How’s the air feeling around you all? Mine’s gotten to the point where it basically equates that of Baguio City during the night, though I think this amihan influence might or mightn’t last the new several weeks.

A day later, unlike last time, the protests seem to be peaceful, though at two different landmarks down Metro Manila. Around 30,000-50,000 participating, according to the organizers.

Still, the provebial palayok ng katarungan’s still brewing hot yet painfully slow

Orchid and royal for me.

While the Windows-era Touhou mainline games have their own share of calm and energetic menu themes, the one that sticks out the most for me goes to Imperishable Night. It’s iconic for a good reason.

As if she was one bent for total sword dominion before the four seasons calmed her down and made her sell noodles and soups as a pastime job.

@[email protected] Essentially, it’s now just us, the users’ little raft, from here on out, just calmly sailing over with time.

appears to be a fannish remake of the PC-98-only versus STG Touhou Yumeijikū ~ Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream, for modern computer systems, released around 2017, though it’s a bit jank on the gameplay side of things. Caught wind of it from a couple Jaimers vids on this a while back.

Angelstar by lexycat, from her 2024 album “Dark Blossom”, which in itself is far more sincere yet experimental enough for most mainstream tastes.

Having that song on the last-ever story update for vivid/stasis last weekend is quite the liberating, this-really-is-the-end-of-all rhythm gaming experience.

@[email protected] Do you like reading, or even marvel at libraries and stuff? The last time I checked literature.cafe, the atmosphere (as well as the instance (I call it “online raft”, for one) mods there) seems to be typical of a small town library. It also has comms for fanfics in general, and genre-specific ones.

I bet there’s also even-smaller fedi-rafts out there that cater to a specific creative interest/hobby, or an entire fandom; time and effort will tell.

Sa amin rito, mukhang malumay lang, ta’s umiihip rin nang malakas ang hangin kanina. Anong na-almusal ninyo kanina, sa ibang banda?

Touhou Artificial Dream in Arcadia. Sort of a recent fangame title, by today’s standards, but if you’re looking for some cool mid-to-late-1990s-inspired PC dungeoneering action (Shin Megami Tensei being a heavy inspiration), it’s currently at ninety-two percent off.

Touhou 8: Imperishable Night.

I earned my first-ever 1CC there three days ago, on the Easy difficulty (ignoring the perennial “easy modo” memes within the games’ fandom), and slowly but surely, I’m learning both the fundamentals and the strategies towards passing various stages and spellcard patterns; hopefully, with enough practice, patience, and a bit of foresight, I can move up and do another 1CC on Mormal (both Finales), either with the Border or Netherworld team.

As for everything else, I found myself enthralled with the lore, story, and the music in this game, as if it were timeless, in a way. I’d say I like Eirin’s boss theme the most, befitting for someone who’s lived through time and knows everything diligently.

@[email protected] Dati pa nga, talamak nga ang mga iyan sa amin, lalong-lalo na sa kalapit ritong mga supermarket at sari-sari store; ngayon, mukhang bibihira ngang makatanggap ng ganyan, sa pagtaas ng mga bilihi’t lakas ng piso kontra sa iba pang mga perang-dayo.

Still on Touhou 8 (Imperishable Night), and then, vivid/statis, of which its latest tournament quarterfinals tiebreaker just came out and I was far no less impressed with how I managed to almost teeter on gaining any Fails on the Middle Chart, just a few Goods, due to my laptop sometimes overloading on RAM while the application’s running.

As for the former, I’ve been taking small steps on figuring out routes for Keine’s second spell card attack on Normal Difficulty; on Easy, my new run-ender’s on Reisen’s second spell card attack, where shotgun bullets fade in and out whenever those blood red eyes periodically flash.

Now that sort of piques my exploration juice, especially with roguelikes/roguelites that have extensive, deep-enough systems and lands to dive into, and the bit about resolving fights and incidents with practical real-life measures and techniques common to the usual adventurer, instead of the usual HP- and MP-decreasing system seen in most other games… alright, into my wishlist it goes.

For the record, I did reply with something akin to interconnected bamboo rafts in the middle of the ocean, with some tethered to seashore docks and cliffs.

Don’t worry, though; no matter what happens afterward, this hub of ours’ here to stay, as an alternate local coffee shop, now run by us fellow customers and curators!

Siyanga pala, pareho rin akong Jup mula sa ngayo’y-lubog nang kbin.social, sa mga hindi pa nakakilala rito ehehehe ;D