(…this segment is too long)

You can’t concentrate like this; you need to break out your second card to deal with this “Perfect Freeze”. Moon Sign, 「Silver Sickle」 falls into your hands quickly, and you activate it without a second thought. Your shining sickle of danmaku streaks towards the little fairy above you and misses, but the wave of bullets it leaves in its wake takes her by surprise, scoring a direct hit. The process continues unhindered, but your focus is quickly drawn back to the new wave of color rapidly approaching you, blocking your vision. Step, step, dash, roll, get up, step again, jump, sidestep, now wait for her blue shots, they miss, now nudge slowly to avoid the snow.

The determination you have to exude while fighting this way, the infinite focus you have to concentrate with, the way your peripheral vision simply doesn’t exist anymore…this is fighting? The only times you’ve felt like this are when pondering over a difficult move in chess, or calling a suit in Euchre, or…or picking a Citizen in E-Card. How can a fight that is so expansive and so physically-based by so impossibly mental? You can hardly realize it when you actually hit your opponent, but you can feel every prick on your body when you get hit. The feeling of losing your “Silver Sickle” is fuzzy and intangible, and yet your entire body twinges in satisfaction when you hear that crack signifying the break of Cirno’s “Perfect Freeze”.

She doesn’t even wait for a transition period. As soon as her second spell disappears, she grabs another card immediately: Snow Sign, 「Diamond Blizzard」. There’s no tricks to this card, no extra catches or secret phases. All it is are six-sided crystals spinning downwards like a snowstorm, thousands of them twinkling in the sun. Your nerves are high-strung, and your body shivers with anticipation.

Both of you are down to your last card. She’s declared, you haven’t. Supposedly you’ve passed her toughest spell already. This “Diamond Blizzard” is tough, but it’s predictable. You could really show her what you’re made of; bring out 「First Harvest」right now to finish it. Or you could wait and watch, hold off until the last minute, save your so-called “trump card” until you really need it the most. Or you could not even bother, going for true “humiliation” by showing everyone how you can beat Cirno without even declaring your last card. Decisions, decisions…you wish you had come in a little more prepared for this.

[ ] Active Harvest Sign,「First Harvest」 right now; take no chances
[ ] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it
[ ] Go for humiliation; try to win without using 「First Harvest」 at all
[ ] Be a nice guy; let Cirno win

[X] Go for humiliation; try to win without using 「First Harvest」 at all

{☽} Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it

[X] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it
Save it for when dodging is near impossible, use it like a bomb

[X] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it

[X] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it

Well, technically activating it now would be risking defeat, really... But the closer we come to a defeat, the less crushing it is for cirno...
...oh well, let's go with the sure win option.

[x] Go for humiliation; try to win without using 「First Harvest」 at all

Low chance of winning, just how i like it. Go for an upset Victory.

[X] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it.

Patience is our strong suit.

[x] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it.

[X] Active Harvest Sign,「First Harvest」 right now; take no chances

When your enemy is holding nothing back against you, it's no time to take things lightly.

Besides, with Cirno's utter lack of appreciation for subtlety, a crushing defeat due to brute force and overwhelming firepower is probably the only way she can even understand losing, let alone be able to accept it.

[x] Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it.

Only use it as last resort/trump card.

>>22347
The first paragraph in here seems damned familiar, but I can't remember where it might be from.

[X] Active Harvest Sign,「First Harvest」 right now; take no chances.

Time to take this victory into our hands.

Updates please.

>>22371
I do what I can, as fast as I can, but there are some things I cannot do. I am barely managing to carve time out of my life to update approximately once a day as it is. While I greatly appreciate the speed at which you vote, I cannot easily match that speed with my own writings. As my semester inches closer and closer to the end of the year, exam studying and final projects bore down upon me. Though I derive great joy from writing and from seeing your discussions, in the long run I believe good grades must take precedence, and thus I must continue to complete my classwork and ponder hard upon impending exams.

Tonight is a night to finish a lab report. Tomorrow afternoon is an afternoon to study for an exam. But tomorrow morning, perhaps, is a morning to write for you. Patience is a virtue...catch it if you can.

>>22361
Now that I gaze upon it, I too think this, but I assure you I had noting particular in mind when I wrote it. Quite a perplexing thought.

>>22377
Sorry, it's just hard to stop when something good happens.
The wanting to know how it's going to continue is strong.

[Hold off on your last card; wait and see until you really need it.]

There’s this feeling inside you, something that no one explained, but you can just understand to be true. Spell cards aren’t something to be used as pure offense, just as danmaku itself isn’t about pure offense. You need to be strategic, skillful, artful. You only have a handful of cards, and once you use them, there’s no going back. You don’t want to waste them, but you shouldn’t just burn them at every opportunity. You’ll never get better if you keep leaning on the easy crutches of your self-concentrating spells. You have to hold back this time, try and keep chipping away at Cirno’s last efforts with your own modest shots. You’ll wait until you can’t wait any more, until you can’t stand the pressure of dodging any more.

Easier said than done. While the “Diamond Blizzard” continues to rain down randomly upon you, Cirno bobs and weaves like never before, hardly ever staying still for more than a second. Your wall-shots continue to dent her every now and again, but they’re less frequent thanks to her flying dance. And those crystals…those bloody crystals! It’s such a simple pattern, it’s just a random loose scatter shot, why is it so hard to dodge?! You can’t concentrate worth a lick on this card; it’s actually even worse than Cirno’s 「Perfect Freeze」. But no, you have to hold on. Just one more second, then one more, then one more…You’re getting tired, you should declare the last card. No! You don’t need it, you can hold together just a few seconds longer! Fool, just use the card now! No, wait until the end! You can prolong this! Those bloody crystals! Use it! Use it!!

You can’t take it anymore. The crystals, the aiming, the stress…you just need five seconds of peace. Just a little bit of rest. Your third and final card flies into your hands and seems to shatter against the air itself with the force you use to activate it. And then, suddenly…calm. As the card’s magic flows into you and your mind prepares for its last push against that little prankster, a small bubble of quiet forms around you, blocking the snow and the ice. It’s like heaven, so cool and serene. Just a few centimeters from your head you can still see the hundreds of icy bullets raging past you, but right now, in this instant, you are safe and secure. You can barely even hear yourself whispering the title of you last technique.

“Harvest Sign…「First Harvest」.”

You hold up a hand and summon the autumn field into the air; a ripe expanse of emerald green and rich, hearty gold, like the most perfect ear of corn you’ve ever seen. But now is not the time to be gawking, no…There is work to be done. The crop must be taken good care of. You pull back your hand and let fly the line of scythes that will harvest the grain, separating the wheat from the chaff as they spin along on their merry way. You can see Cirno from the corner of you eye, trying to dodge the whirling silver crescents, but their oblong rotations catch her by surprise, and she falls prey to one of the blades. Before she has any time to recover, the aftermath of the sickles follows right behind, showering her vicinity with bullets that someone like her can’t possibly dodge. If she would forego her pride and just focus on small nudges, perhaps, but there is no escaping a field when you stand in the center of it.

After the first volley, your sphere of protection breaks, and it’s back to the insanity of the blizzard for you. But you’ve been refreshed; just that little moment of peace was all you needed to cool your nerves and focus your mind once more. You can see the gaps in the snow now, better than before. You can tell where the areas of least density are, and whether or not you can reach them in time to take shelter. There’s a little prodding imp in the back of your mind telling you that you’ll soon break down, just as before, but you ignore it completely; you’ve come too far to fail now.

And then, without warning, everything stops. 「First Harvest」 is gone, 「Diamond Blizzard」 is gone, and the world returns back to the way is was, no harm done to anything or anyone. Did you…Who won? Everything happened so quickly, you can’t even tell if your card broke before Cirno’s did. Guess there’s no triumphant aura around the winner like there would be in storybooks. Fortunately, one look at Cirno tells you everything you need to know.

“No!” she shouts, pouting profusely. “No, no, no! How did this happen?! How could someone so strong like me lose to some Stupidman? See, this is why I hate danmaku, I can’t concentrate! You got lucky, you know! If we had been fighting for real, ho ho, you’d be in a world of hurt!”

You won? A surge of pride and completion fills your body, overshadowing the lingering pain of Sakuya’s brutal training over top of this recent battle. An amateur. An amateur with barely any training and no experience. And yet you managed to beat someone who knows what she’s doing. A foolish and reckless someone, true, but it’s nothing to be thrown away.

You arch your back and stretch, massaging your tired muscles as you look around you. You’re surprised to find that your duel ended up being fairly well attended: Sakuya holds a large lacy parasol over Mistress Remilia’s head near the doorsteps, and you can spot several maids peeking out of the few windows you can see clearly, and even one looking out of a crack in the front door. Even Hong Meiling is standing close by, quite far away from her gate post (will Remilia be angry at that?). Did you miss the arrival of all of them during the duel?

“Good match, Cirno,” you compliment cordially. “Win or lose, that was a real good match. You almost had me there.”

She’s still pouting, but at least now she’s on the ground. “Almost is stupid! Almost doesn’t count for anything! I’d rather win than have all the almost in the world!”

You have a feeling someone could start a pretty good philosophical conversation with that statement as a starting point, but you’re not going to be the one to do it, and certainly not with Cirno. You smile and stuff your hands into your pockets casually. “Well then, if you’re going to be that way, I guess there’s nothing to be done about it. But I hope you haven’t forgotten our little deal if I won, have you?”

“Deal?” the question comes from more than just Cirno’s mouth; Remilia and Meiling ask about it too. Since you’re fairly sure Cirno is just being difficult, you turn to the mansion residents and explain it to them.

“Good afternoon, ladies. Cirno and I had a bet going, see? The loser of the match has to follow around the winner and be his servant for a while. I promised her that I’d have to dress her up like a maid if she lost, and it looks like I’ll have to follow through on that promise.”

Now that got Remilia’s attention. From causal glances at her after the match you could tell she wasn’t nearly as pleased with you victory as you thought she’d be, but the mention of Cirno in a maid’s outfit has her positively glowing, and her large devilish smile compliments it to the dot.

“Did you, now?” she questions coyly. “How positively enchanting! You surprise me, young man. Sakuya! Our guest’s ‘new maid’ needs a proper uniform! See to it at once!”

“Right away, Miss Scarlet,” Sakuya replies. She carefully hands the parasol to her mistress, then quickly ushers an extremely reluctant Cirno into the mansion, who sticks her tongue out at you before she disappears behind the large mansion doors.

(There’s no need to be…)

(…a sore loser.)

“Came up with that all by yourself, did you?” Remilia asks playfully.

“I guess so,” you replied. “Kind of just came up on the spur of the moment, I thought it’d be funny.”

“Well, you’re certainly be giving me a good laugh, that’s for sure. Cirno in a maid’s uniform…I can’t begin to think of the possibilities, can you?”

“Not really,” you answer truthfully, unsure if there was some hidden meaning in those words or not.

“Meiling! Why are you not at your post?”

The gate guard bows submissively to her superior. “I am sorry, but you have a visitor, miss.”

“Oh?” You and Meiling both look towards the gate, where a figure in white is slowly walking towards the three of you. As the figure approaches, your mind does an uncontrollable little skip; it’s got to be another youkai, but even in comparison to Remilia this one looks strange.

It’s a woman, at least as far as gender goes; the soft face and subtle rise in the chest give that away. But there’s no way in the world she can possibly be human. For starters, she’s tall: taller than you, taller than Sakuya, easily the tallest woman you’ve even seen with your own two eyes. Speaking of which, hers are gold. Not just hazel or light brown, but a bright yellow-gold like you might find on a fox or a wolf, except far more rich and intelligent. She’s dressed in a long white robe with embroidered lilac trim at the neck and end of the sleeves, and a royal blue cloth runs down the center of the robe kind of like a smock, except that it’s seemingly attached to nothing except her neck. The cloth is patterned with strange shapes and symbols that make no sense to you, and look more like decoration than anything with actual meaning.

What makes her a youkai, then? The tails. Poking out from behind her robe are a bushel of large, golden fox tails with a white creamy tip on each of them. They sway and twitch slightly as she moves, confirming that they are certainly a part of her body, and not just faux pieces of decoration. There’s far more than one, but it’s difficult to pin down an exact number: seven, no, eight maybe? They’re very large, even in proportion to her size, and you imagine a small child could get lost in them easily, or even use them for a fluffy bed. A double-tipped white hat rests on top of her wavy yellow hair, covered in what looks like shiny stickers or tickets. Combined with her tails, you can just image that the hat hides two pointed fox ears from view.

“Ran Yakumo,” Remilia says intriguingly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit?”

Yakumo?! That’s what she said, right? Is this the person who you keep hearing about in relation to your unexplained presence here? Except…No, there was something else. There was another name, not “Ran”. What was it…Kuyuyo? No, Yurikarayi? Blast this poor memory of yours!

“Not unexpected, Lady Remilia,” Ran replies. Her voice…it’s hard to pin down exactly. It sounds quite nice and friendly, with a feeling of knowledge to it, sort of like a kind teacher you once had. But the tone she speaks in, it sounds…off, somehow. There’s a “roughness” behind her words, you don’t know how else to word it. Not a roughness of malcontent, not even close to something like that, just…if you had you guess, you’d say that English isn’t her native language, though what language is must be quite an interesting one.

“I’m here on behalf of my associate, Ms. Yukari Yakumo, who is indisposed at the moment. She asked me to look into a certain ‘situation’ you said you had with an outsider. Would this be him?”

Yukari. That was the name. Yukari Yakumo. From you dream, you remember that “Yukari” is supposedly pretty knowledgeable about things. So this Ran here is working with her?

“Yes, he’s the one,” Remilia responds. “Says he doesn’t know how he got here or when, didn’t feel anything weird like one would expect. Taking it pretty well though, aren’t you, boy?”

It takes a while for it to register in your mind that Remilia is talking to you, but you still don’t answer; you’re too focused on this Ran. Her size, her tails, her demeanor…You should be scared stiff with some fox-woman looming over you like this, but the only thing you can feel is intrigue. Ran looks at you warmly and folds her hands together inside her sleeves.

“So, you the little lost lamb, are you? No need to be afraid, I only want to talk with you a bit.”

“I’m, I’m not afraid, Ms. Yakumo. I’ve seen enough weird things so far to be past that now. Just…surprised is all.”

She closes her eyes and smiles. “Please, just Miss Ran is fine. Why don’t we sit down for a spell; make yourself comfortable.”

You both rest down upon the soft grass, and Ran’s tails fan out behind her like a fuzzy carpet. They look so soft; you can only imagine how they must feel to the touch. She takes out a small tablet and pen from her wide sleeves and rests them on her knees.

“I trust you’ve got a lot of questions about where you are and how you got here, hmm? Well that’s what I’d like to find out myself, and that leaves us in a bit of a pickle, doesn’t it? Yukari isn’t the cause of it, and I trust her word, so we’ll just take it one step at a time, then. I’m going to ask you some simple questions about yourself. Try to answer as best you can, and please tell the truth; you’ll be helping no one by lying, least of all yourself. Some might seem a bit odd, but please bear with me, each one is most important. Hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of this before too long. Ready?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miss Ran will be asking you some questions, though these are not all of them, and they are not necessarily in this order. There are no wrong answers: by choosing them now, you are creating the truth about this man. You need not answer all of them if you do not wish to do so.

[ ] How old are you, in years and months?
[ ] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it?
[ ] If you could travel to any place in the universe, real or imaginary, where would you go?
[ ] Have you ever been deeply emotionally involved with another person, place, thing, or event, and if so, what?
[ ] What is the definition of a “boundary”?
[ ] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
[ ] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why?
[ ] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?

[X] How old are you, in years and months? 24 years
He sounds like a man, but still young enough to make rash decisions, yet has enough experience in farming to know crop rotation by heart.

[X] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it? One night fling with a passing merchants daughter, never saw her again.
No reason for this one, but having a BIT of experience is always a bonus.

[X] What is the definition of a “boundary”? A thing that separates.
This probably reflects our background the best, as a farm is usually carefully divided, and isolated from it's surroundings

[X] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
No, parents/siblings were all fine, hence why you felt you could leave without worrying too much about them.

[X] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why? Door, knock first, try to walk in anyway if no answers.
Polite, but curious, remember our little visit to the basement?

[X] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?
By foot, so we can take in our surroundings at our own pace.

My five cents~

[x] >>22389

Perfectly logical.

[ ] How old are you, in years and months?
Roughly 24 years and...nine months? Sure. Nine months.

[ ] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it?
I had a relationship once but it never went into any serious, right? You know--I was too old, she was too young, I was too young, she was too old, I was too--well, that sort of thing.

[ ] If you could travel to any place in the universe, real or imaginary, where would you go?
I'd go to the bathroom, because I really have to pee. Pardon my language.

[ ] Have you ever been deeply emotionally involved with another person, place, thing, or event, and if so, what?
Well, WHEN I WAS
A YOUNG BOY
MY FATHER
TOOK ME INTO THE ow. Ow. Ow. Okay, sorry, stop hitting me. Sorry. Ow.

[ ] What is the definition of a “boundary”?
No such thing. Sure, there's a lot of things that look like boundaries, but if you look really close, you'll see that nothing ever stops. It just sort of...fades.

[ ] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
A distant cousin of mine got into a high-speed chase with the police. He ended up jumping a river using a conveniently-placed ramp, but then the car he was driving exploded in mid-air for no apparent reason. I mean, the car was on fire at the time, but still, it shouldn't have exploded like that, right? Anyway, most awesome death ever.

[ ] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why?
The door, because it's MY HOUSE
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET
MY HOUSE hey you know, wait a minute--I never noticed this before, but the house is in the middle of the street. Isn't that dangerous? I mean, I know that standing in the middle of the street by yourself is dangerous, so living in the middle of the street must be dangerous to the nth degree, right? Jeez.

[ ] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?
I'd RIDE ON THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS, of course.

[X] How old are you, in years and months? 24 years, four months

[X] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it? One night fling with a passing merchants daughter, never saw her again.

[X] What is the definition of a “boundary”? A thing that separates.

[X] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
No, parents/siblings were all fine, hence why you felt you could leave without worrying too much about them.

[X] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why? Door, knock first, try to walk in anyway if no answers.

[X] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?
By foot, so we can take in our surroundings at our own pace.

>>22389, only with a randomly chosen number of months.

>>22393

Lay off the sugar, man.

[X] >>22389

[X] >>22389

Nothing here I disagree with, and can't come up with anything better.

[X] >>22389

This one.

[X] How old are you, in years and months?
24 years, four months

[X] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it? One night fling with a passing merchants daughter, never saw her again.

[X] What is the definition of a “boundary”? A thing that separates.

[X] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
No, parents/siblings were all fine, hence why you felt you could leave without worrying too much about them.

[X] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why?
Why do you find yourself in front of this building? Are you simply visiting a friend, did you happen upon a stranger’s house, or do you believe someone inside is in peril? The answer would differ depending on your reasons for being there. However, you do possess a fair bit of curiosity, and you would likely attempt to enter even if it seemed empty or abandoned.

[X] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?
It depends on the situation. You wouldn't normally use anything that would put you in unnecessary risk or made you incur unnecessary costs, but you also wouldn't try to walk across an ocean. Generally, you perfer to go by foot, so you can take in your surroundings at your own pace.


Contemplation, hooray.

[X] >>22389

"Although... I wouldn't mind being able to fly in a danmaku duel. I felt somewhat trapped against the ground in that last duel."

[ ] How old are you, in years and months? As old as time it self but by looks i'm around 24 and 4 months.
[ ] Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it?
There was once a dear friend i had as a child as we grew our love grew it but as she grew and our children grew i had stopped. ever since her passing i had never loved again
[ ] If you could travel to any place in the universe, real or imaginary, where would you go?
I would be everywhere and nowhere
[ ] Have you ever been deeply emotionally involved with another person, place, thing, or event, and if so, what?
too many to count young lady too many to count
[ ] What is the definition of a “boundary”?
officially :the closure minus the interior of a subset of a topological space
[ ] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how?
old age, disease, murder and a banana peel once
[ ] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why? for a visit the door but in an emergency and the door is blocked then through the window
[ ] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?
floating on the breeze. you should try it

[x] How old are you, in years and months? Sixteen!

[X] Have any of your immediate family members died while you were living, and if so, how? All of them, as well as my entire village, when MY FATHER KILLED THEM.

[x] If you could travel to any place in the universe, real or imaginary, where would you go? To my father, so I can avenge everyone!

[x] You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why? The window, because I'm a ninja.

[x] What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another? On the back of my pet dragon.

>>22405
>>22404
>>22393

What's with all the troll responses?

>>22406
...mine wasn't a troll response, not really. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

The least you could do was note what I said about boundaries. Nothing just stops suddenly. Everything sort of gradually fades into everything else.

>>22415
I'm assuming you're >>22393.
>>It seemed like a good idea at the time.
>Well, WHEN I WAS
>A YOUNG BOY
>MY FATHER
>TOOK ME INTO THE ow. Ow. Ow. Okay, sorry, stop hitting me. Sorry. Ow.

>>22416
Yeeeaaaaah.
In my defense, I'd had about three and a half hours of sleep. You could show me a medicine dropper at that point and I'd giggle like a maniac.

...what have you unleashed Owen?
hm....anon seems silly right now, will be back when more food for thought arrives.

[24 years, four months]
[One night fling with a passing merchants daughter, never saw her again.]
[A thing that separates.]
[No, parents/siblings were all fine, hence why you felt you could leave without worrying too much about them.]
[Door, knock first, try to walk in anyway if no answers. Polite, but curious]
[By foot, so we can take in our surroundings at our own pace.]

You nod your head. “Guess so.”

Ran picks up the pen and poises it on the writing tablet. “What is your age, in years and months?” she asks directly.

“Twenty-four years, four months.”

“Where were you born?”

“A small village in Oxfordshire, England.”

“What is the farthest distance you have ever been from your birthplace, barring where you are right now?”

“Maybe thirty to forty kilometers away, visiting another village.”

She looks up at you for this next question. “What is the last year you remember it being?”

You just knew this was going to happen sooner or later. You try and muster up some resolve as you respond, “Eighteen Eighty-Seven.”

She shows no surprise at the answer like you thought she might. You still aren’t real sure if you want to know just what year it is here in Gensokyo. Granted, you know that you’ve moved forwards in time, but there’s just that one tickling little urge in the back of your mind: you want to hear it said out loud.

Ran continues with her questions. “Have any of your immediate family members died, and if so, how?”

“No, none. Both my parents are still alive, and I’m an only child. Do you need me to go back further?”

“That’s quite all right,” she replies, scribbling down your answer on her tablet. “What is your occupation?”

“Used to be a farmer before I left home; now I don’t really know.”

“Mhm…Why did you leave?” This doesn’t sound like a question she’s reading from a list; is this just for her own curiosity, or did she just remember it just this moment? Best not to question her motives, though.

“I, well, I got bored. I didn’t want to live my life as a farmer or a blacksmith or any of the other boring things in my village. I wanted to see the world, explore new places, feel new experiences. So I just left.”

“Did you feel any compulsion to do so?”

You’re confused. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

Ran taps the tablet, thinking on how best to rephrase the statement. “What I mean to ask is, did you feel like anyone was forcing you to leave, or was it your own emotions? Was there anything that felt unnatural in the slightest?”

“I, well…no, nothing like that. I mean, I guess I never really thought about it like that, but deciding to leave was all my idea; just me getting itchy feet to see the world.”

Ran nibbles the back of her pen, pausing in her questioning for a few seconds, then writes down something you can’t see. Just what is she trying to figure out? Shouldn’t she be asking you about your journey or something like that? Maybe questions about magic or dreams or something?

“You are in front of a building. There are three ways in; a door, a window, and a chimney. Which do you take, and why?”

“Huh? Oh, umm…” The question takes you by surprise, but it’s not that difficult to answer at face value. “I’d knock on the door first, then try to enter if no one answered. I don’t want to barge in, but there’s no harm in checking things out if no one’s around.”

“What would be your preferred method of traveling from one place to another?”

“Uhh, by foot, so I don’t miss anything and take the journey at whatever pace I like.”

“Have you ever had intimate sexual relations with another person, and if so, what became of it?”

“Excuse me?”

You can feel your face turning red, and you turn away so that no one can see your face. What kind of question is this? How could this possibly be relevant to how you got here? You’re beginning to feel like you felt back when Remilia made you mess up your clothes at dinner the other night: completely confused and out of the loop which everyone else seems to be in.

Miss Ran continues, more gently this time. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed about anything. I’ll not judge you on something as small as this. But it is important that you tell the truth.”

You answer reluctantly, but tell no lies. “Once, a few years ago. Met a merchant’s daughter at an inn, we meshed really well together. We got liquored up, we both were feeling young and frisky, and slept together the rest of the night. She left the next afternoon, blew me a kiss on the road out of the village. Never saw her again.”

“Can you remember anything about her? Appearance? Demeanor?”

“Brown hair, I think. Kind of shortish, but not petit. Had a great smile. She liked laying in the grass and smelling spring flowers. She had simple tastes, kinda like me. But I guess there was really nothing too special about either of us in the end.”

She writes another something on the tablet, a short word or two. You feel tempted to try and peak, but the way she’s holding it, you’d get caught long before you saw anything.

“Last question,” she states seriously, looking at you intently. “What is the definition of a ‘boundary’?”

Pretty simple for a last question. “A boundary? Something that divides or separates, I guess.”

Another note on the tablet, then Ran looks up at the clouds, putting a hand to her chin in thought. It’s human, but she has little pearly claws instead of fingernails.

“I suppose…” she begins, but never really finishes the thought. Is she responding to your last question, or is this something new? While still looking at the sky, she adds something else.

“This will be completely off the record, but I’m just wondering. Does the phrase, ‘a rift in the sun saves one,’ mean anything to you?”

(So many questions…)

(…so few answers.)

“A rift in the sun? No, no it doesn’t. Frankly, it doesn’t even make sense to me. Sorry.”

Miss Ran checks over her tablet quickly, running a finger down what you’re sure is a list of questions she asked, then shakes her head. She looks kind of disappointed.

“No luck,” she whispers as she chews on her lip. “It’s too inconclusive for me.”

You muster up the courage to finally ask her, “What’s inconclusive?”

“Oh, the test,” she replies calmly. “These questions were designed to quickly identify whether or not a person might be drawn to Gensokyo by chance, even from thousands of kilometers away. I saw your duel, so that means you have the spark of magic in you. Over time, some of these people with sparks can get drawn to Gensokyo as a raindrop is drawn to the sea. The pull can take many forms; in your case, I was expecting a subconscious transfer while you slept, but there’s no indication of that here, at least not that I can see, and it still doesn’t explain the jump in time periods.”

“How could you tell something like that just from all these random questions?” you inquire, interested in the logic behind her statement.

“They are not random at all,” she explains, returning the tablet and pen to within her sleeves and folding her hands up in them again. “The way you answer each question tells a lot about you, particularly in the ways of boundaries and travel. It’s difficult to explain, but with enough practice you can tell at a glance the cause of one’s presence in Gensokyo. But your test, yours looks perfectly normal to me. Slight deviations or course, but those are expected, and they are within the range of explanation. By all logical explanation, you shouldn’t even be here right now. I may have to discuss this with Yukari, she knows more about it than I; she was the one who designed the test, after all.”

You feel a little disheartened. You’ve come to accept Gensokyo as a grand adventure, exactly what you wanted from life, but it would have been nice to know just what happened to get you here. Even if is was just some random luck, as least it would have been an explanation. You make your disappointment known to Miss Ran.

“So, there’s nothing that can be done? You can’t find out why I’m here?”

She thinks about this question for a good spell before replying. “Mmm, I suppose I haven’t tried exactly everything, but I don’t expect much from it if I did. It’s not exactly comfortable to attempt.”

“Humor me, please.”

She repositions herself on the grass a little, coming just a tad closer to you. “It’s possible that you may actually possess the powers of inter-planar travel yourself, and merely activated them by accident without aiming. It’s a long shot—such a power is extremely rare—but it might not show up on the test. The problem is finding it. I know a little about ‘magical delving’, but I’m by no means an expert, so it could be detrimental to you in the end.”

“Detrimental exactly how?”

“I’ll have to maintain physical contact on your forehead and chest to search for any magical abnormalities within your body and mind. At best, I find out exactly what your spark does and you don’t feel more than a little mental tickling. At worst? I press too hard and burn the spark right out of you, or the spark surges and you’ll either feel the worst pain imaginable, or you die instantly. Depending on how hard I delve, your results can fall anywhere in between. As I said, it’s a long shot, and I don’t expect any results. Personally I don’t think it’s worth it to try.” She looks a little nervous to you, but up until now she’s been perfectly calm and confident. She definitely sounds like she knows what she’s doing, but is discovering the truth worth such a risk?

[ ] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.
[ ] Ask her to try just a little bit. It never hurts to give it a shot, right?
[ ] Ask her to search as far as she can for your spark, but pull out if she feels anything odd.
[ ] Ask her to go into the “danger zone” to find your spark, but stop if she thinks real detriments are near.
[ ] Ask her to dig as hard as she can to find your spark, even if it means death. You’ll never find the truth unless you go all the way.

========================================

>>22418
>...what have you unleashed Owen"....anon seems silly right now.
Given the current trend in voting choices, I am surprised myself. However, it is of no detriment, considering these “silly” votes did not win, and they are still good for a laugh.

[X] Ask her to search as far as she can for your spark, but pull out if she feels anything odd.

Golden middle road and all that.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

Like she said, she's no expert. I'd rather we get Yukari's opinion on the situation before deciding to do anything dangerous.

[X] Ask her to search as far as she can for your spark, but pull out if she feels anything odd.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.
as >>22426 said.

[x] Ask her to search as far as she can for your spark, but pull out if she feels anything odd.

Take the Middle Road.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

Don't ask the intern to perform surgery. Yukari will probably show up eventually, we'll figure this out then.

[x] Ask her to search as far as she can for your spark, but pull out if she feels anything odd.

Middle Road FTW!

>>22404
Words alone cannot express how bad your vote was, let alone how bad you should feel.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

Just wait and let Yukarin~ deal with it.

[X] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

A pointless risk. Ran's answers and explanations, even this inter-planar travel theory, can only account for us moving through space to get here. They cannot account for our travel through time - and given our company at the mansion, I suspect time may be the crux of the matter.

[x] Ask her to dig as hard as she can to find your spark, even if it means death. You’ll never find the truth unless you go all the way.

Row Row Fight the power?

Hm. The Sexual Relations question makes me wonder if they were trying to figure out if you were maybe one of Maribel Han's ancestors. (http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Maribel_Han) Perhaps considering your method of being here and the fact you're not Japanese...

Wanna check a bit on Maribel on a bit when I get back home. Particularly her view on things. (Boundary and how to get into places?)

[o] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

Seriously, this isn't worth it. By saying she isn't an expert at this she's implying that there are experts we could seek out later, if we so choose. This isn't exactly something we should trust with someone who isn't confident they can do it.

[X] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

[x] Ask her to dig as hard as she can to find your spark, even if it means death. You’ll never find the truth unless you go all the way.

Ran can go for my *SPARK* anytime baby!

[x] Ask her to dig as hard as she can to find your spark, even if it means death. You’ll never find the truth unless you go all the way.

Dig deep Ran, dig deep.

I shall err on the side of caution, since indeed there are those who may better help us this way.
[ ] Ask her to try just a little bit. It never hurts to give it a shot, right?
It is still a good idea to get some information, though.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

[x] She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.

I'm curious, but not that curious. We have more interesting and less deadly things to discover first.

Alas and forsooth! When troubles pile upon each other without rest, they create a wave of distaste which even the most "bodacious dude" would have difficulty challenging. Unfortunately, I am no surfer. Thus, because of a deceptively tricky homework assignment and the troubles of next semester scheduling conflicts, I must postpone my writing until tonight. Would that I had only foresaw these troubles beforehand...

As a side note, I also say to you this: despite my relative inexperience with "These Here Internets", I believe I have discovered how to enter this site's IRC channel. Perhaps you may see me on there every once in a while. I know not how much time I might wish to spend on it, nor if I will even choose to do so for very long, but I believe it is at least worth a look. That is all.

>>22466
> I believe I have discovered how to enter this site's IRC channel. Perhaps you may see me on there every once in a while. I know not how much time I might wish to spend on it, nor if I will even choose to do so for very long, but I believe it is at least worth a look

It's like knowing someone is gonna die, but you can't do anything to stop it from happening.

>>22466
>IRC channel
Linger not in that dark place, for their words breed lethargy and division. It shall change you in ways no rational man could desire.

>>22467
Not that bad. I don't go there anymore, but i hope it will not slow him down that much.

