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I'm glad I could give you a positive influence like that. :) I will say, relish your youth while you can. Not because I am nostalgic for my youth or it has some innate purity, but because when you get older, its very hard to find time for yourself. In between taking care of yourself and starting a family, its difficult to learn new skills, and harder to keep an eye on your health. If you have an interest in gaming or art, your teens and early twenties are the best time to jump in. You can learn a skill at any age, if you invest your mind and will into it. But again, finding that time is harder than you'd think. That sounds fun. :) I have a similar idea that crossed my mind. I had an idea of making it a fan fiction, or perhaps an animated series, following the adventures of people dropped into Gensokyo. I thought it would be more action focused. I would really love to make a young man who appeals to Eastern audiences. I think there is still a market for extreme fight scenes. One the MCU has shrunk away from. No one has quite matched Monty Oum's work, in the first three seasons of RWBY and before it. I think Gensokyo would lend itself to that kind of setting well.

Ever had an idea for a spell card for an official/fan/own character yet lack the tools and/or experience to make it a reality? Then this post is for you. As a type of sister post to Original Characters Anonymous, but purely for spellcards. It's fine with me if you created a spellcard for Daiyousei and described how it went or created a spellcard for your Mary Sue-type OC and described it here. All are welcome to create any spellcard here. And hey, maybe your idea might be breathed into life by someone who does if you post here. Ground Rules As would be expected of a spellcard, it must follow the spellcard rules. I'll list them here so you don't have to go far when checking if it follows the rules. 1. Give a name and a meaning to the elegance of the duel. 2.Meaning is equivalent to power. Those are the two rules that apply to any spellcard here. Additional Rules As there are some unspoken rules and general rules due to the limitations of writing, I'm going to outline them here. 1. The spellcard must draw from your character's ability/abilities. 2. A description of the meaning of the attack is necessary. 3. A general outline of the attack in question. Bonus Points Giving your spellcard variations depending on the difficulty. For the rest you're free to let your imagination go wild. Now go forth and create that spellcard you've always been dreaming of!

i just found out that hypno-chan exists. and oh god is she very similar to mathilda XD

that is so true... thanks again! sure! i'll get in touch if i need something!

Well there's no "examples" here so I hope the format I used here encompasses all the "rules" set up. I'll amend accordingly, leaving it up to Nyoko, who set up this topic to decide. Felt I should be very brief about my OC Hime (Who I am still working on) to get a feel for my reasoning behind the names, abilities etc. so here goes: Hime's concept: Being someone shunned for being 'different' in the outside world, she develops an ability to "counter" or "defend" herself from prosecution and judgement. As such, the spell cards should have a "revenge" motif. If one would see Danmaku battles as a "conversation through combat and skill" then Hime would be "negating" the "conversation" by finding ways to counter, rather than accept. "Excuses rather than solutions". Like a negative person in a conversation going "Yea but..." to any and every potential solution, becoming increasingly upset when the "positive" person in the conversation has an air tight argument. Strength: Theoretically, could devise a plan/ability to counter any spellcard Weakness: Would be predictable and limited to the opponent they face. The Spellcards would be more to create openings for basic danmaku shots and technical rather than brute strength and as such could simply be overpowered by stronger opponents. Spellcard: Spite: Stalking Desire- Shoots several "satellite" danmaku that observe the opponent's movement, eventually locking on, suddenly shooting lasers that become incredibly rapid and go straight toward the direction they last locked into, piercing through any barriers or shields that may seek to deter them. During their "stationary" phase, they are more like deterrents that serve as roadblocks rather than an actual attack (although they can still cause damage if one is foolish enough to touch them). The idea is that they would force the opponent into a cramped area where all the "satellites" would home into the only direction the opponent has left to move into (ideally a literal corner) "Contain, Control, Suffocate" are key words for what this spell card is trying to express. Meaning: Since Hime's character is someone who brings resentment from the outside world, I felt the name fit for someone who is obsessed (stalking) their prey out of a grudge (spite). The "grudge" is internal and is in fact a projection toward the opponent. The stalking is a VERY deep-seated yearning to be understood (one they deny and internally rationalize), but due to her upbringing and difficulty in expressing herself, it instead comes out in the most negative, spiteful way as a type of 'mask' and 'defense'. Difficulty Easy Mode: Danmaku amount less than Normal. Only mode where the "speed shot" phase is the same size as the 'satelite" and is not a "laser". Normal: Standard as described. Satellites are stationary, but their ability to "face" the opponent to prepare for the Laser phase improves. The Laser size is about the same as the size of an average character. Hard: Danmaku amount increases as does Laser Hitbox, X2 of original. "Facing" speed up slightly" The Stationary Satellites move very slowly (slower than 'focus' speed) with the intent of cornering the foe. Satellites now slow down opposing danmaku. Laser Speed up. Lunatic: Danmku amount increases further, Laser Hitbox now X3 of standard Size. Facing speed up. Stationary Satellites move roughly at "Focus" speed. Satellites now absorb "weak, basic danmaku shots", making the satellite size increase in size but also slows them down which is the 'key' to avoiding them. Laser speed is not affected by this and is slightly buffed from Hard mode) The overall crudeness of the Spellcard and it's intent should express a "diamond in the rough" with a potential elegance that has yet to properly manifest within the caster.

