Planescape: Touhou is decent. More than that if you played the game or know the setting. And now with daily updates! Or so it would seem.

Not-Life is interesting and sweet too. Recommended.

Well then. I'll just drop the request for Futo story recommendations here, since the other got no response.

I'm looking for an old story that had Murasa as the protagonist

I vaguely remember something like surfing down the roof of the SDM on an Anchor or something.

can anyone help out?


Also seconding the Not-Life recommendation.

>>12089
Probably >>/th/97599

>>12085

There was some Futo in Winemaker's Journey in Gensokyo over in /at/, but I can't really recommend that story as a whole.

>>/th/94836 The Game
For anyone who isn't aware of or hasn't read this classic.
The writing is sharp, the ending, in addition to existing, is spectacular while avoiding ass-pulls. Though you can't get all the answers until the Q&A thread, what feels like a contrived/improbable scenario basically has its bases covered.

Has there ever been a Yukari who isn't a plot device, an antagonist or a bitch?

>>12151
Archetype of Self's first run I think

the MC escalates into like god-mode sue though

>>12151

On that note, has there ever been a CYOA with Yukari as the protagonist?

>>12151

Being Meiling had a pretty different Yukari, but she was only in a few episodes. And she was the antagonist for one of those.

>>12152
She wound up stealing the story, that should tell you how much anon liked her as a character.

Said MC's godmodeness is a result of being on a yukari route

>>12151
The Yukari in WASTED over in /shrine/ is the MC's mom and is pretty nice to him. The story is on Hiatus at the moment though.

>>12151
Among the older stories with Yukari being friendly in addition to Archetype of Self 1, there was also Landlord of Mayohiga where Yukari acted as an older sister type to the protagonist, though this story has been dead for 3 years.

>>12154
When was Yukari in "Being Meiling" ever an antagonist?

>>12157

In her first appearance, she was Cirno's opponent. She got more sympathetic later on.

Lookin' for stories that feature Miko and the Taoists, or Byakuren and the Buddhists. Any recommendations?

>>12160

>>/border/29225 this story is about a villager training under Miko and the buddhists show up early on.

>>/th/173993 A story with a focus on the Temple and appearances by some of the Taoists. That and the MC, a necromancer ends up with Yoshika serving him.

>>12160

In addition to what >>12161 said, there's also >>/shrine/35509 which is about Marisa setting up a school for magic in the village. Byakuren and Miko have appeared as semi-major characters, and it seems this trend is going to continue.

Have there been any good horror stories on the site, or even stories that are just kinda creepy without going full-on horror?

>>12163

Try Keymaster's Pleasant Meadows. It's more mystery-suspense than horror, but it's pretty creepy nonetheless.

>>/others/51333

>>12135
I strongly disagree about the ending being spectacular, as it's easily the worst part of the story, but still second that recommendation.

>>12163
There are specific areas in Owen's A Scarlet Stained-Memoir that qualify as creepy and/or horror. If you're okay with the story being primarily an adventure until your each such sections, I'd heartily recommend it.

>>12167
The 'horror' bits of that story were the worst part. It came out of fucking nowhere and served no purpose other than to make things grimdark.

That said, I'd still recommend it. It's an excellent read, and I still use Remilia's speech on E-card's rules when I play with friends.

>>12168
True, it was completely out of place, but I still (somehow) enjoyed it.

Besides Girl of Death are they any stories featuring Yumeko?

are there any stories featuring the underling characters (Youmu/Sakuya/Ran etc) wavering in their loyalty to their masters?

>>12198

Yumeko had minor roles in Pleasant Meadows and Mind the Gap, but nothing central that I know of.

For the other thing, you could try Medicine's Dollhouse in /at/. But that only involves two of them so far, and it goes a bit past 'wavering.'

>>12199
>and it goes a bit past 'wavering.'
It's a mind break story. Come on, dude.

>>12167
That story had the best ending. Really loves stories who punish waifuism.

Any "so bad it's good" stories?

>>12261

Just about anything written by early days Yaf.

Honestly though, stories that are "so bad it's good" are even more subjective than regular recommendations, so your mileage may vary.

>>12261
Gensokyo High

>>12083
Youmu's Journey is pretty good, but then Glen got hit by a truck. He's better now, or so I hear.

THP.
Trucks are attracted to us!

>>12263
That one's just plain bad, though.

>>12264
Goddamn the residents of these boards have too much bad luck with trucks.

Sage for off topic, sorry.

>>12265
By the way, is the author still around?

>>12268
No, sorry, he's dead.

He in the IRC channel most of the time.

Any decent stories featuring the new characters?

Is a glass half empty dead? I've been off the site far longer than I realized. Otherwise I'd suggest that series which actually started in /shrine/

>>12297
Define "feature." Some stories have them show up for a post or two, others have them as more prominent characters.

Sage for not actually answering your question.

>>12311
Teruyo left the site, so it's dead for good now.

>>12313
>Teruyo left

Hurray!

>>12316
He owns the site, unless he gave/sold it to someone else.

Are there any stories with Medicine? Aside from that one /at/ story that is.

>>12353

Do the Right Thing has Medicine as one of the main characters and is one of the longest stories on the site, clocking in at thirty threads and still going. It's a silly over the top comedy story, but it gets (somewhat) less silly as you go on. I recommend you read at least the first three threads or so before judging whether you want to continue reading.


First thread is here: >>/th/119276

Latest thread is here: >>/th/170664

Any stories with wonderfully written fight scenes with good tactics?

>>12355
Well, there's Dogfight from the latest writing competition. >>/shorts/1217 . Not entirely sure if it counts as "tactics" but it's reasonably close, I think.

</shamelessplug>

>>12357
Pretty good fight scenes, if I say so myself.

Anyone can recommend a story focusing on Kogasa?

>>12434
The Game had Kogasa as the protagonist, IIRC.
It's pretty weird, though.

>>12440
What are you talking about?

The protagonist was never named.

>>12441
The protagonist was a Youkai made of two different parts (one with the aspect of a person and another shaped as an object) that got a rush out of surprising people, was bullied by Sanae and had heterochromia.
Who the hell do you think it was?

>>12442

Less bullied and more abused.

Kogasa also managed to kill two gods.

>>12444

Oi, spoiler that shit. Some people haven't read The Game yet, don't tell them stuff like that! Especially not in the recommendation thread!

>>12442
Nameless Umbrella Youkai of Surprise whose name cannot be confirmed.

other guy really should spoil his shit though, "friend"xYukari short when fell?

>>12446
This. Spoil that shit.

The Game is mandatory THP reading, period. You don't have to finish it, but you at least need to try.
And do it fast so Otherwise can get more readers.

>>12448
>mandatory THP reading
Silly anon, there is no such thing.

>>12458
Well, then it's as close to mandatory as it can be.

I want to read about two Touhous being forced to have sex with each other by other Touhous. Does something like this exist? I find the idea very arousing.

>>12545
This is already a doujin

>>12547
So?

>>12549

>>/at/16360 is the closest I think we've come. There's only one Touhou involved, but the sex is not desired by either participant at the start.

Any stories with twins as the protagonists?

Anything like 'A Wizard Is You' floating around somewhere? Seeing as Deme died I need something new to get my kicks from.

I suppose it's the type of character mostly.

