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Moving on from what most consider "early Windows" Touhou, we have Mountain of Faith! After PoFV, Mountain of Faith was intended to be a kind of "soft reboot" for the Touhou series, keeping the same characters and continuity from before but going back to the very basics of what the series was to build up something new and different from that point, especially in the gameplay department. For the first time since EoSD, the game features Reimu and Marisa as the only two playable characters, each having three shot types, which unless I'm mistaken, is the highest number of shot types a single playable character has ever had in the series. Reimu's are generally fairly simple and easy to get the hang of, with her classic homing and forward focus shot types, and a third new type focusing on wide area coverage which as far as I'm aware has never reappeared since, but Marisa's are really weird and gimmicky, to varying results. her first one has a trail of orbs that follow her around and fire their own bullets, freezing in place relative to Marisa's position during focus, and her third has these strange magic circle thingies that shoot out blue fire and stay in the same position whenever you focus, flying back to Marisa once you unfocus. Her second is comparatively simple, playing similarly to previous Marisa shot types, but there's a glitch where if you're between 3.05 and 3.95 power, it deals 10 times the damage it's meant to, allowing you to beat every boss in the game in seconds. This glitch becomes significantly easier to abuse thanks to a new, and to be honest, really annoying change Mountain of Faith makes to the way bombs work; now, instead of having a separate, dedicated meter for bomb use, every bomb used consumes one full level of power, and they become unusable below 1.00 power. I'll be honest, this change is literally just annoying, without any possible benefits, and I don't understand what ZUN was thinking when he made it work like this. Thankfully, it's not nearly as bad here as it is in the next game, but I still hate it here. "Hmm yes, I would like to use a bomb when I think I might die if I don't, oh oops I don't deal any damage anymore" what on earth was this man thinking. Additionally, bombs themselves have also been nerfed; now, instead of each shot type having a unique bomb, they all just make a big circle fly out in front of the player that deletes bullets, and gets bigger the more power you have when you use it. Functionally, this isn't that different to how bombs are in the rest of the series, they're kind of just a thing you throw out when you're in trouble so you don't die, but I don't care, I like having multiple unique bomb types and I wish this game also had those. Despite my issues with the game's implementation of bombs, I actually think this game plays really well. There are no real gimmicks to speak of here, aside from the faith system which only impacts scoring, and the game has some overall really solid level and boss design. There's not really a whole lot to say here, it's just a generally solidly designed bullet hell. The environments here also look really nice; the previous games have definitely had good environment designs before (PCB's fifth stage and IN's fourth/sixth both particularly stand out to me), but there's a real sense of consistency here, both in terms of the quality of the environments and the general vibe that they go for. Stage 4's waterfall is a particularly great one, the enemies popping out from behind the water being a really nice detail, and Stage 6's pillars overlooking the lake is the perfect backdrop for a battle against the final boss, but my favorite stage here is easily Stage 3. I don't know, I just love the reveal of the river at the beginning combined with Gensokyo the Gods Loved playing in the background, it's a great combination. Speaking of which, the soundtrack here is great, as is to be expected by this point. There's the previously mentioned Gensokyo the Gods Loved, one which I really like and which definitely deserves its spot as a uniquely iconic song to the series, but it's far from the only great one here. Fall of Fall and A God that Loves People both also have a great sense of atmosphere to them, and Cemetery of Onbashira also does a great job at hyping you up for the final battle, contrasted immediately by the sense of overwhelming power and "oh fuck, I've just challenged an actual god to a fight" carried by Suwa Foughten Field. Also, Tomorrow Will Be Special, Yesterday Was Not and Faith is for the Transient People are just generally bangers. I don't have much to say about those ones, they just go really hard, and that first one with the comically long name in particular is by far my favorite song in this game. Anyway, onto the story, which I'm just realizing it's quite unusual for me not to have covered by now. This game also suffers somewhat from the Perfect Cherry Blossom issue of not really conveying its story through the in-game dialogue all that well, but from what I can gather, the Moriya Shrine, dedicated to the worship of the gods Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya, is losing faith in the outside world, so Kanako transports it into Gensokyo on the top of the Youkai Mountain in hopes of gaining more faith there, annoying the local youkai and prompting Reimu to go and investigate. Six stages later, she reaches Kanako, who tries to persuade her to convert her own shrine to Kanako-ism, but Reimu refuses, choosing to keep her shrine true to itself as opposed to casting aside its previous god in exchange for the added faith and donations that Kanako promises her, and the two fight each other. After this, Reimu wins, and the local mountain youkai come to accept Kanako and Suwako as new local gods in exchange for Kanako not being as annoying about it as before. Later on, Reimu visits the Moriya shrine again, and Suwako shows up, apparently disappointed that she didn't get a chance to fight her like Sanae and Kanako did, so they fight too. Also Marisa is there and you can play as her instead if you want, but this is one of the few games where the story feels uniquely tailored to Reimu specifically and works way better if you pick her, so I've decided to just ignore Marisa's presence entirely. Despite this game being more than a little cryptic as to what exactly is going on in the early stages, I actually quite like this story. Kanako works really well here, being someone who's just annoying and pompous enough to work as a villain while not being so up her own ass as to be completely unable to get along with the locals, and like I previously mentioned, the story here feels uniquely tailored to Reimu specifically as a main character, something which is surprisingly rare in this series and which I really enjoy. A large part of why Reimu works as a main character is her versatility and how you can drop her into just about any incident and have her presence make sense, but it's still nice to occasionally get a story that's just as much about her as it is the shiny new villain ZUN's decided to introduce. It's a shame Marisa doesn't work nearly as well in this game's story, though, but I suppose it was an inevitable trade-off, so I'm willing to accept it here. The game's other characters are also quite good. Stage 4 features best girl Aya as a boss fight, which is always welcome, but the new characters have a lot to offer as well, although in my opinion they're not as good as some of the previous casts. There's the previously mentioned Kanako, who's great, but Hina and Suwako are also characters I really like, Hina being a "misfortune god" and yet also one of the most genuinely nice characters in the series, and Suwako just generally being a silly and enjoyable character to watch. Nitori is also introduced in this game, and while she doesn't really do anything for me here specifically, I quite like her in everything else she's in, so that's cool. This game also introduces Green Reimu, also known as Sanae Kochiya, priestess of the Moriya Shrine, and... I'll be honest, she's one of the few characters in this series I actively dislike. I can't think of a single trait I associate with her aside from being from the outside world originally, a concept which is done significantly better by Sumireko later on in the series and which is barely a factor in her more recent portrayals, and yet for some unfathomable reason ZUN insists on shoving her into every game he can possibly find an excuse to make her be playable in. She doesn't bother me at all in MoF specifically, and there's nothing I inherently dislike about her as a character, but at this point, I'm really just sick of her. Oh, this game also introduces Minoriko and Shizuha Aki. I have nothing to say about them, other than that they sure are characters who exist. Overall, while I do definitely have my issues with this game, its overall solid design and excellent music and environments still make it one I frequently enjoy coming back to, and even if in practice a lot of its changes feel bizarre and unwelcome, I can at the very least respect ZUN for making a genuine attempt at something new with this one. EDIT: Fuck I forgot to mention, this game also changes how continues work. This time, you have infinite continues, but whenever you use one, you go back to the start of the stage. Personally I actually really like this, continues always kinda feel like cheating to me in the other games, until you use up too many and the game goes "nah fuck you you're not allowed to play anymore", I much prefer having to be skilled enough to beat a level without them to clear it but in exchange being allowed to retry as many times as I want.