>>22466
> I believe I have discovered how to enter this site's IRC channel. Perhaps you may see me on there every once in a while. I know not how much time I might wish to spend on it, nor if I will even choose to do so for very long, but I believe it is at least worth a look
Don't do it Owen!

Most of the writers are IRC regulars, even HY chats while updating 5+ times a day. Quit being melodramatic, you faggots.

[She’s right; it’s not worth it. She’s done this much, don’t bother her any more.]

You’ve got more than half a mind to ask her to try. Even if she’s no “expert”, you have a feeling she still knows what she’s doing, and how to do it well. Except…those consequences. Death, excruciating pain, or the removal or you magic; either one would be horrible for you. You want to know the truth, but you’d much rather play it safe. Remember, you’re supposed to be a Moon: passive, defensive, contemplative, that sort of thing. Whoever “Yukari” is, she sounds like the real architect behind all this. Miss Ran should probably talk with her first before trying anything rash.

“Mmm, I guess you’re right,” you reply. “It’s too risky for me. I just wanted to know the option existed, is all. Hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable or anything, Miss Ran.”

“It’s quite all right, quite all right,” she assures you as she stands back up, brushing loose pieces of grass from her robe. “Puzzling, though, isn’t it? I doubt we’ve had a case like this in decades, perhaps even centuries.”

“This has happened before? Did you find anything out in the end?”

“I’d have to check our records, it’s not exactly a topic important enough to keep with me; I’ve got enough to think about already. Speaking of which,” she turns to Remilia and bows courteously. “I’d like to thank you for your hospitality, Lady Scarlet, but I must be going; there are still plenty of hours left before the sun sets, and my work is far from over.”

She twirls her parasol innocently, and makes a little whining sound. “Aww? Leaving so soon? And what’s all this about ‘hospitality’, I haven’t shown you any at all! No, no, it simply won’t do, not on your first visit to the mansion.”

“You are mistaken, miss; I have been here before. Twice, in fact.”

“Pah! Those don’t count, you were with Yukari then. You’re a proper guest now, and I insist you stay for lunch.”

“As kind as the offer is, I really have too much to do today to sit down for a meal. Good day, Miss Scarlet.” Miss Ran turns to walk away, but Remilia is suddenly in front of her, blocking the path to the gate. It’s absurd, seeing such a tall figure being stopped by a girl who doesn’t even reach up to her chest. Remilia folds her hands in front of her defiantly and stares up at the fox-woman.

“You’ll not be leaving that easily, Miss Yakumo. I assure you that my head maid Sakuya can prepare a meal for you the likes which you’ve never tasted before. Come now, it’s such a small thing to repay you for your time; you’ve said that it’s valuable, and knowing that you chose to spend some of it here makes me happy. What do you say to that?”

The way Ran looks at Remilia, you’d almost expect her to reach out a hand and ruffle that poofy hat of hers. The two stare at each other for what feels like the longest time, before Ran finally relents.

“I suppose I might stay for just a little while, if you’re so insistent.” Her eyes brighten slightly, and she adds, “Oh! If I may ask, does your Ms. Sakuya know how to cook fried tofu?”

The lilic-haired girl grins. “Quite well, and none but the finest for one such as you. Please, enter my house, and relax yourself.

Remilia talks to you over her shoulder as she leads Miss Ran away. “I expect lunch won’t be for a while longer, so feel free to amuse yourself for the time being, though I’d prefer you do it inside. I’ll have someone fetch you when the meal is ready. Any requests?”

You give Miss Scarlet your dinner request, which she nods at approvingly before winking at you slyly and walking away with Ran in tow. Left to yourself for a spell, you decide to check yourself over after that heated duel with Cirno. Turns out you’re hardly in bad shape at all. There’s some grass stains on your pants from rolling on the ground, and of course all your clothes feel disheveled and a little bunched up, but overall it’s nowhere near where you were after your arduous session with Sakuya. Even your spell cards are safe and sound in your pocket, just as if they had never left. Kind of weird, but you know by know to expect nothing but weird from anything magical.

So, what to do now? Your outside already, so you might give Meiling a visit; you should probably see how she’s taking last night, despite Remilia disguised warning to only “amuse yourself inside.” Of course, there’s still plenty of objectives for you within the mansion walls, and time won’t wait for you to achieve every single one whenever you please.

[ ] Go over and talk with Meiling (specify discussion topics/questions to ask)
[ ] Wander around the grounds and see just what else is outside
[ ] Follow Ran and Remilia around inside
[ ] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be
[ ] Visit the library; talk with Patchouli (specify discussion topics/questions to ask)
[ ] Visit the library; talk with Nathaniel (specify discussion topics/questions to ask)
[ ] Visit the library; look for some books (specify what to look for)
[ ] Return to the basement; check in on that chained creature from before
[ ] Return to the basement; check out that odd bedroom again
[ ] Something else? (write-in option)

Also, what did you ask Remilia to serve you for lunch?
[ ] Write in your menu choice!

========================================

>>22467, >>22468, >>22470, and >>22476, against >>22485. I am torn. After sampling a small taste of the chat room (under an unknown name, so as not to preemptively dive into unknown waters), I see nothing overly detrimental about it, save the time I would spend on it when I could be doing other things. A little more random than my ideal aim, but ‘tis not so bad as some make it out to be. Granted, I can only assume quality deviates wildly during different times, but we shall see. I will not reveal my true presence there until I am comfortable and ready to do so.

>>22485

I believe that is their point. Usage inspires divisions between those that do and those that don't. One group is left with more information than the other, and such.

[x] Visit the library; talk with Patchouli (specify discussion topics/questions to ask)
[x] Inquire further about ‘magical delving’

>>22487
[X] Go over and talk with Meiling
Apologize and talk about last night. That was an awkward collection of moments, and it was because of us that they transpired. But seriously: does Remilia always go to such lengths to test people?
[X] Write in your menu choice!
Tea, cheese, crackers, and jerky/preserved meats. Ideal for sharing, simple enough for a lad from the fields, light enough that we won't be feeling the itis for the rest of the day, and provides a decent amount of carbohydrates/sodium/protein after a good work-out.

>>22488
Yeah, nothing derails a legitimate conversation as to how to vote more than a block of dialogue from the IRC channel about what the write-fag thinks of the current situation and what may happen. It happened all the damn time in MiG, a couple times in SDM:LA, and a few more that I don't feel like digging up. It served zero legitimate purpose; it just whipped the voters into an argumentative, paranoid, and destructive frenzy. This story is better than that.

>>22466
Only come on if you speak there like you do here and never deviate from that, or else you will forever ruin and tarnish my childlike sense of wonder and delight at your deliciously proper speech.

[x] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be

Need to see Cirno-Maid, just hope we can find them.
If not then: [x] Follow Ran and Remilia around inside

>>22490
Come on, i trust that Owen wouldn't just go spoiling his story or hints about it in the channel.

[X] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be.
Sakuya alone with Cirno and dressing her up?

>>22466
How does I join IRC channel?

I is noob.

[x] Visit the library; talk with Patchouli.
[x] Ask about any historic documents from England 1887 onward.
[x] Try and talk to that red-haired woman you saw in the library.

We might as well get some information about how far we traveled time-wise. Koakuma is fine too.

>>22495

1. Get an IRC client. (If your using Firefox, Chatzilla will work.

2. Connect to Rizon server. ( /server irc.rizon.net )

3. Join one of the rooms. ( /join #MiG ) ( /join #touhouvn )

4. If you need more info, use Google.

[X] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be.

As far as IRC goes, anyone is welcome there and the rumored divisions are really quite imaginary. Here, there, or everywhere, it is a matter of people rather than location. Those who engage in "IRC faggotry," as the term goes, engage in "board faggotry" equally, and those who do not, do not. As has been mentioned, an overwhelming majority of the boards' writers frequent it, and there is much to be gained there in the way of serious discussion as well as friendly chatter.

Admittedly, the intelligence level dips and varies on occasion, but that is also true of anything, and on the whole it is not such a bad place if one can endure the occasional bouts of lower quality.

>>22495
It is #MiG on irc.rizon.net. If you wish to become familiar with IRC in general, I suggest profuse use of Google on the subject.

[x] Go over and talk with Meiling

I'm not really sure what to say, though. Besides asking when she's off work.

[X] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be.

Do want to see Cirno in maid outfit. We should make sure they don't try to kill one another.

On a somewhat darker note: I don't really give a damn one way or the other about IRC, but when a mod deletes several posts aginst it, but leaves the instructions to get there and a post advocating it, that seems a bit dickish. Especally if that mod uses IRC.

>I see nothing overly detrimental about it, save the time I would spend on it when I could be doing other things

That's my biggest worry. I'm afraid that you might end up staying more time on IRC than here.

But yeah, IRC does have it's good points. Mainly Pygmalion's drawing.

>>22517
>That's my biggest worry. I'm afraid that you might end up staying more time on IRC than here.

My whole point, plus writers telling people on IRC things that we won't get to know.

[x] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be

I need to see Maid Cirno now.

[X] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be

Eh, screw it. Deleting my old vote and going with this, even if it feels somewhat like attempting to peek out our present before it's time to unwrap it.

[x] >>22490

[X] Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be

Maid Cirno :D

I won’t bore you with justifications or sugar-coated words this time: my homework ran late, my anime-watching with friends ran too long, and the free time I should have spent writing was spend instead on creating custom characters for the board game “Arkham Horror”. I have a plan for writing, but no words as of this moment. I will attempt to rectify this detriment on my part with two updates tomorrow (one morning, one evening), provided the votes flow smooth enough for me to do so.

>>22491
I assure you that was my only intention. Unlike a service such as AIM or similar instant messaging programs, I am not necessarily obligated to talk every five or ten seconds, and may thus word my phrases carefully, as I try to do here. Perhaps if I ever choose to enter, I shall be a light in the darkness of the so-called “faggotry”. And as far as “childlike sense of wonder and delight at [my] deliciously proper speech” goes, you’d be surprised at how poor I am at friendly conversation in person; always mixing up my words and making horribly misconstrued statements. I think I blame my inability to speak directly.

>>22490, >>22492 & >>22518
>Yeah, nothing derails…more than a block of dialogue from the IRC channel about what the write-fag thinks of the current situation
>Come on, i trust that Owen wouldn't just go spoiling his story or hints about it in the channel.
>My whole point, plus writers telling people on IRC things that we won't get to know.
I am not so low as to do such a thing. Secrets in a suspenseful story are the power behind the words, and revealing them, even in private, would detriment my readers’ experience, as well as eliminate my ability to stare over my computer and grin devilishly while chanting, “Just as planned”. I shall continue to reveal only the little spoilered hints I deem safe from time to time. Of course, this all falls to shreds if any of the board-goers I know in person decide to become jerks and screw things up royally for me. You know who you are.

>>22517
I am still unsure as to my course of action there. The pros seem to equal the cons, but have not yet overtaken them, and time is a precious commodity these days I wish not to waste. But rest assured, IRC should not be your primary worry of how my free time is spent. “Arkham Horror”, however, may very well be. But what a way to spend it! Seriously, it is a smashing good game; it deserves at least a look, though the price tag and complexity can easily drive many away.

>>22535
... there must be more of these. Tell me there are more of these.

Tell me someone here has personal access to Arkham Horror (I don't, friends have it) and we can run internet games of it using these. That would very possibly be the best thing ever.

... amazing. You might want to put these in a new thread, though.

To better enhance the auditory imagery of this segment, I suggest that you may wish to listen to a certain piece of music after, or even during, the reading of it. The song is called “Piano Variation for Remilia Scarlet”, by Sound Holic. You may probably find it on Youtube, or it is also contained within the “Otaku’s Dream 2nd Video Game Mix” for Stepmania, and can be downloaded if you search for the song’s title on Google, and click on I believe the fifth link you find.

========================================

[Try and look for Sakuya and Cirno, wherever they might be]

Lots of options run though your mind, but your thoughts end up returning to Cirno. There’s a tentative balance right now between Remilia’s desire for payback on the little fairy, your desire to make your hostess pleased, and your further desire to maintain your friendship with Cirno. You’re the one who got her into this mess, so it should be your responsibility to look after her. Plus, the thought of seeing that brash little fairy in something as uncharacteristic as a maid’s costume is…intriguing, to say the least, and you wouldn’t mind seeing her before Sakuya does some kind of absurd reveal during lunch.

You return back into the doors of the mansion to look for Sakuya and Cirno, and begin to ascend the foyer’s grand staircase to the second floor. However, about halfway up, you realize a flaw in your plan: you don’t know where either of them are. Sakuya’s supposed to be getting Cirno her uniform; so, the servant’s quarters on the third floor, maybe?

As you return to the hallway of maid’s rooms, who are busily bustling about the area back and forth, you realize how uncannily similar this is to the place in the basement where you found that creature. Trying to avoid thinking about such things right now, you calmly begin to look around for any glance of a person who doesn’t only come up to your chest in height. It’s a lot more difficult than you expected; all of the rooms here are either sleeping quarters, bathrooms, or closets. There’s no sign of anything different that you can tell. You curiously begin to ask some of the maids if they’ve seen their master around here, but all you manage to glean from them is confused looks, scared squeaks, and nervously shaking heads. Come to think of it, have you ever actually heard any of them utter a word since you got here? You think back, but your mind only draws blanks. Guess Nathaniel was right: trying to talk with them is a waste of time.

Shaken but not dejected, you decide to search the second floor for her instead. It’s possible that Sakuya’s quarters could be on the second floor, and she might have taken Cirno there with her. You’re much more comfortable with navigating these halls than the third floor, though that isn’t saying much considering how long and complex they are. You stop by your room since you’re near there and pick up a few things: mansion key, spectacles, pocket-watch, lighter, and the throwing knife. Feeling better about yourself with a few more options, you continue in your search for the two women.

It seems to be no use. You scour what feels like the whole of the second floor and part of the first, but find no trace of your quarry. How could it possibly be this hard to find someone? Granted, you are searching blindly, but come on! As you lean against a wall and rest yourself, you can hear the sounds of a piano being played not far off. Intrigued by the music, you seek out the source. Entering what looks like a sort of music room or performance hall, you find Nathaniel seated behind a shining black grand piano. His fingers dance across the ivory keys elegantly, not quite so sure of themselves as a master’s hands would be, but definitely experienced. The tune he plays is a deep and dramatic piece, full of tempo changes and melodic rises and falls. It starts off slow and sad, then picks up the same melody again, but faster and more accented. From there it suddenly changes to a soft tune that seems suited for a wedding or other kind of processional. As the piece reaches its climax, this softness morphs and contorts into a tone that contains more and more ferocity, returning to a heavy-handed continuation of the original melody that seems to literally draw power from Nathaniel himself in order to form the final gigantic chords of the conclusion.

Nathaniel leans back and wipes his brow with a kerchief, and you give him a moderate round of applause, something he certainly wasn’t expecting for an “empty” room safe himself.

“That was fantastic,” you compliment. “What’s the piece called?”

He replies without even having to look at the music. “Septette in F: Queen’s Elegy. Remilia gave it to me my second day here; she said it’s been years since she found someone who could play it to her satisfaction, so I thought I might give it a try. It’s not the hardest piece I’ve ever played by far, but it seems that Remilia’s level of satisfaction implies absolute perfection. Personally I’d like to give her a piece of my mind about ‘perfection’, but I wouldn’t want to go around challenging our gracious hostess like that, now would I?”

Septette in F…That’s the piece you found in the basement bedroom. Could that room be Nathaniel’s, then? It might also be Remilia’s, if she’s the one who gave him the music. You wish you could find out without sounding intrusive.

“Well, I think you’re fantastic,” you say. “Better than I could ever dream of being, at least.”

His cheeks actually redden up a bit at this comment. “Thank you, but I’m really not that good. Now my friend back home, there was a boy who could command the eighty-eight keys to do his bidding. I guarantee you he could please even Remilia’s ears with anything he played, and he must only be twelve or thirteen years old, too. Pity that I haven’t seen him in years; I wonder what became of him?”

He begins fooling around on the piano again, this time just playing a simple, silly little piece that carries none of the previous force of the “Queen’s Elegy”.

(Play it again…)

(…Sam.)

“So,” you ask, “I suppose you’ve heard that I’m from England. Where do you call home? Are you a native of Gensokyo?”

He continues playing as he answers. “Native? Oh no, no I came here just recently. Not like you, though, not randomly out of the blue. A colleague of mine is from Gensokyo, and he manages to pass me along letters from time to time. When he head that my watch broke, he assured me that there was no better place to repair it than the library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. So I followed the proper procedures, talked to the right people, greased the right wheels, and here I am.”