>>12704
Well if you mean socially stunted magicians, there's Animating Gensokyo, though it won't quite have the hijink fix Deme's stuff does.

I've been thinking of reading "No Such Thing As Magic" lately.
Would you recommend it an why?

>>12723
No Such Thing as Fairy Tales is the first part, so you should look into that one first.

As for if you should read it, only do so if you enjoy such things as Changeling: The Lost. Also be prepared for sadness. I personally enjoyed it.

A pal of mine recommended Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba to me, but reading through the first post, I'm not seeing anything special. Can someone tell me why it's good?

>>12730
Easy. Later on, there's Alice, and she is undisputably best girl in that story. The opening few posts where she sets up is a bit of bore, but when Marisa visits Alice's house, things get much better. Near the end of the first thread iirc correctly.

>>12730
I partially agree with >>12731 here, and I'll add that the author is just really good at making the characters' respective personalities come out when they interact, which is what a lot of it's about. Yes, things shift a tiny bit around the time Alice shows up, but that opening post really does set the tone.

Okay, this thread could use some life:

Are there any good stories that use Youki as a MC or at least a character period.

>>12845
Ancient Gensokyo (as a younger self)
Retrospective and Astronomical Narration (one or two entertaining scenes)
Gensokyoland Saga
There has to be others, particularly more recent ones than these...

>>12849
He's also in Tainted Bonds, I believe.
More of an antagonist, though.

This might have been asked before, but in that case I can't remember the answer.
Are there any stories with an anti-hero or maybe even a villain protagonist?

Tengu of (Mis)Fortune is amazing.
Just, y'know, getting that out there.

>>12855
One in /youkai/ about a gun nut murdering tohous with great detail. Palingenesia has an anti hero MC too (at the very least)
Also that story about an evil being coming back to life to try and take over Gensokyo. She had Marisa and Alice subdued and EX-Rumia as a partner. A bit of /at/ laying around. 'twas "The antagonist" I think.

But, the most evil MC, by far, was the protagonist of "Shoes: the heist" He was literally forcing Tohoes to walk barefooted!

Since I'm already here: any stories that feel "Random" without falling into derp territory?
Since that was vague, let me throw a few examples: "Don't Read This!" "Doing the right thing" "Lets gooooo!" and, ironically, "Derp Wars"

>>12856
Is it? How?

>>12861
Deep and meaningful interaction between some of the loneliest characters in Gensokyo.

It's the sequel to both Being Meiling and Pleasant Meadows, but is a bit more serious than the former, and nowhere near as dark as the latter. It focusses on how Aya went from respected Tengu warrior to irritating gossip and pervert, and the process by which she realises just how far she's fallen and begins to rise once again, all thanks to a certain neglected goddess of (mis)fortune.

I do feel, however, that the sex scene should have been delayed a few more updates. The quality was also slightly lower than the story posts.

>>12855

The protagonist of /sdm/'s Don't Lose Your Head is a heavily armed/armored spec-ops type with the goal of beating up all the touhous, gathering intel, and (optionally) abducting Flandre. Then again, he might be stretching the definition of 'anti'-hero, since he also gets nice moments sprinkled in between the parts where he's beating the crap out of everyone.

>>12862
And I'd read it if it didn't update 2 threads in the time it takes me to read through 1.
While it's great he can update so frequent, at the same time I feel it's it's weakest point, for the very reason above.
But that's just me.

>>12905
>Not staying up all night to catch up.
fkn casul

>>12915
Oh I'd love to. But I prioritize RL above the fictional as I, as sad as it is, need the real world to enjoy the fictional.

>>12917
>implying that you can't pull an all-nighter in the middle of the week.
Gensokyo needs coffee

>>12920
Exams prep has begun and I'm already mentally exhausted. My teachers decided to raise my level in three different subjects without consulting me first, raising the amount of stress put on me. Caffeine and insomnia are the last things I need as I’m also working on ideas for THP stories.
I might give it a go when summer break finally comes around. I like what I’ve read of Being Meiling so far. Tough, it’s not a story I’d have voted on, given the nature of the votes.

>>12925
But complaints aside, any stories you can recommend in /Underground/ or /Border/?

>>12926
>/underground/
Histories of Gluttony and Labor is fun and only started recently.

Otherwise is probably excellent but I'm not reading it because I can't bring myself to give even one tenth of a shit about Sanae after reading The Game. I'm hoping Fell writes something new after Otherwise.

Kiss Me is okay, but quite dark.

Can't help you with older stories, my memory is shit.

>/border/
The only active story is Another Incursion, and that's not really my cup of tea. BackupWeasel's untitled Miko story was good but it died suddenly.

>>12927
>I can't bring myself to give even one tenth of a shit about Sanae after reading The Game.
That is terrible.

>>12935
I know. But I'm not going to apologise for not reading a story that doesn't interest me, regardless of how well it's written.

>>12927

>Otherwise is probably excellent but I'm not reading it because I can't bring myself to give even one tenth of a shit about Sanae after reading The Game. I'm hoping Fell writes something new after Otherwise.

Would it help if I told you that Fell has explicitly stated that it's possible to take a route that makes the events of The Game impossible? Make the right decisions and Sanae'll be a good girl instead of a fanatic.

Besides, Otherwise could be called "Making a Shrine Maiden Cry; The Adventure" at the moment. Poor Sanae, everything's going wrong for her.

I want to read some good crossover. any idea?

>>12938
This is what I was hoping after reading the intro.

>Sometimes, something different happens.
>Maybe.


GODDAMNIT FELL UPDATE MORE

>>12944
Histories of Gluttony and Labor in /underground/ is ongoing. It's a crossover with Dwarf Fortress.

A Wizard Is You is long, and technically ongoing, but currently suffering from a severe case of Busy Author. It's good in the sense of being well-written and entertaining, and it's a crossover, but I wouldn't say it's a good crossover as such. It's a crossover with D&D 3.5's rules, but no specific setting.

I can't think of any others. But I have heard that something involving Meta Knight is like what you are looking for except for being the opposite of "good".

>>12938
>take a route that makes the events of The Game impossible?
I was under the impression that Otherwise occurred after The Game. Or rather, as part of the ending.

>>12954

Nope, it's a prequel. The second post literally starts midway through UFO. During the Murasa boss fight, specifically. It doesn't go well.

>>12960
Well now I'm thoroughly confused and somewhat embarrassed. Still, I'm not too keen on effectively undoing the events of The Game.

>>12965
Think of it as an alternate universe. The Game still happens, just on another world line.

Any CYOAs where Iku was prominent or well-portrayed?

>>12971
that aren't deader than Yuyuko?

>>12971
Nothing is determined yet, but I plan on having an Iku who acts somewhat formal, as opposed to the drunken state I usually only see her in, in my next story.
Poor wording on my part, but was it something along those lines?

>>12973

You were clear enough, not to worry. I've always thought of her as fairly highbrow and definitel blue-blooded but with a slightly "spicy" side, really knows how to wind down.

>>12973
drunk slob Iku is a rather recently made Fanon thing (it wasn't around when Iku first came out), perhaps in some demented attempt to "spice" her up.

>>12975
It certainly adds another side to the coin. Thinking of the reasons she's a drunkard is the most interesting of that side of her.
Personally, I prefer her without.

>>12951
>Busy Author
Ha. No. More like Lazy Author. Deme can update, but tends to only do it to spite the hell out of people.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anything good where Hatate was a major character?

