Miscellaneous Questions Thread 4 - Bring us your Questions!

[Drake]

Do shikigami *have* to be beasts, or can anyone in theory become Yukari's servant?

As implied by Sagus, there are explicit notes in CoLA and CiLR that show ZUN thinks about shikigami (at least in Touhou) like you would a computer. A shikigami does exactly what you tell it to do, and only that. I think it's somewhat likely that ZUN uses mostly animals as shikigami because of this notion of perfect obedience, but because computers are also thought of as shikigami there isn't much reason to say that shikigami can only be animals.

[Sagus]

Is not that a shikigami MUST do what you tell it to (Ran can disobey Yukari, for example), it's just that it's in their best interest to do so. If they perfectly obey their master, they seem to gain a significant power boost, going by the interview with Yukari on BAiJR and Chen's profile in PMiSS.  Kinda seems to me that being a shikigami can also be seem as an agreement between two beings, where one submit itself to another in exchange of power.

[Drake]

Yeah, sorry, I only tried to get that across to highlight the intentional link to computers.

[Clarste]

Mamizou uses a more classic paper (leaf?) shinigami style as her danmaku but I guess they come in various animal shapes so you might think that they involve contracting with animal spirits at some point. Either way though, it shows that Yukari's shikigami aren't the only model for how it works.

[hungrybookworm]

Cool, thanks for all the answers.

[Tiamat]

Yukari asks Aya if she'd like to be her shikigami, too, so Tengu can become them as well (if you don't count Tengu as beasts, already, which they probably don't count as)

[Sagus]

Yukari asks Aya if she'd like to be her shikigami, too, so Tengu can become them as well (if you don't count Tengu as beasts, already, which they probably don't count as)

Tengu and beast youkai have different entries in PMiSS, and their behaviour and general characteristics don't overlap at all, so it's safe to say that tengu have no relation to beast youkai.

[neetori]

What are the most cliche newcomer character favorites in fandoms by country?

Couple of years back, in Japan, Udonge and Inaba were treated as newcomer bait. (I don`t know what the trend is now, I guess Imaizumi and the lolis now...?)

I wonder how Chinese fans feel about Hong.

[Prime32]

What are the most cliche newcomer character favorites in fandoms by country?

Flandre is probably up there, due to the McRolled/Ran Ran Ruu vids (plus "Death Waltz").

[Lunarethic]

I don't know if I on the right thread but since this is a misc question and its about touhou anyway I'mma post it here , anyway random question , What software do you use to record touhou replay at a minimum 55 fps, I'm using fraps and its laging the shit out of danmakufu so I want some help here.

[Drake]

You probably won't be able to get 60fps in-game and also be able to record at 60fps, then. You can record at 30fps and set the game to half the draw rate in custom.exe, this will reduce lag and still give you something "good enough".

[Lunarethic]

You probably won't be able to get 60fps in-game and also be able to record at 60fps, then. You can record at 30fps and set the game to half the draw rate in custom.exe, this will reduce lag and still give you something "good enough".

Thanks drake ^^ , danmakufu keeps fucking chugging and keep and making fast bullets look slower _ _ll

[Fuyuumi]

Im using Mirilis Action, but I set it so recording uses only 1 core of my CPU. Still I can't record all of my games but for something small like touho it's perfect.

[Maiden Synnae ミ☆]

I only used FRAPS back then, but now I use OBS.

It's a much better program for me. FRAPS doesn't lag here, but occasionally I still get lap spikes, regardless of the game. OBS records my stuff perfectly without lag (at least the emulators I tried so far). But it should work good with Danmakufu too.

[Biakmon]

I just saw something amazing and I wander if it's more difficult "even possible" according to you guys  to finish any/all of the touhou games on lunatic mode without dying AND by just completely dodging the bullets (no attacks or bombs) than playing normally?

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9leysnL42qg
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC8QzSR2qLU

Is that even possible to make Reimu move so fast?

Do they both have to show the numbers of spell cards they going to use b4 each danmaku fight?