The way I see it: "The only truly horrible story is the one never written." Thinking that it's 'bad' just means you know it can improve and you want it to improve and it will improve if you keep at it! Let's try our best! I'd love to hear more about these stories! My DMS are open for that whenever you're up to it! You're very welcome! I look forward to it!

The issue with this is that though shrines can change hands in ownership, they only belong to one god. For example, moriya has kanako, myouren technically has bishamonten due to shou, and hakurei we don’t know. Reimu’s god channeling is similar to yorihime, just not as “at will” as yori. The shrine in general seems to not have any people worshipping for one specific thing, which is why it’s so hard to pinpoint the god.

Heya newcomer! Nice to see new people come to the shrine. I see you also follow the path of liking a very niche character even though other characters have much more stuff for them. Though I’m not huge on hatate, I respect it lol.

Hello hikiko hime i also like touhou. Guess great minds think alike. And yeah hatate she cool she not my favorite ever in history but yeah she cool

well then i'll make a separate post about my OCs in the Misty Lake hehe

(Long post, prepare yourselves.) I think its mostly about being judged by others negatively or people not being into them like the creator is. Like you might have some genuinely grand idea, but when you draw/write them it just isn't up to par with what you imagined. The other theory is that rather than reveal OC X, one would simply just make an original story that was originally based off an FC for a series that evolved into its own story outside of the work that originally inspired them, in this case Touhou. Some even mentioned this in this post that their Touhou OC became an OC in their own world and such. With all that being said, there was a post about Touhou Content I commented on about "making our own content" and after that post I actually began writing an idea out of the blue, one I still am half-serious about posting here. I say "half-serious" because while I do want to, I feel like I still need to iron it out. Also what I've read of the posts here show more than a day's worth of work unlike what I literally just came up with yesterday lol. Also @Yumeto: you mentioned something about good content taking time to get noticed by someone. Paraphrasing but it seriously hit me in the kokoro and is kinda making me wanna take it seriously for a change, in particular picking up that dusty old tablet but more on that some other time... Anyway I'll try to be brief. I am still uncertain of the name of the character, but I wanted it to be an isekai type story that Yukari, for whatever reason, influenced. The story wouldn't have any real direction beyond gradually revealing why she summoned this mysterious character the "Mercenary Maid" from the Outside World. The (currently nameless) Maid in question wouldn't have an real powers... at first, but would gradually develop them throughout the story and interactions with the other characters they meet on the way and this alone would be the clue/hook that would make the reader go "Why would a powerful Youkai like Yukari bring some 'powerless' human from the outside world and then let them act freely? Just what is she scheming...?" As for the Maid itself, I was thinking of making them a highschooler/college student who likes cosplay and winds up in Gensokyo while in a maid clothes, deciding to stick with it while believing all this is just some 'weird dream' Their personality is rather serious, despite their hobby, but slowly lightens up. As to why they are kinda grouchy at first has to do with their outside world life. The idea is that as they gradually begin accepting that they are 'stuck' in Genskyo, the Maid's heart slowly lightens their mood/personality and awakens their latent abilities which is heavily implied Yukari already knew about somehow. The idea for making it an isekai is mostly due to it being easier for me to write lol. There's other reasons but maybe I should stop here for now lol. And Nyoko, don't worry about wall texts, I happen to enjoy reading~