>>12976

I'm viewing her as less of slobbering, gibbering, topsy-turvy head-over-heels type drunk and more of proactive, classy, vaguely Robert Downey Jr. esque drunk. Can definitely see her as the "work hard, party harder" type, especially if she's gotten promoted to Tenko's babysitter and the workload has increased substantially along with her pay.

>>12862
>It focusses on how Aya went from respected Tengu warrior to irritating gossip and pervert, and the process by which she realises just how far she's fallen and begins to rise once again, all thanks to a certain neglected goddess of (mis)fortune.
I'm ravenous for an Aya story, but that sounds fucking insufferable. Convince me better.

>>12986
Aya's shit might be the focus, but there's a lot of other stuff besides.
Trust me, it's really good.
Being Meiling and Pleasant Meadows are direct prequels; you may want to read those as well. Meadows is pretty dark, though.

>>12987
not sure if reading Being Meiling would help considering how Aya was characterized in it.

>>12986
If you're looking for an Aya story, consider checking out An Excuse for Aya. It's a nice breather from a lot of other plot lines mainly because it involves Aya surviving modern life (with the help of a dude concidentally-named Inubashiri Taro). The story's refreshing and the only problem is that the author never updates.

>>12990
God, I love that story. So simple, so good. Moral, Treia, get off your asses and write, I'm begging you.

>>12987
All right, all right, I'll give it a shot.

>>12986
I myself don't really like it, even if I really like Aya. Something about, well, everything, just feels wrong for me. I'm probably one of few with this opinion however.

>>12992

Think you could summarize why? Not being confrontational or anything, I'm honestly curious.

>>12989
To(M)F tells us how and why she ended up the way she did, though. It's not as if Aya just woke up one morning and decided to have a mental breakdown just for fun.

Are there any stories with Mokou as the main girl?

>>13022

The only ones I can think of off the top of my head are Memoria in Discord and Myouren Academy. The former is completed and the latter is a high school AU.

>>13027
That's a surprising lack of immortality.

Any good stories with a Yukari route?

>>13030
Archetype of Self is the only one I know of.

>>13031

Isn't that the one where the MC became a Mary Sue?

>>13035
Yes.
Up until then it was good though. The author didn't know where to end it properly.

Anybody can recommend me a (good) terror story? Not a story with a scary part, I'm looking for a story that has horror as it main focus.

I don't suppose that there are any good Cirno stories out there?

>>13039
Off the top of my head, there's a short that Owen wrote a long time ago.
>>/sdm/24891

There's also RaAN, but I don't have the link for it.

Anyone know what happened to the GM of Chronograph? Because I was really loving it before it died.

>>13040
...What does RaAN stand for? I could always search I'm the story list, but I kind of need the name to do that.

>>13040
Do you mean Retrospective and Astronomical Narration? Because while the archive seems to have been eaten by grues I found an (incomplete?) archive on another site.

>http://sentrygun.com/touhou/cyoa/RaAN.html

However, the Story List shows that RaAN had eight threads - this archive only has three, from the looks of it.
A better version would be appreciated, although I don't know if it exists.
Maybe I'll try trawling the Wayback Machine.

Any stories with Kana as a significant character? I know she had a small part in Hakugyokuro LA, but that's all I've seen of her.

>>13044
The Game has a snazzy Kana, but she vanishes past the half-way mark until the end.

>>13047
>>13044 here. I goofed. I was thinking of The Game in the first place, not Hakugyokuro LA, however the hell that happened. Thank you for the quick response, though!

>>13043
... now that's an interesting find. The header listings in that link were never posted in threads, they're from my personal archival copy. I don't recall sending that to many people at all, though obviously I must have done so at some point. I wonder how it ended up there?

The major divisions are days/chapters, not threads, and the final version ends around entry 5.5, so that is indeed rather incomplete. But why would you want that old thing, anyway? If you want fairy focus, there's Fairy on Scarlet Lake in /sdm/. If you'd prefer action, Otherwise in /underground/ has you covered, or pick up Pleasant Meadows in the recent archives. And if you'd like to wrap your brain around some complex crunchy concepts, try Not-Life and Project D.o.l.l in /others/.

>>13049

>But why would you want that old thing, anyway?

Because none of the stories you mentioned have Cirno in a major role? That's what >>13039 was asking for, after all.

>>13043

If you want a copy of RaAN, try asking on IRC or /blue/, they'll probably be able to help.

>>13039
>>13051
A Scarlet-Stained Memoir has a prominent Cirno. My favourite Cirno on the site, I daresay.

>>13035
Yeah but it was pretty fun like that as voters got to decide on what power to asspull. Isn't that why we're here, to have fun?

>>13044
Border house gave her a decent role, but well it's dead.

>>13031

Man that writer did not like Rinnosuke at all did he?

>>13039
The Last Stand of Cirno the Valiant. A short though.

http://www.touhou-project.com/sdm/res/24891.html

>>13054
Possibly not, but then again he isn't the most popular character due to a mix of factors.

>>13037
Pleasant Meadows is quite unpleasant and has very few meadows indeed.

>>13059
I read it already and it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. PM was mostly suspense, focusing on mere survival. What I want to see is a story that deals with how the characters cope with a horror that is seemingly unstoppable, how their minds break, their hearts sink and their body paralyze at the sight of it, its mere concept so utterly incomprehensible that it makes the poor, powerless protagonists go insane.

So yeah, in short, I'm looking for cosmic horror stories. I should've specified it. Sorry.

>>13060
So that one thing at the end of Pleasant Meadows but turned up to the max and written in a more terrifying light?

>>13060
There are some, though not on this site and no good ones.

>>13062
Yeah, that's the gist of it. I imagine some Touhoes with strange powers like Yukari and Nue could be painted in a more terrifying light when they discard their moe human-like front.

For example, most depictions of Yukari's gaps are only explained as a flimsily described n-dimension inhabited by creepy eyes, and just leave it like that. But how would it be if someone were to stare at it for too long? Or worse, get trapped in the gap-space for what it seems like an eternity? That's the kind of concept I'm curious about, and I wanted to see if someone here had decided to explore that angle.

>>13063
Ah well, it's a pity. If only I were more confident in my writing skills I would write a one-shot myself.

>>13060
Palingenesia, though sadly unfinished, has some sort of that tone to it? Also A Different Place, though that too is unfinished and quite old.

>>13060
I feel like I could write something like that.

But then I'd get complained at for being 'so edgy it hurts' again.

>>13067
But I like it when it hurts~

>>13067
Is that still going on?

>>13037
http://www.touhou-project.com/storylist.php?title=Shadow+Over+Gensokyo&author=&board[]=0&status[]=any
Grimdark Post-apocalyptic.

Looking for good stories with Alice as a main character. Any suggestions?

>>13076

Alice's Life (Sucks) in forest is pretty good, but it's short and only updates sporadically these days. Alice is the protagonist.

Glass Half Empty has the protagonist as Alice's apprentice, but it's a continuation spin-off(?) of Distilled Encounters from Festive Times, so you may wish to read that first. It may have died in it's final thread though, but it might still come back. Teruyo is the author, in case that bothers you.

On a related note, Theater of Youth is a high school AU that has Alice in a fairly prominent role.

