Touhou-A-Live Blog

These are some translated excerpts from Koki's blog, just because.
My selections are kind of a mess, but some of the posts are actually fairly interesting, particularly for all the things that were planned but got scrapped.


2010-05-28
Sudden Thought

TAL's Reisen is such a ridiculously cool character.
Originally she was a corporal, so she became kind of a military type, but now that's how she's been firmly established to me.
Looking back over the Treasure Chapter scenarios I've written, I keep remarking just how rad Reisen is.

I guess I'm not calling her Udonge anymore.

Anyway, there are a good number of changes from the original and the fangame in Treasure Chapter, particularly in terms of tone.
So I thought I'd show some sample lines from the major characters.

PS. I bought Medabots DS.

SAMPLE LINES FROM THE TREASURE CHAPTER MAIN CHARACTERS

Yamame
"Don't kick yourself - think about what you can do, here and now... Like you say, right, gramps?"

"Well... But I'm an earth spider. A youkai.
Everyone thinks I'm poisonous, so they won't even come close. They hate me. They fear me.
I'm sure even you fear me somewhere deep in your heart, gramps."

"Remilia... She may be a child, but she's no laughing matter."

"This is all to save Miss Sanae. Like it or not, we have to persevere."

Koa
"Crystals have a magic-amplifying power.
An ideal choice if you're going to be doing anything involving magic."

"Ohoho, yes, that's rather common. Don't get too careless."

"Whoa, look down there. There's lava flowing."

Sanae
"That is, well... I heard that wicked cult had been talking about our Moriya Shrine, but as soon I descended from the mountain to punish their insolence, I suddenly lost consciousness and ended up here..."

"Please, let me come too.
We've got the same goal, after all, so I think it'd be best to go together."

"Yes, well, if we leave it like this, SOMETHING bad is just bound to happen."

Griflet
"I ain't no moron. Can't let yaself get tossed 'side in our world.
Don't kick yaself. Y'gotta think about whatcha can do here 'n' now."

"Got me? Truth is, humans 'n' youkai ain't got no line or nothin' seperatin' 'em.
Sure, we might call 'em youkai 'cause they look plum ridic'lus 'pared to us sometimes, 'n' they might got some crazy power over bamboo or somethin'...
But no two humans got the same faces either, neither the same strengths.
What's the same's that they got spirit. Ev'rybody's gotta get along somehow.
Natchully, guys who only just care 'bout what they got a reason to, they see the guys under 'em as nothin' but morons.
Hear it from me, y'guys are no different from them brats runnin' 'round.
But hey, gotta have confidence. Don't matter who y'are, y'gotta be you. S'only thing y'can really be."

"So you lot're gonna go with us after all!
'Bout time you got some brains. Let's have at 'em!"

Shizuha
"Minoriko, just look at the humans.
Humans can't attain the same power youkai can, but they aren't running around frantically just to survive.
Far more important than power is action."

"Um, well, this is a surprise...
From appearances, I thought you were just an impoverished shrine in need of faith...
I guess what my point is... is that I don't have that kind of money, sorry."

"If we're to get any hint on what kind of path to take, we'll need to get in touch with the chief, right?
So mercy would be the best option, now wouldn't it?"

"Right, so let's do what we can for now!"

Reisen
"Yeah, what do you want?
I'm thinking you aren't exactly looking for medicine."

"Look, the lakewater.
See, it's muddled beyond belief...
As you can see, this is where the water pollution's gotten its worst.
But I don't see any possible causes for it nearby..."

"The only treasure this room has to offer is three prisoners.
Too bad for us."

Chen
"I'mma fight too! Being alone suuucks!"

"Here, miss! The Res that cleaned up the air!"

"Mish Yukari...
She said, she said she didn't see the beauty in Gensokyo sights anymore...!
Chen'll clean too! Chen's GOTTA see those pretty sights again!"

Nec
"Eh, me?
Nec's the name.
Treasure hunter extraordinaire!
I went to the Ostiums lookin' for treasure, but first place I dug ended up landin' me in here..."

"Right, the cell's open! Let's vamanos!"

"Being on top... It's all a matter of only thinkin' 'bout ya own business."

"Hey, I'm comin' wit' you lovely ladies on ya noble quest, y'know!
But I'm gonna want smooches for savin' ya necks!"


2010-05-19
Short Story: Of Aya and Nitori's Military Reconnaissance

Read more, please! [Gets a bit involved with Treasure Chapter worldbuilding stuff.]

Aya Shameimaru groaned.
She groaned often lately. At newspaper proceeds, particularly.
Before, it had all been graphs going up and right.
The frantic persuasions and gossip that lined Shameimaru's stories always got her subscriptions far.
But things changed around a year ago. There was a recession and a clear drop in subscribers.
Seeing her newspapers tossed to the wayside and covered in mud pained her.
She knew why. One, the overabundance of gossippy articles, and two, the Gensokyo Times.

The Gensokyo Times was a newspaper started up by a ghost in the west human village.
Until then, the tengu had a monopoly on the newspaper world, and no other dared to enter, so no one paid any mind to the Gensokyo Times at first.
But soon, all the reporters realized they had vastly underestimated it.
A mere month after the first issue of the Gensokyo Times, it was found that more than half of Gensokyo had subscribed.
When tengu grouped to discuss the Gensokyo Times, the reasons for this shocking subscription rate became quite apparent.
First of all, the information was correct.
Frankly, it simply was. There was not a sentence that dramatized or presupposed.
Next, the information came fast.
Extras always came out right after an incident occured - no, at nearly the same time.
And with accurate information being delivered right upon the heels of any incident, there was no longer any chance for rumors to form.
Finally, it was cheap.
Like, we're talking the monthly fee could be paid with a kid's allowance cheap.
It didn't seem the author of the Gensokyo Times was thinking about profits. He just knew there had to be lots of newspapers for lots of people to take.

Some tengu decided they would seek retribution by harassing the author of the Gensokyo Times.
They were childish tengu. In their eyes, news was war, even if it was war they could honestly afford to lose.
That's how Aya used to think. But it was thinking "how COULD I lose?" that made her tear her hair out.
The issue of the Gensokyo Times she had bought for a price akin to candy seemed unthinkably substantial for that price.
It was from yesterday, but this morning it featured a brand new story about the new Great Tengu.
"A young tengu, born an albino with white wings, hair, and skin, passed the test to rise to Great Tengu. Her name is Yumi Shiratori.
She's the youngest tengu on record to be promoted to Great Tengu, and holds the position of head of diplomatics... so yeah."
It was frustrating, but she didn't feel especially defeated by such an ordinary article.
Lately, there hadn't been many of her specialty incident articles, since there hadn't been many incidents period.
What to do? What to write?
And then...
"Yahooooo! Shameimaru, I've got a scoop!"
The elated voice was Nitori Kawashiro, an ordinary kappa.
Nitori, thought of as unsociable by many kappa but famous for her many friends, had no reason to be on any more than an "at least I KNOW your name" basis with Shameimaru.
But Aya was grasping for straws at the moment.
She decided to listen to Nitori's supposed scoop.

"A GSPO military base?"
"Yep!" Nitori opened up a map and explained. "Right here, in the southeast of Gensokyo. There's supposed to be a GSPO military base there."
Nitori pointed on the map. "See how this part of the map's, like, all white? Nobody in Gensokyo knows about the base. If we check it out and put it in a paper..."
"Write about something nobody knows about... yeah," Shameimaru agreed.
There was absolutely value in investigating things nobody knew about yet.
And if there was value in investigating, there was value in the newspapers that could hold that information.
In short, they could potentially cut off the Gensokyo Times.
Perhaps Nitori just wanted to see the latest weapons the GSPO had swiped from the outside world, but this was an unexpected blessing.
It would hold different value for them both.
"Well, let's hurry up and get covering this!"
"Alright, that's our fastest in Gensokyo! And fast decider, too!"
As Nitori fired Shameimaru up, Aya flew off, taking Nitori along.

By the time the two reached the base, it had gotten pitch black.
But at any rate, they had to infiltrate the base.
The night was ideal, making it hard for the already-scarce guards to see.
That is to say, they had been preparing at Nitori's house until night came.
"These, uh, optional camouflage and light scope things are pretty heavy..."
"Optical camouflage and night scope!" Nitori corrected Shameimaru, who couldn't seem to remember the names of the equipment.
"I've heard the GSPO's mostly just regular people. Let's prove to 'em they're no match for a kappa!"
The two flipped on their optical camouflage and picked up their night scopes.
The characteristic green of the night scope spread out in front of Shameimaru.
"This is pretty impressive. It's pitch black, but it almost looks like it's still noon."
"Yeah, that's what a night scope DOES!" Nitori was somewhat amused by Shameimaru's surprise at such a common thing.
Shameimaru's goal was to search around the base and figure out who was doing what so she could write about it for the paper.
She couldn't take photos on such a dark night, but observation would be enough.