That. Right there. Just as you said you were passionate before, who is to say you won't feel similarly about these series that have 'taken you away from Touhou'? Who is to say you won't one day burn out from them and return to Touhou after a hiatus and 'remember' what first got you into it? I feel like I just said this stuff in another post lol... but anyway there is no true 'right' or 'wrong' way to enjoy Touhou. You're either a fan or you aren't, and both are fine though that decision is ultimately up to you and no one else (Regarding your own personal 'fan level' if you will) I go in and out of the series. In fact, every time I 'come back', I feel like I've been left behind by 1000 years lol. To me, the fact that you are giving it so much thought proves you are indeed a fan. If you suddenly take some time 'off' that doesn't discredit what you've contributed to the fandom (even a post on a forum is contributing to me). I'm still new here but already finding someone who writes "Essay long posts" and is known about it seems really cool already. The other posts here are also making me think not just about Touhou but life as a whole. Personally, not every Touhou fan needs to be some super hardcore walking wiki. (Though I respect that!) Like the series as much or as little as you want. Even if you enjoy the occasional pic or two and 'that's it', you're still enjoying the series. If anything doesn't that make you a bigger fan? Merely thinking about Touhou makes you question your love for the series. It's clear you still love the series, but perhaps feel you're not expressing it in the way you'd like or something may be 'missing' from it for you specifically. Anyway I feel like I'm repeating myself so, regardless of what you decide to do, I wish you happiness. If I see you again cool, cuz you seem cool to me. If not, then I wish you happiness and will be grateful that I know you exist. Either way good luck!

Some theories here: *The TRUE final boss of the Touhou Series as a whole: The 'final game', whichever it may be, will reveal it. (Would be both cool and sad) *There is no ONE Kami, similar to how Yorihime calls upon many. (implied in Silent Sinner in Blue that they both have a similar ability) *As I recall in Shinto, there is no ONE particular Kami and as such, Reimu has the "wildcard" ability lmao. *There is no Kami for Hakurei Shrine: Being a "shrine maiden" is for presence/tradition, and she is, in fact a "Yokai Slayer" rather than a religious/spiritual figure, but by presenting herself as a "Shrine Maiden", then people naturally believe/are intimidated by the title. *Too much caffeine theory: Jo'on took all the money long before Reimu's time and now Shion haunts it since no other place is as desolate and fitting. (I have a few more but lets leave it at this lol)