If you're willing to go for something older, Gensokyoland Saga had an Alice route. Also, vikings. Pretty damn long too. Might not be some peoples cup of tea though. Like most of THP's stories it's almost certainly dead, but Norseman has reappeared after long stretches of time before.

Finally, Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba has Alice in an important role. It just updated a couple of days ago.

These are all I can think of at the moment, but you can probably find more if you look.

>>13076

To add to >>13077's list, Project D.O.L.L. in /others/ also has a very prominent "Alice". Although the MC is her doll Shanghai (and later Hourai), Alice practically shoulders all the plot by herself. Recommendable if meta-fiction and post-apocalypse-esque ambients are your thing.

>>13077
>Finally, Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba has Alice in an important role.
Not really. Shoehorned emotional drama bullshit that is completely unnecessary and detracts from the quality of the original premise.
Actual spoiler ahead.
Seriously, don't read this if you don't want to be spoiled.
I mean it.
Here it goes.
NTR.

>>13079

Actual necessity of that plot twist aside, it most certainly wasn't NTR.

>>13076
ones that's not dead as all the ones I know of are dead.

>>13079
>Shoehorned emotional drama bullshit that is completely unnecessary and detracts from the quality of the original premise.

Word of god says that the "original premise" was but a clever ruse and that the whole thing's an excuse for Marisa skeezing on other Touwhores.

>>13080
Uh. Yeah, it was.
>>13082
Well it fooled me.

>>13083
It's really not NTR. It has elements of it, but it's not NTR.
>>13079
>muh pure waifus
O.k.

>>13084
We must have different definitions of NTR, then.
>muh pure waifus
Fuck you. That's got nothing to do with it. I actually like how Alice is presented in that story, because it's something that is actually different to the usual fare.
I'm just utterly disgusted with the way the author pulled a complete bait-and-switch with both Marisa's characterisation and the tone of the entire story, based on a single vote that was deliberately misleading.

>>13085

I thought the story was about Marisa teaching magic?

>>13086
So did I.

>>13085
I'm the author of MMMM, and I'd just like to say a couple words.

First, while you are allowed to have your opinions, I really don't see how this could be considered NTR. Marisa was not both humiliated and sexually aroused at the act of Alice having cheated on her, and furthermore Alice still loves Marisa.

I don't think Marisa has gone under any sort of characterization shift - Marisa has continued to act in a similar matter as herself before the reveal, and she still womanizes/quips/works on her library.

And, while there was a tonal shift, said shift only applied for a few updates; the next updates with Akyuu and Byakuren were much more focused on teaching than relationships, and the readers chose to ask Maribel for advice on love instead of advice on schooling, which is beyond my control.

It was not a bait-and-switch. Nothing about the story was invalidated with the cheating reveal, it only shown more light on the MAlice relationship.

>>13090
Look man, the fact is, prostitution and cheating is not a good thing to add to a story of the kind you're making, no matter what you call it. Even if you ignore the 'my pure waifu' angle (which can also be valid, if you ask me. Touhous are mostly idealized for a reason), no matter how much you say it's magical good gensokyo whoring where nothing is unpleasant, it doesn't exactly bring good images to mind, you know? Your story, from the beginning, seemed to be just light-hearted romance, adventure-ish, sort of a slice-of-life thing. Whores bring to mind awful stuff. It's not a dignified profession, many of these people live awful lives and do it out of necessity. I plain don't want to think about whores (or cheating, for that matter) when I'm reading a happy go lucky touhou fanfiction.

I could have easily accepted it if it was a dark story from the beginning or an /at/ romp, but it clearly isn't, and you're clearly sticking with it since it's in the latest damn update.


I don't think I'll drop your story entirely, but you can be sure I'll be skipping any part that mentions Alice.

This is a recommendation thread.
Discussion on why people should NOT read a story has no place here.
Either take it to /blue/ or stop shitposting, preferably the latter.

Well, I don't really agree with >>13091, and seeing this discussion made me go find and read MMMM (it's in /shrine/ if anyone's curious) and I wound up quite liking it. So, recommendation thread success, I guess?

splICEd in /th/ also looks super cool!

>>13093
That's the most retarded thing I have ever fucking heard. That means, practically, that I can recommend any story even if it really is shit and nobody can say anything because "It's a recommendation tnread!" What a waste of time that'll be.
If someone thinks something shouldn't be recommended, they should voice it. That's the point of recommendations in the first place. To skip the bad stuff and read what you might like. To leave someone in the dark for such the reason you gave is moronic.

>>13099
I think what dear anon meant was that this isn't really a venue for in-depth discussion about why this or that story sucks yak shit. If anything, all that's required is a curt reply with your reasoning for disliking something and then moving on.

>>13100
Ah. That is more reasonable.
>>13099
>Tnread
God damn it, I even triple checked before posting

>>13085
Funnily enough, the writer confesses to hating MAlice in all forms as deliberately wrote the whole "Alice cheated on Marisa" thing to avoid a Alice route.

Which really just drives me root for Alice harder.

If you guys could go make a thread in this board for discussing stories or take your argument to /blue/'s rage thread instead, then it would be appreciated.

>>13105
I can make up completely unfounded claims too, doesn't mean I'm right.

>>13099
"Shit" is a matter of opinion, there's no objective metric to measure story quality. The fact that people have been arguing with you is proof of this. You can't just start ranting about how people shouldn't read stories YOU don't like and expect to be taken seriously.
We have a dedicated board for shit like dumb personal rants.

>>13111
I am not the guy who's been arguing about MMMM.
Also, there IS one measure, what with that being Grammar and spelling. As well, there has been consensus on bad stories before.

Guys, if you want to bicker, please go to >>/blue/18777

If there's a mod around, could we have all the off-topic stuff removed?

>>13112
If someone recommended it, there is no consensus about it being a bad story.
I'd like to imagine no one here is bored enough to bother posting joke recommendations for stories like that MLP crossover I wrote one post of years back.

>>13114

Eh, I don't really think that's necessary as long as they either stop now or take it elsewhere. We used to have far longer divergences with more shit flung around back in the day, and we didn't feel the need to delete them. There's no need to stick too rigidly to the topic. This is well within acceptable margins, as far as I'm concerned. Mods may disagree, of course.

It's been quite a while since THP has last seen so much activity outside a story thread. I'm actually a little glad to see it, even if it's mostly arguing.

Should I read Being Meiling and Pleasant Meadows before Tengu of (Mis)Fortune, or can I just start that ToMF now and take the others later?

>>13143
You only need to read the last threads of Being Meiling (specifically the last three, but I'm not really sure on that), since that's where Aya first appears as the obsessive border-line pedophile she is known as at the beginning, and it's the basis of her quest for redemption. The rest of the story is also a good read, but not crucial to understand ToMF - although you'll miss many callbacks and injokes if you don't read it.

Pleasant Meadows is the other side of the coin, because it explains the reasons for Hina's initial depression and her wish to make amends with everybody. So I'd say you'd do well in reading it before ToMF as well. Like with Being Meiling, there are a number of throwbacks to Pleasant Meadows in ToMF, specifically a mention to its protagonist.

>>13143

>Should I read Being Meiling and Pleasant Meadows before Tengu of (Mis)Fortune?