"Shhh! Patrols are coming!"
Shameimaru immediately hid herself at Nitori's warning.
Even with optical camouflage, unhesitatingly standing in front of the enemy was dangerous, so Nitori had told her to do so.
"Huh? That's weird..." Nitori watched the patrols and tilted her head.
The patrols weren't looking ahead at all, focusing on something square on the sides of their guns as they walked around.
"What, do guns these days have TVs on them?" Nitori wondered.
"Hey, somebody there?"
They noticed?! Strange; they were hidden away with their optical camouflage.
The inattentive patrols busy watching TV shouldn't have noticed them at all.
"Cawww!"
"Oh, just a crow."
Shameimaru made a quick decision to twist her throat and make a crow sound, and hearing the mimicry, the patrol left.
"Nice one, Shameimaru."
"I thought my heart was gonna burst..."
The two continued further into the base with more discretion.

"Three soldiers up ahead."
"Isn't it pretty weird to consider soldiers from the same world as us enemies?"
"No it's not, don't ruin the ambiance. Going in front would be dangerous. Let's circle around."
Nitori chose a route more prudent than she previously had.
In the past, she infiltrated a tengu defense base, and with optical camouflage, achieved her goal of not being seen or caught.
But she had already nearly been caught by a human whose senses should have been much duller than a tengu's. Better safe than sorry, she figured.
Suddenly hearing the sound of an engine, the two immediately hid.
A Striker passed through in front of them.
Getting a bad feeling, Shameimaru held to Nitori's sleeve.
KABOOM! The Striker they thought had passed by suddenly fired.
The two barely dodged. If Shameimaru hadn't pulled Nitori away, she'd surely be bacon.
"INTRUDERS!! Two intruders sighted in Bravo Area! Seize them! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!!"
The siren rang, making the entire base go noisy. What they feared most was happening.
The two hid in a nearby wooden hut.
"Hey, isn't this a rocket launcher?!" Nitori shouted, picking up an irregularly-shaped cylinder of sorts in the hut.
"What use is that thing going to be?!"
"Taking out that vehicle, that's what use it's gonna be!"
Nitori set up the RPG-7, aimed it at the Striker, and fired.
But before the warhead hit the vehicle, it was knocked out of the air.
"It was WHAAAT?!"
Upon the sounding of the piercing gunshot, a barrage of lead attacked the hut.
"Let's escape through the back door!!"
As Shameimaru decided, the two escaped out the back door of the hut.
Just as they did, the hut exploded, blown to smithereens.

Nitori took out smoke candles from her backpack and scattered them around.
The smoke spread with remarkable force. It was impossible to see anything behind them.
"They shouldn't be able to get in a good hit now," Nitori said, leaning against a wall.
"Well, in that case, let's fly outta here! We've got enough info!"
Shameimaru spread her wings, picked up Nitori, and took off.
They said a quick goodbye to the fort they felt they could never have enough of.
But the pair's faint fantasy of escape was quickly shattered.
"Locked on!!"
"Fire the Stinger!!"
Following the voice, they felt something chasing after them.
Shameimaru dodged to the side and saw a missile fly by at remarkable speed.
"What was that?!"
"A missile!! Shameimaru, behind, behind!"
Shameimaru turned around and saw the missile she had just dodged turning around.
She promptly ducked to dodge, but in the process lost her balance and fell.
The missile fell to the ground and exploded.
In the same moment, a barrage of lead came from the smoke.
The two scarcely managed to dodge the unthinkably accurate bullets from deep within the smoke.
They couldn't hold up at that rate, so the two lept into a building which might have been a barracks.
Once in the building, the gunshots stopped, and it fell deadly silent.

"It got quiet..."
"They're looking for us!"
The two whispered to each other.
Outside the window, countless soldiers holding guns with lights on them were surveying the area.
Nitori knew the optical camouflage wouldn't work on the soldiers here.
Just trying to run would be no use; they had to attack.
"Let's sort out our equipment here." Nitori took a number of things out of her burdening backpack.
"Two flash grenades, and... huh? Where'd everything go...? Ack!"
A wide hole had opened in the bottom of the backpack. A bullet had probably hit it back in the hut.
"What are we supposed to do with those two things?!"
"R-R-R-R-Right, just settle down. We should be able to do this!"
Footsteps echoed behind them. It seemed soldiers were entering the building.
They couldn't go back. The two began their advance.
"There's three guys in the room ahead, and I don't think they've noticed us."
"Break through 'em with the flash grenades!"
Nitori took the pin out of a grenade and tossed it into the room.
Amid the sound of the explosion were screams.
Nitori then struck and knocked out a soldier entering the room. Shameimaru did the same after her.
"Why are you jerks UNARMED?!" Nitori shouted. The unconscious soldiers had no weapons on them.
"Get them!!" Enemies from outside shouted, and another flash grenade was thrown out.
"You're on your own!!" Nitori shouted, kicking Shameimaru into the enemyless room.
When Shameimaru got back up, she heard explosions and gunfire from the room Nitori was in.
Shameimaru apologized to Nitori and ran off.

With Nitori left behind, the interior of the base was still as death.
That it had been so noisy before seemed like a lie.
Shameimaru alone proceeded through the dark hallways of the facility.
She passed countless soldiers on the way, but thanks to the optical camouflage, they didn't notice her going by.
These soldiers were no doubt ordinary humans.
Perhaps the ineffectiveness of the camouflage was due to some kind of equipment.
Shameimaru calmly collected her thoughts.
But as she did so, she was too engrossed to feel the presence approaching her from behind.
Someone seemed to strike Shameimaru on the back of her head and her senses faded.

Shameimaru awoke in a concrete room illuminated by a warm light bulb.
She couldn't move her hands or feet. Having a strange feeling of oppression, she figured she was bound.
Despite her blurred vision, she clearly saw Nitori before her, tied up the same way.
She wasn't able to move either, but the movement of her chest seemed to indicate she was alive.
She didn't appear wounded, only knocked senseless.
The door opened with a click and someone seemed to come in.
There were wings on their back, so it was probably a tengu.
Yet the wings weren't the usual tengu black, but a brilliant white.
A white-winged tengu... where have I heard that one before...?
Oh, right. The new Great Tengu mentioned in the article from this morning.

"Lady... Shira... tori...?" Shameimaru called to her, adding "Lady" as not to seem in any way impolite.
"Oh, you know me?" The tengu, apparently Shiratori, looked straight into her face.
After looking at her for a while, she clapped her hands as if having remembered something.
"Perhaps you're the reporter, Ms. Shameimaru?"
"I... I am... p-please help meee!" Her senses still dizzy, Shameimaru begged for help.
"Lady Shiratori, what should we do with the intruders?" an entering man in uniform asked.
"Captain Brad, let this kid go. She's the famous Aya Shameimaru!"
"Hm, is she? Excuse me for that, then. Wesker, Lyman, cut the girls' ropes."
"Sir!" Two men behind Captain Brad cut Shameimaru and Nitori's ropes with knives.
Shameimaru staggered to her feet. Nitori still seemed to be unconscious, but seemed alright where she was.
"W-Where is this?"
"This is the basement of the base," Shiratori answered, her face turning serious.
"What were you thinking, trying to infiltrate this base? ...Well, it's awfully crude to just ask that outright. You came to investigate the base for an article, right?"
Shameimaru wondered: did she know all along?
Yukari Yakumo entered the room from within a gap. "I thought the base seemed noisy. Of course it had to be you, Shameimaru."
Shameimaru recalled that it was Yukari who established the GSPO in the first place.
"Captain Brad, would you send your subordinates off? It would be quite lamentable for you to leave empty-handed after coming all this way, so stay here and we shall... teach you a tad, oho."
"Hm, if Lady Yukari says so. Wesker, Lyman, you two better head back."
"Yessir. Good night."
The two left the room, and Yukari gently spoke.

"Well, first of all, do you understand why I would want to create a large-scale army such as this in Gensokyo?"
"I don't," Shameimaru immediately replied. If she could say she did, she probably wouldn't be in such a position.
"Well, I shall tell you. This army exists for the sake of countering forces external to Gensokyo."
"External to Gensokyo?"
"Yes, the moon, the outside world, and so on."
It was certainly a reason. The moon had a fighting force of unknown size, and even the shrine maidens together were no match for it.
But why only humans, and why fear the outside world, which couldn't even use magic?
Shameimaru voiced this question, and Yukari giggled softly.
"Despite having seen such pain for yourself, you would still say such a thing?"
"Hm?" Shameimaru didn't understand what she meant.
"The same weapons that hunted you down are equally in use in the outside world."
"Huh?!" Brad's statement made Shameimaru recall all the things in the base.
Soldiers who saw through optical camouflage. Rocket-firing armored vehicles.
Extremely perseverant missiles. Barrages of lead that flew accurately even through smoke...
Were all of those things of the outside world? Shameimaru couldn't believe it.

"First of all, the soldier who mistook you for a crow had something on his gun.
That was a heart sensor, a device that picks up an electric signal when the heart of an animal beats and displays as such."
"When it beats? I've never heard of that before."
"Because Gensokyo's learning doesn't advance. But in the outside world, isn't it just common sense?" Shiratori said, with an ordinary kind of face.
"Furthermore, the Striker was equipped with a thermal sight, an automatic attack system that perceives temperature.
Optical camouflage did not affect your bodily temperature, leaving you exposed to the vehicle.
Naturally, the thermal sight was also on the guns aimed at you."
"So it was..."
Perhaps the technology of the outside world surpassed even the kappa.
In that case, it was obviously a threat.

