I really like the artist’s description of Touhou flight from Sanae Kochiya’s perspective, so here’s the Google Translate version:

Whether it was the miraculous power of faith or the power that came from within myself, I knew even before I tried that I could “fly”. But I also knew that I shouldn’t do such a thing in front of other people. …Secretly, out of sight of others, floating just a few centimeters above the ground. I was only certain that it couldn’t be called flying. …One winter evening, on my way home from lessons, I tried flying for the first time. …It would take some getting used to to fly freely in the sky, but simply “flying” was surprisingly easy.

The distant view that I must have seen every day from the shrine on the mountain was reflected in a completely different world after a mere 10m rise. The city lights were like the stars in the sky, but even more dazzling and glittering. In contrast, the lake, which was dark as if it were a hole, and had become a space of indescribable colors that were not darkness, emitted a dull light. The sky is far away, the mountains are hazy, and the surface of the water where the gods should cross doesn’t reflect anything or respond to anything. There was only the “world of humans” there.

…And so Raph was thinking about what it was like before Kochiya came to Gensokyo. Even if one person can fly in the sky in this day and age, they can’t change anything. Even if they can use the power of miracles, they can’t change the world. Did he feel that kind of shapeless, elusive emptiness? …or something like that.

初めて飛んだ日 by ジンギスカン阿部: pixiv #levitation