“There’s ways to get into Gensokyo other than random chance?”

“Well, yes and no,” he replies. “It’s kind of hard to explain—I really don’t know all of the details myself—but since I expect you’re feeling a bit confused about how you got here, I’ll share what I know with you.

“Okay, so, Gensokyo. It’s its own little world of magic and mysticism, full of strange people and strange creatures. But, technically, it’s still on good ol’ planet Earth. A while back, Gensokyo used to be just a normal part of Japan, and just anyone could walk in or out with no trouble. But during the year 1885 or so, some of the big movers and shakers decided to create something called the “Great Hakurei Border”. Basically, it sealed Gensokyo off into it’s own little bubble world, so that none of the strong creatures living there could get out and destroy the real world, or something like that. The only way in or out of Gensokyo is supposed to be through the Hakurei Shrine—a sort of religious complex—but strictly speaking people aren’t normally supposed to be allowed through. Of course, magic has a way of making things difficult, and there’s a few denizens of Gensokyo that know a thing or two about messing up the Border. One in particular that comes to mind is a lady called Yukari Yakumo; I think she’s one of the people who actually helped make the border itself, so of course she probably knows how to break it. Hey; maybe that’s how you got here, eh?”

There’s a mention of that “Yukari” again. So, she knows how to screw with the border of Gensokyo, does she? Even though Miss Ran said Yukari didn’t bring you here, you still have your doubts. Think about it; you magically got transported to Gensokyo, and no one—not Remilia, not Ran, not even this great Yukari—knows why or how? Wouldn’t it be a much simpler explanation to say that someone is lying about something?

It might be beneficial to push your luck and see just how much Nathaniel can tell you about Gensokyo and anything else you might have questions about. After all, he’s just a guest like you; you two can relate to each other. If only it wasn’t for that incident in the bathroom. He seems nice now, and he seemed nice before, but for that one encounter, he was something different. Which side of him is the real Nathaniel? Which one should you believe?

[ ] Keep talking to him about Yukari, since you’re already on the subject.
[ ] Keep talking to him; ask about something else (specify what)
[ ] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran
[ ] Keep talking to him; tell him something different (specify what)
[ ] Let the conversation end; just wait here and listen to him play the piano
[ ] Let the conversation end; leave the room and go somewhere else (specify destination)
[ ] No one’s around to see you; pull out your knife and confront him as he did to you
[ ] Of course, writing in is always an option.

========================================

>>22536
>... there must be more of these. Tell me there are more of these.
There are in fact 30 Arkham Horror Touhou character cards, of which I have the entire set. I can post the files in a new thread if you wish; the thread would however be located in the general board, as the information is useful to more than just those in /sdm/.

>Tell me someone here has personal access to Arkham Horror (I don't, friends have it) and we can run internet games of it using these. That would very possibly be the best thing ever.
I own the base set, and two of my friends own some of the expansions. However, I will say right now that trying to play Arhkam Horror over the internet is boggling to attempt. This game contains over 700 individual tokens and cards in the base set alone, and the expansions push it to well over a thousand. The game itself is not extremely complex once you get the hang of it, but it is very daunting at first, and in either case an average game with more than three people can easily take over three hours. If one would try to put something like that onto the internet, I can only imagine the train wreck it would become for a team who is not perfectly organized. So, while it would “very possibly be the best thing ever” in theory, I guarantee it would not be in practice.

Also, while those Touhou cards are cute, they suffer from extreme balance issues that can break the game either for or against the player with ease, and should not be used in a serious session.

Fuck yes, UNOwen, you're my hero. Finally someone updated this weekend.

Now, to read the update...

>>22547

Here's my vote

[X] Keep talking to him about Yukari, since you’re already on the subject.

>>22546
None of these options are appealing to me.

[X] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

[x] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran.
[x] Keep talking to him; ask him if Remilia "tested" him as well.

The only thing we really have to offer him is information. At the very least he may tell us where Sakuya might be.

>>22546
>30 Arkham Horror Touhou character cards
Could you zip the set and upload it to http://www.mediafire.com/ and/or http://www.megaupload.com/ ?

[ ] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran

I wonder what he's got to say about that. The possibility of a hidden ability and your first danmaku win.

[x] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran.
[x] Keep talking to him; ask him if Remilia "tested" him as well.

>>22549
>[+] Of course, writing in is always an option.

>>22552
There is actually no need; another has already done so before me. You may go here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/files/boardgame/21059 to find five zipped files of six characters a piece. If for some reason the link does not work, search for "Arkham Horror Touhou" on Google, click on the first result, and search the web page for "touhou" to find the files.

[X] Keep talking to him; ask him if he played E-cards or was tested by Remilia.
[X]Ask if he won and what his reward was.
[Speech 50%]Ask him if he has other motives for visiting the mansion.
Protagonist is pretty good at talking, right?

>>22557
>[Speech 50%]Ask him if he has other motives for visiting the mansion.

This is never going to work, put more skills into Speech.

[x] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

If he's still being "tested" by Remi, we shouldn't reveal that.

[X] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran.
[x] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

Deleting earlier vote and changing to this, as it is more along the lines of what I was looking for.

[X] Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran.
[x] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

[x] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

I am not sure how Nathaniel would react to us being taught magic. Maybe we shouldn't mention that while we're alone with him.

[x] Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.

>>22566
This was my reasoning, too.

[Ask Nathaniel if he won his E-Card game with Remilia. If he did, ask what he got as a reward.]
[Keep talking to him; inform him of the recent events with Cirno and Ran.]

You don’t want to sound too needy, badgering him for information without cause. If anything, you should be telling him about what went on today with Cirno and Ran, just so that he might remain “in the loop”. He’ll probably find out sooner or later, so better to tell him yourself and get his opinion on the matter before someone else distorts the information. Now you just need to find out how to segue from this topic to the next.

“It’s funny you should mention the name Yakumo,” you answer nonchalantly, trying to make this topic seem commonplace. “Guess who’s visiting the mansion for lunch right as we speak?”

His eyes goes wide in anticipation. “Not…surely not Yukari Yakumo herself?! Coming here?!”

You expected a response like that, but not with this magnitude of excitement. It almost sounds like that phrase from your dream, when the unknown speaker reeled in surprise at the mention of Yukari’s presence. What’s the big deal about everyone being so up tight about Yukari? It’s not like she’s some sort of queen or goddess, right? But Nathaniel…why would he be so alert at her name? He’s just a guest here to fix a watch; Yukari shouldn’t have anything to do with it. If anything, you should be the one focused on her. It’s another tick mark on your suspicions of him; one more reason to think that he is not all he appears to be.

You quell his fears like it’s no big deal. “No, not Yukari. Her associate, Miss Ran. She came here to find out how I managed to stumble upon Gensokyo by accident, because apparently Yukari has nothing to do with it. And she didn’t find out anything; not one single clue. In her own words, ‘by all logical explanation, I shouldn’t even be here right now.’ Guess that makes me the person who doesn’t exist, eh?”

He seems to have calmed down a little, but he’s still listening intently to what you have to say. “No clue? Wow, that’s…that’s a stretch. For Yukari not to know, for Ran not to find anything, that’s some pretty big stuff. I guess you can’t really know just how weird this is. Yukari’s…well, she’s one of the most important people in Gensokyo. For her to personally send Ran to investigate, you must be pretty special. I’d watch yourself if I were you. There’s no telling what Yukari will do when she’s motivated.”

You nod in affirmation. You’ve gathered that much from the way everyone acts as soon as they hear the name “Yakumo”, but it’s still a little hard to put in into context without ever having met her yet. You wonder just what kind of person she must be, for everyone to revere (or perhaps fear) her so. Perhaps you’ll meet her before all this is over.

“So umm…I’ve been wondering. Just how did your E-Card match with Remilia go?” you ask, trying to sound simply curious and innocent.

“Oh, that, heh heh,” he chuckles, shaking his head bemusedly. “Funny story, actually. You know all the rules, right?”

“Yeah, too well.”

“I started on the Slave side and opted to go second; bet six chips for my first round. With the quintuple payout, that’s thirty chips if I win, okay? She takes maybe ten seconds to play her card. I try and read her for what must have been three minutes or more, play the Slave…and win. The entire game was over, just like that. I expected her to strangle me on the spot for that; literally expected her to kill me in rage right there. But even she can’t deny that, sometimes, miracles do happen.”

That response takes a while for your brain to process. A six-chip bet starting with the Slave side and winning on the first reveal?! You admit that it’s possible—a twenty percent chance of success on a gambit like that will still work one time out of five—but you didn’t expect a calculative, intelligent person like Nathaniel to be so brash about a mind game like E-Card.

“So, what happened then? I mean, were you playing for fun, for real, what?”

“Ah, umm, well…” He stalls for a bit and scratches his head. “That’s, something I’d rather not talk about. I’m not going to ask you about what prize Remilia cooked up for you, and I’d just as soon you do the same for me. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough,” you reply. You had a feeling the conversation was going to end like that, but it was at least worth a shot. “Seriously though, why’d you take such a risk? I mean, six chips the first match and playing the Slave the first hand? What are the odds?”

“Twenty percent, give or take. But if you really want to know,” he drops his voice to a whisper for no apparent reason, “it was just supposed to be a joke. I didn’t really expect to win.”

He gathers up his sheet music into a folder and stands up. “Well, I think that about does it for me right now; I’ve got bigger plans for today than practicing for a music recital. You san Ran Yakumo was staying for lunch, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t really know how long she’s going to be here. Remilia kind of had to force her into it to get her to stay.”

Nathaniel frowns and remains silent for just a second longer than you would have expected. “Mmm, well that’s too bad. Guess I’d better get going then; I’d really like to have the chance to meet one of the Yakumos before she leaves. Care to join me? We can keep talking along the way if you’d like.”

[ ] Go with him
[ ] Decline; go somewhere else right away (specify destination)
[ ] Decline; wait here a while and give him some space before moving to… (specify destination)

Also, because the last vote was inconclusive:
[ ] Tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark
[ ] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

========================================

I have descended into the abyss of Touhou Project’s Internet Relay Chat channel, and I return unscathed. As promised, I revealed nothing about my story, nor do I plan to ever do so unless I also post it upon the board. It was an enlightening experience to say the least; fairly random and fast-paced, but not horrible. Many of the channel patrons were quite cordial to my presence and lack of experience, so I see no reason not to return from time to time, perhaps once or twice a week if I feel up to it.

Perhaps the most interesting experience was, of all things, being overly criticized. Apparently the honorable !nmVOHsTRd, better known to many as “YAF”, profusely dislikes my style of speaking (some have called it “elegant” or “refined”, I know not what to call it myself), and was quite verbose upon the matter. While many called it “trolling” or “whining”, his arguments were reasonable and thought-out, and I bear him no ill will.

Mr. !nmVOHsTRd, if you are reading this right now, I understand your argument, and you make a valid point, but I am not trying to appear haughty or “holier-than-thou” by speaking as I do on these boards. We all choose our own little personas when we traverse the wasteland of the Internet; this just happens to be mine. I speak like this partially because it is in fact how I speak in real life (though not to such a well thought out extent, I admit), and partially because I derive some small enjoyment from doing so. Nevertheless, I appreciate your input, and I look forward to conversing with you again in the future.

[x] Go with him
[x] Tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

It's not like we have anything else to do.

>his arguments were reasonable and thought-out

Now that made me laugh out really loud. YAF is a whiny and jealous bitch and we all know it.

[x] Go with him
[x] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

[x] Go with him
[x] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

[X] Go with him
[X] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

[X] Go with him
[X] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

[X] Go with him
[x] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

[X] Go with him
[X] Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark

Better not tell him or he'll go into Justice Mode!

Why choose to not tell him about Cirno? Isn't he going to find out that we have a personal maid soon, and then start asking questions?

And how long is she gonna be our maid? No time limit was ever specified in the duel rules.

>Apparently the honorable !nmVOHsTRd, better known to many as “YAF”, profusely dislikes my style of speaking

Actually, he isn't the only one. I too, dislike your writing style. It was fine on the beggining, like, 'cool, someone with elegant english'. But after a while, it just became a bother: sentences too long for litte content. Like the sentence quoted. Couldn't you just have said ' Apparently, YAF dislikes my writing'?

>>22609
For me, it comes down to the fact that I really don't trust him. Telling him about Cirno would mean telling him we have magic. He might see this as unfair and go into another justice tirade. Also, if he ever pulls a knife or something on us again it would be advantageous if he didn't know we can shoot mind bullets.

>>22612
yeah but
>Isn't he going to find out that we have a personal maid soon, and then start asking questions
He knows who Cirno is. He knows she isn't a maid. He's also going to see her at some point, especially since she isn't even hidden. It's like a child trying to hide a broken vase; it's just not going to work, and wouldn't the blow (assuming he does have a problem with us knowing magic so easily) be softer if we tell him in advance?

Maybe not telling him everything Ran said about our "spark", but there is no way he won't find out about Cirno, and I see no reason why Remilia won't just say "Oh, he beat her in a duel. Didn't he tell you?".

>>22614
While softening the blow could be a good thing, we are currently alone with him in a secluded part of the mansion. Now may not be the safest time to have the discussion.

[x] Go with him.
[x] Do not tell Megatron about the Allspark.

>>22611
[requisite "Sup YAF" post]

>>22612
Nevermind the fact that our mind bullets don't really hurt or anything, aside from getting hit by legions of them.

>>22619
I'm not saying we could use danmaku by itself to win a real fight, but bright stinging shots to the face would give a pretty good opening to run away or attack.

>>22611
I don't mind how he is talking. I find it funny and it's a change of the way people talk around here.
If he wants to talk this way, let him.

Here I drop by to see how the troll story is going on and see my name mentioned. Let's see...

>but I am not trying to appear haughty or “holier-than-thou” by speaking as I do on these boards

I'm sorry to say it, but it really does appear so to me, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who experiences such a feeling. Tell you what, I'm aiming to become a journalist in the future, and from my experience, taking on an unusual pattern of speech isn't exactly the good thing to do if you want people to understand you and listen to your words. It might work here, but I assure you, it is not so likely to convince people to listen to you in real life.

>I look forward to conversing with you again in the future

And to be frank, I am not.

>>22619
>[requisite "Sup YAF" post]

Obligatory 'YAF is an epic troll XD is a meme' line here.

>>22600
>YAF is a whiny and jealous bitch and we all know it.

Keep telling yourself that, sweetie. I just don't like you, that's all.

>>22629

Shut up and continue THIS KAZAMI MANSHION.

[Go with him]
[Do not tell Nathaniel about Cirno and your magical spark]

“Sure, why not?” you answer. “I don’t really have anything better to do. Remilia’ll probably pull me away for lunch anyways if I start something now. Where are we headed?”

“Not quite sure myself, to tell you the truth,” Nathaniel says, pulling out a small watch and looking at the time absentmindedly. “You said Ran was staying for lunch, right?”

“Yes. Dining hall, you think?”

“I’d agree with you, if only I knew which one you were talking about.” He smiles and rolls his eyes. “Honestly, what kind of mansion needs half a dozen dining rooms? Anyways, we might as well start at the closest one first. Let’s go.”

He grabs the music folder and exits the room, with you walking next to him. You decide to keep your mouth shut about Cirno and your magical potential for now. In a situation like this, all it’s bound to get you is another lecture from Nathaniel about “justice” or something even worse. Hopefully the opportunity will arise for you to tell him the truth about Cirno and still keep the magic a secret. During lunch, perhaps? At least there you’d be guarded by other people if he tries something funny.

Reaching the nearest dining room, you both peek inside. Only one maid dusting some furniture, and thankfully the maid isn’t Cirno. Just when or how is Sakuya going to get her back to you, anyways? Probably during lunch if she has to be making fried tofu for Miss Ran; what’s “fried tofu” anyways? It sounds pretty disgusting to you, but perhaps fox-looking youkai like Ran have odd tastes. That thought makes you think back to something that one girl said; what was her name again, Rummy? She said something like, “I want to taste dog meat.” That sounds even worse than this tofu thing. Then again, you’re supposedly in Japan or something like that. People have odd tastes in different parts of the world.

Returning to your search, Nathaniel rubs his eyes and puts on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. “You wear glasses?” you ask, never having seen him were them before.

“I’m still not sure,” he responds, adjusting the bridge of the frames on his nose. “My vision gets fuzzy every now and then; might be from all the time I spend squinting at little bits and pieces of machines. This is kind of a self-diagnosis to see if glasses will help or not. Overall I think I’m getting mixed results. Should probably see to a proper doctor about it one of these days; knowing my luck, this will just make me go blind faster.” He looks at a few different objects on the walls, presumably to focus his eyesight, then shakes his head and take the lenses off again. “Nope, no good this time.”