"Well, so long as the border is in good condition, we need not worry about it. We simply need only prepare, oho," Yukari said, giggling.
"If we are, under some very unlikely circumstances, attacked, we will be at a disadvantage.
We are few, and they are many. It won't matter even if every one of ours is strong.
Moreso than carelessness, decision of victory shall ultimately come down to number," Shiratori said, and Brad continued.
"The many self-centered youkai would be particularly hard to make work in a war machine.
A human force equipped with the same stuff as the outside world is needed to protect Gensokyo from outsiders without needing to have a miracle happen."
"So that's it... I understand," Shameimaru replied, nodding.
"And you are good little children for it. Make use of that understanding and make a story of it if you like. But if you should write even the tiniest detail of the weapons or the contents of this base... You understand, yes?"
"Y-Yes!" Shameimaru replied to Yukari with a suddenly yelping voice.
"For all the trouble, the kappa child shall be given a present, as well. Captain Brad, place it into the child's backpack."
"Is that really okay?" Brad asked.
"It is fine. A kappa would not comprehend its structure regardless," Yukari said, and Brad hung a large tube-shaped thing on Nitori's bored-open backpack.
Shameimaru couldn't overlook the word "Javelin" written on the tube.

And so, exhausted, they managed to return. The two parted and remet the next day to write the article together.
Nitori inspected the tube (as far as she knew it to be) she received while unconscious, and though in a daze, Shameimaru answered all her questions.
And such is how the two unwittingly became good friends.

"How did the inspection of the base go?" one of Shiratori's associates asked upon her return.
"Not bad. ...In fact, I've found a replacement for our critically-ill head of PR."
"Replacement, you said?"
"Send news of her and this candidate for next term's head of defense over to the head of employment, won't you?
Heh heh, next year will be a blast..." Shiratori said to the associate, placing two photos on the desk.
The photos showed Shameimaru and her close friend Momiji Inubashiri.


2010-05-16
Treasure Chapter NPCs

Don't you "this again?" me.
The story keeps piling up, but it's vital that the original characters be introduced.

At present, Shameimaru and Nitori are in a military installation that - uh - um - okay I'm in the middle of writing another short story!

BIOS FOR MINOR TREASURE CHAPTER CHARACTERS

Hiraga Hojo [Yes, this is absolutely a Final Fantasy joke; "Hojo" is even spelled with the same kanji as the FF7 character.]
The designer of YDMT-IV and YDMT-X's bodies.
He's a genius youth; despite being human, he possesses kappa-level mechanical skill.
Trying to ease the present dependence on kappa, he takes advantage of his creativity (which the kappa lack) and refuses to copy designs from any other mecha.
He's a little greedy, though, and when he sells his own work, he does so at astronomical prices.
He considered it a bargain to sell YDMT-IV to Rinnosuke for a million yen.

Yumi Shiratori
A politically-powerful tengu, close to the Great Tengu. Head of diplomatics.
Born an albino, her hair, wings, and skin are white, and her eyes are red.
She's been persecuted for this since childhood, but she struggled to make it up to the office of Great Tengu.
She's sociable, but hates formalities.
By the way, she's in her twenties, so pretty young for a tengu.

Fyu
An old male ghost.
He has the ability to forsee affairs in advance, but its fault lies in that no one believes him until the affair occurs.
However, he can write articles about the affair beforehand, and while the affair is happening, he can issue people the information in a newspaper.
The newspaper articles are accurate, delivery is quick, and most importantly, it's cheap to deliver them to a great number of people.
With this strategy, he writes the "Gensokyo Times," which has become Gensokyo's leading newspaper.
Of course, this has earned him much resentment from the tengu, and he is sent notice of their hate daily.

Brad Prescott
The boss of the GSPO's human division.
When it comes to strategies, he's a regular Machiavelli, but he's certainly sharp.
He makes a hobby out of occasionally starting large-scale battles by requesting animal extermination as a "military exercise."
He's very popular among members of the human divison.
He considers Sergeant Wesker and Corporal Lyman trusted aides.

Mr. Don
Manager of the Colleseum in the north village and boss of the mafia that runs the slums, he's an old tengu who can be recognized by his sunglasses.
He's an old acquaintance of the Great Tengu's head of employment.
He raises a yukkuri as a pet.
He swindles money from millionaires in gambling dens and distributes it to the poor as part of his "Property Equalization Plan."
(O 3 O) And he's got a face like this.

Flat
A ghostly woman who works as Mr. Don's secretary. Black-suited and blonde-haired.
She calmly handles her job with ease.
When Momiji visits the Colleseum, she explains its structure.
The Colleseum fighters who've seen her with her glasses off say she looks like some celebrity, but who is she really...?

North Village Chief
Real name is Yoshiro Kawanoboru. Though chief of a human village, he's a kappa.
Using his atmosphere-controlling Res, Dionysus, he pollutes all of Gensokyo sans the north village and collects a massive "clean air tax."
He uses the tax money to hire mercenaries that protect him.
However, he also created a battle robot to serve as his bodyguard.
He was originally an upstanding member of society, but ever since he hired Julie (the female ninja practicing secret eating in Netherworld Chapter) as a maid and she used a Cloak of Invisibility to swindle him, he's distrusted humans.


2010-05-16
Short Story: Marisa and the Changing Gensokyo

For some reason, it became a short story about Marisa.

Read more, please! [Minor mentions of some minor things in Treasure Chapter, since it takes place beforehand.]

[Note: The previous entry, which announced these short stories, says that they take place after the seven normal chapters, but on an alternate timeline.
One timeline leads to Fantasy Chapter and Final Chapter. The other leads to these and Treasure Chapter.]

"Whew, great weather today, ze!" Marisa shouted, flying through the clear skies of Gensokyo on her broom.
"Days like these, she oughta get out and have some fun!"
"She," of course, was her good friend Alice Margatroid, the dollmaker.
Originally she was going to meet Alice because there was something she wanted to tell her, but basking in the pleasant weather and looking at the clear sky, she thought it'd be great to take a walk with Alice.
In actuality, Marisa hadn't met Alice in a number of months.
She heard Alice had been ordered to rest so she could recover from wounds on the moon expedition incident, so Marisa figured she ought to hold off on meeting her for a while.
Even if she was careful, she didn't trust herself to be calm. If anything reckless she did worsened Alice's wounds, she'd never be able to forgive herself, she figured.
As Marisa approached the skies above the Forest of Magic, she aimed her broom down and began her descent.
Flying in the sky, it was impossible to locate Alice's house amid the dense forest.

"Whoa, why's Udonge here?"
Marisa found someone walking in the forest who was typically not seen there.
Udonge... Rather, Reisen Udongein Inaba, was a girl with rabbit ears.
She usually resided in Eientei in the Bewildering Forest, and while she would appear in the human village occasionally to sell medicine, she didn't typically come to this forest.
"Is that doctor planning something...?"
She was pondering with suspicion concerning the doctor to Reisen's teacher, Eirin Yagokoro, but Marisa, not having much information at the moment, didn't have an answer.
"Well, maybe I'll find something out over at Alice's house."
Ending the conversation there, she set off for Alice's house again.

A small doll was waiting for Marisa upon her arrival to Alice's house.
It was Alice's favorite, a Shanghai doll.
She'd seen them all the time with Alice in control, so it was nothing unusual.
However, the doll was in Marisa's way... blocking the entrance to Alice's house.
"Outta the way," Marisa ordered.
"I can't possibly let anyone through who I don't know," the doll quietly informed her.
Well, that's weird, Marisa thought.
Alice had formerly made dolls talk, yes.
In reality, though, it was via Alice's ventriloquism, and her acting ability was surprisingly good, to be sure.
However, the voice coming from this doll was not Alice's.
For her to take on such a tone was impossible. It was someone else's voice entirely.
Furthermore, this doll didn't seem to know her.
Even for a moment, how could she not know Marisa, Alice's best friend?
There were two possibilities. Was this doll actually alive...?
No way, that's stupid. Must be some kinda trick.
"DGYAHHH! This is gettin' to be a pain in the ass. Let's danmaku this!"
"If you want to, sure, I'll fight you," the doll agreed.
Marisa thought.
Alice was surely controlling the doll from somewhere in the shadows; to tease Marisa, Alice had merely prepared an array of tricks to make it appear as if the doll was really alive.
As a good friend of hers, she knew how to dodge Alice's danmaku better than anybody.
Even if Alice had come up with some new spellcards, Marisa knew her habits. She could take them as she saw them.
If she could beat the doll up some, she'd get Alice to come out of hiding, apologize, and reveal the secrets of her trick, Marisa thought.

"Magic Sign, Stardust Reverie!!"
Marisa took out and activated one of her spellcards.
First, she would test to see how well a remotely-controlled doll could dodge.
The doll skillfully dodged the countless danmaku stars coming out of Marisa.
But Marisa was not discouraged.
She had opened with her most commonly-used spellcard.
Of course Alice had dodged it; if she hadn't, it would mean Alice was really losing her edge.
Having dodged Marisa's spellcard, the doll took a spellcard from its pocket.
"Nature Sign, Revolving Godkilling Blade."
The doll threw out countless blades that Marisa had never seen anything like before.
"Whoooaaa?!"
Marisa just barely dodged them. Her face showed her impatience.
The sharp danmaku seemed to give a roar as they flew toward her.
The orbit they took was not present in any of Alice's spellcards.
This doll is pretty good, Marisa thought.
"But she ain't dodgin' THIS! Get a load of Love Sign, MASTER SPA -"
Just as she was preparing the Hakkero to activate the spellcard...
"Father Sign, Drill Dash."
The doll took the chance to activate her own spellcard, and holding a drill, knocked the Hakkero out of Marisa's hands.
As the doll pointed her drill at Marisa, knocked to the ground, she picked up her dropped Hakkero.
"Checkmate," the grinning doll softly declared.