Warning! This text contains heavy spoilers for all of the Hifuu Club’s stories, Sumireko’s and Yukari’s stories. The following text began as an attempt to explain the themes that ZUN approaches in the Hifuu Club’s stories, but it ended up becoming an analysis of a bunch of different lore pieces glued together, with some theories sprinkled on top. The text participates in the #HifuuDay , a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first Hifuu story, Ghostly Field Club. “Dreams and reality are different. That's why it's possible to make dreams reality with great effort.” Changeability of Strange Dream. Gensokyo's reason to exist: It’s important that we refresh this now. In Touhou’s world, people slowly, but surely stopped believing in the supernatural (myths, legends, gods, etc.). This made the Youkai enter an existential threat, as they require faith (that one believes something unexplainable exists) to continue living. Yukari Yakumo and the Hakurei Clan decided to create a separate world to harbor all of the Earth’s Youkai, preventing their extinction. First by making this place, Gensokyo, be able to draw the supernatural to itself. Gensokyo was later isolated from the world in 1885 A.D, due to humans loosing their faith in Youkai. A very small amount of supernatural beings remained in the outside world, mainly Mamizou, Yukari, Kanako and Suwako. With the latter two moving into Gensokyo quite recently. The world truly stopped believing, not even gods could survive with so little faith. But a few people in the outside world noticed that those myths and legends were real. Either via a divine bloodline, like in Sanae Kochiya's case or in Sumireko Usami's, as she unexplicably manifested psychic powers. She plays a crucial role here. Sumireko is the founder of the Hifuu Club, an organization dedicated to study the supernatural. Once she figured out that all of the Youkai gathered in the magical land of Gensokyo (probably thanks to Yukari), she knew what to do. Revealing that Youkai are not a mere legend. Unfortunately, things went south for her, as she got trapped in Gensokyo as revenge for messing around. Seeing no other chance, she decided to attempt a suicide attack at the barrier. With the goal to unleash all the Youkai to the outside world. Of course, Reimu stopped her. But this lead to unforeseen consequences for Sumireko. Due to her abusing the ability to enter Gensokyo in her dreams, she switched places with her Dream World self, among other side effects in the disease known as Fantasy Syndrome. The first time, she got the help of Yukari and Doremy to get out of truble, but the second time she switched places with her Doppelgänger for about three weeks. During that event, before Sumireko could stop Dream Sumireko, as a way of surviving the onslaught of bullets found in her dreams, she managed to collected pictures of the danmaku of all the residents of the Dream World. Essentially creating evidence of Gensokyo. She posted all of that to social media, gathering a pretty decent following. As you probably guessed, nobody believed in Sumireko and just saw her posts as something entertaining. It probably didn’t help that the memories of the events of Violet Detector vanished from Sumireko’s mind. In the end, the world didn’t believe in a quite powerful psychic with photographic evidence of Gensokyo. What a helpful evidence... ”The true nature of Chuunibyou is the heat of life. It's an explosion of one's imaginative power. It's a form of resistance against a chilled society, wielding both purity and creativity.” Dateless Bar “Old Adam”. A Broken Future: Zun presents us with a world set in an undetermined future. In a subtle way, he tells us this future has philosophical problems that go straight to its core. As we saw with Sumireko’s experience, people stopped believing in the supernatural, they stopped dreaming of achieving the impossible, children stopped having fun. The neglected nature was emulated with fancy paintings in buildings and fake, over-enhanced landscapes locked away inside a screen. Moon travel was possible, but inaccessible to everyone. Everything just had to have an explanation, and unexplainable but provable information was discarded as nonsense made by a bunch of lunatics. This futuristic world is the one that Maribel Hearn and Renko Usami inhabit. It’s very likely that Sumireko is an ancestor of Renko, due to all the similarities between them. It’s also likely that Renko had the material at hand, just believing that her ancestor was pretty good at fabricating stuff (keep in mind, she studies physics, there’s only rational explanations in her mind). Only to get her assumptions broken into pieces by Maribel’s abilities, that shared some resemblance to her ancestor from long ago, Sumireko. We can actually prove that Renko had access to Sumireko’s archive, what other explanation is there for the following?: During Ghostly Field Club, Renko urged Maribel to help her search the boundary to enter The Netherworld. In this story, she had a notebook with some undisclosed photos. Including one of The Hakurei Shrine. "How come you have a photo of the Netherworld?" "I have a back and forth route you don't know about, Merry." My partner took out a picture and started talking as usual. "But never mind that, Merry, why don't we