You both hop from room to room, searching for Ran, Remilia, or Sakuya, but to no avail so far. You make small talk with him, but he seems distracted right now. You can see his lips move in silent whispers as he talks to himself three or four times, and one time you manage to catch a phrase that sounds like, “…can’t let them know, only her.” You give him some space; his mind is obviously on other things right now, and you’re afraid of what he might do. It’s actually pretty scary when you think about it: Nathaniel has been friendly and helpful to you ninety-five percent of the time, but because of that single incident in the washroom, you seem to be treating him like some kind of caged beast, ready to strike at any time. But there’s nothing to be done about it; you have to be smart first, and curious second, not the other way around.

Finally, your efforts are rewarded. In the fifth dining hall you check—one you’ve never been in before—you find Remilia and Ran sitting around a circular table, talking to each other over tea. The mansion’s mistress is sitting cross-legged in a giant plush chair more than twice her size, while Ran sits diagonal in a more simplistic seat so that her tails can blossom out behind her. You don’t see Sakuya or Cirno anywhere, though.

“Gentlemen, how good of you to come!” peals Remilia, looking at the two of you. “Sit down, both of you; Sakuya will be by in no time with lunch, I’m sure.” You both take seats at the table, forming a little semi-circle around half of it.

“I don’t believe you two have properly met,” Remilia continues, talking to Ms. Yakumo. “Ran, this is Mr. Nathaniel. Nathaniel, Miss Ran Yakumo.”

Nathaniel inclines his head respectfully towards Ran. “A pleasure, miss. I am an admirer of your work.”

She smiles slightly and returns the nod. “Thank you, but I would hardly call what I do ‘work’. Merely servant’s work that need to be done.”

“True, but when you think about it, a king is nothing without his subjects, while the subjects may exist regardless of the king. So, in essence, it is the servant who rules, rather than the emperor.”

Ran chuckles. It sounds so odd, so uncharacteristic of her. Plus it’s full of that strange-sounding “roughness” that you can’t seem to place. “You’re a philosopher, are you?” she asks.

“No, no, merely an engineer with too much time on his hands to think about things.”

“Engineer, hmm?” Ran nibbles on one of her claw-like fingernails. “Integral of the quantity cosine-x plus one-over-seven-x plus thirty-three d-x?”

Nathaniel answers almost immediately, with conviction. “Simple. Sine-x plus one-seventh times the natural log of x plus thirty-three-x plus an unknown constant.”

“Units of viscosity?” she continues.

“Mass per length-time; better known as a Pascal-second in Metric.”

“Length of deformed section on a Euler-assumed beam in buckling, given one side pinned, one fixed?”

“Square root of two over two: point seven-zero-seven-one-zero-seven.”

Ran leans backwards a bit and folds her arms across her chest. “Meaningful retaliation?”

(Oh no…)

(…it’s a nerd war.)

Nathaniel thinks for a few seconds before enacting his so-called retaliation. “Square root of fifteen hundred-three?”

Now it’s Ran’s turn to be on the spot, and she performs well. “Thirty-eight point seven-six-eight-five-four-three.”

“Assuming Dante’s Inferno, is Hell endothermic or exothermic?”

“Ahh, clever. Endothermic.”

“Definition of escape velocity?”

“The necessary speed an object must attain to break free from the significant gravitational field of another object. Often used today in the calculations of spacecraft exiting the Earth’s atmosphere.”

Nathaniel nods in approval. “If you can figure that out, then I am satisfied.”

What? You’ve got no idea what’s going on between those two. Was that some kind of intelligence contest or something? Sounded extremely complex to you; you’re not even sure if they weren’t just making stuff up. Apparently Remilia didn’t understand it either, and makes her thoughts known.

“Now, now, you two. Am I going to have to put you both in time out? Play nice, now,” she chides. Coming from her, looking just like the child she makes Nathaniel and Ran out to be, the statement sounds so stupid.

Ran waves Remilia back down into her seat. “No need to get anxious, Miss Scarlet; just a little friendly banter between intellectuals. I didn’t expect you to be so quick on the buckling length, though,” she adds, glancing at Nathaniel.

“Speak for yourself. Have you heard that hell question before?” he replies.

“Not directly, but Dante’s theory is unique enough for such a concept to be self-explanatory.”

The two settle back down, and Nathaniel pours himself a cup of tea. If this is what happens every time two smart people meet, you’re certainly glad that you’re not one of them.

[ ] Talk to someone here about something (specify who and what)
[ ] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea
[ ] What’s keeping Sakuya with lunch? Perhaps you should go find out.

========================================

>>22609
>And how long is she gonna be our maid? No time limit was ever specified in the duel rules.
Precisely. It looks like you will have to figure that out, won’t you?

>>22611
>But after a while, it just became a bother: sentences too long for little content. Like the sentence quoted. Couldn't you just have said ' Apparently, YAF dislikes my writing'?
I do not deny that this is a problem for me. Not merely here; my sentences are far too long in real life as well, whether or not I use “elegant” speech. ‘Tis a problem I have been trying to correct for years, with little success.

But, I suppose in the end, I stretch sentences out because I find it fun to do so. Especially when parodying popular internet phrases. That can get quite enjoyable.

>>22616
Approved.

>>22629
>…taking on an unusual pattern of speech isn't exactly the good thing to do if you want people to understand you and listen to your words. It might work here, but I assure you, it is not so likely to convince people to listen to you in real life.
Believe me, I am painfully aware of this fact. I cannot count the number of times I have told people during my conversations, “Feel free to ignore me if I start talking too much. Or you could just tell me to shut it. That also works.” A quarter of the time even I don’t know what I’m saying. It simply comes naturally for me to often use unnecessarily long sentences and antiquated words, and it is much harder for me to realize this when I type than when I speak.

>And to be frank, I am not.
This is unfortunate.

>“Assuming Dante’s Inferno, is Hell endothermic or exothermic?”
>“Ahh, clever. Endothermic.”
And there I go, back to bash to read several thousand more silly IRC quotes.

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea

[x] To Remilia: "If only the intellectuals of the world would bend their minds towards, say, spud farming, I imagine we could strike the twin evils of starvation and poverty off the face of the earth."

Truly, together we could build a starchy empire.

[X] Talk to someone here about something (Talk to Remillia *joking around* about how much your happy to be dumb and be able to avoid this weirdo war.) Then...

[X] What’s keeping Sakuya with lunch? Perhaps you should go find out.

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea
Unless you are secretly descended from the Scott line of Scottland, you are no match for an engineer and a kitsune that knows more about spacetravel than Patchouli

Also,
[x] What’s keeping Sakuya with lunch? Perhaps you should go find out.

[X] Ask remillia if she have fall in love with you when you have put Cirno in her place, if not, ask her your next target!

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea

Up until now I had assumed Nathaniel to be human, but I'm pretty sure the human brain is not actually capable of performing such complex mathematical operations that quickly. Though, I could just be reading too much into it.

[X] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea

>>22632

Sorry to derail from the topic yet again, but I felt like confessing one more thing. The initial reason why I disliked your mannerism was it's resemblance to my polish accent, which I usually try to conceal... It's a long story, I come from a part of the country where people used to use a specific dialect of polish until around 1998-2000, and because of that, my mind learned to use some of it's forms and phrases, which often consisted of archaic forms of 'normal' polish words, et caetera. I was completely unaware of the fact that I'm using them, until someone pointed out that he can't understand shit I'm saying. From that day forth, I've been constantly trying to keep that accent at bay, but well, we all do know what alcohol does to people. When drunk, I revert back to my accent and because of my personality, I also tend to go into speech mode for no apparent reason. You should be able to see the pattern here. My english vocabulary is not sufficient to translate my accent, bah, even if it was, I wouldn't try to do it, but if I were a native english speaker, my drunk stuttering would most probably sound like your manner of speech.
That is enough of a reason for me to dislike it, plus there are also reasons I mentioned above and on the channel.

Another thing. I do understand that it feels good to be using this kind of speech, to sound diffirent than other people. It's the same with every minor society's slang - leet speak, gangsta talk, pro gamer talk, and your mannerism - they're all the same. It's psychology. You want to sound diffirent, and you do, but heed my warning - such behaviour isn't going to help you in contacts with other people. Just like I had to learn to suppress my accent, you're going to have to learn not to use such a 'refined' manner of speaking. A friendly warning I hope you will understand.

>>22630

Where have you been the last four months?

Posting to say YAF is quite wrong. The few who dislike formal speech are aberrations. Don't worry about them.

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea
[x] Ask Remilia if Patchouli will be joining us for lunch.
The more the merrier.

Owen: Don't worry about it too much. While YAF may have something remotely resembling a point, its not a very strong one. You are attempting to provide us with an entertaining story. As a nifty bonus, your writing style also just happens to be entertaining to read. I'd call that a success, wouldn't you?

I think a better criticism of your story would be the pacing. It feels like we haven't progressed very far yet, despite a whole lot of choices. This is actually a common problem on the boards as a whole. This particularly becomes an issue in stories which have multiple routes, as to even get a second route we have to wait months and months before a story finishes and would start over. Which never happens.

That being said, I am eagerly awaiting Cirno-maid. Please do not disappoint.

YAF: You do realize that your writing style is actually one of the more wasteful and disjointed styles found on these boards, don't you? And despite (or more likely because of) this, your stuff actually makes for an enjoyable read at times. Too bad you have to ruin that by being an ass to the other writers.

>Keep telling yourself that, sweetie. I just don't like you, that's all.

But you like me so yeah. Now get out of here, i like this place here, i don't really want you here YAF.

>>22632
There are always a few people who don't like how you are, if you give up on yourself and do it like the others want, you lose. If you stay strong and do it your way, you win.

>>22648
YAF is an asshole and gets criticized by many and most of the time because of whatever shit he is doing.
Still, he doesn't mind and feels good with it and everything someone insults or yells at him he feels more approved about himself. He is searching for an argument with whoever he can find, that's why he probably trolls around all the time and does stupid shit. I don't mind, it's fun to watch and insult him, but enough now. Let's concentrate on the story and not on YAF.

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea
[x] Ask Remilia if Patchouli will be joining us for lunch.

>>22648

See, I'm not trying to criticize using a fancy way of talking INSIDE the story, but outside it.

>You do realize that your writing style is actually one of the more wasteful and disjointed styles found on these boards, don't you?

Yes, yes I do. I'm NOT a native english speaker, therefore my style is full of inconsistencies that are an effect of not being used to using this language every day.


On another note, I find it amusing that people are so eager to oppose an opinion just because I'm one of it's adherents. Not only here, on #MiG as well. It really shows the... power of prejudice.

>>22611
Cry some more and learn to love the elegance.

>>22632
Goddamn, that was awesome.

>>And how long is she gonna be our maid? No time limit was ever specified in the duel rules.
>Precisely. It looks like you will have to figure that out, won’t you?
I had been wondering about whether or not that was intentional for a long time, myself.

>>22631
>Nathaniel rubs his eyes and puts on a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. “You wear glasses?” you ask, never having seen him were them before.
>he seems distracted right now. You can see his lips move in silent whispers as he talks to himself three or four times, and one time you manage to catch a phrase that sounds like, “…can’t let them know, only her.”
What the hell. Did nobody else notice this at all? Nathaniel appears to have his own pair of glasses, and his excuse, given what we know about ours, seems rather suspect.
Also, is it schizophrenia, or is Patchy his confidante? We should look into this and just maaaaybe mention those glasses.
I'm wondering if they might work differently --or better"-- than our own pair, since he appears to have gotten a warning from them and we did not get one from ours, even though we had them with us.
(Unless, of course, Owen forgot that.)

>>22654

Or his pair does something completely different than ours. Of course, they also may simply be regular glasses.

I'm beginning to wonder whether or not we need to hide our own spectacles. I'm fairly certain if Sakuya was going to recognize them, she would have when she froze time before our training.

I like this person's writing style.

And that's all I have to say on the subject.

[x] Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea.

You're a simple farm boy, you know magic now, but that still doesn't change who you intrinsically are. You won't be impressing anyone if you make a fool of yourself.

U.N. Owen, don't change your style for anyone. It's that 'proper' style that draws me to your unique tale. How you choose to speak in real life is irrelevant to the interests of this story, whatever persona you wish to use is fine as long as you keep it consistent. Please continue on.
Also, I'm quite amused at the prospect of Cirno donning a maid outfit. Take your time perfecting her entrance, I'm sure you won't disappoint.

[Your intelligence is no match for theirs; just sit quietly and pour yourself some tea.]

After that exchange of knowledge, you don’t feel like anything you could say right now would have any meaningful impact. You resign yourself to polite silence for now, and pour yourself a cup of tea.

“So,” Ran says to Nathaniel, “I assume you’re not a native of Gensokyo. What brings you here?”

“Information,” he replies. “I’m repairing a rather complex antique pocket-watch of mine, but this requires books I have not been able to find in the outside world. I’ve also been desiring to visit Gensokyo for quite some time now; a friend of mine has given it very high recommendations, provided one has enough temperance to avoid the more unnatural portions of this land.”

“An awful lot of trouble to go through for such a simple thing,” she comments. “Is such an expedition really necessary?”

“That watch is something very dear to my heart, Miss Yakumo. There’s none like it on Earth, and I wouldn’t give up on it for the world. I’m sure everyone has something in their life which they feel the same way about.”

Ran nods, but says nothing. The silence continues for a while, until the tapping of Remilia’s fingernails on her tea cup reaches a climax, and she stands up in her chair.

“Ugh! Sakuya is taking entirely too long! I must go see that she isn’t doing something foolish. Wait right here, I’m sure I shan’t be long.” Rather than walking over to the door, she simply hops into the air and flies over the table to it, opening and shutting it rather more forcibly than would be needed on a regular basis. Nathaniel watches the door for a few seconds, then returns his focus to the table. He motions Ran over to him, and she cranes her head over the table as he whispers something strange into her ear.

“Malum Fortuna mos nunc attero totus,” he says under his breath.

She looks at him strangely, but seems to understand what he is saying. She replies with equal strangeness. “Fortuna vox est pallens foedus ut alius.”

It takes him a while to respond, and he shakes his head sadly. “Haud. Fortuna attero totus per satis vicis.”

They are both extremely serious now. Ran looks straight into his eyes, and seems to ask a question. “Quis succurro operor vos postulo?”

Another pause, longer than the first. Nathaniel closes his eyes and says, “Tantum mancipium mos solvo mancipium. Commodo, Ego precor vos. Vigilo, tamen operor non factum.”

What language is that? It sounds really old and majestic. Greek? Roman? You wish you at least knew the language; then you might be able to try and translate it later, if you can remember any of it. There’s no doubt in your mind that whatever was said here was important; why else would he whisper to Ran like this? And only when Remilia was out of the room, too. Just what is going on between those two?

Within seconds everyone is back to normal, and Ran strikes up a new conversation as if that old one hadn’t even existed. She and Nathaniel chatter back and forth about philosophy or engineering or some other random things that don’t really make any sense to you. Every now and then a question or comment is directed at you, but you’ve started to slip off into a daze, and can barely manage coherent answers. Your salvation finally arrives in the form of Remilia throwing open the doors to the room, followed by Sakuya.

“Found her!” the mistress exclaims. “Fooling about in the kitchen after the food was prepared and ready; most unprofessional. But now that that’s behind us, let’s sit and enjoy our meal. Ladies, if you would…”

Ladies? Isn’t it just…oh. That’s what she meant. At first you didn’t see her; Remilia and Sakuya had formed an unintentional wall in front of the door. But as Remilia flutters back to her chair and Sakuya approaches the table, you realize where the plural in “ladies” is coming from.

(This may possibly be…)

(…a cliffhanger.)

Cirno. Little Cirno, drawn into this on a whim that wasn’t meant to be more than a joke at first. But the way she looks…it’s almost like she’s not even Cirno anymore. Her simple blue skirt has been replaced with a miniature version of the elegant French maid uniform: more refined than the common maids’ ones you’ve seen, but still not quite on par with the head maid herself. The cloth is a shiny bluish-grey, which blends well with her hair, and the white lace is as pure as snow. The blue ribbon she’s always worn in her hair is no longer present, replaced with the expected maid’s bonnet, and…yes, she even appears to have two small braids running down her hair in imitation of Sakuya’s. What really throws you off, though, is the spectacles. Resting on her small button nose is a pair of half-moon spectacles, the lenses glinting as she walks behind the chief maid. They seem to serve no purpose other than merely existing, but the way they instantly make her seem refined is amazingly effective.