"What happened? I heard some loud noises out there..."
Alice had become aware of the sound outside and came out.
She noticed the doll pointing a drill at Marisa and holding the Hakkero.
"Oh, Shang. She's Marisa, a friend of mine. Let her go."
"Oh, is she? I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
Watching Alice and the doll, Shang, converse, the now-liberated Marisa blinked.

Of course, Alice did apologize and began to reveal the secrets of her trick.
However, that is where it deviated far from Marisa's expectations.
"She's Shang, an independently-thinking doll I made."
"I heard rumors about that, but... you finished it?"
Marisa sat down on a sofa and watched the bowing Shang before her.
"I made her during the moon expedition."
"Ohhh, well, that's nice.... But, can I ask you somethin'?"
Marisa took a deep breath, then shouted.
"Why the hell's Udonge in your house?!"
Reisen sat on the sofa next to Marisa sipping on black tea.

"What, I shouldn't be?" Reisen calmly replied.
"Well, not like it's a bad thing, but don'tcha think it's just a little inappropriate? And you being there earlier was a little weird too, yeah?"
Marisa scratched her head. Somehow, it seemed Alice and her surroundings, unvisited for some time, had undergone some major changes.
Marisa didn't want to meddle, though, as not to dig her own grave, so she figured she'd just wait and see how things turned out.
"I came to talk with Shang for a bit, and I'm heading back now, so..." Reisen got out of her seat.
That she would come not for Alice, but for a doll, seemed rather strange.
As Marisa thought about this, a figure suddenly appeared behind the leaving Reisen.
"Oh, mommy, is our guest going home?" asked a sweet little girl who had just appeared in the room.
"M-MOMMY?!"
The air seemed to freeze.

In Marisa's head, scenes out of an adult-oriented comic came to mind.
"No way... Alice, whend'ya...?!"
Marisa shouted, red in the face, and Alice, realizing Marisa's terribly wrong presumption, shouted back.
"T-That's not it!! She's adopted, adopted!!"
"Adopted?!"
Alice held the girl in her arms and began explaining.
"Remember Shinki, my mother? After I moved to Gensokyo, apparently she made another one of me.
You could say this girl is the "second generation" Alice.
The Makai couple who was supposed to raise the child died in an accident, so some time ago, my mother asked me to take her in."
"Hrmmm..." With Alice stumbling over herself, Marisa had taken on a face of disbelief halfway through her explanation.
Alice seemed so vastly changed since she'd last met her that Marisa was beginning to get a little paranoid.
Suddenly, Marisa remembered something.
During a bizarre incident long ago, she had heard that Alice as an infant had not been a puppeteer, but a necromancer.
So perhaps the "second generation" Alice was...
"ALLYYYYY!! LET'S GO PLAAAY!!", someone shouted from outside.
If Marisa remembered correctly, it was the voice of the famed corpse carrier Rin Kaenbyou.
So her assumption seemed to be spot on.
Rin, being Marisa's age, was old enough to be a "Miss." So she figured "Ally" couldn't be Alice, but referring to the child.
"Mommy, can I take a drive with Orinrin?"
"Just make sure you come back by dinner!"
"Okaaay!"
The conversation between Alice and her second incarnation seemed like one between any ordinary parent and child.
Maternal instinct, perhaps? Marisa longed, if only a little bit, to have such a conversation herself.

Once she had confirmed the child had gone out with Rin, Marisa finally got to what she had come for.
"Hey Alice, didya know they've been finding ancient ruins in Gensokyo lately?"
"Ancient ruins? No, I didn't."
"Apparently somebody found out there was a civilization here before Gensokyo was created. So yeah, must be relics of that civilization."
Marisa took out a glittering rainbow pendant-shaped object from her pocket.
"Whaddya think of this thing I borrowed from one of the ruins? Gets the collector in you excited, doesn't it?"
"No, it doesn't."
Alice's clear lack of interested shocked Marisa.
Before, if she had seen such a thing, she'd immediately declare it more amazing than Marisa.
"Sorry, but I'm busy raising a kid and looking after Shang. If I have time later, I'll come along with you," Alice explained.
"Besides, there have been bandits and such about lately, so I don't much want to go out anyway."
"Yeah, that is true, I guess..." Marisa remembered turning a tengu robber to cinders just that morning.
Gensokyo had made a recent turn for the dangerous. She couldn't do much but sit back and watch, but still wondered if peaceful times would come again.
As Marisa thought on this, she finished up her black tea.
"Anyway, the tea was great, ze."
"Well, bye."
Given a short farewell, Marisa left Alice's house.
From beginning to end, the visit had been surprising in every way.
Marisa ascended once more on her broom.
The sky had gotten somewhat cloudy, as if to reflect the haziness in Marisa's heart.

"Hey, what's with the glum face? That's not our Marisa!"
Marisa was met with these words from Reimu upon going down to the Hakurei Shrine.
"Eh, it's just that the times, they're a-changing... in my opinion."
Marisa explained what had happened at Alice's house.
"Nothing in the world is eternal. Time flows, people age, some people might marry.
New youkai might appear, some might cause new incidents. And in those new incidents, maybe you'll even make new friends.
If you got fussed over the tiniest change, you wouldn't get anywhere."
"Yeah, that's right, alright."
Marisa sat down inside the shrine.
As she drank Reimu's tea, Marisa suddenly noticed a newspaper on a desk.
"Have I gotten this paper yet?" she wondered as she took it. The newspaper had a number of leaflets in it.
"Look if you want. Nothing huge in there, but..."
"Hm, might as well kill some time..."
Marisa flipped through the leaflets.
Leaflets about a transportation company to bring goods from the outside world, leaflets about a recently-created gun company... all kinds, but none of them caught Marisa's interest.
"Zeh? That counts as news, too?"
There was a leaflet about the ruins Alice had mentioned.
It introduced her to the business of Cavers, those hoping for treasure, enlisting Conveyers to help them excavate the ruins.
Well, giving new things like this a try couldn't hurt.
Thinking this over, she placed the leaflets back on the desk.
"Excuse me? I came to worship, but..." Someone was talking outside.
"Yes, I'm coming! Marisa, sorry, I've got a worshipper waiting."
"S'okay, I'm leaving now."
"Are you? Alright, then."
Marisa said her farewell and again took off flying into the skies.
"Man, when'd we enter an era where worshippers actually come to the Hakurei Shrine...?"
But as she thought this, Marisa also thought of the ruins.
If the world was changing, she would simply have to catch up.
Marisa smiled and flew back home.

- End -


2010-05-10
Treasure Chapter Main Characters

Super sorry that I've been making no progess and just writing this stuff lately.

There seem to be a lot of people wondering about Treasure Chapter in the videos, so I'll just introduce the playable characters.
The concept behind Treasure Chapter is "those without power combine their power to save Gensokyo."
Beware, there are some original characters too.

GENERAL TREASURE CHAPTER PLOT INFORMATION

< Yamame's Chapter >
Yamame Kurodani (Protagonist)
As a young spider, she was always taunted for being a supposedly-poisonous earth spider, so she spent most of her childhood despising everyone.
After meeting the more-accepting Griflet, her outlook gradually became more positive.
Wielding the swords she made together with Griflet, they go on a journey to chase down the cult that, years ago, burnt down his village.
And before they knew it, that journey turned into a quest to chase after the wicked Res that could manipulate people's hearts, the Black Crystal...

Kisume
The sole friend of the once-rude Yamame.
She was together with Yamame in her spiteful existence, and in being together with her facing a similar situation, she grew very fond of her.
She's somewhat childish, but still has a kind heart.
She provides support to Yamame in battle without participating directly.

Koa
A young demon who serves as the librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library.
Taking an order from her master Patchouli to retrieve the stolen book Res, the Necronomicon, she set out on a journey, but unable to find any clues, she got lost.
Around that time, she met Yamame, who was chasing after a similar personage, so they searched together.
"Koa" is the name Yamame decided for her because her lack of name was too inconvenient.
She fights using jutsu.

Sanae Kotiya
The familiar green armpit-maiden of the Moriya Shrine.
She heard that the mysterious cult was saying suspicious things about her shrine, so she chased down the cult (deeming them worthy of punishment), caught them, and after saving Yamame's party, thereafter joined forces with her.
She has no combat experience, so her dexterity rates all start at zero.
In other words, she can be trained in any way.

Griflet Anderson
An old blacksmith living in the south human village.
Many years ago, he lived in another small village with Yamame and company, but a mysterious cult burnt the village to the ground.
He managed to successfully escape in the confusion, but lost many friends.
As such, he's chasing after the mysterious cult while working as a blacksmith in the south village.
As a child, he had an awful experience with an oni, so he loathes them.
He specializes in fighting with axes.
He also appears in Fantasy Chapter.

