth. Pragmatism is again the order of the day here. She’s not much of a mad scientist because circumstances have pushed her into being the reluctant adult supervision and general organiser of the kappa community. You can tell by the way even her crazier inventions are mostly get-rich-quick schemes at worst, rather than “I don’t know, I felt like making it”. Invention as a business, not art or compulsion. She probably overcompensates with hobby projects she chips away at just to unwind, though.

I take the view that Nitori is a Big Deal and perhaps a mildly controversial figure in the kappa community, but it’s not because she’s an above average tinker. What separates her from the pack? Well, she may have backed off in MoF (special circumstances plus maybe she was on edge/didn’t feel like it at the time), but by and large she’s got much more confidence and general people skills than your average kappa. She’s in a great position to be the face of kappa society in negotiations, to wrangle the chaos that is a society of deeply weird and reclusive enthusiast artisans, and to try to steer some of that energy into making huge piles of money, as one of the few kappa with even a minor grasp of business.

This does draw a few snide comments in line with the age-old theoretical vs. applied mathematics kind of jokes, but what can you do? She’s mostly respected, but it’s for what she does that most kappa can’t or won’t, not for invention, which she’s about average at. She’s not a big fan of this, buuuut someone has to do it. It’s the equivalent of being The One Who Knows About Computers, in a society of people sorely lacking in all skills except knowing about computers (obviously not to be taken literally).

She fought some of Gensokyo’s big names, too, and held her own (approximately). This is probably significant.

Nitori can be out of her element quite readily. She doesn’t like surprise encounters and would prefer to deal with people on her own terms. Having said that, she’s difficult to scare. This is someone who has no real hesitation about muscling into every imaginable situation even at great risk, and negotiates terms with tengu and gods frequently. She doesn’t much care, and to hear her tell it, it’s about half as dangerous as what she deals with in her workshop. Reverence towards anything or anyone is generally off the table. Oni get cautious respect. Tengu get deference until she catches herself; it’s more of an ingrained instinct by now, not actual conscious behaviour.

She maintains a balance of grumpy, dour terseness and outbursts of all-day-long delighted nerd enthusiasm otherwise usually found in Patchouli (they’d probably get along well, actually). Only in Nitori’s case she combines it with a serious coffee habit. Which is, incidentally, extremely expensive in Gensokyo.

While I’m keeping up the trivia, in my personal take, she cooks a lot. She doesn’t eat all that much, you understand. Part of her brain just goes ‘hmm, low-effort freelance assembly work, costs a whole lot less in materials than a death ray. Yes, that sounds like a fun puzzle I could definitely go for’, and the food is just sort of a byproduct.

Finally, one last tidbit, courtesy of a friend: Kappa technology is a bit crazy in Gensokyo, because convenient but discredited scientific theories also drift into Gensokyo... and any kappa who’s aware of them can make good use of them. It gives you quite the leg up.

That’s about it for Nitori except for everything I forgot because it’s past midnight.

[anueutsuhos-touhou-profiles]

Aya Shameimaru:

Youkai Mountain, the tallest mountain in Gensokyo, is primarily dominated by the tengu. They're basically crow people, though sometimes they're depicted as red-faced men with long noses, and some are even wolves. (You may know them as this emoji 👺). They have a hierarchical caste system, pretty much everyone has a job they're expected to follow from birth. There are a number of high-ranking chieftains, and the supreme ruler is Tenma, who we've never seen onscreen. Technically they rarely harm humans, but they're often looking to take over as much of Gensokyo as they can, usually subtly. It's only due to pushback from other youkai and from incident resolvers like Reimu that Tenma doesn't rule all of Gensokyo with an iron fist. That said, this is largely a background role, and they've never been the main villains of any game until 2021.

Aya Shameimaru is a news reporter crow tengu. She runs her own newspaper, the Bunbunmaru Gazette, where she reports on the various happenings in Gensokyo. Her reporting of events is not perfect, often riddled with errors. She's also constantly biased in favor of the tengu, actively skewing information to advance their position in Gensokyo. She's willing to exaggerate to sell more papers, or even just based on her personal grudges, and has even doomed many an innocent person with smear campaigns. She claims she only wants to report the truth, but many people have called her out on her lies. That said, deep down she does just want to report the truth, but she's often pressured by the rest of tengu society to manipulate information to their advantage. She can be convinced to stop her libel, if only for a little while. She also despises the caste system, and wishes she could move up in the world, but is unable to.

She's actually over 1000 years old, old enough to remember when the oni ruled Youkai Mountain and to fear their potential return.

Overall, Aya acts rather friendly to people around her, though it fools few due to how notorious her exploits are. None of the other tengu like her, and in general she has no real friends. Reimu especially hates her, even though Aya seems to view her as a close friend. She often sells her paper to humans while disguised, but Reimu feels unable or unwilling to expose her as a tengu.

Aya has incredible super speed, which allows her to reach places near instantly, and is even fast enough to circle the moon multiple times. She may even be the fastest being in Gensokyo. She also has wind powers, which include both combat abilities to basically create miniature tornadoes and whirlwinds, and the ability to "listen in on the wind" to help in her reporting. She also has the ability to control crows. She's actually so powerful that she sometimes accidentally defeats people she was just trying to spy on, though she rarely uses her abilities to show off. Her ultimate attack, "Illusionary Dominance" has her turning up her super speed to such high levels she looks like a red laser beam bouncing around rapidly.