It’s so…weird, so unnatural, so completely un-Cirno. Every time you’ve seen her she’s always been smiling and full of energy, with an ego that could break through the ceiling of any building she stood in. But through some miracle, she’s actually behaving like a servant should: walking slowly and calmly, face betraying no excess emotion, carrying a silver dome of food which seems to dwarf her childish figure, despite the fact that Sakuya is balancing two of the same size by herself. She sets them onto the dining table, then transfers the one Cirno carries there as well, the fairy’s arms not being nearly long enough to reach.

It’s almost too much for your brain to handle. This can’t, can’t possibly be really happening, can it? There’s no way Cirno could possibly be maintaining such a calm and docile attitude, right? Look, she just poured everyone a glass of water without saying anything. That must be an illusion; it would have to be. There she goes again: she’s dished out your lunch for you, looks like shepherd’s pie, or something similar. Where’s the snide remarks? Where’s the grumbling about losing? Where’s the uncontrollable urge to shout “I’m the strongest!” in front of everyone?

Nathaniel glances over at you, silently motions to Cirno, then makes a face that says, “Umm, what is this?” You shake you head and return a look that you try to make say, “Not now.” Left in the dark, he has no choice but to try and accept this odd occurrence for the moment, as you are desperately trying to do yourself.

“Can I get you anything else, sir?” Cirno asks. Even the voice seems to have changed. It’s still her, but you’ve never heard Cirno sound so completely compliant and calm. Any more of this and you might just have a mental break down.

“N-no, no, I’m…I’m fine, thank you,” you stutter.

The presence of Cirno the Maid seems to have replaced everyone’s normal personality with a stark curiosity, the kind where no one can muster up enough courage to ask a question. The meal proceeds in almost complete silence, only punctuated by Ran complimenting Sakuya on the fried tofu. Remilia eyes Cirno like a hawk the entire time, and though you can see the nervousness on Cirno’s face, she does her best to remain quiet and steadfast, though she inches slightly closer to you every time the mistress gives her another stare. Nathaniel does his best to ignore the oddity of Cirno’s presence, but he keeps snatching quick, quizzical glances of the fairy between sips of water. And then Sakuya…Well, she appears to be watching over Cirno like a mother bear watches over her cub, or perhaps more like a psychiatrist watches over her insane patient.

When lunch is finished, Cirno tries to help Sakuya clear away the plates and dishes, but the maid stops her halfway though. “No, you are his ward, not mine,” she instructs coldly. The fairy seems about to retort, but she holds her tongue and nods her head, returning back to your side and crossing her arms in front of her waist. Ran stands up and bows to her hostess.

“Thank you kindly for the meal, but I must be on my way. Perhaps I shall return tomorrow with more information for you, once I have had a change to talk with Yukari.” She seemed to be addressing both you and Remilia at the same time as she said that. With a flash of her golden tails, she turns around and leaves the room. Remilia takes one last look at Cirno before stifling a yawn with her hand.

“Mmm, I think that’s enough for me. I’m going back to bed. Sakuya, you’ll keep an eye on things for me, won’t you dear?”

“Of course, Mistress; two eyes if I can spare them.”

The two ladies exit the room ominously, leaving you alone with Nathaniel and Cirno. Not for long, it seems; your fellow traveler doesn’t seem intent on asking any questions right now. His stands up and keeps shifting his eyes between the two of you, unsure as what to say.

“I, umm…Well, I guess…I just want to…uhh, never mind. I’ll be in the library,” he mumbles, making a quick retreat out of the room. No question about Cirno? You expected at least something for him. You’re glad that you managed to put off the inevitable reveal of your magical spark for now, but you almost wish you didn’t have to.

You look at Cirno, who looks back up at you, still wearing that chill face that you thought you’d never see on her. “I am at your service, sir. What would you like to do?”

[ ] Pure write-in only.

========================================

I apologize for the horrible, horrible attempt a writing in a different language. I can neither speak nor read it myself, and barely did anything other than feed the text though an online translator. Hopefully it shall serve it’s purpose well enough.

Also, there is much I wish to say about the topic which YAF has chosen to bring up, and which I have chosen to continue. However, doing so would require more time than I desire to commit at the moment. Additionally, I do not wish to flood this area with arguments for or against my manner of speech, nor with arguments pertaining to Mr. YAF in general, and I believe others may feel the same way. Therefore I shall refrain for now, until such a time as I feel it may be prudent to speak. Please know that I am reading all of your words carefully, and do not wish to misconstrue anything by being hasty.

>>22639
The integral Ran asked him to solve is actually a fairly simple one, and anyone with a few years experience in calculus could solve it in seconds. The appropriate units of measurement are also not difficult to memorize if one is in a field that uses them often, such as engineering. The buckling deformation likewise is mere memorization rather than an actual calculation, though for someone to pick it up out of the blue is rather impressive, as Ran stated.

>>22645
Mmm, yes, I indeed see your point, and though you may not realize it, you have hit closer to home than you expect. I will ruminate on these words, that I might learn from them and communicate better in the future.

>>22648
>I think a better criticism of your story would be the pacing. It feels like we haven't progressed very far yet
You would be surprised if I told you how far you actually are (which I will not). The reason it seems like you are “going nowhere fast” is because you have encountered many questions, which are easy to find, but few answers, which are more difficult to find. You must be patient, but you must also be willing to search for what you seek, if you do in fact want it. And please trust me when I say that once you trigger a certain situation, things are going to start moving a lot faster then they are now.

But yes, perhaps I shall try and step it up a bit.

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[X] Tell her she can relax if she wants to.

[ ] Stare at her face for a few moments to try and see if this is even Cirno. Control yourself from finding her too adorable and simply pat her on the head and say "Good job." let her keep playing at perfect maid afterwards though, "Let's go out for a little walk around the courtyard, I could use some exercise now that I've eaten."

[ ] Ask her how she honestly feels about being a maid.

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

They were gone an awfully long time. Considering how quickly we got Danmaku training, Sakuya could have really done anything to her.

>[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
>Control yourself from finding her too adorable and simply pat her on the head and say "Good job."

Am I the only one who thinks that Sakuya put Cirno through some special conditioning? Permanent conditioning?

CirnoAirConditioner.jpg. Dammit I can't find the source.

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

I suddenly feel bad about this.

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

Cirno... What have we done to you?!

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

>Remilia eyes Cirno like a hawk the entire time, and though you can see the nervousness on Cirno’s face, she does her best to remain quiet and steadfast, though she inches slightly closer to you every time the mistress gives her another stare.
>The fairy seems about to retort, but she holds her tongue and nods her head, returning back to your side and crossing her arms in front of her waist.

It seems this is really Cirno and she isn't under magical compulsion. Sakuya must have promised her something in order to get her to behave this way, and given her apparent past incorrigibility, I can only imagine it must have something to do with you.

>Resting on her small button nose is a pair of half-moon spectacles, the lenses glinting as she walks behind the chief maid. They seem to serve no purpose other than merely existing, but the way they instantly make her seem refined is amazingly effective.

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNG

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

Not as planned, i want an energetic Cirno Maid. Not this....

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

>>22681
same here, this is unnatural for my poor imouto
[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

[X] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

{X} What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
{X} "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

>>22677
http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/H-R_Cassiopeia

I'm not the only one that wants a Cirno route now, am I?

And lets just hope that Sakuya didn't break her mind in one of her time hax training sessions.

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

I'm tempted to ruffle her hair as well, but that would ruin the image

[x]go back to your room with Cirno
[x]Have her help you in the Library
Try to see if we can get her to act herself at least in our room,let's start with those glasses...
If she is really on good behavior, she could help us greatly in getting books from the library. Books that will hopefully answer some questions we have, like about a certain coin we have.

Oh, Owen.
I remembered last night, before I went to bed. Congratulations on being one of the first writers to use or even mention Ran's canonical mathematical prowess.

>>22687
No, i don't think so, i have to agree with >>22680
Sakuya must have promised or told her something. She probably has a crush on us and wants to impress us or if she behaves that could impress us.

>though she inches slightly closer to you every time the mistress gives her another stare.

pretty much she likes us.

Just a quick few notes here:
1. UNOwen - good job with this story!
2. by this afternoon, I should be able to translate that portion of latin fully; I am studying latin currently and it should prove good practice. Would it be meta-knowledge, however, were I to post it here? (and if not, I can provide some tips on writing proper latin, given proper contact information.)

[X] Go back to your room with Cirno
[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[X] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

Perhaps it's best to wait until we're in the (relative) privacy of our room before opening up so much. We can't assume we're not being watched, after all, especially after everyone made their exit so quickly.

>>pretty much she likes us.

Well, of course she likes us, though whether she "likes" us in the sense I think you mean is debatable.

Cirno might not be the brightest bulb on the tree, but she clearly has enough sense to realize the situation she's in right now. Stuck having to act as a servant in a place where the sentiment towards her varies from disdain to outright hostility. She's in the middle of very hostile territory right now, and she knows it. To top it off, we're probably quite literally the ONLY friend she has there right now. In such a situation, the natural response for anyone with even a glimmer of a sense of self-preservation would be to stick as closely to the one person you can count on to not try to flay you alive as physically possible.

[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

i wonder when daiyousei will come to look for cirno?

I don't know if she's being forced or not, but I do know she's trying her best to keep at the perfect maid image. It's pretty obvious that the real Cirno actually is somewhere beneath the facade anyways so it's not like Sakuya did anything permanent to her, probably told her something.

I don't want to break that image quite yet, why not let Cirno keep at it for a while? She's actually quite good at this and it's pretty amazing knowing how Cirno usually is.

Just tell her how proud we are of her performance and don't let her previous training go to waste.

>>22696
>I don't want to break that image quite yet, why not let Cirno keep at it for a while?

Nobody is telling her she should stop.

>>22697
see
>>22683

>That watch is something very dear to my heart, Miss Yakumo. There’s none like it on Earth, and I wouldn’t give up on it for the world. I’m sure everyone has something in their life which they feel the same way about

;_;

>“I am at your service, sir. What would you like to do?”

[X]"Some fucking is nice."

Lol, joking. Well, not really, but this is not a serious vote.

And I think there is no time limit for the bet because of the Cirno route

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[x] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"

Moe~

[x] Stare at her face for a few moments to try and see if this is even Cirno. Control yourself from finding her too adorable and simply pat her on the head and say "Good job." let her keep playing at perfect maid afterwards though, "Let's go out for a little walk around the courtyard, I could use some exercise now that I've eaten."
[x] Ask her how she honestly feels about being a maid.

I like this a lot more.

>>22689
Huzzah! I do wonder why it isn’t brought up more, myself.

>>22692
Ahh, yes, this is a tricky subject. I will allow you to post whatever translation you come up with, but do so within the safety of spoiler tags, please. Also, I urge all readers that choose to read Dunefag’s translation to remember that the character himself does not know what it means. Please do not act too out of character based on this knowledge.

As for Latin tips, I admit I have always wanted to learn the language, but such a venture requires time I often do not have. Perhaps we may discuss it further on something such as IRC, if you are comfortable doing so. If this is acceptable, I shall try and post details later.

>>22705
Thank you very much, for allowing what translation I do come up with to be posted here. As for teaching Latin (which I very much would like to do, if you or anyone else is interested) or discussing it over IRC, I first will need to become familiar enough with that method so that I can actually use it. Since I have no luck in learning how to use it as of now, I shall leave my email here in this post.

Furthermore, my translation is in progress and I should have it finished later tonight. Please also do duly note that I am not truly an expert in latin, but am learning. I would like the opportunity to pass on what knowledge I do have, though.

[X] What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.
[X] "Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"
[X] Take her home, like nao?

[What would you like to do? Give her a big ol' hug! She's adorable.]
["Are you all right? Sakuya didn't mess with you too much, did she?"]

What do you want to do? Well, since no one’s around to see…You’ve got more than a feeling that Cirno is being “forced” into being polite and calm like this. Maybe Sakuya finally managed to talk some sense into her, maybe she threatened her, for all you know Cirno could be under some kind of mind control! But right now you don’t want to treat Cirno like a maid, even if she’s supposed to be one. She doesn’t need a master right now; she needs a friend. Plus, seeing her in that maid’s uniform and little spectacles is just too cute to pass up.

You look at her compassionately for a few moments, then get out of your chair and kneel down next to her, so you’re more or less at each other’s eye level. You tenderly place a hand on her shoulder, which makes her nervous despite your intention.

“What do I want to do, Cirno?” you say. “I want to be your friend.” And with that, you hug her.

You remember the last hug you and Cirno shared together: you bed-ridden with pain and organ-deep wounds, not exactly your dream embrace. This is is far better. For a while Cirno doesn’t know what you do, and stands frozen with her arms by her sides. After a while, though, she gives in and wraps her arms around you tightly. Unlike the last time, where she was holding back to avoid hurting you, Cirno squeezes you like any little kid would do in a hug, like the force behind the hug directly relates to the amount of feeling in it. You realize just how awkward it is to hug someone with icicle wings now; you have to wraps your arms either much higher, or much lower than you would for a normal hug. Oddly enough, her wings aren’t cold like you expected, but feel just like a cool piece of crystal.

The two of you sit there in the fond embrace for a good minute, simply glad of each other’s company. When the novelty finally seems to were off, you scoot back and give her some space. It’s time to be more serious, now.

“I appreciate your effort, Cirno,” you tell her, “but you don’t have to keep up an act if you don’t want to. I’ll be fine with you just being yourself.”

It seems to take an enourmous about of willpower for Cirno not to be crying right now, and she shakes her head. “N-No, sir. I have to be fair to you and do my job.”

Her job? It’s just a funny little bet, you didn’t expect her to take this so seriously. What’s gotten into her?

“Are you all right, Cirno? Sakuya didn’t…didn’t mess with you or anything, did she?”

She shakes her head again, but tiptoes close to your ear and whispers, “We can talk in the basement. She won’t hear us down there.”

Basement? “She”? Great, now even Cirno’s being mysterious; why is everyone “in the loop” except for you? At least you trust Cirno enough to tell you something. You nod your head and stand back up. Until you can decipher the underlying problems, perhaps it’s just best to act as if nothing is wrong.

“I think I’d like to take a trip down to the basement, Miss Cirno,” you state redundantly. “But first I think I’ll make a quick stop at my room.”

“Yes sir,” she replies, bowing to you in acceptance. “I will be right here if you need anything.”

Since Cirno probably has no idea where to go, you walk more slowly so that she doesn’t trip up or fall behind. You tell to wait outside your room; you’ll only be a minute. Shutting the door, you quickly toss on your coat of many pockets and increase your carried inventory.

You now carry these things with you:
+A compass. It’s crudely made, but very trustworthy.
+A coin pouch. Contains all the money you own…plus a strange Yankee coin.
+A fountain pen. Discovered earlier in a pare of spare pants. Writes with a deep red ink.
+A page from your diary. You’ve sketched a map of the basement on this.
+A ring holding three keys. They unlock several secrets in the basement.
+A silvery gleaming key. It’s the master key to the mansion!
+A pair of broken spectacles. They seem to grow cold when Sakuya meddles with time.
+A vial of pearly liquid. “Batch 3, 698-072441-H, 50 mL. Yagokoro, Eirin.”
+A compact lockpick set. Too bad you don’t know how to use them…
+A shiny automatic lighter. Lights the way in darkness.
+A stick of dynamite. Easy to use: light fuse, run away.
+A throwing knife. The blade shines with a silver hue.
+A strange angular pistol. Why do you feel like this is something from “the future”?
+Your three danmaku spell cards

Though a part of you feels uneasy about bringing all of your “basement winnings” along with you, there’s another part that says they could be useful. Perhaps, if you’re lucky, the original owner of them could tell you a little more about them. Or, in another case, you could give them back as a message of good will, or something like that.

It’s an uneventful trip down to the basement doors, which once again you have to unlock to enter. Cirno seems a little scared at the dark corners and grey stone at first, but she’s still doing a good job of hiding her discomfort. You slide down into a sitting position against one of the walls, and Cirno sit down cross-legged in front of you against the other wall.

“Well, we’re here now, Cirno,” you tell her. “What were you going to tell me that you couldn’t upstairs?”

Cirno takes a few deep breaths before responding. When she does, she is thankfully back to her old childish way of talking, just like you remembered her. Good; at least she’s not broken or anything like that.