Lumi Warashiki
A Zashiki-Warashi youkai. Female.
Yamame's party calls her Auntie Lumi.
As a GSPO youkai, she specializes in laser danmaku.
She's a childhood friend of Griflet's who's secretly in love with him, but she's unlikely to ever tell him her true feelings.
She's friendly and thus has the trust of most people in the west village.
She's the same age as Griflet (pretty young compared to youkai), but regardless, Yamame thinks she's old enough to be an "auntie": "Certainly not young enough to be called a "lady" anymore."
Prefers to fight with a bow.

< Shizuha's Chapter >
Shizuha Aki (Protagonist)
Has become so exasperated over Gensokyo's recent pollution that she can no longer stand it, so she goes on a journey to purify the environment.
On the way, her sheer will and unique Res lead people to call her a "messiah," and though she questions if she's qualified for such a title, she continues to strive for purification with her companions.
Mainly specializes in staffs and jutsu.

Reisen
A resident of Eientei who studies in environmental protection.
Seeing that Shizuha has the same goal, she journeys with her.
She's the one who can calmly make decisions and keep the party in line.
A gun specialist.

Chen
While lost, she meets Shizuha's party, and knowing that the environment is being ruined and natural beauties are disappearing, she freely decides to support them.
She's bad at handling weapons, but does great in martial arts.

Nec
Found in Shizuha's cell upon getting captured at some point, he's a boy from the slums who came to the north village looking for treasure.
A human whose specialty is lockpicking.
He's collecting treasure to distribute to poor children in the slums.
He's freed from the chief of the north village, but seeing that Shizuha is aware of Gensokyo's approaching destruction, he travels with her.

< Momiji's Chapter >
Momiji Inubashiri (Protagonist)
To search for the missing Aya, she takes on the final trial to become Great Tengu and travels around Gensokyo, aiming to become Colosseum champion.
Specializes in fencing.

YDMT-X
A mecha-yukkuri sent in search of Aya, as requested by the Great Tengu via the GSPO.
The successor to YDMT-IV, it's the pinnacle of the YDMT series.
Thanks to its Res-based artificial intelligence, it speaks in a courteous tone unbecoming of a typical yukkuri.
It's always calm, but it can also take sudden action without skipping a beat.
Originally, it went in search of Aya with Momiji merely to do its job, but it gradually came to want to support Momiji of its own will, deciding to cooperate even through its paid vacation.
It has a brother at home named PHACR-VII (named after his date of manufacture). [No, I don't understand how the name relates to this.]
It's equipped with heavy weapons.
It has a wife and kids. [?!?]

Natsuki Kurokawa
A crow tengu who saved Griflet from an attacking tengu ruffian in the slums of the north village during Yamame's chapter.
As a reporter, she has the utmost respect for Aya Shameimaru.
After helping out, she serves as a caretaker at Lumi's house, but after hearing from Momiji that Aya has gone missing, she joins them, hoping to find information about her whereabouts.
She travels with them thereafter.
Specializes in battling with spears.

Yuugi Hoshiguma
After being defeated by Momiji at the Colosseum, she takes a liking to Momiji and decides to fight together with her.
A jujutsu specialist.

< Watanabe's Chapter >
Kukuri Watanabe (Protagonist)
An oden seller from the outside world.
She became a Caver to strike it rich in the Ostiums.
Afterward, interested in the Great Ostiums which no one could conquer, she tried to take on all four of the Great Ostiums.
She's apparently had quite a varied past.
She talks like a man's man and has a stubborn personality, but yes, she's a girl.
As one from the outside world, she can't use strong magic-based abilities, but she's unique in being unaffected by metal.
Her starting equipment is a metal bat. (Classified as a staff.)
Her handling abilites extend to staffs, axes, and guns.

Elly
A girl from Mugenkan, and hasn't seen Yuka in several years.
Certain that no one would ever come to the empty mansion, to kill some time, she took her favorite scythe (classified as an axe) and became a Conveyer.
However, the first Caver who employed Elly was rude to her, turning her off to the idea.
Afterward, she met Watanabe while hanging around in a bar and became her Conveyer.
Excels in axe techniques.

Dai
A great fairy living in a lake.
Following her friend who'd earned the title of strongest, she became the Conveyer of a veteran Caver, but she was late to her first job and unexpectedly ended up becoming the Conveyer for the newbie Caver Watanabe.
She has no real name, but Elly -
"A big fairy... Daiyousei... would Dai be okay with you?"
- decided her name for her, though she doesn't appreciate it much herself.
Mainly fights with spears.

Magoichi Suzuki
A human male that frequents Watanabe's oden shop.
Always eats ten, then takes six home with him.
In reality, he's the leader of a resistance movement against the atmosphere-polluting, clean-air-using, money-accumulating chief of the north village, and a guardian to the orphans living in the slums.
After defeating the chief with Shizuha, he helps out Watanabe in addition.
He's secretly in love with Watanabe.
He's skilled at handling guns, his favorite being a gun Res named the Yatagarasu.

:: Explaining Technical Terms ::
Ostiums - Ancient ruins found throughout Gensokyo.
Various treasures from before Gensokyo's formation sleep within.
They're inhabited by ferocious monsters and laced with many traps.
Additionally, the massive Great Ostiums (like, say, SaGa Frontier 2's Megaliths) are said to have never even been entered.
Ostium is Latin for "entrance."

Res - A general term for treasures excavated from an Ostium that possess great power. (Like, say, SaGa Frontier 2's Quells.)
There are many kinds of Res, ranging from weapons to decorations.
The ancients who created the Ostiums have left these behind.
Res is Latin for "thing."

Cavers - Those who work to excavate Ostiums. (Like, say, SaGa Frontier 2's Diggers.)
They make their income from selling the Res they excavate from Ostiums.
It's dangerous and difficult to cave alone, so it's typical for them to employ a number of Conveyers when they go excavating.
For a time, many Cavers lost their lives in the Ostiums, but now not quite as many do.
Marisa and Nazrin are more or less celebrities upon the basis of their work as Cavers.
It's the dream of many a Caver to explore the Great Ostiums.

Conveyers - Those hired by Cavers for reward. (Like, say, SaGa Frontier 2's Vigilantes.)
Most Conveyers don't particularly want to be Conveyers, but rather to try their might or to train, so Conveyers are never especially worried about low pay.

* Weapon Classification *
By the way, different weapons can be equipped in right and left hands.
Right Hand: Sword, Axe, Spear, Staff, Bow, Claw (Jujutsu)
Left Hand: Shield, Tome, Spellcard, Pistol, Heavy Weapons


2010-05-09
Metal and Weapons and Magic and Kappa and the GSPO

The second edition of the Midnight Tension series. [The previous post was about Tengu politics. Bleh. They have a Great Tengu, that's all that matters.]
From here on, it's mainly stuff planned to come up again in Treasure Chapter.
It seems to me that even Gensokyo changes with the ages.
It's basically a hobby of mine to describe human behavior.

WORLDBUILDING STUFF FOR TREASURE CHAPTER

"Magic Power"
All those born in Gensokyo, regardless of if they're human or youkai, have magical power.
As such, with practice, anybody can use magic.
However, those with no natural ability will be stuck with low-level fire spells.
Yet, one's magical power also tends to increase over years.
By the way, as outsiders have no magical power, purebred outside-worlders can't use magic no matter how much they flounder about trying.
Even if they're single and thirty.
Compared to humans, youkai have greater magical power.

"The First Magical Revolution"
A year after all six chapters (excepting Wild West Chapter), nothing historical was happening in Gensokyo.
But then, an anonymous magician living in the north village discovered a spell written in a book that allowed one to use magic without having to recite a lengthy charm.
Afterward, the spell was sold in mass produced Grimoires, and magic spread among even the common people.
Grimoire magic merely cuts down on the recitation process - it still relies upon the ability of the user.
So while expert magicians hardly lost their standing to newcomers, it further lowered demand for metal goods, which were already rather disliked.

"Metal"
Metal goods in Gensokyo have a history of animosity.
Metal inhibits magical power - when naturally-magical people from Gensokyo touch it, the flow of magic in their body changes, and various malicious effects may occur.
As such, when the First Magical Revolution came around and magic became much easier to use, it fell further and further out of use.
The effects are minor, so if one becomes accustomed to touching it, it can merely render them incapable of using magic.
Lead is the most magic-inhibiting metal, and gold is the least.
Below are the inhibiting rates of common metals.
Lead: 100%
Nickel: 80%
Steel: 60%
Iron: 50%
Copper: 40%
Platinum: 30%
Silver: 20%
Mithril Silver: 10%
Gold: 0%

"Use of Metal Armor"
As stated, metal has the property of inhibiting magic.
Lately, this has been taken advantage of through the use of metal armor.
For example, if a human wanted to exterminate a youkai who specialized in magic or danmaku, they would have prior had no way to handle the endless assault, and there would be many sacrifices made in the process.
However, with metal defenses, danmaku and magic are made ineffective.
Attacks from metal weapons can also interrupt the flow of a youkai's magic and make them feel weak, so that's a viable strategy as well.
Of course, with the introduction of guns, which fire metal bullets, youkai extermination has become comparably very simple.