[Drake]

Not shooting (and under some definitions not bombing) are called pacifist runs. Generally you wouldn't be able to humanly do what you're describing, since besides being even more difficult than Lunatic no-miss no-bomb (for which we have an entire thread for praising), the enemies would potentially throw near-impossible walls just because you never killed them, which is the main problem in pacifist runs to begin with.
Also, for this stupid fast speed, play ReimuC in SA and stop shooting.


Spell cards: Yes, as far as the rules go. IaMP is probably the most accurate in this regard, actually, since you show the opponent which two spells you will use beforehand, in battle you only use that spell until it's defeated, and the duel ends when both of your spells are defeated. In the main STGs you don't really see that for both parties, since the player's "remaining spell cards" are more like their lives and the bombs / spell cards being used by the player are more like the individual patterns within each. It's even more difficult to match that "cannot repeat a spell" rule considering the players do nothing but repeat the same card over and over. But obviously this is just an issue of gameplay/setting segregation.

[Camilo113]

What does Double Dealing Character stands for? I know the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil refers to Remilia, Perfect Cherry Blossom refers to the Sagyou Ayakashi's bloom, Imperishable Night refers to the endless night and etc, etc, etc. But I can't see a relation between the game title and the plot of the game in DDC?

Does anyone knows?

[FLASH]

Not really sure if it's the right place to ask this, but it's something that has been tingling my nerd curiosity for a long time; so if any of you has more info on it, whould be much appreciated:

WTF is this?!!?:  http://pds2.egloos.com/pds/1/200608/19/59/b0002859_1956473.jpg

Apparently it's from the touhou last word collection and was originaly posted on Zun's touhou tumblr: http://toho.tumblr.com/page/3

All the legend says is "Yumefu - Genso Hitoe" ("Dream sign - Unified Illusion" according to Google translate), this spell card is never seen or mentionned anywhere else as far as i know...

But i mean, just look at it! The amount of questions this simple picture spring to mind is endless:

Reimu oppening a Sukima like Yukari?? Could she always do that? Why does she never use it in battle as it's been established that in the touhou universe, control over boundaries is a form of Supreme power? (is this the reason she claims that she never fight at her best in official works?)

And is this the outside world on the other side of the rift? Does that mean Reimu can leave Gensokyo whenever she please even tough she said otherwise in official works (she lied?) and can she control who and what goes in and out like Yukari then?!

Why are electric plugs peering out of her sukima instead of arms? Is hers different from those of Yukari, and in what respect then??

Does that suggest a deeper connection between Reimu and Yukari than just being both symbolically associated with borders? (if you assume that Yukari created the Hakurei border, wich is likely, then maybe, because Reimu lives in the hakurei shrine, the powers of yukari have slowly "rubbed off" on her?) Or maybe Yukari is the hidden god of the Hakurei shrine as it's the shrine that is the lynchpin of the Boundary of Gensoky after all?

And what does this spell card do exactly? Hummm... it has a pretty Ominous name at any rate, looking at it i get the feeling it's Reimu's secret ultimate technique...

Note: this is not the only time reimu is seen doing such a thing in official material!  http://en.touhouwiki.net/images/f/f2/Top030927.jpg

But since this other illustration was just a bonus Zun Drew as a thanks for getting 1 million hits on his website, i whouldn't take it as seriously... But still...

[Sagus]

What does Double Dealing Character stands for? I know the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil refers to Remilia, Perfect Cherry Blossom refers to the Sagyou Ayakashi's bloom, Imperishable Night refers to the endless night and etc, etc, etc. But I can't see a relation between the game title and the plot of the game in DDC?

Does anyone knows?

"Double dealing" means "the practice of pretending to do or think one thing while really doing or thinking something different : dishonest or deceptive behavior". Going by this, the title probably refers to Seija tricking Shinmyoumaru into using the mallet for her own personal reasons while stating to Sukuna that it'd help her get revenge on the youkai that banished the kobito to another world (which is a lie that Seija told her).

I really wouldn't consider these two images that are not related to the games at all (other than featuring Reimu) as indicative of anything, really.