Ideally, yes. Tengu of Misfortune spoils the ending of Pleasant Meadows and the conclusion of a lot of events from Being Meiling. In practice though, you could probably make do with just reading Pleasant Meadows first, as Being Meiling can be enjoyed simply as a comedy, while PM is a story based on suspense. I imagine reading Tengu of Misfortune first will ruin PM for you.

If you don't care about either of those stories and are just asking if you'll be able to understand what's going on in ToM without having read the first two, then you'll be fine; the story gives a pretty good overview of the situation as Aya herself learns about and deals with it.

Tell me about Gensokyo's Public Enemy. I'm intrigued, but is it one of those "everybody dies or suffers forever" stories?

>>13167
>everybody dies or suffers forever
So far the only one who has died is Rin Saetsuki, but she never really "existed" anyway, so yeah.

It's more like a mystery story. The MC appears to have stolen a book which holds one third of a Kirin's soul, and he's hunted by the village, and Reimu, because of it. He flees to Youkai Mountain where he discovers a curse that's been laid upon it.
As I understand it, the MC is to gather the rest of the books while fleeing from Reimu and others, while trying to uncover an incident he somehow ended up in. All the while he's trying to figure out who the Kirin is exactly, and who exactly he himself is, as the one he thought he was, didn't exist, apparently.

Ikaros also have made it a habit of starting each new thread by temporarily switching perspective to build on the plot, and allow you to make meta-story choices.

>>13167
it's not dark though it mainly has a hostile majority possibly just for its own sake.

>>13169
Gah, hope that wasn't a bunch of spoilers.
Thanks, though. I'll give it a shot.

>>13178
What?

>>13179
for a time it was popular to subvert/deconstruct common THP CYOA tropes, such as "most touhous are friendly towarsd the MC", I consider that story to be a product of that general trend.

>>13186
That kind of stuff always happens. We find a cool new thing to explore in our stories, everybody (over)exploits it for a year or two, then we grow bored of it and it becomes uncool, and we start to subvert it and deconstruct it to all hell, if just to seem more original than the others. Then, if we're lucky, the trend will die out after everybody has squeezed all we could from it. If not, it will experiment a revival and become cool again, thus turning into another cyclic trope.

So yeah, the subversion of the "always friendly toehoes" gimmick was just as much of a trend as the straight version, but you can bet all your money it will come around in time and become the next hot topic again.

>>13187
well I remarked on the trend as many things seemed to push forward the deconstruction at teh expense of all else. A well done deconstruction is enjoyable yet thought provoking, otherwise you'd end up with something like Eva Tv, which was considered cutting edge at first but these days seens as pretentious as hell.

Hello, new poster here, I came over from /tg/ to read Demetrious' quest with the Wizard and I desperately want more. Or at least something alike.

Or maybe a quest/story featuring Suika as a main character, seeing as she's one of my favorite touhous.

Speaking if old, cyclic story quirks, I miss when the naming of characters actually had effects in the story. Like when you named someone Belmont and it earned its blood and items. Or when you named someone after a tohou and it caused some effect on the story (see: dead thread for Aya)
It may sound like I have some big nostalgia googles but it almost happened in forest mix and it'd have been great.

>>13216
Are you looking for stories of a similar style, or just our general big hits? I can't help you with the former because I haven't read many stories like AWiY around here (I'm sure they exist, I just don't read as much as I would like), but I can still recommend some other classics.

>>13218
Classics would be great too.

>>13217
I beg to differ as it sometimes causes anon to try to turn the MC into a copy (possibly twisted/flanderized at that) of the original character/etc.

But since then, people either drew from other sources or trying their hands at making their own.

>>13220
Okay, here goes. Keep in mind I'm only going over stories that I've seen mentioned a lot by users -- I'm not exactly a veteran around here so my information could be a bit incomplete. If anyone more versed in this site's stories would like to contribute, I'd appreciate it.

Of course, there's the original Waking Up in Gensokyo by Gensokyo Man and Misadventures in Gensokyo by Kirakishou. They're both referenced a lot with some of the "site memes." Personally, I passed on them, because I wasn't fond of the simplistic style of those days.

This Shrine by YAF has had four successful runs. I haven't read that one, either, but if it ran four times it must have done something right.

If you like the SDM crowd, there's Expectation of Sanguine Disorder by Hungry Youkai. I'm not quite sure what it's like.

Then we come to A Scarlet-Stained Memoir, by U.N. Owen. Personally one of my favourites, it's a mystery/adventure story that takes place in the SDM. It gets unnecessarily grimdark near the end, but at least it was completed. By the same author, though under a different pen name, is A Fairy's Tale, another SDM-centric story. However, this one is a slice-of-life, and it is arguably written better than ASSM.

Also within the SDM is Patchy Quest. It's not that old, but it's certainly an interesting read if you like crossovers (Touhou x Harry Potter). It has a big problem of dragging out in the later threads, which caused me to drop it. I don't think it has completed, either.

Moving on from the SDM, there's the infamous Gensokyo High, by Taisa. It's a high school alternate universe that never ended properly, so if you want closure you should probably avoid it. Not to mention it had a lot of waifu shitstorms in its run. I only read it so that I could finally get why everyone keeps bringing the story up.

Speaking of slice-of-life school AUs, I highly recommend Theater of Youth, by Teruyo. I've only just read the first few threads, but so far it's one of the finer stories I've read on the site. It's not completed, but the writer is not inactive, either. If you finish it quickly enough you might be able to start voting before the story ends.

Of course, no list of THP's stories would do without mention of The Game, by Fell. This story is... "different," to say the least. All I can say is, if you're not fluent with English, it might do you good to skip this one. It can be kind of hard to understand, though that's part of its beauty. Also has a prequel going on right now.

If you have weird kinks, and you like "management" games, and also don't mind reading shitstorms, try City Quest. I meant it about the weird kinks, though.

Then we have Keymaster, a writer known for his almost-daily updates. All three of his stories take place in the same universe. There's the slice-of-life Being Meiling, the murder-mystery No Escape (note: listed as Pleasant Meadows in the story list), and the currently-running Tengu of Misfortune. The only one that really requires prior reading is that last one -- the other two you could read without needing prior knowledge of the Keyverse.

There's also my story, something that has been described as "experimental," to say the least. (Probably because it tries to remove the fourth wall between reader and story.) It finished just recently, but I'm not sure whether it belongs on this list or not.

I hope I didn't miss anything. Anyway, you can access all of these stories from our storylist: http://www.touhou-project.com/storylist.php

>>13224
Thank you very much for all these suggestions, I'm gonna save your post in a text file. I'm pretty much fluent in English with occasional slip-ups in speech, so I'm sure I'd be able to get that "different" story. Gonna start reading them now.

> Not to [Gensokyo High] it had a lot of waifu shitstorms in its run.

That's an understatement. It got so bad there was 1-2 updates per thread, the rest was people arguing over who they should waifu, top contenders being Flandre and Rumia.

Because of Gensokyo High, everyone has been avoiding high school AU stories. And the ones that did try never really lasted longer than a few updates.

>>13226

Theater of Youth and Myouren Academy beg to differ.

>>13227
Aaaaamd both eventually died.
Myouren Academy has never been my cup of tea. The writer's prose feels clunky and too simple.
And as for ToY, I've lost faith in Teruyo as a writer.

>>13224
You know what, I'd actually recommend This Shrine.

It kinda goes full retard right from the start, but in entertaining ways.