"Gensokyo and Gun Use"
Guns started entering Gensokyo several years ago.
When they did, humans and kappa both jumped for them quickly.
Kappa understood their structure and began production of guns within Gensokyo.
For humans, the gun quickly became an industry.
Humans established "Barrel Corp." to single-handedly develop, produce, and sell guns, and selling began in the human villages.
Since guns are made of metal, they haven't spread too far, but they are starting to be used as primary weapons in places.

"Differences Between Kappa and Humans"
Kappa have more technological skill than humans, but are poor at coming up with new concepts.
Without a blueprint or an idea of something's structure based on its exterior, they can't make it, nor can they invent anything.
Humans are more skilled than kappa in this respect, being the more creative, and are able to come up with countless ideas under the mantra that "necessity is the mother of invention."
These differences are the foundation for the kappa's sworn friendship with humans.

"GSPO"
The GSPO (Gensokyo Systematic Patrol Organization) is an organization created by Yukari Yakumo that is assigned the daily task of handling the incidents throughout Gensokyo
that are too insignificant for a shrine maiden to take care of herself, resolving the incident in the shrine maiden's place.
There are four divisons that will go out and resolve incidents based on the specifics of the affair.
They'll come running right away if they receive a report or a phone call.
Spelling out the four divisons...

Human Divison - Mainly handles incidents caused by humans.
Most members are human males.
They're like an army, so Yukari often takes weapons from the outside world's American army... cough, cough.
With their use of these... borrowed goods, they're a fairly modern bunch.
It's the largest of the GSPO divisons, with over 40 infantry forces (three members in each), 10 armored subdivisions, two air forces, and one navy.
With the development of guns and increase in humans dependent on them, there's been increasing likelihood of terrorism, and to control this, they use recent weapons that are not generally available.
In times of disaster, they also go out to help victims.
Their main tank is the M1 Abrams. Their main helicopter is the Cobra.
Since there's nowhere to build a runway in Gensokyo, the air force is made up of helicopters.
Also, as there are no seas in Gensokyo, the navy only gets to show off when incidents occur on the island in the middle of the Lake of Mist.
Their uniform is ACU camouflage.

Youkai Division - Handles incidents involving youkai and fairies.
Of course, a shrine maiden will go handle most incidents of this nature, so when there aren't any incidents one won't take care of, they act as a police force instead.
The members are all female youkai.
Their uniform is a suit.

Yukkuri Divison - They specialize in yukkuri-related incidents.
They're the most carefree, naturally.
They don't have to wear uniforms.

LW (Lethal Weapon) Divison - A unique division, to say the least.
Takes action when an incident that threatens a shrine maiden's life (like severe terrorism) occurs.
They'll also do favors for other important people (mainly the Great Tengu).
The elites with experience in the GSPO end up in this division.
Usually, the other divisions will yield to them.
They can wear whatever, even civilian clothes if they want.

Enlisting requires physical ability, strong will, and not just blindly trusting in celebrities.
Army ranks such as corporal and major are used, and rank affects salary.
To be frank, though, there isn't much distinction among members, so they'll mingle with each other regardless of rank.


2010-04-05
Two-Year Project

Thank you all for always being supportive.
I know this is sudden, but in exactly a month, it'll be the second anniversary of Touhou LAL.

And so, here's a project to commemorate the two year anniversary.

I'm taking applications for this.
The finished version will be similar to the original's boxart.
This is just what Yoto has put together for me.

Please, everyone, help however you can!

I mean to take applications for images for use the final chapter's ending as well.
There are surely people who want to help out but are thinking, "I can't do anything but draw!"
But they can be from part of the current staff too, I don't care.

I'm most afraid of this project falling apart.
Do what you can to advertise, everybody...

Read more for details: [NOTE: Includes list of all characters in each scenario, so spoilers for all chapters.]

* Please draw each of the characters that appear (if you're busy, just the protagonist is fine)
* The style is up to you; please draw each however you see fit
* Please draw the characters in full; I'll crop them how I need them afterward
* Size should be about 400x800, but as long as it's not too small, it's okay
* The artist's name (in Romanji) will appear in the ending and opening (in the original, the parts with ILLUSTRATION and all that)
As such, telling us your name in Romanji would be very helpful
* Protagonist illustrations will be used in the final chapter's ending
* Those other than the protagonists may be used in an instruction manual someday
* Otherwise, they might be used on the wiki somewhere
* Or maybe I'll just use one wherever I think a picture is needed, that's up for me to decide

* Characters to draw; if there are more characters besides the protagonist, they're fine too

Gatekeeper Chapter
Hong Meiling, Remilia, Sakuya, Yuan, Aya, Rumia, Tewi, Ray Jihad

Return Chapter
Shang, Alice, Reisen, Wriggle, Sanae, Mystia, Nitori [no REI-IJI?]

Hourai Chapter
Mokou, Kaguya, YDMT-IV, Keine, Eirin, Rinnosuke, Patchouli, Patchouli Robo, Rikako, Cindleman

Ice Fairy Chapter
Cirno, Hina, Medicine, Yuka, Moribe, Suika, Letty, Gungrey Jibalt

Netherworld Chapter
Youmu, Yuyuko, Hayate, Shikieiki, Komachi, Jirou Gurei, Ashiya Douman, Hattori Hanzou, Ryuumen Sukuna

Wild Chapter
Ponga, Bibi, Kuu, Qwark (looks like a Murkrow), Kedama Elder, Crow Elder (looks like a Honchkrow), Evil Eye Sigma (Evil Eye female)

Wild West Chapter
Ran (the Fox Kid), James Eightclouds

Fantasy Chapter (Tentative)
Mima, Reimu, Marisa, Yuka (either doing fine or not so well), Yukari,
Yumemi Okazaki (with sword), Kumoi Ichirin (with sword),
Meira, Aya Shameimaru (with spear), Momiji Inubashiri, Hatate Himekaido (with spear), Shinki (demon lookalike), Yumeko

If anything's unclear, please comment.
Drawn pictures can go up on Pixiv, or the Touhou LAL uploader.
And just tell me the address in a comment.

At the moment, I'm thinking it'll be good to have at least the protagonists put together by 5/5.


2010-04-01
It's April Fools, so...

I'm not doing anything!

Video... not yet.
Making skills takes quite some time, you know.
Still only about 20% done...

[Koki links to the second Wild Chapter video.]

I lieeeeed!

I'll admittedly be happier with anyone who was like
"Keep at that ___, Koki! -> I lied!"
rather than
"Well, aren't YOU ___? -> I lied!!"


2009-03-17
Reference Summary

Still looking out for beta bug reports.
Getting kinda nervous about it.

That said.
I tried making up a list of references made in Netherworld Chapter.
I decided not to number them.
If I forgot any, I'll make a postscript or something.

[*s mark series that I'm familiar enough with that I'd almost definitely get a reference to them - or to be more specific, I got them without having to look them up.
Most of the others, though, I'm still fairly sure I caught with some Googling.]

Final Fantasy*
Dragon Warrior
Shin Megami Tensei
Live-A-Live Chaos Chapter [A Nico playthrough with lots of crazy ROM modifications.]
Fire Emblem
Spiderman*
Bahamut Lagoon*
Wizardry*
Romancing SaGa
Tashiro
Fist of the North Star
Dragonball*
Yoshinoya Kopipe
Oishinbo
Gundam
Metal Max
Drakengard*
Pokemon*
Suikoden
Breath of Fire
Star Ocean
Wild Arms
Vocaloid*
Animal Crossing*
Metal Gear Solid*
Silfade Kenbunroku
Midori no Makibao
FF5 - Sorta Miraculous Adventure [Same deal as Chaos Chapter by the same guy.]
Yoshi Ikuzou (AKA IKZO)*
Tactics Ogre
Call of Duty
Chargeman Ken!
Shigurui
Shiren the Wanderer*
Magical Circle Guru Guru
GTA San Andreas Chaos Mode
Tales Series*
Final Fantasy Tactics
Naruto
Ninku
[Star Fox]

As for the last boss, even I'm not sure of all of them.
The ones I know are...
Front:
Forneus
YHVH [Attack: Megidolaon]
Bracchio-raidus
Necrosaro (AKA Death Pisaro)
Lavos*
Back:
Karura
Giygas* [Attack: PK Beam Omega]
Madotsuki* [Attack: Carving Knife]
Ultima*
[And though I don't see where he might be - though he is a somewhat similar entity - Neo Exdeath, attack Grand Cross?]
[Thus-far-"unassigned" attacks: Mow Down, Blazing Flame, Maelstrom, Funyara Art]

Whew... lots!


2010-02-08
PAAASSEEED!!

To university!!

Of the four subjects I was taking at the center, I passed three.
I'll have to take a general entrance exam for the failed subject,
but this means I can go to university!
Around this weekend, production can resume.

...

Tomorrow is the general entrance exam.
And with that, everything will be over.


2010-02-01
PAAASSED

My additional physics exam, that is.

I'm Koki, and I'm going to be taking university exams now.
Ten more days... ten more days, and I'll be freeeee! Doraemon! [...Uh, being used as a cry of joy. I... guess.]