[Tiamat]

Reimu oppening a Sukima like Yukari?? Could she always do that? Why does she never use it in battle as it's been established that in the touhou universe, control over boundaries is a form of Supreme power? (is this the reason she claims that she never fight at her best in official works?)

She could always do that and has used it in battle, hasn't she?  Several of Reimu's spell cards used boundary manipulation (including teleportation, which would probably be the same as gapping around) and in CoLA, Reimu weakens the boundary herself in order to get Yukari's attention.  I don't know/recall where she got that power (although I imagine fan theory could be Yukari taught her it if you're of the "Yukari raised Reimu but Reimu doesn't remember" camp. Or maybe it's a Hakurei inherited thing. Or both), but presumably it's a required ability in order for her to do her job as a shrine maiden that's supposed to keep an eye on the border.

[Sagus]

Reimu never used anything that looked like Yukari's gaps, though.

Then again, it's unlikely that Yukari's ability is the only form of magic that involves manipulating boundaries.

[Biakmon]

Can Reimu manipulate both barrier and boundaries (to the degree at which Yukari does her boundaries thing)?
I thought Reimu use her barrier in some way to be able to let say "gap/teleport" herself from one side of the game to another...

What's the relation between barrier and boundaries?

[Sagus]

Can Reimu manipulate both barrier and boundaries (to the degree at which Yukari does her boundaries thing)?
I thought Reimu use her barrier in some way to be able to let say "gap/teleport" herself from one side of the game to another...

As far as we know, no, she can't manipulate boundaries like Yukari does, or at least not to the extent that Yukari can.
I mean, if she could, I guess it'd be something worthy enough of note to have been mentioned in her profiles, right?

What's the relation between barrier and boundaries?

Well, boundaries seem to be defined as the thing that separates one concept from the other, or rather, the limit between things (for example, Yukari manipulated the border between night and day in the end of IaMP, creating a stage where it's both day and night at the same time). I would say that a barrier is a specific type of boundary; an "artificial boundary" (as oposed to the natural boundaries that are found in the world, like the horizon [boundary between earth and sky], for instance) created to purposefully separate two things (like the Hakurei barrier being specifically created to separate fantasy from reality).

[Biakmon]

I rarely pay attention to this type of thing but did Sanae dye her hair green or what?
I mean I can understand for others since they not really human but what about Sanae.

[Sagus]

Well, she isn't really fully human, what with being a descendant of Suwako and being a living god on her own right.

But yeah, as far as we know she just has natural green hair. It isn't discussed anywhere if she dyes it or not.

[Kwak]

I'm having trouble keeping track of the Taoist locations. What/which are all the different Mausoleums and Halls?

[CyberAngel]

Hall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum is where Miko awakened in 10D, which is located under Myouren Temple Cemetery. Then Miko created Senkai, a secret world for Taoists, and built Divine Spirit Mausoleum there, which serves as Taoist temple.

That said, I still have a theory that Hall of Dreams was moved by HM (it's too bright to be a cave, and people there would make little sense being there unless it was outside), but there's no proof either way.

[game2011]

From what I know about Koishi, memory of her will disappear from one's mind when she leaves his/her sight (for too long?), so the only way to know that she exists is having Satori tell you about her.  Still, even if you see Koishi multiple times afterwards, you'll always think it's the first time you've seen her in person, right?

I assume Satori isn't affected by this, but are Rin and Utsuho affected as well?

I hope you understand what I'm saying...

Thanks in advance!

[CyberAngel]

It seems like it's quite possible to remember Koishi in some cases. For example, Marisa brings her up in SoPM talk, and remembers seeing her multiple times. It's safe to assume that Satori's pets can notice and remember her as well.

[Fuyuumi]

I've seen a lot of guys wearing white fundoshi and having white bag with kanji written on it over their head in many Touhou PVs. Is that some kind of japanese way to show background characters?

Why Tenshi is shown as a masochist? It's just fanon, because people need a SM fanatic?

WHY PEOPLE DRAWING FLANDRE'S WING CRYSTALS MAKE THEM PRISMATIC? [/rage]

Does Youmu's phantom half do something besides flying around?

I've read somewhere that there are 2 Udonge's. Anyone can explain what's with that?