>>13228
>Theater of Youth
>Dead
I guess it's a matter of faith on this one. I mean, at least it had updates after the new year. That counts for something… right? ;_;

>>13225
You're welcome, dude. Oh, and allow me to formally welcome you to THP. I hope you enjoy your time here.

>>13228
http://www.touhou-project.com/others/res/56617.html#58580

Not dead, just, uh, busy and unmotived before recently. Also, I completely respect that you don't read my story as those are completely valid reasons. I myself have noticed and I do try to be conscious of it while writing. Sadly, I feel as though my efforts don't always yield the result I'm looking for.

Anyway, on to recommendations.
Personally, I enjoy WASTED Fifth Age and Planescape: Touhou by Wanderlost. The former being a little more amusing and lighthearted, and the latter being darker and grittier.

Not-Life by Flanders finished up recently, so if you haven't read it, do it now!

Same Old Story by Realmhopper is nice, when it updates...

Tengu of Misfortune is entertaining and usually brings a smile to my face, but to me at least, it seems to be dragging on. Could be that I'm just not a fan of overly long stories.

Kiss Me over in /underground/ looks promising, something I plan to pick up soon.

Over in /shrine/ is Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba. It does a good job with it's characters, descriptions, and flow. Granted, real life has prevented the author from updating this month, but hopefully he'll be back in force next month.

I WANT STORIES

STORIES WITH LOTS OF ACTION

TOUHOUS FIGHTING EACH OTHER, OCs FIGHTING TOUHOUS, CROSSOVER CHARACTERS FIGHTING TOUHOUS, I DON'T CARE, IT'S ALL GOOD

But seriously, what stories around here have action as a main focus? Old, new, whatever, I'm hungering for some violence. It doesn't need to get excessively brutal or anything, but I like dangerous situations and how people get through them.

>>13236
Can I rec something from Shrinemaiden?

>>13238

I'LL TAKE IT

SERIOUSLY I'M NOT PICKY HERE

>>13240

Dude chill with the capslock! You could try the "Burning Meiling" series on youtube. Not a CYOA, but I think it's right up your alley.

Look up the version on the "TouhouSubs" channel if you want english subtitles.

Having just finished The Game, by Fell, i'm not entirely certain i'd recommend it. If its your type of thing, it's probably the best thing ever. If not, it'll leave you lukewarm at best and disgusted at worst.

The Eldest Scarlet is a fun read, and gives a lighter view on the Scarlet family through the eyes of the OC, their older brother. Then it died.

Kiss Me is a good story focusing on Kisume and fleshing her out as a character, but pending death. Hey, things have come back from worse.

Keymaster seems like a repeat recommendation, but i'd recommend his second story, Pleasant Meadows, as his best. It's rather more serious than Being Meiling, not a hard thing to accomplish with that story, but it's entertaining.

If you're looking for a short, downright fun read, (Un)Gratefully Doing It Yourself by Jerl is a good story to read with a rather demure deathseeker protagonist.

Lastly, Girl of Death by Zal, the writer of Animating Gensokyo, is a story about the origins of Alice which links the PC-98 era and Windows era together, and is in my opinion the finest piece of writing on THP. Cannot recommend it enough. >>/underground/8620

What if I want to read something idealistic?

>>13245
Hum. WASTED is pretty light and more idealistic, though not without conflict. Other than that, Being Meiling? I really wouldn't recommend it, but it fits the bill.

>>13241

ALREADY WATCHED ALL OF THOSE, BUT YOU HAVE GOOD TASTE

>chill with the capslock

okay

>>13242

I remember reading the first few threads of The Game several years ago and enjoying it then, although my taste for HORRIBLE TORTURE seems to have diminished, because now those parts just come across as nasty. I'll take it for another spin.

I read bits and pieces of The Eldest Scarlet while it was running, and it seemed fun enough. I'll give it a go.

I've only read bits and pieces of Kiss Me when it first started and I liked what I saw, but the update speed turned me off. Now that there's a sizable chunk of writing to go through, however, I'm all for a reread.

I was actually on the ground floor for Pleasant Meadows, and I really enjoyed it up to the first ending. The redone ending worked out far better for my tastes. I also really liked Keymaster's use of music, which amplified the effect of some parts to amazing levels.

Parsee's the best girl, no question.

I read the first two posts of (Un)gratefully Doing It Yourself when it was first posted, and it was enjoyable enough. I'll see what's been added since then.

Girl of Death seems to be the only one on this list I haven't read at least part of, and it makes a strong case for why I should rectify it with that first post alone. Plus, while Alice isn't exactly my favorite touhou, I'm willing to see what she can do.

Personal recommendations from me back to anyone else looking for some action can go with Taisa's Touhouvania story, although that apparently hit a nasty and rushed end at the last moment. I also really liked The Idea of Alice, both for its lighter moments and the blistering fights. Finally, I really, really enjoyed Owen's Priceless, even though it was only vaguely related to Touhou.

>>13242
>>13242
Oh, thanks. I read Animating Gensokyo meanwhile and I need more of that style.

>>13248
It really is a pity that more people haven't read it. Its even completed, too.

>>13245
"Idealistic?"

>>13252

Say more lighthearted? More Captain America than Batman?

>>13253
Ah. Well, I'd suggest "A Fairy's Tale," but that's an old story so you may have already read it.

>>13240
https://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,14242.0/nowap.html

Hope you like it.

What about some light-hearted yuri?

>>13236
>>13245

Tainted Bonds is full of high-stakes combats, both physical and magical. It's also a very idealistic story, for certain definitions of the word "idealistic". It tries to tackle some very wide, broad ideas, but it's certainly far from a "good shall always triumph over evil" kind of "idealistic".

I also warn you that it's full of purple and has at least a couple of plot-pacing slipups.

inb4 DESPAIR

>>13270
Aww. This site doesn't have yuri?

>>13274
But Balista, there is too much DESPAIR!

inb4 Balista says it's a story about HEALING

>>13270
>>13275
You could try the Restorer in Gensokyo stories by krisslanza. Those are probably close to what you're looking for.

Female protagonists in general aren't that common around here.

>>13279

Which is honestly kinda weird considering this site writes fanfiction about an IP who's cast is like 95% female.

>>13270
Sanae x Reisen is yuri, right? >>/at/25438
And then there's Reimu x Ruukoto x Suika. >>/at/28176
Mimi's a girl, right? >>/at/32962

>>13226
Going several threads, a lot of months and several dozens if not 100k+ words now in ToY. Haven't bothered counting. By far the most successful school story on the site going by effort, time length and relative lack of shitstorms/waifu wars or general implosions. Might help that I actually have a plan for dealing with that sort of nonsense thanks to years of experience writing on the site and looking at all of these other stories. I've ribbed those other writers (with their approval/encouragement often!) and their school stories within the story itself several times. The references are just part of it. There's also an attitude that people shouldn't be fixated on routes or any one choice. Maybe the old-school VN vibe I try to give it also rubs off on the readers.

Don't avoid it. Embrace it. Learn to love again. Love touhous and your fellow anon. Also theoretically fast updates whenever I have time to write. Like multiple per day. It was a story purposefully designed to get people to destroy their f5 keys like in the days of yore.