Once exams are over, I'm gonna have to do this, that, and everything.
And I'm gonna make a monster of a PC.
Recording will be so smooth!


2009-12-31
Happy New Whatever

Happy new year.
Good tidings for the year and all that.

Once exams are over, I'm gonna create like CRAZY!!
...I hope.

My goal for this year is to get into Fantasy Chapter.
If possible, finish Final Chapter?
Look, I just wanna make some steady progress!

Current state of affairs...
I didn't have anybody to be with for Christmas, so I became a Santa.
I carried out a truly epic plan for getting my grandmother a surprise present.
It made me penniless, but hey, it made her cry with joy!

Oh, I've totally been studying.

Too busy doing so to respond to blog comments...
But thanks to everybody who wished me a happy birthday!

If things go well, the entrance exams will be over by early February.
So maybe I can resume soon.


2009-10-14
"White"... you say...?

The first letter of "white" isn't H, but W...?

I... I knew that!

Only a stupid (9) would think it was Hhhhalguaghlgauaghluagh

I'm never going to get some things about English, am I?

Ugh, me, seriously. [Yeah, "White(rock)" is spelled "Howaito" in Japanese. SUMPATHYwwwww]

Anyway, I'm taking midterms now.

I can't plan Hakugyokurou's layout just yet...


2009-10-09
Vs. Brad-Type

Why doesn't anything but Robe of Fire Rat work against Brad-Type?

The truth is, Robe of Fire Rat is a "Defense-Ignoring, IQ-Dependent" skill.
So depending on who you use it on, it can do one to two times your IQ in damage.
And it goes right through the defense-maxed Brad.

I thought everybody knew that!

Skills with additional effects are so... intriguing!

The rate at which Wild Chapter ideas come to me is proving far less than Non-Final Chapter.

Just the opening and ending, and I can't think of a thing along the way.


2009-10-07
Afterstory

Man, I haven't written anything!
Well, I'm finally presenting all my ideas for the afterstory.

Yeah, I bet most people aren't really too interested, but some might be.
Oh, and remember that just about everything is PRETTY TEMPORARY!!

GENERAL DETAILS ABOUT THE EXTRA "TREASURE" CHAPTER

Afterstory: Treasure Chapter Summary
The ancients... a mysterious people who were said to live on the land long before Gensokyo.
Recently, their ruins have been discovered in various places, and the existence of the civilization made plain.
And extracted from these ruins were the ancient civilization's crystals... their treasure.
Why did the ancients perish? And what meaning does their treasure have?
And no one seemed to notice that Gensokyo could be approaching the same fate...

Battle System
A LAL + SaGa system.
With dexterity, and skill development.
And mechs!

There are four chapters, and when you clear them all, you can go to the last dungeon.
Simply put, like Treasure of the Rudra.

Questing Chapter
Hero: Yamame Kurodani
SaGa Frontier 2-style story.
Legend surrounding the Black Crystal, a treasure that gives the holder power but sucks their lifeforce.
Party Members:
Kisume, Koakuma, Sanae Kotiya

Searching Chapter
Hero: Shou Toramaru
Legend of reclaiming the thoughtlessly-lost pagoda.
Party Members:
Daiyousei, Rikako Asakura

Environment Chapter
Hero: Shizuha Aki
Treasure of the Rudra Riza Chapter-style story
Legend of purifying the polluted Gensokyo.
Party Members:
Reisen, Chen

Collection Chapter
Hero: Momiji Inubashiri
SaGa 2 Legendary Treasure-style story
Legend of collecting treasure from the various ruins.
Party Members:
Aya Shameimaru, Kogasa Tatara


2009-09-28
I've been considering this system...

I've been thinking a lot about a combination LAL + SaGa battle system.

Weapons replace skill selection.
If you had a spear, it'd start with...

Thrust, Slash,
Leap, Spin.

Then, in battle, the skills you use upgrade.
Thrust goes up to Thrust II.

Thrust II, Slash,
Leap, Spin.

And by the end...

Godspeed Thrust III, Round Slicer,
Dragon Descent, Infinite Spin III.

Something like that.
Oh, and there isn't a limit to how much skills can evolve.
Which means that maybe there can be Romancing-style battles.

It's not so much skill evolution as skill addition, actually.

So, each character has a skill skill stat. [Oh, fine, dexterity.]
As their dexterity goes up, you can see the power of their skills go up.
Yeah, that sounds right.

I also considered some things about waiting time and combination attacks,
but they're probably not very possible without implementing a lot of hidden stats you can't see.

It should be reasonable to make if I try hard.
Well, until I finish the originals, it's just an idea, really. [He clarified in a comment that this means the "original" scenarios will use the LAL system and the new one will only be used in Non-Final. Kinda weird, but okay.]
If things go well in the afterstory, maybe it'll allow for greater degree of freedom.

Maybe we'll get to see axe-swinging Miss Sanae, ya?!
Well, a cute girl being into martial arts is a kind of tradition from Romancing SaGa 3.
So maybe it'll be punching instead.


2009-09-26
Cut Down

[Koki likes axes and doesn't think they're very well-represented in games. But he references a bunch of things in the process so you get this summary instead.]

I found an axe called Pandemonium in SaGa 2.
The name is great, but the graphics make it look like a lumberjack's axe, and that's just not right.

Original characters the second.

I came to like the female tengu I wrote about earlier,
so why not make a real character out of one?
Her name's Natsuki Kurokawa. I thought it up in three seconds. [This is a great thing to admit, by the way.]

[Some sketches of her. Exciting!]

As a character, she's really just Generic Tengu A.
But in this backwards scenario, I'm having ordinary people take action.
Gensokyo's the kind of world where even the regular inhabitants have impressive ability.


2009-09-25
Captaaain!

Yes, right.
What's this game's official name, anyway?
Touhou Live-A-Live?
TOUHOULIVEALIVE?
And the abbreviation...
Touhou LAL?
THLAL?
Ummm...

[I'm not sure what to say about the fact that the ones I use weren't mentioned.]


2009-09-24
LP-1

[Sketch of Griflet, a blacksmith from Non-Final Chapter. Yes, there's apparently a scenario after Final Chapter, and yes, that's really what he's calling it.]

Someday, this rugged old dude'll make his appearance.
Does he resemble someone...? Nah, I don't think so...
Old dudes like him are severely lacking in Touhou fangames.
James is an old dude, too. [James is... well, the ONLY real important character in Wild West Chapter. Ran doesn't really talk much.]

Kourin's out of the question. Not so much a fighter.

Games today are big on good-looking feminine guys, short on awesome, stubbly old dudes.
Yeah, I said it.
I admit not everyone will agree.


2009-09-16
Mecha and Machinery

Going off on a weird tangent again.

The kappa are definitely pretty clever, but not so creative.
As such, they can only think to make things from the outside world or the fictional world.
On the other hand, humans aren't so skilled, but they have much more creativity.
So they've come up with new things to make to express themselves.

Yeah, well, I like mecha characters.
I've played the T260G part of SaGa Frontier who knows how many times.
In essense, Touhou LAL's mecha characters really resemble SaGa Frontier's.
(This doesn't extend to monster mecha like Robo-Cop, of course.)
They never just have mechanical-style speech. They've got individual personalities; they're more human than mecha.

Shang and YDMT-IV are Magicom robots, but I want non-Magicom robots too.
Yes, the final chapter will surely not be the end.
I want to have SA and UFO characters!
And mecha characters.
And lots of other things I've yet to use.

I've taken a liking to Yamame recently.
Also, Shizuha Aki, Shou Toramaru, and Momiji Inubashiri.
To be truthful, I'm making them main characters in the story. Heh heh heh.
As PCs go, I'm planning on having Koakuma or Daiyousei, Miss Sanae and Reisen, Kogasa and Kisume and Rikako and Chen, and original characters.

I want the importance of characters in my game to be inversely proportional to their actual popularity.
Minor characters definitely have their charm.

Sorry about all that.


2009-09-12
Let time... resume!

Nothing's happened with the blog comments, the bulletin board, or anything else in three days...

Perhaps I've wandered into a gap in space-time, and time has stopped for everyone else?!

Just kidding.

The graphics I'm waiting for still aren't here,
so I guess I should go onto Netherworld Chapter for now.


2009-09-05
Do AIs dream of Magicoms dreaming?

Ah, of course, Razor Leaf is the king of grass attacks.
Energy Doll or whatever can bite my gnubs!


2009-09-02
Pre-Exam, Pre-Exam, Stupid Turtle Bit Me

I had a pre-exam today.
I'm feeling pretty tired.
I can't do much creating for the short time (1-2 days) during which school fully starts.

Yeah, so, I noticed something in the English section of the pre-exam.

Question X
Rydia Hoffman's -

Final Fantasy 4?! And Dragon Quest 4?!
On a previous English exam, the sisters Ellen and Sara showed up too.
Seriously, that's SaGa 3...
Are some of the people who write these questions gamers?

Man, I don't feel prepared.


2009-08-23
Important Information

This is very hard to say, but...
I've been able to find some time. I'm suddenly resuming development at a slow pace.
Don't worry about the studying.
Of course I'm still doing it.

So -

Uh -

When I resumed, I applied all these different patches...

And I overwrote the opening's map files.