While I put the series of posts I was just doing on hold for a while, since I can't decide if I want to cover Shoot the Bullet next or skip straight to Mountain of Faith, I figured I'd make this post asking people what fanon versions of characters they actually enjoy, keeping in mind that when I say "fanon" I mean character interpretations with little to no actual basis in established canon that get widely picked up and spread among fans. While in my experience, most people who are in a position to be aware of it when a version of a character is just pure fanon generally don't like these interpretations, myself mostly included (fanon Alice my beloathed), I do have a handful I actually quite like, in particular the popular interpretation of Flandre as an unhinged psychopath who can and will kill anyone and everyone in sight. I'm aware this version of her is far from how she is in canon, and I can admit that canon Flandre is definitely a much more nuanced and probably "better" character, but I don't know, I still like fanon Flandre too, I think the evil psychotic little girl is funny. Do you have any popular fanon versions of characters you like, or do you just hate all of them?

I've always heard it was the worst of the photo game or it was a lazy reuse of assets. So may I ask you is it that bad.

My power would be Look of Fluff, if you look me in the eyes, you transform into a Fumo, permanently. (Joking! Real power below.) The real power i would choose is: Gravity/Mass Control With that power, any incoming attack is easier to defend (just make it heavier/lighter before it reaches you) and put sturdy objects in orbit around me. It's also good for offense, i can alter my body's gravity to pack more power in physical strength, throw objects with altered gravity or just end the enemy by making its head weight like a car. There are practical uses, like carrying heavy objects, flying, stopping mosquitoes at bedtime (you make them crash against the floor) and more. This makes me think why this power isn't more used in fiction, i can't remember any fiction where it's used.