>>13228
Losing faith for no real reason is why the site is slow as molasses. I may have a lot of negative traits but I'm one of the few (only? haven't seen YAF around lately) writers that has been writing for the six full years since this site became a thing more or less with little interruption. If you lose faith in a loser that's likely to stick around until there's only one other person left on the site then you might as well just leave now and never come back. What chance do fledgling writers have otherwise? Make the most of what you have. Read, vote and write if you're a writer. Complaining is easy. Doing something about things isn't that hard if everyone pitches in. Otherwise we'll just keep up this horrible trend of low activity with both reader and writer being demoralized.

And well, as for me personally, if you ever have a problem with something I said or did in a story please direct complaints to me directly. I will always hear people out and give an explanation or even change things if I'm clearly in the wrong about something.

>>13230
Updates soon, after people vote and people know that it's on.

Sorry I know that this isn't really a recommendation post but thp needs to be less serious business and more open to having fun. If you feel that you can't, believe in the me that believes in you. Read some of the newer stories that have popped up on the site. Show your support. Though I haven't checked it out yet, I hear that White Wolf and Cub seems to be interesting.

And once you're done checking out the new stories, read some of the older, ongoing stories. They need plenty of love too. For those of you on IRC, ask the author of your favorite ongoing story about updates. Let them know that you haven't forgotten and that they shouldn't forget you either once they have free time.

>>13286
Very well said, o grandmaster.

>>13286

>haven't seen YAF around lately

He's been busy with his Teaching exams and rewriting TiiTS on his blog. He wrote an April Fools story a couple of months ago, but has mostly been silent on THP otherwise.

>thp needs to be less serious business and more open to having fun

This. So much this. When did everyone become such wet blankets?

>>13280
Not exactly, considering how various doujins and stories elsewhere are purely yuri. I say part of the trends here are to opposed such tendencies.

>>13288
I blame various stories dying and not so many stepping in to fill the void mainly. The fact there's more limited stories that might not even finish spike up the 'stakes' to sometimes stupid levels.

>>13288
>YAF has a blog
I'm gonna need a link.

>>13291

Here you go:
http://homelessgirls.wordpress.com/

Any good Yuuka stories?

Is there any good story with Cirno as the focus? it's okay if it's a fancomic or something outside of THP.

Is there any Ghostbusters crossover in this site?

>>13275

A bit late to answer, but Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba in /Shrine/ has a pretty good romantic subplot between Marisa and her love interests.

>>13224
So, what's the name of your story?

>>13319
Ah, mine?

Not-Life, over in /others/. I can only recommend it based on author bias, but I hope that whoever decides to read it enjoys it.
>>/others/51178

>>13320
Oh, that one! I liked it! I left questions. (Which I see you've answered!)

>>13323
I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Any cool timehax games out there? Ones which play with Sakuya's or Kaguya's powers in particularly interesting ways?

I'm looking for a main character with a personality that would give me the same feeling as this quote;


If you're a regular reader of my work, you know I have a preoccupation with sex, awkwardness, and blowing sunshine up people's asses. Thing is, I used to be a very cynical, pessimistic, angry sort of runt. I was sarcastic and surly much of the time, and the reasons for that are myriad and depressing and none of your concern right now, because that was then and this is now. Now I wallow in positivity and the very joy of being because of another totally different reason that you also need not concern yourself with. But the fact that it can happen is what's important.See, the world can be depressing as shit. I know that and you know that. There's a lot of ugly out there. Lots of hate and anger and bags of flaming shit on porches. And as has been pointed out in some of my past articles where I've clumsily tried to impart life knowledge or inspiration, maybe I can't always hit the nail on the head for you specifically. Maybe you're introverted beyond belief, maybe you have endured horrible abuses I can't imagine, maybe you're dealing with emotional and psychological issues that a simple comedy article directed to a general audience could never hope to speak to. But what if I could? What if I could help you? What if you could help someone else? What if just one person somewhere has a better day, a better outlook, a better opinion of themselves and the world at large as a result of things I have seen and experienced and shared? Well shit, son, that's what keeps me going.

I can eat all the dollar store food and taste all the lube in the world while fumbling through every orgyon the Eastern seaboard and I doubt I'll change your life, but I do want you to know why I did those things. Why I'll keep doing goofy shit I've never done before, and keep putting myself places I can't even imagine wanting to be. I do those things for you. The grand, plural, indefinite you. I want you to be wowed by the audacity, and inspired by the ridiculousness. I want you to see the world the way I see it, even if it's just in 2,000 words, half of which are about bum sex and crazy bus people.The world I see is amazing. It's intricate and heartbreaking and beautiful. It's full of monsters and angels, of sights I long to see and sights I can't forget. There are people whose presence has completely altered the entire way I understand reality, and others who I've only caught a glimpse of and fallen in love with for nothing more profound than the way they smile. And I know not everyone lives in this world with me, and to me, it's a little tragic. Too many people live in a much darker world of repetition, depression, anger, abuse, hate, and shit. Shit that's waist deep and you feel like you'll never get out of it. A world in which people who are supposed to protect you betray you, where violence is par for the course, and where fear sits on your shoulder every waking moment because it's how you have to manage your home, your family, your everything. I hate that. I'm sorry for that. I know what that's like.

My experience isn't your experienced, though. It can't be, and it really shouldn't be. We all walk different paths. But the path is on the same planet, at least, and in that we can find some similar ground to try to understand and help each other. So with that in mind, if you find yourself unhappy about life or your path through it, let me give you some things to be happy about right here, right now, in the present!

>>13354
Summer... And the bad kind.

Is there any fic centered around military tactics? like the MC was a tactical genius (bonus point if his last name was 'Creed') and he went against Ran with his own fairy army or something?

Anything with Rinnosuke route?

>>13361

Forest Mix in /forest/ has some potential for a Rinnosuke route, but the MC might be a bit too far out there for romance. It's entertaining, though, and it even updates.

It's been a while since I've checked the site for stories. I don't suppose someone could recommend a story or two from each board?

>>13387

/th/ is, as always, is a hive of activity. There's The Hunt for Little Bell, a light-hearted adventure story starring Kosuzu that updates almost at Keymaster-speed. The Long Game is a direct sequel to Youmu's Journey in /others/, which is also action-packed but in a much bleaker setting. Day and Knight seems to be the new contender for the Highschool-AU title, and unlike other stories that tried and failed to follow Gensokyo High's steps, this one seems promising. Diamondfangs of the Never Never is about a... well, it started as A Badass is You-story and became something weird in the road, but it's at its second thread, so there's little chances of being dropped. No Such Thing As Magic marches on and on and on; and for crossovers you have the hilarious CTF_Gensokyo (Team Fortress 2) and the unnamed Killing Floor story.

/eientei/, unfortunately, is as dead as ever.

/forest/ has Forest Mix, a tale of a gal so hip, Rinnosuke & Co. always have trouble seeing over her pelvis. Her almost undecipherable slang and carefree attitude are the source of many shenanigans and headaches for the poor shopkeeper.

For /border/, see /eientei/ for a comparison of its state of activity.

/shrine/ has Marisa's Magically Magnificent Maktaba, a story of the ordinary magician's struggles to teach magic to the kids of the village with the help of Kosuzu, and fix the wreck that is her love life. There's also High Contrast, a crossover with Kingdom Hearts. I don't read it so I can't tell you if it's good, but it updates very quickly too.