Oh, great.
You'll have to enjoy the opening in video form alone...
I REALLY don't feel like remaking it...

Anyway, the resuming could have to do with identity, or self-worth, or all kinds of things.
There are some deep reasons involved.
It would probably be easier to say or even handwrite. Sorry. It's complex.

You may be thinking "Withdrawing your promises, you jerk?" or "That's dirty, Koki! Clever, but dirty!"
Either way, please wait warmly until it is ready.

Now then, I guess I should look at all the stuff on the bulletin board, huh?


2009-08-02
Anonymous Character Pictures

Been a while!

I've been using every once in a while to draw.
I have to say, I'm not very good at clothes and such.

[Fantasy chapter semi-spoilers. Let's just say they're tengu and you can have these semi-out-of-context lines.]

As expected, after drawing them, I really prefer the females.

I guess the females are bigger-breasted than Aya, huh?


2009-06-29
The Suffering of a Student Gamer

So I can more diligently study for exams...

I'M NOT USING MY LAPTOOOOOOOOOOP!!

Dude, really.

Production will be stopped around this middle of the year.
So don't expect my replies on the bulletin board.

Sorry to the people who were having fun.
But this is just life.


2009-06-27
Foofy

In THLAL, I'm wondering if I should have a Pit of 100 Trials.
And before that, I was wondering if a Boss Rush might not be too bad either.
Will only certain enemies appear? Hmm, that's the kind of thing I still need to decide.

I want to move along faster, though!

Which reminds me, I was surprised to see that Touhou LAL was posted on a blog somewhere in Korea.
Now it's definitely global!


2009-06-18
Seeegaaa!

[Koki links to Sega Fantasy VI. Seriously.]

I saw this nostalgic video a long time ago.
It reminded me of first experience with RPGs, my first Final Fantasy.
Playing Sega and playing Final Fantasy allowed me to be so moved by Sega Fantasy...
I'm being completely honest about that.

...

Anyway, here are the names I gave my characters the first time I played.
Terra: Leste
Locke: Saturn
Edgar: Rokuyon
Sabin: Cube
Shadow: Vivi
Cyan: Dio
Gau: Pre
Celes: Cast
Mog: F
Setzer: Swan
Relm: Advance
Strago: Jeebee
Umaro: Box
Gogo: Neopoke


2009-06-12
Difficulty Level

People who tried the beta may be thinking...
Touhou LAL needs a higher difficulty level!

Of course, this was ON PURPOSE!

Games these days, excepting hidden bosses and such, are rather... meh.
Me, I enjoy being on the border of beatable and unbeatable.

Usually, before the last boss, you should be level 99 with all the abilities (or at least have put a lot of training in)
and you feel that you're ready to really "complete" the game.

And only after a literal struggle to the death are you given the superbly emotional ending.
After Romancing SaGa 3's last boss, I had all but one dead, with the last one very close to death.
Like letting go of a yoyo of desperation at just the right time. That's a good memory.

If you lose, you level up until you think "maybe now I'm good enough."
You repeat this until you somehow just barely succeed and it results in a huge feeling of accomplishment. That's what you aim for when balancing.

Anyway, here's the plan for degree of difficulty.
Fantasy >> Hourai > Netherworld > Wild > Ice Fairy = Wild West > Gatekeeper > Return
Or so I'm planning.
The final chapter gives you so much freedom that I can't really say where it fits.

So, I'd love to bring about the same amount of challenge as Romancing Saga or FF4.

There you go. My opinion on THLAL's balance.


2009-06-02
WildWestChapter.txt

[You get the picture.]


2009-05-30
Gensonews

[Koki wrote a bunch of articles explaining the events of Fantasy Chapter. Um... is that really necessary?]


2009-05-29
IceFairyChapter.txt

[Koki also uploaded the full script of Ice Fairy Chapter in advance.]


2009-05-27
FantasyChapter.txt

[Koki uploaded the full script of Fantasy Chapter, the Medieval equivalent, in advance. (Except he kept changing things around in it!)]


2009-05-16
About Hourai Chapter's TV

None of this is revealed in the game itself; it's just backstory.
It's indicative of Gensokyo's development. (Especially in the west.)

Gee-Eich-Kay (GHK)
Gensokyo broadcasting organization.
Operated by tengu and kappa working together. It's a major television channel, number one in Gensokyo.
It covers news, drama, and documentary.
Originally, they collected licensing fees.
But when they kept going unpaid, the higher-ups said "oh well."
Since then, it's been free, and the funds have come from experienced youkai.

Gee-Eich-Kay Nooz (GHK News)
A program that acts quickly to report any and every event in Gensokyo.
From parties starting to murders being commited, they bring a wide variety of news to your living room.
This news program has caused the once-necessary newspaper to die out.
Tengu in the family occupation of newspapers have been tossed to the streets.
It seems it's causing an increase in bounty hunters and bandits.

Wess-Eyed Teebi (West Side TV)
Touhou LAL has four human villages* in the east, west, south, and north.
Hourai Chapter is set in the west village, which has its own TV channel.
It has lots of variety programs and real-life programs.

...

Gee-Ess-Pee-Oh (GSPO)
Short for Gensokyo Systematic Patrol Organization.
Suggested by Reimu, they investigate when there's something just too trivial for her to pay attention to.
It's established and managed by Yukari Yakumo.
Humans, youkai, fairies, mechas... anything that understands human speech is allowed to become a member.

...

* The four human villages:

North: Retains an old style, so it has a lot of history left in it.
A good example of a human village.

East: A quiet rural community.
Here, vegetables are produced and merchants transport them throughout Gensokyo.
The Aki sisters are the most active in all Gensokyo, it seems.

South: A relatively new coal-mining town built on a slope.
They were initially surprised to discover there was coal in the slope.
People gather in the village mostly to mine the coal and sell it at a high price.

West: Whether it be because of Kourindou or the kappa that come through, it has become the most modern village.
Keine's school is here. It's also the most populous village.
Further west is the Bewildering Forest, and northeast is the Forest of Magic.

And the way it goes is...
West: Hourai Chapter.
South and East: Fantasy Chapter.
North: Final Chapter.


2009-05-12
Ow, Ow

As I thought, it was pneumothorax.

But it's minor enough for me to avoid hospitalization.
I can still create through this pain!

Ice Fairy Chapter will begin soon!


2009-05-11
Tomorrow's Fateful Medical Examination, Then Hopefully Back to Chillno

I'm going to the hospital tomorrow to have an X-ray.
If I'm not doing well, they'll have to hospitalize me and steal my chance to work on this...
We'll see which one it is tomorrow!


2009-05-08
VIP Mario, Aspirations, And

I've been too busy with midterms to work on this.
And lately I've had a pain in my left side that might be pneumothorax. I might need to be hospitalized.
Not cool, not cool!

...

Yes, I really did supervise in VIP Mario 4.
I drew the last boss's graphics.


05-01-2009
Occasional Change of Pace

[Koki posts a bonus video with the hidden bosses and some extra investigation of stuff in Shang's chapter. Pretty much stuff I already showed in my videos.
Then for the rest of the post completely ignores Touhou-A-Live and talks about a trip to an amusement park in Kyuushu. So, not really relevant enough to translate, is it?
Oh, and I'm pretty sure he spontaneously mentions his... wife. Huh.]


04-29-2009
Concerning the Touhou LAL Cast

Touhou Live-A-Live's cast, compared to that of other fanworks,
crosses the line a little.

Stuff like a Kedama or a Shanghai doll being the protagonist is usually unheard of,
and in a way, I think people are pleasantly surprised.

I say with all seriousness that this is my goal.

...

For example, the gag of stepping on a banana peel and slipping.
These days, that's not going to make people laugh very much.
Maybe in the old days, when it came into existence, it was funny and interesting.
But this "slip on a banana peel" thing is a stereotype by now.

And the many Touhou fanworks have many such stereotypes.

Meiling is lazy.
Miss Sakuya uses pads.
Cirno is a baka weakling.
The Tetradolts are all comedic relief. [Or the portmanteau "Baka Quartet" in Japanese.]
Ran is a drunkard and exposes herself to Chen.
Udonge is used as an idiotic character.
Alice and Marisa are a pair (maybe Patchouli too), etcetera...

So let's try to drop these stereotypes.
The proper usage of characters
is part of what makes Touhou LAL interesting, I think.

...

...Well, do you understand the "secrets of interest through differentiation" now?
Excellent.


04-27-2009
Cirno'z Skillz

[I don't think much more needs to be said than that.]


04-26-2009
Relaxing, Like A Beach

So 5/5 will make a full year of working on this game. Not my best...
That's because of all the homework...

I was surprised to see the English translation is already up to Hourai Chapter.
I wonder if I should study English too?


04-20-2009
Stone's Throw in the Dark

You can't see Meiling because she's surrounded by crows!


04-17-2009
How many times?! How many times?!

I can't beat Oriiiiiiiiiin!!!
She's like three times harder than anything else in SA! [Upon closer inspection, I'm not sure how I got "three" out of that. But hey, it works.]


04-15-2009
These aren't tears!! It's just salt water!!

Whoooa, whoooa!!

I watched all the way up to the end of Touhou Seiboroku today, and I couldn't stop the tears, ze!!
Sniff...!

DAAAAAD!!