“Miss Sakky…she, she told me a whole bunch of things when she was getting me ready and stuff. About how a maid is s’posed act and all that. But, like, she told me other things, too. Important things.”

“Things like what? Why were you acting so strange upstairs?”

“Because, because Miss Sakky told me something about Miss Remmy. She said, umm, she said, ‘Remilia hates you, Cirno. She hates your ego, she hates your tricks, and she hates how you never learn. Nothing you are doing right now will ever impress her. That is why I am telling you now to do something different.’

“Sakky told me that no matter how strong I am, I’ll never be strong enough for Remmy to care. No matter how many tricks I play, she’ll never take me serious even one bit. So that’s why…Why I have to be the perfect maid. I have to be quiet, I have to do only things that will help my master, and I can never behave like a fool ever. ‘Cause Sakky says that’s the only thing Remmy won’t expect from me. She thinks I’m too stupid to do anything right. So…so, so if I want to prove that I’m the strongest, I have to be the strongest maid. If it’s th’ only way I can impress Remmy, then I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna show her that I’m strong enough to be the best maid ever!”

Strength through servitude, hmm? It sounds perfectly plausible to you; impress the elegant lady by being unexpectedly elegant. But is still sounds forced. Cirno seems too thick to be able to comprehend anything as complex as that. It was always power and strength, strength and power with her. For the short time she and Sakuya were alone, the fairy sure picked up on such a revolutionary concept pretty fast. Unless…unless…

(Unless…?)

(…unless what?)

You look her in the eyes. “Cirno, just how long were you alone with Sakuya? When she got you your maid clothes. How long did it take?”

She screws up her eyes and looks around the ceiling for an answer. “Umm, I dunno, I didn’t have a clock. I guess it was pretty long, though.”

“Did it take more than an hour?”

“Uhh…yeah, I guess it did. Prolly a lot more. Why’re you asking me that?”

That maid did it again. Just like she stopped time for your training, she stopped time for Cirno’s “instruction”. She had all the time in the world to get all the information she needed through Cirno’s thick head. How to act, how to walk, how to think; you’re almost afraid to ask just what measures Sakuya took to make Cirno learn.

“I just wanted to make sure Sakuya wasn’t treating you badly, that’s all.”

The comment makes Cirno look away from you in shame. She fidgets with the lace on her right shoulder absentmindedly, saying nothing. Did you assume too much? Are you overstepping your concern for her? It takes you a while to realize that Cirno has shoved her right sleeve up to reveal a shining red slice on her upper arm, fresh but not bleeding.

“Is that…Did Sakuya do that to you?” you ask, partially in shock, partially in anger.

“Mhmm. She said it was a warning.”

Stooping to physical abuse to stress a point. Your training session with Sakuya showed you that she can be cold and inconsiderate at times, but you had hoped she was well above something like that. Then again, she acted the same way when she saw you and Cirno together in the same room; cut her then, too, just like now. Although, what if Remilia is just forcing her to do it? Funneling her rage through her subordinates?

“A warning for what?” you ask, hoping that the answer isn’t too stark for you to handle.

She rolls her sleeve back down and rubs her face. Still no crying or tears yet; she’s tougher than you expected. “It was to tell me of, of what would happen if I failed,” Cirno answers meekly. “She told me that I was in real big danger or somethin’, and that if I acted all funny like I normally do, bad things would happen. She said that anything she did to me would be a hundred times better than what would really happen.”

“Wait, danger?” This is getting too weird. “Cirno, I don’t understand. What danger? Fail at what? What’s going on?”

Cirno shakes her head in confusion. “I, I don’t know. Miss Sakuya wouldn’t tell me; I don’t think she even wants me to be telling you all this right now. She just said that, that Remilia was looking for an excuse to hurt me, and she’d take any one she could get. That’s why I can’t screw up. That’s why I gotta be the best maid ever. But, it’s not just that…I gots to protect you.”

“Protect me? I don’t get it?”

“I don’t neither, but Sakky does. She said you’re smart, but you’re stupid. She said you’re gonna get yourself in trouble somehow. And you’re too weak to do anything about it, or something like that. But,” she stands up, and suddenly her old childish smirk returns in full force. “But I’m strong! I’m the strongest! A maid’s gotta look after her master, make sure he doesn’t have to worry about nothin’! You’re sure lucky to have The Strongest as your own bodyguard!”

You smile. She’s still got it. Beneath all the maid-isms and the threats and the questions, Cirno is still Cirno. You stand up and pat her on the head affectionately, and she flashes you’re a sour look. “What would I do without you, Cirno?” you muse hypothetically.

“You’d just sit around being all boring and stupid, that’s what.” she jabs back.

You can’t resist taking her bait. “Takes one to know one.”

You can’t tell if the retort silenced her, or if she just can’t understand what you just said. In either case, she readjusts the spectacles on her nose after she stops thinking. “Where to now, master?”

“Please, don’t call me master. When we’re alone, just be yourself.”

Another calm shake of the head. “No, sir, I have to practice. Being the perfect maid is hard; you should try it sometime.”

You roll your eyes, but make no comeback. Even when she’s being a calm and submissive little maid, she’s still incorrigible. But yes, where to now? You’re much the wiser after this enlightening talk, but you still haven’t decided just how Cirno is going to fit into your day-to-day activities. Not to mention whether or not you should let her in on the secrets you’ve found thus far in the mansion. And speaking of secrets...should you really be standing in a basement full of them right now?

[ ] Write in your next destination

Also:
[ ] Write in just how much knowledge you wish to entrust with Cirno (all, none, specific points, etc.)

========================================

I am much too tired to make a list of voting options; not that it would do much good in this juncture. Sleep is an option I shall take now.

[ ] Head to the Library.
Let's continue studying magic and also see how much time was skipped when we entered Gensokyo. A book about currency should help with that.

[ ] There's no need to tell Cirno now, but maybe later when it seems important.


I'm glad Cirno's relatively okay.

>You look at Cirno, who looks back up at you, still wearing that chill face that you thought you’d never see on her. “I am at your service, sir. What would you like to do?”
>You look at her compassionately for a few moments, then get out of your chair and kneel down next to her, so you’re more or less at each other’s eye level. You tenderly place a hand on her shoulder, which makes her nervous despite your intention.
>“What do I want to do, Cirno?” you say. “I want to be your friend.” And with that, you hug her.

My heartstrings are plucked.

Sakuya has made a smart move here: Her two biggest headaches are now stuck together indefinitely, their capacity for mischief cut by the apparent need to look out for each other's safety, with the side-effect of reducing her workload and need to interact with either of you. In anticipation of her spilling everything to you, Sakuya probably left that mark on purpose so that you'd see it, and what she told Cirno is actually indirect advice (or threat) to you.

[x] Go to your room. You have a lot of things to show her and a lot of things to tell her, and Cirno needs to wash her face and recompose herself.
[x] Tell her everything: The diary, the spectacles, your dangerous encounter with Nathaniel, your (potential) magical ability, Remilia's expectations of you, the creature in the basement, the doors you cannot unlock, everything.
[x] Ask Cirno to inspect your items and ask if she's at all skilled with lockpicking tools.
[x] If she starts to get bored, frame it as if you're two sleuths working to solve a "mystery".

[x] While still in the basement, which Cirno insists is safe, tell her everything: The diary, the spectacles, your dangerous encounter with Nathaniel, your (potential) magical ability, Remilia's expectations of you, the creature in the basement, the doors you cannot unlock, everything.
[x] THEN go to your room. You have a lot of things to show her and a lot of things to tell her, and Cirno needs to wash her face and recompose herself.
[x] Ask Cirno to inspect your items and ask if she's at all skilled with lockpicking tools.
[x] If she starts to get bored, frame it as if you're two sleuths working to solve a "mystery".

So. Pieces fall into place, and create further holes.

Sakuya is the key player here. We must find out what her motivations and goals are. She controls the mansion and its staff. It is clear that everything she did to Cirno was indeed meant for us to see and hear. She also knows of everything we have, and probably everything we have done; to assume that she would overlook something in her time-frozen searches is folly. Similarly, she is too experienced and capable not to know what our spectacles are capable of. Following from that, it is most likely that she placed them, or at the least allowed us to find them. Following from that, it is very probable that she also placed the keys and "spellcards" we currently possess.

There is a subtle game occuring here, and she is playing it. We must know what and how.

[x] While still in the basement, which Cirno insists is safe, tell her everything: The diary, the spectacles, your dangerous encounter with Nathaniel, your (potential) magical ability, Remilia's expectations of you, the creature in the basement, the doors you cannot unlock, everything.
[x] THEN go to your room. You have a lot of things to show her and a lot of things to tell her, and Cirno needs to wash her face and recompose herself.
[x] Ask Cirno to inspect your items and ask if she's at all skilled with lockpicking tools.
[x] If she starts to get bored, frame it as if you're two sleuths working to solve a "mystery".

[x] While still in the basement, which Cirno insists is safe, tell her everything: The diary, the spectacles, your dangerous encounter with Nathaniel, your (potential) magical ability, Remilia's expectations of you, the creature in the basement, the doors you cannot unlock, everything.
[x] THEN go to your room. You have a lot of things to show her and a lot of things to tell her, and Cirno needs to wash her face and recompose herself.
[x] Ask Cirno to inspect your items and ask if she's at all skilled with lockpicking tools.
[x] If she starts to get bored, frame it as if you're two sleuths working to solve a "mystery".

Sound good, but lack Ecchi.....nvm me.

This Cirno is... unexpectedly sharp. That, or Sakuya really got through to her on some level, for her to actually take things so seriously.

You know what else is weird?
Look at how hard Sakuya must have worked. She pulled a My Fair Lady on Cirno in her timestopped world, which must have been an enormous strain on her abilities (maybe) and her patience (almost certainly).
And look at what it was she sad to Cirno. She warned her... taught her... instructed her. And for her own safety.
C'mon, this is Cirno. If she is showing that much worry for the nosy ice fairy that everyone seems to dislike, then Sakuya has an unexpectedly kind and caring side to her.
Or she fears Remi's temper tantrum if unsatisfied just that much.
Or maybe, more likely, she has gone to such patience-stretching measures because she is concerned about the effect it will have on your well-being. She said as much to Cirno, certainly. Anyone else thinking she's the mysterious helping voice, now?
One wonders, then, about Sakuya's motivations are, if this is the case. A desire to protect innocents? Revenge? Never having given up her original job as a vampire hunter, no matter how long it took?

---Note to Owen:
I'm really hoping I don't screw things up for you in case the following really does happen to be what you're doing here. If it is that, then I hope it's more being done as an amusing approach to the story, rather than this fact remaining secret being critical---

Also, Perfect Maid Cirno brings Owen's game of Clue to its full player roster:
Col. Mustard = Nathaniel (My weakest justification. He just seems like it, though.)
Mr. Green = Us (green for Wood and crops. Also Green because we're the new guy, though that one's a bit weak.)
Professor Plum = Patchy (the color suits her perfectly, and while she may not technically be a professor, she's smarter than any five academics on Earth. Also, "Professor" is not gender-restrictive like "Mr.")
Mrs. White = Sakuya(The pale-haired maid resentful of her position but nevertheless excellent at what she does.)
Ms. Peacock = Perfect Maid Cirno (blue like her token, elegant as her namesake, proud and prideful as the bird, and just about as smart (sudden seriousness and sharpness notwithstanding).)
Miss Scarlet = Flandre(s) (Nope, not Remilia. And anyway, we did refer to (probably) Flandre as "Miss Scarlet" while talking to her in the basement bedroom, didn't we? Anyway, it would not be Remilia. She would be more a force manipulating or influencing the players, like chance, or perhaps by another name, Fate.)
(...Oh look. No special position for the little devil. Koakuma gets the shaft, AGAIN. Just like in EoSD. And Flight. If you're reading this, Server Anon, we'd better be on her damned route.)

We have in our possession the Revolver and the Knife. We missed the Candlestick down in SmarterFlan's room, I believe, and haven't picked up the Rope, the Lead Pipe, or the Wrench (Nathaniel probably has that last one).

I'm not entirely sure what rooms we've been in yet, besides the Library, the Dining Room, and the Hall. That leaves (possibly) the Lounge, Kitchen, Ballroom, Conservatory, Billiard Room, and Study.
I'm considering the possibility that Flandre's room might have been the Conservatory or the Study.

We've also been through the passages down below, which seem to traverse the length of the mansion, much like their game counterparts, with entrances here and there. However, they weren't really secret passages, even if they were locked, so perhaps we should do some poking and prodding about in the rooms that had them. Will haul out my copy of the game later tomorrow and look.

On a final, unrelated note, I just only now fully noticed what Cirno said last:
>Being the perfect maid is hard; you should try it sometime.”
I grinned.

>>22732
>anonymous
>a

>Ecchi
>nvm

Get off these fucking boards already, namefag, or drop the Gaiatalk and stop DERPing up the stories.

[X] Head to the Library.
[X] There's no need to tell Cirno now, but maybe later when it seems important.

I'm not sure spilling everything we've been doing in secret to Cirno is such a good idea, both for her well-being and our own.

Whatever side Sakuya stands on (although the fact she told Cirno she thought we might wind up in over our head and need help might mean she's not completely against us) there's SOMEONE in the house who probably does not want us poking around like we are. Even if they could just try to get it out of us directly, if Cirno also knows what we're doing we'll be giving whoever it is another option for finding us out. Possibly even an easier method, depending on how willing they are to rough up our icy little friend to do it.

I think we would do well to be very careful about what we inform our new maid of, if only to allow her some safety in being able to claim plausible deniability. Keep things strictly on a need-to-know basis until we have a better idea of what we're dealing with, and who we need to worry about. Someone seems to want to help us, but does not dare do so openly, likely out of fear of whatever retribution they might face as a result. Let's not expose Cirno to that same risk unless there's no other option, or at least not until we know we can do anything to protect her from it. Or ourselves, for that matter.

>>22737

Cirno wouldn't snitch, man, not if she was willing to go this far for your sake. If you're saying she'd be tortured, well then I'd say we've already failed at protecting her. More to the point Cirno is far stronger than we are, physically, magically, and apparently mentally given her ability to adopt this new persona so readily. As the residents of the mansion have not hesitated to threaten us with bodily harm, there's little reason to suspect they would go after the fairy instead of us directly. And as far as her safety is concerned, she's already pretty much dead meat if something untoward were to happen to us.

I know passivity is kind of a thing here, but it's been constantly hinted at that bad tidings are on their way regardless of whether we stick our heads in the sand or not. Cirno has made a major show of faith in you, and it's time to return the gesture. Keeping her at arm's length now would not only be disingenuous, it would be unfair, and even dangerous in the long run.

We've been given a precious gift here, a confidante, sidekick, and bodyguard all in one. We should not squander it.

>>22736

I'm pretty sure that's a rather obvious troll...

>>22739

Which is probably why we should be careful with what we tell her, because we don't know who to trust beyond Cirno and most likely Sakuya, Remilia or pretty much anyone would be able to tell that you'd think that Cirno would make a great partner.

So it's like hiding your lifesavings in a safe provided by a thief. They know exactly where your secrets are, they just have to find a way to make it crack if they want it.

Sure, Cirno won't tell. But I'd rather not have to worry about Cirno getting tortured for our sake.



[ ] There's no need to tell Cirno everything now.

[ ] At least tell her how you feel about some of the people here.

That should be enough.

>Sure, Cirno won't tell. But I'd rather not have to worry about Cirno getting tortured for our sake.

This doesn't make sense to me as a reason not to tell her. If someone is going to torture Cirno for information they're going to do it regardless of weather or not she actually knows anything. You aren't protecting her by keeping her in the dark, you're just showing that you don't trust her.

I love how everyone pretends they didn't read >>22735 .

>>22742
>Which is probably why we should be careful with what we tell her, because we don't know who to trust beyond Cirno and most likely Sakuya, Remilia or pretty much anyone would be able to tell that you'd think that Cirno would make a great partner.

Tell me, why would anyone in the house go so far as to pump information from a fearless immortal fairy that they cannot stand the presence of when you've already left a diary (!) chronicling your endeavors in plain view?

>So it's like hiding your lifesavings in a safe provided by a thief. They know exactly where your secrets are, they just have to find a way to make it crack if they want it.

In reality the safe is indestructible, worth more to you than the money you'd put in it, and was originally gifted under the assumption that it was unusable.