go see the entrance at the Hakurei Shrine?" It’s almost always Renko the one that proposes new plans and activities for the club. During all of the Hifuu Club’s stories, we clearly see that our mystic duo is troubled with the state of the world. Only recently in “Dateless Bar Old Adam” did they feel more included in the world, as they found more people that think alike, after the publication of their book under the pen name of Dr. Latency became somewhat popular in Japan. They had no other choice but to form the Hifuu Club, in order to be themselves, investigate the supernatural, and maybe with some luck bring the faith of the supernatural back to the world. “The real reason she was put in the sanatorium was probably because it was determined she had some kind of psychological anomaly. Of course that wasn't the case, but society just isn't receptive to strange people. That's why Merry had to keep her ability secret, as some element of the occult.” Neo-traditionalism of Japan. Maribel and Yukari's connections: Again, we come back to Sumireko to find the keys for the next step in the story. During the events of “Anitomy of Common Flowers”, Yukari helps out Sumireko in her first experience dealing with Dream Sumireko escaping to the real world, by forcefully dragging Sumireko into Gensokyo, forcing her escape from The Dream World and then to teleport her to the real world for a duel with Dream Sumireko. This was quite an outreach on Yukari’s part, this intervention broke the rules of The Dream World as stated by Doremy. No actual consequence was explicitly shared, but Doremy is not the kind of character that gets easily pissed off and she did this time. In “Alternative Facts in Eastern Utopia”, Aya develops a theory that the only one who could have assisted Sumireko in traveling and descovering Gensokyo, had to be Yukari, with her theorized goal being doing a reset of Gensokyo with a select group of Youkai. Even with the explanation of Sumireko using the urban legend of the Seven Wonders and the Occult Balls with the power of the Wonders, as a way of getting inside Gensokyo, how did she manage to enter Gensokyo without knowing anything about it or the Urban Legend incident in the first place? We know that she didn’t use the conventional entry, as that is what Mamizou used to trick and trap Sumireko inside Gensokyo. Aya is right, it’s pretty unlikely for a human to enter in such a particular way, and even stranger to see one that developed impressive powers without magic gadgets or a connection to the gods. Why would Yukari bother in helping out a dangerous human with psychic powers from the outside world? We know that Ms. Yakumo is pretty lazy, as she delegates most tasks to Ran and Chen. It’s pretty out of character for her to risk Gensokyo’s existence. Even more knowing that all of this ended up allowing the Lunarian invasion in “Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom” and her backstory with Lunarians. All the times she or her shikigami have been playable, it was to prevent a bigger disaster from striking Gensokyo. But thinking that Maribel is somehow related to Yukari, if not Lady Yakumo herself, explains why Yukari bothered with helping Sumireko in different occasions. Zun gives us some small gems to work with. 1) Time of creation We know that Yukari and Maribel were created around the same time. Perfect Cherry Blossom came out the 17th of August 2003, Ghostly Field Club came out the 30th of December 2003. 2) The relationship to Lafcadio Hearn: He was a foreigner who traveled to Japan, who quickly renamed himself as Koizumi Yakumo. Lafcadio was extremely important, as he gathered and translated many of Japan’s folk stories into books for the world to enjoy (most Youkai come from his compilations). 3) Powers: Both characters share a similar kind of power. Yukari’s power is like a more absolute version of Maribel’s. 4) Designs: Their designs are nearly identical, their clothing is close in style. The biggest difference is that Maribel’s eyes are yellow, but Yukari’s are usually purple (opposite colors) Now, the connecting point is not there, we just don’t know. The fact is that there is no grand, explicit evidence that connects these two characters. There are a few theories that come to mind to explain possible paths to make the relationship between these two a real thing. Before focusing in the one that i have been building up to, let me explore the other scenarios. 1) No relation. Knowing Zun, it's just likely that there is no direct relationship and it's just one more wasted plot point to add into Touhou's already large list. 2) Yukari is Maribel's ancestor Another likely scenario and the one that makes most sense, is that Yukari is family of Maribel. It was already stated that Maribel's family had supernatural powers, it's very likely that Yukari was a prodigy that ended up transforming into a Youkai and that Maribel is unknowingly following her footsteps at becoming a great magician and possibly a Youkai. 