Aya's first appearance was as the main protagonist of the book Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red, a collection of her news articles on various characters. Aya first appeared as a boss and playable character in Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View. She returned as the 4th boss of Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith. Aya also stars in two of her own games: Touhou 9.5: Shoot the Bullet, and Touhou 12.5: Double Spoiler. In these games, Aya tries to take photographs of various new spellcard patterns from the various bosses the series has had up to that point. Her most recent major appearance was in 2017, where she was one of the main protagonists of Touhou 16: Hidden Star in Four Seasons. That same year, she almost released a tabloid that was documented in the book Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia, but was guilt-tripped into not releasing it due to the damage it could cause to society. Other than that, she's made frequent appearances in the official manga, usually in a minor antagonistic role.

Whether or not Aya actually has wings is an interesting story. She never had any in ZUN's art, but fanart frequently gives her them. When asked if she has wings, ZUN answered "whatever".

[twinfoxtails]

“Well, that’s the end of everything! Grats to @nekofantasia​​ for being able to identify Boss, or say, Eri over this past week! For those who missed it, Eri was, in fact, Hatate! @windsofjournalism​​! Now, let’s take a look at the clues one by one again!”

“… Of course, keep in mind that some of these clues may be useless or just plain wrong. I’m a fairy, remember?~”

“Two are useless, but I’m actually telling the truth for all of it. It’s just so you’d second-guess yourself. Eheheh. Now then.”

#1: The person he’s impersonating is female

“Let’s be real. It’ll be really surprising if he wasn’t, because, you know, kitsunes? Him of all people especially?”

#2: The person smells nice

“This is pretty much the only useless clue in the list. All of them smells fine in their own way, and it’s not like they don’t bath, except some of them-”

#3: The person is actually pretty well-known!

“She writes the KSN, or the Kakashi Spirit News! She’s definitely well-known!”

#4: The person is pro

“And this is where the red herring of Chen being Eri is! All these accusations thrown to her is pretty funny, haha! But no, there’s definitely more than one pro in the area!”

#5: The person has something white in her clothes

“Kind of useless, but not as useless as #2. Most people in Gensokyo have a white theme on their clothes, after all. Sakuya, Reimu, Mokou, even Eirin.”

#6: It isn’t a NSFW blog, your pants are safe

“I can’t exactly give a roadblock to people who don’t do those things, eh?-”

#7: Look not for their writing style, but for their behavior on certain topics!

“Come now, Eri’s a really, REALLY good shapeshifter. Surely you don’t think it’ll be that easy identifying him?”

#8: The person he’s impersonating is good in interrogation as well! Be sure to ask around!

“‘Hatate’ ran around asking around for Valentines questions, didn’t she?~”

#9: The person he’s impersonating is sociable.

“Exactly what it says on the tin!”

#10: That person is right under your nose this entire time!

“Exactly this too! Also, this ALSO deeply further gives Chen the red herring status. Thanks, Chen!”

#11: Try throwing a potato to the person you suspect. That might work. Maybe.

“The most useful advice, change my mind.”

#12: One of the people who has been accused of being Eri is actually right!

“There’s a few people actually going around accusing one another, and I had to hint that someone actually got it right!”

#13: It’s definitely not Sakuya.

“After that knifework, it’s safe to say it really isn’t. Eri can’t ever do that.”

#14: It’s prooobably not Reimu. Probably.

“It’s not Reimu with how emo she is, but I always like making people second guess!”

#15: It might not be Chen either.

“My little red herring, go!”

#16: She has most likely approached you at least once!

“Once again, thanks Chen, for actually approaching multiple people on it! But no, it was, in fact, Hatate!”

#17: It’s probably not Cirno. Don’t worry, Cirno.

“I had to save a fellow fairy from a meltdown.”

#18: He can stand the smell of tofu, but doesn’t hurt to try.

“You wouldn’t go crazy over your favourite food in front of you, right? Eri’s the same. It wouldn’t affect him at all, I’m sure.”

#19: The person he’s impersonating is not a child.

“This is where I drop the ‘red herring’ act on Chen and just say that it’s not her, haha! Then again, Chen being a child is debatable, though...”

#20: Chen is not Eri. She was a red herring. Trust her. In fact, one of the people she has already interrogated is, in fact, Eri.

“This is when I just said it out loud, pretty much!”

#21: It is highly likely this person has already approached you.

“And this is a giant emphasis on Clue #16, to make it REALLY hit home.”

“And there we have it! The entire event! Now I’ll pass the mic over to the mun of the event, Amber! Ba dum tsh-...”

---

((I have to fix your thing about the fourth wall...

But yes, that’s the end of the event. For those who did get themselves involved with the event, thank you so much for the interest. I always wanted to do an event with Eri, and this is what I came up with.

This event is also kind of meant to be an ‘ice-breaker’ kind of event, where even if you get the culprit wrong, you can still make threads and interactions from that, which is why Crescent says ‘no penalty for guessing wrong’.

With emphasis on Clue #7, the reason why I said not to look for writing style, is because Ruler is REALLY NICE in helping me refine my words into something suited for Hatate for the newspaper, with Eri’s intentions intact. I don’t have the password and ID to Ruler’s Hatate blog nor do I plan to ask for it, so he was the one sending asks on my behalf as Eri.

In fact, Ruler deserves equal, if not, more credit because he’s done ALOT into helping with my shenanigans, even tossing ideas here and there.

But yes, THANK YOU FOR PLAYING

P.S: The event’s first draft was actually Crescent sending everyone on a wild goose chase, but I HEAVILY decided against it in the end, and contacted Ruler about whether Eri can loan Hatate for a moment. SO AGAIN, THANKS RULER