Again, I forgot to mention a new upload... ...am I starting to grow indifferent? It is the second song in a row that I have not listened to despite being fresh upload

For no reason beyond personal enthusiasm, this week's feature is doubled up. ikurumi - Nihil & Arts Factory Null - Lies The first of many remixes within Dolls of Pseudo Paradise, and among the tracks being carried over from the Seihou Project. This was Reimu's theme in Seihou 1, but I think most are familiar with it from this re-publish and its later remixes down the series. I'm not particularly fond of it, at least when comparing it to other Reimu themes, but fan arrangements have done a good job at adapting its parts in creative ways. As for these remixes, glitch hop is unique enough on its own, and the vocaloid arrangement is more competent then I'm used to. Forest306 & Sing, R. Sing! - Cherry-petals, Travel Through Love & Iris Drop - The Rainbow Light That Makes You Bloom Yuuka's forgotten theme, extremely underrated. I should mention that DiPP is possibly my least favorite music release in the series, entirely because I dislike the production sound; I believe a motif's true strength is independent of its presentation, but its reception will be inevitably impacted. I say this because the original version of this piece in SD-88 is one of my favorite non-Touhou ZUN compositions. I appreciate the justice these remixes do to the piece, especially the folk one. Toubu Kaitakuchi - Sakura, Sea, and Stupa Sword (Furura Remix) ~ Enigmatic Doll & ZYTOKINE - Enigmatic Dollz This one was far more difficult to find for than I expected; I thought it has a decent enough degree of popularity to receive thorough coverage, and granted there was coverage, but it took a while to find anything I was happy with. Regardless, find I did; still not sure about the title of the first one, but the info is close enough to track down as needed.

I like the headcanon of Mima actually adopting Rika and Meira. And of course being a mom to Marisa! :D

Ya know, people really tend to do miko really well, which I’m glad about with her being my second favorite character. She tends to keep her usual flashiness, has a good frenemies relationship on certain matters with the myouren temple, and overall a kind of chaotic family dynamic is usually created between them. The only thing I would say I don’t like is that some portray miko as kind of an asshole, when in reality she is supposed to be kind but a little overbearing.

Based on my sorter results, I would say that a part of my top 10 characters do not have fanon surrounding them at all. Among those lacking any bit of fanon, I would count: Akyuu Raiko Kosuzu Tsukasa (I have some doubts about this one, but is there any fanon about her besides the song "Coooonsultant!"?) As for the rest of the characters in my top (as well as previous top 10 charts), I have what is one of my oldest threads at the Shrine:

The yakumos being a loving functional family, yuugi being a gym bro

(Yes, we stopped hosting our own server) Info on how to join us in matrix Already have an account? You can join us at #moriyashrine:eientei.org 1. Get a client You can use any public web instance of a matrix client like the official Element web instance for example, no download required. If you want to download one instead, Element is generally the recommended client, but there are other clients as well if you'd prefer to use a different one. 2. Sign in Look for a matrix homeserver of your choice to make an account on and register. Ideally not using the default matrix.org one. 3. Joining rooms https://matrix.to/#/#moriyashrine:eientei.org After joining our space you can explore and join our rooms by viewing the Moriya Shrine space. Other matrix rooms can be found through invite links and the search function. The list of available rooms will be different depending on the server you registered on. Rules: Don't be the reason why I'd have to make more rules Don't be underage Don't harass other members Use your common sense and don't post, do, or talk about stuff that could get everyone into trouble If rooms have any additional rules you should follow those as well

A lot of time has passed since most of our hosted content went down; over a year in fact. Sorry about that, everyone. Throughout that time though we managed to get things back on track, hopefully. Torm made a dedicated seedbox, and I recovered every missing piece of official content; print works, OSTs, and music CDs. That doesn't seem like a big deal though, right? Anyone could've done that in less than a week if they were dedicated enough. Yeah, I realize I slacked a bit. I'm not too proud of it. But I wanna make it up to you; to not just fix the site, but improve it as a whole. As a result, I also added FLAC versions for almost all available music albums and OSTs, where applicable. When torrenting a file, you can select which folders you want to download from said file, so you can choose whether or not you want lossless versions of an OST (these files will be bulky, beware). In light of that feature, certain OSTs that had multiple pages (like Oriental Sacred Place) now have all volumes in one page, with all track lists in the description. Also also, on top of that, I uploaded two print works that were never on the site before; The Grimoire of Usami and Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia. I never knew these actually existed until my friend brought it to my attention and sent me the files herself; many thanks, Seija. I guess all I have left to say now is, keep working towards your goals. I know it sounds cliché, but it doesn't matter how slow you are going, so long as you do not stop. Know that you are valuable and that you matter. As always, let us know if you find any issues. Tomorrow will be sunny; yesterday was not.