3) Maribel and Yukari are the same person Get your tinfoil hats, it's theory time. Is Maribel going to become Yukari? As we go along reading the stories of the Hifuu Club, we start to notice something particular. Maribel’s powers start to get out of control. At first, it’s just the ability to observe where the boundaries of reality are, but it would evolve to dreams were Maribel would appear inside Gensokyo. She started to question the nature of reality at this point, because some of the objects that appeared in her dreams started showing up in her real life. Renko clearly noticed that something strange and potentially dangerous was happening, as Maribel just making objects appear out of nowhere breaks the laws of physics. She theorized that maybe her power evolved to manipulate boundaries. Could she get spirited away or eaten by a Youkai in her dreams? In “Trojan Green Asteroid” we saw that Renko’s fears were right. Maribel managed to bring Renko along to see the Torifune spacial station in outer space, probably thanks to a small Shinto shrine gate located in the station. During their exploration, a strange winged cat managed to scratch Maribel. It was bad enough that she had to go to the hospital. They truly were inside Torifune. After that, in Neo-traditionalism of Japan, we found out that Maribel was quarantined for months in a remote location in the mountains. The sickness was labeled as a form of delirium caused by an unknown virus. She would come out alright, but Renko kept seeing that things were going strangely. The latest development in Maribel’s powers is the ability to show images at will of strange places via a hand mirror. “Come to think of it, recently it felt as if Merry's abilities were getting stronger. At first they had fun enough with just being able to catch a glimpse of strange new worlds, but now they were bringing things back from those worlds as if it were nothing.” Neo-traditionalism of Japan Unfortunately, it’s been 7 years since the last development in the Hifuu Club’s stories (outside the reference of Misumaru’s magatmas being made from Izangi Objects). This leaves us at a really awkward spot, because we are expectant to see how the pen name of Dr. Latency evolved and if Maribel’s powers kept going in crazy directions. Just at the turning point, because the next story should introduce new elements to keep the narrative fresh. I have no option but theorize. My theory is that Maribel’s powers will keep getting out of control, eventually leading to her turning into a Youkai, Yukari Yakumo. The main reason I think this will be the case is that it explains Yukari’s strange behavior regarding Sumireko. I bet that Yukari is a time traveler. Getting time into the matter is crucial, maybe Yukari is stuck in a “Back to the Future” situation, where story events need to progress in exactly a certain manner to allow for her creation. Like how in the movie, Marty has to make sure that his parents will end up together after he uknowingly screws up the meeting that would make them fall in love. If she didn’t help Sumireko in that way, it would risk breaking the timeline or deleting her existence (and therefore, Gensokyo). If Sumireko truly is Renko’s ancestry, if something bad happened to her, Renko wouldn’t exist and that changes everything. Due to this, Yukari is forced to intervene. Another scenario is that Maribel and Yukari are in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation. That Maribel turns into “Mr. Hyde” at probably random times and that’s when she does all the Yukari business. This explains why Yukari is labeled as “lazy”, it’s not that she is lazy, but rather she has a limited time of action. It could even work in the same way as Sumireko traveling to gensokyo in her dreams. Once Maribel “wakes up”, Yukari has to banish from whatever thing she is doing and return to her real body. This would also make Yukari’s time traveling less powerful and more of a side effect. Another possibility would be that Yukari “glitches out” and sometimes Maribel’s mind ends up in Yukari’s body (just like Sumireko with her Dream Doppelgänger) and those are the situations we see depicted in the Hifuu Club’s stories. “If you try tossing your faith in information aside, you just might be able to get more enjoyment out of the fanzine(?) that Renko and Merry wrote.” Dr. Latency’s Freak Report Is Zun just drunk? Maybe it’s all part of Zun’s plan in criticizing today’s day and age’s obsession with seeking an explanation in cryptic subjects. Playing with rhymes and poetry that alludes a meaning that doesn’t exist, or one that the individual must create on interpretation. I think that Zun has something planned, but who knows at this point. Maybe it is done to inspire his followers in creating an explanation? Just like I just did, or was he just drunk? The important thing, more than theorizing and scheming, are the messages found hidden away and reflecting upon them. Is our world becoming more and more alike Maribel and Renko’s future world? Is that a good or a bad thing? Do people exist out there with mystical powers? How real are urban legends? What role does faith place in our lives? Is our scientific progress damaging us? Why do we hate and fear what’s different and unknown? “I'm not so worried about where the "Sealing Club" is headed, but... Yes, Merry and Renko, who was featured in the text and is part of the mysterious "Sealing Club" that participates in all sorts of occult activities. While I didn't go into great detail, has scientific progress prevented them from eating wild bamboo shoots? What a pity.” Changeability of Strange Dream.