/sdm has Gift of the Magi, a Patchouli centered story about her relationship with the rest of the mansion and other visitors. I don't follow that either, but I've been told it's good, so you might want to give it a shot. Pride of an Ice Demoness is a new story about a, well, ice demoness that gets summoned by Patchy and ordered around by Koa. Experimental, Artificial Creation is the story of Leo, the elemental of Cute a young boy knowledgeable in the thermodynamics of hugs and hair ruffles that sways the hearts of many a young woman in Gensokyo with his inherent adorableness.

/youkai/ has the very recommendable White Wolf and Cub, a story set before the creation of the Hakurei Barrier. Momiji works as a mercenary, killing prime targets and fighting her kin as a traitor. It promises lots of political intrigue, and the writing style is superb in my opinion. Definitely give it a read.

/underground has Kiss Me, the (mis)adventures of Bucket Loli, Spider Girl and Paruwoman as they travel the surface in search for... well, each character has her own reasons to be exploring an hostile environment, full of people distrusting of rogue youkai like them. Moe moments and drama abound in equal parts.

/others seems to have calmed down after the recent spurt of activity it had been experienced. Right now, the only active story is the ever-lasting Theater of Youth, and An Excuse for An Excuse of Aya still updates sporadically.

And lastly, there is an interesting series of snippets titled X to Y where character X writes a description blurb about character Y, and accidentally let out their true feelings about her. Touches your heart. Also, be on the look out for the 4th Annual Writing Contest, both Veteran and Newbie categories.

I don't read smut, so someone else has to recommend /at/ stories for me. And I think that's pretty much it. Quite a lot of new stories compared to other years, if you ask me.

>>13388
/eientei/ is just slow not completely dead as it has a couple of stories that still go (just really slowly), such as Little Soldier Lost and Luck and Lies updated at least.

Also there are a couple of other stories in /forest/ you know.

>>13388
>>13389
Like "In The Forest, A Dancing Light", a Wriggle romance. That's the simplest it can be described. Yuki, the MC, fall in love with Wriggle. Aside from the romance, there's this conflict going on where people who will accept human/youkai relation ship debate against those who are against it. Yuki is just an observer and has little to no impact in the "fight" aside from his father and Akyuu.
Although it fails to deliver details that'd help it's impressiveness, it still manages to be cute.
If that didn't catch the attention, then let me say it hands down has the best (little sister) Akyuu on THP

>>13390

There's Stardust Halley in /forest/ as well, I haven't read a whole lot of it but it seems to revolve around a descedant of Marisa coming into Marisa I think? Someone better read on the story could probably do a better job of recommending it.

>>13392
True. I haven't read it myself so I wouldn't be able to justly recommend it.
I've had it recommended to be a few times already, though.

>descedant of Marisa coming into Marisa
I hope that was a mistake, otherwise that'd be a pretty crazy story.
For now I'll assume you meant "descedant of Marisa who's becoming like Marisa"

>>13393
>I hope that was a mistake, otherwise that'd be a pretty crazy story.
A story I wouldn't mind reading at all *wink wink* *nudge nudge*

>>13390
Get out of here Phil Fish(man)

Yes, the ever vilified boogeyman does write a story, and it's In The Forest, A Dancing Light. If you like it, power to you and keep reading. Personal qualms with the author aside, I always found it to be one of the weaker romances on the site.

Yaffykins remains the best romance writer.

>>13393

Ah hell, how did I miss that? I meant a descendant of Marisa coming into Gensokyo. I think anyway.

>>13396
Hit-and-miss!
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I ain't no fish even if I cane be rather fishy at times, though I do know Fishman on IRC.
But of course you won't believe this, so why do I even bother.

>>13398
Hit-and-miss is not what your looking for there buddy.
You'd be looking for "swing and a miss." Hit and miss is when it works only around half the time.

>>13400
I see, thank you. Idioms have never been my strong side.

Based on what I've read and read about, the standard issue formula for school-based CYOAs is male perspective character, uniform based public school, and lots of outside class focus. To date, the only active school based story is "A Tale of Youth" (only reason I'm not reading it is because gymnastics became a big thing in thread 3; exceptional story, though). Now, if I were to attempt a school story, what would you suggest?

>>13403
There's also Day and Knight at /th/, although it follows that formula you just described. If I were you, I'd attempt to break the trend and write a female MC in a school with a lax normative, and put more focus on the classes than the clubs. Probably try to put some teachers in the spotlight as well. No, it's not that I personally have a thing for teacher-students romances, no sir.

>>13403
Other than Theater of Youth, there's also Day and Night on /th/. It's recently started, so there's not too much to catch up on if you care to get in early.

First, ask yourself why you want to write a school story. The popularity and votes that the genre always gathers is attractive enough. Characters who measure their lives in human terms are usually easier to relate to and thus easier to write. Not needing to concern yourself with cast herds is another factor that lets you freely deviate from the standard character dynamics (this one can be done in other genres too, just not generally in a standard Gensokyo). I'm sure there are other reasons, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

The next thing to consider is what anon wants. Generally, readers prioritize interactions with a handful of characters rather than everyone. Popular touhous or under-appreciated ones or that one character you really didn't expect them to go for, that sort of thing. Of course, these are different things to different people, so be prepared for the inevitable waifu wars. That's not to say it's bad when readers are passionate about things. You just need to be able to weather the shitstorms and know when to put your foot down.

I'd advise you find a niche to do something the other stories don't. Good characters are nine tenths of what makes a school story worth reading, but if the setting and plot are played out, you might get compared unfavorably to the stories that changed things up. You also might not want to go full mundane with things. GH kept magic in while Eastern High was a sometimes unsettling paranoiafest. (MegaSen you faggot why did you cancel it in such a shitty way? Are you even still around?)

Of course, most of this can be applied to any AU type stories, not just school. Space, apocalyptic, crossovers in other settings, and so on.

You'll probably get more actually coherent help in half as many words if you ask over in the writing advice thread in /blue/.

>>13405 I'll probably copy/paste the whole message over there later. Thanks for the remarks.

>>13404 Uh-huh. Sure.

Can anybody explain what Another Incursion and An Excuse for An Excuse for Aya are about? I feel like they're referencing something and its going over my head.

>>13418
Another Incursion is set in a world where outsiders crossing the border isn't a very rare thing. And by that I mean that there may very well be more outsiders in Gensokyo than Gensokyo natives. The name is basically a reference to this; the main character is just another outsider who has made an incursion into Gensokyo.

An Excuse For An Excuse For Aya is related (tied in? I'm not sure since I haven't read them myself) to An(other) Excuse For Aya. There was also a story just called "An Excuse For Aya" as well.

>>13418
An Excuse For (x2) Aya is written by one of the two guys who used to collaborate to write An Excuse For Aya. It's basically that guy's way of saying updaet faget to the other one, since the other one managed to get permabanned from our IRC.

>>13405
>Megasen
It seems like yesterday when I excitedly voted in that guy's stories.

Are there stories on here where Tokiko appears with actual characterization, and not just the minimalistic cookie-cutter persona, one post characters tends to have?

>>13463

Silver of Sovereign had Tokiko as a main character, if I remember correctly. It died is on "hiatus" after four threads. I can't really think of any others that have her as more than a passing mention.

Any good ones out there with Sekibanki, Wakasagihime or Kagerou as a main character?