But the most important part you left out of your analogy is what >>22743 notes: How does the thief know that you didn't leave any money in the safe? And in the absence of this knowledge, would he not proceed to try and "crack" the safe (no matter how many times she screams "I don't know!" notes you leave on it saying "empty")?

The diary breaks this analogy even further, something like leaving your money all around the floor.

For all the handwringing about "protecting" her it sounds more like you're trying to minimize your own liability. Still, your intentions do not change the fact that whether by your own devices or the designs of another your fate has now been tied to that of this fairy, and ignorance will be no shield. Not for either of you.

>>22747

Well, I forgot to mention that I'd probably slip it to Sakuya that we didn't say anything to her.

The higher ups will most likely hear about it and Sakuya seems to be at the very least, a little on your side so she'll help propagate the info.

But even if we did tell Cirno and Sakuya somehow found out I guess she would still try and maybe minimize the importance of Cirno's role. So you guys might be right.

>This doesn't make sense to me as a reason not to tell her.
It could be an issue if she's already been tortured/bribed/whatever and has agreed to tell the SDM people anything she finds out. That's not bloody likely, of course, especially since she shouldn't have any fear of death. Still, I find it strange that she's so willing to be a maid and act in the exact opposite of her usual manner; I have no idea what it could be, but I assume that they did something more than give her a new way to assert that she's the strongest.

>you've already left a diary (!) chronicling your endeavors in plain view?
I don't recall them finding it, or even suspecting it's existence.

>How does the thief know that you didn't leave any money in the safe?
He doesn't. He's just hoping you took the bait.

>fearless immortal fairy that they cannot stand the presence of
If someone is willing to torture another, I don't think it really matters how annoying the victim is.

I'd recommend
[x]Tell her anything strange in your presence in Gensokyo that she might be able to help with and will understand.
I see no point in throwing in stuff about where (and when) we came from. I doubt she could really do much to understand Nathaniel's motives. She might be able to help with the creature, as she should know the SDM tennants better than we do and is a native to Gensokyo.

>>22750
>He doesn't. He's just hoping you took the bait.

So she's already done for, and you're just making it easier for yourself to cut her loose? Or maybe you hope to get some fun out of her before it's time to wave goodbye? Funny, I remember Meiling apparently holding similar ethos: "It only hurts more when I get involved?"

>I don't recall them finding it, or even suspecting it's existence.

But Sakuya already went through all your belongings when you came here, so yeah!

>>22735

Stopped when I got to the Clue analogies.

But seriously this is likely more than merely an attempt by Sakuya to impress her Mistress, and by the way that she was flabbergasted I doubt Remilia's expectation were very high. She may actually be benevolent, in an extreme ends-justify-the-means sort of way, or maybe she is supporting you as a sort of bulwark against other outside forces encroaching on the Mansion.

Nathaniel, for example, has actively sought outside contact, even going as far as to speak to Ran in code, and we know he has designs for the Mansion and its inhabitants; he's said as much. Nathaniel claims to have entered Gensokyo through the normal channels (whatever they are) and is possessed of a powerful sense of drive and a singular intellect--not someone to be easily manipulated. That she is suspicious of him might be related to why Nathaniel was adverse to your suggestion that he ask Sakuya for help with his watch.

>So she's already done for, and you're just making it easier for yourself to cut her loose?
I wasn't the guy saying we shouldn't tell her anything critical, mind you. I was just saying why Sakuya might try to use Cirno as an information bait.

>But Sakuya already went through all your belongings when you came here, so yeah!
Ah yes, forgot about that.

>Or maybe, more likely, she has gone to such patience-stretching measures because she is concerned about the effect it will have on your well-being. She said as much to Cirno, certainly. Anyone else thinking she's the mysterious helping voice, now?

Actually this is why I voted we write the diary in the first place and then (clumsily) hide it later. Sakuya is meticulous; she has likely gone through your room with a fine-toothed comb. If she did read it, then she should have assumed that we really are what we appear to be: A simple man of simple means who, by forces beyond his control, finds himself in very strange place. Most telling would be the series of entirely mundane earlier entries from before we found ourselves here.

The assumption I'm making is that Remilia is the one who told her to put the mysterious items in your pockets. Given that Nathaniel seems to have a pair of odd glasses himself, I'd say like the E-Card match and later "prize" are things purposefully put there for every one of the mansion's guests, all as part of a larger entertainment for the Mistress.

But Sakuya is definitely acting on her own some of the time. What we saw with Remilia's reaction to Cirno, when Sakuya did not give you the key as she had been instructed, when she appeared to interfere in your E-Card match, all suggest that the transparency of intention and knowledge between the two is not complete. I originally thought that her interference in the E-Card match was so that her mistress would win, but in reality it may have been intended so that you would win, not her.

My theory is that Sakuya had been acting in a way in front of Remilia and you yourself that would suggest that she is needlessly suspicious of you (even violently so, like in that scene where Cirno escaped out the window), when in fact she has been aiding you discreetly, possibly in a manner that Remilia would consider "unfair" or "against the rules". If this were to be the case, then needlessly withholding information from Cirno (and hence Sakuya) could actually end up frustrating her plans to keep you alive.

tl;dr: Sakuya is tsundere

[x] While still in the basement, which Cirno insists is safe, tell her everything: The diary, the spectacles, your dangerous encounter with Nathaniel, your (potential) magical ability, Remilia's expectations of you, the creature in the basement, the doors you cannot unlock, everything.
[x] THEN go to your room. You have a lot of things to show her and a lot of things to tell her, and Cirno needs to wash her face and recompose herself.
[x] Ask Cirno to inspect your items and ask if she's at all skilled with lockpicking tools.
[x] If she starts to get bored, frame it as if you're two sleuths working to solve a "mystery".

You do not want to know how much of a mixture of aggravation and elation you have put me through today. Back and forth, back and forth you discuss this point and that about the story, making the prospect of trying to count the votes a mind-wreaking task for me. And yet, at the same time, you keep showing me the one thing I love to see from you: thought. Reason. Intelligence. There is no doubt in my mind now that I enjoy reading your analysis as much as you enjoy reading my story. I cannot thank you enough.

My mind is char-broiled from a recent exam, but I shall try to reward your diligence with a new thread yet tonight, provided I don’t waste an hour finding an appropriate starting picture. Now hopefully, I counted the votes correctly…

>I originally thought that her interference in the E-Card match was so that her mistress would win, but in reality it may have been intended so that you would win, not her.
Given that our 'prize' was really a test, shouldn't it be assumed that Remilia wanted Sakuya to cheat to let us win?

>Actually this is why I voted we write the diary in the first place and then (clumsily) hide it later.
I'd have to double check to make sure, but haven't we put in incriminating entries into the diary? It was blank when we arrived, and haven't we added stuff to it that we do not want the SDM people to know?

>Given that our 'prize' was really a test, shouldn't it be assumed that Remilia wanted Sakuya to cheat to let us win?

She later rebuked her for her apparent interference, though it may have been a cover because I think we had already put the glasses on by that point.

Anyway, I don't think the entire game was a ruse. She'd want to make sure you were intelligent enough to warrant the test in the first place, before allowing you to manhandle an important piece of her property (i.e., Meiling).

>I'd have to double check to make sure, but haven't we put in incriminating entries into the diary? It was blank when we arrived, and haven't we added stuff to it that we do not want the SDM people to know?

Of course there are things there that we don't want to be made public, as in any diary, and we have admitted I think that we were sneaking in places that we shouldn't have access too (at the very least Remilia knows we've snuck into one of the locked rooms, though she let us keep some of the pilfered items), but so what? We have not committed, nor have we intended or will intend, any wrongs towards the mansion's residents. Remember that it was only after we passed the "test" with Meiling--which should be noted was not a test of intelligence or skill, but of character--that we were given power the could theoretically make us dangerous.

In fact, the diary should affirm that our answer to the test was truthful, and that we really did take umbrage with her appearing to whore out her servants to guests.

>>She later rebuked her for her apparent interference, though it may have been a cover because I think we had already put the glasses on by that point.

For Remilia to have any reason to cover by rebuking Sakuya, she would have to know what those glasses do, that we know what they do, and have at least some reasonable belief that we could tell what Sakuya was doing, wouldn't she?

But then, if Remilia thought we knew what Sakuya tried to do, then why not explicitly call her on it, rather than doing so in relatively subtle manner that she did?

Unless, of course, seeing if we could tell what Sakuya did or not was also a test of some sort, but once we get into suspecting there's tests within tests, we're just getting ridiculously convoluted. OR ARE WE?

>before allowing you to manhandle an important piece of her property (i.e., Meiling).
just like to remind you that Remilia specifically said that had we tried to do bedtop sports with Meiling, she would have resisted and we wouldn't stand a chance against her. Meiling wasn't in any real danger; at worst she was in an embarrassing situation
I didn't vote, but I thought a nice action to do after seeing the wrapped Meiling would be to confirm that she is supposed to "sleep with us", tell her the outfit is all wrong, get her into some pyjamas, and literally goto sleep with her. I wonder what that would've done to Remilia's test.

>though she let us keep some of the pilfered items
The scene was ambiguous, but I was under the impression that it wasn't actually Remilia, and was Flandre doing some weird ghost thing or something.

>We have not committed, nor have we intended or will intend, any wrongs towards the mansion's residents.
That is true, and good point; but I think the theft alone would be considered a problem (unless, of course, it actually was Remilia down there), and she did say that the master key did not work on some doors, which implies that we are NOT supposed to go in there.

Has there been any kind of internal consistency with voting yet? By that, I wonder which of our previous votes have been positively informed by prior decisions? It feels like we stumble into a decision through submission of write-ins and negotiations over what makes the most sense given the situation, forever muddled by fiddling through the waste-bin of past choices and specific diction used by the writer. Have there been situations where the update comes and you proclaim "AH HA! Because X was said in post #######, and we said Y in post %%%%%, choice Z was the obvious decision!" Arguing the finer points is fun and all; it's a good mental exercise in critical reading and thinking. But has it genuinely resulted in something beneficial? I'm drawing blanks (partially due to a brief haitus and a couple rum 'n cokes), but I'd love to be proven wrong. It'd do justice to the universe if all this intellectual rigor was rewarded.

pic related, I think

>>22763

No, Light. It is I who am behind you!

>>22764
>just like to remind you that Remilia specifically said that had we tried to do bedtop sports with Meiling, she would have resisted and we wouldn't stand a chance against her.

Of course she would say that; you've already told her you that you were offended by the offer.

In actuality, I'd wager that if you had returned the kiss, then you would've had sex (that you both would've found enjoyable), and rather than confront you or do something as boorish as throw you out of the house, Remilia instead would've become disinterested in you and would likely just leave you to your own devices. To paraphrase a Meiling quote from RAN, "The Mistress doesn't punish those who disappoint her; she simply forgets they exist."

With meta-knowledge we know that she wouldn't throw you out, because that would have ended the story in an extremely drawn-out and unsatisfying manner. I believe UN Owen even stated that your decision here (along with your justification to Remilia) would have a long-lasted impact on the course of story, not something so simple as HOBO END.

>Meiling wasn't in any real danger; at worst she was in an embarrassing situation

I suspect the truth is more complex. She seemed to become genuinely upset, and I can't believe that her tears was only acting. Her ominous parting words, that she kissed you when you had already expressed reservations, and comments that "it's been so long" all indicate that she herself at least in part desired to has sex with you.

The only reason Meiling would willingly go along with these "embarrassments" is if she sometimes gets something she wants out of it--that is, consequence-free sex. Which is of course no evil. This is all conjecture, but suppose Remilia asked Meiling if she thought you were handsome, and that when Meiling replied in the affirmative she invited her to have dinner with you. After you won the game when you'd all had plenty to drink, she made a "bet" with Meiling as to the strength of your moral character (this is what she meant when she recounted that Remilia asked her to "play a game with [her]").

Note that she stated that she always loses when she plays against Remilia, which combined with the paucity of males that she could have a proper relationship with, would make for a very sexually frustrated Meiling. Combine this with her breaking down only after you spurned her advances, stating that this "always happens".

Those ribbons still hold meaning; there is an injustice here. Regardless of the consequences for you, Meiling is not really doing anything wrong, playing only a facilitative role in a fate woven for you by Remilia. You aren't the one at fault either, even had you reciprocated that kiss and it lead to sexy results, by reason of entrapment. Rather, as we had thought at first, the injustice falls on Remilia, just in a more subtle manner than simply prostituting out her servants against their will. The real injustice here is that she is repeatedly subjecting Meiling to this embarrassment, not caring (or maybe not realizing) that the playing field is too uneven to make her proposition fair and that in truth Meiling does not want to play her game any more.

>>22765
>It'd do justice to the universe if all this intellectual rigor was rewarded.

I think it is. Even if it doesn't affect the final tally like it would in RAN, the transference of ideas between writer and reader is important, and that the Anonymous idea machine is too useful a tool for a good writer to ignore. I remember that HY had made a point of stating that he reads every post in full before he starts writing, which I think is part of the reason his writing is so well liked.

>>22764
>The scene was ambiguous, but I was under the impression that it wasn't actually Remilia, and was Flandre doing some weird ghost thing or something.

Actually, I'm pretty sure U.N. Owen has stated that he isn't using that interpretation of Taboo 「Four of a Kind」 as was used in Mystia-tripfag's story.

>>Actually, I'm pretty sure U.N. Owen has stated that he isn't using that interpretation of Taboo 「Four of a Kind」 as was used in Mystia-tripfag's story.

Which, of course, makes the question of who is who all that much trickier to figure out.

Whoever was in Room 101 was clearly not Remilia, identified her as "Big Sister", and was clearly insane. Seems like a likely candidate for being Flan, but the lack of any real distinguishing features that would allow us to make a positive I.D. means we can't be certain it's her.

On the other hand, whoever was with us in that other room, despite sounding similar to Remilia, spoke and acted in a fairly non-Remilia sort of way, and neither confirmed nor denied anything when we addressed her as "Miss Scarlet". Plus, she seemed to be very well-informed about what we were doing in that room, how we got in, and the fact that we aren't supposed to be there, yet really only took issue with our trying to take her books and then asking us (politely, no less) to leave her alone "for now". At the very least, she's probably the reason we felt like we were being watched when we first saw the basement door unlocked. Could also be Flan, which might explain the book collection and writings, as well as the little un-Remi-like eccentricities like the kitty-speak. However, the fact they seem to have been making a point of remaining unseen or at least unidentifiable means there's also no way to be certain who she is, either.

The latter could have been Remilia, but unless she knows of any reason we would have to suspect there was another Scarlet running around in the basement, it seems strange that she would hide her identity since there wouldn't be anyone else in the mansion we know of that we might mistake her for. If it's the other way around, however, and whoever it was meant for us to assume it was Remilia...

If there's only one Flandre, one of the two encounters we had down there was with her, and the other one was NOT Remilia, then aside from the question of how to determine which one is which, another question comes to mind: just who the hell is the one who is neither Flan nor Remi?

>On the other hand, whoever was with us in that other room, despite sounding similar to Remilia, spoke and acted in a fairly non-Remilia sort of way, and neither confirmed nor denied anything when we addressed her as "Miss Scarlet". Plus, she seemed to be very well-informed about what we were doing in that room, how we got in, and the fact that we aren't supposed to be there, yet really only took issue with our trying to take her books and then asking us (politely, no less) to leave her alone "for now". At the very least, she's probably the reason we felt like we were being watched when we first saw the basement door unlocked. Could also be Flan, which might explain the book collection and writings, as well as the little un-Remi-like eccentricities like the kitty-speak. However, the fact they seem to have been making a point of remaining unseen or at least unidentifiable means there's also no way to be certain who she is, either.

In my view these are actually all very in-character things for Remilia: Despite the noble airs she affects, she is in reality quite childish, though she tries to not let it show unless she's certain that it won't tarnish her reputation. Remember that Remilia had become quite hands-on with you during your interrogation, which happened soon after the basement event. It wouldn't surprise me if any one of these items or clues were purposefully given to us by Remilia (acting vicariously through Sakuya at times), all for the sole sake of her own amusement. I think it's important to remember the strong Kaiji influence here, of the haves being entertained by watching the have-nots fight over and even die for what they'd consider table scraps.

I was thinking that some of the writings were indeed Flandre's and that this room was actually used by both of them. It makes sense, since during her "good" phases Flandre would be able to sleep in the loft, with her older sister close by in the adjoining bedroom.

>>22771
>The latter could have been Remilia, but unless she knows of any reason we would have to suspect there was another Scarlet running around in the basement, it seems strange that she would hide her identity since there wouldn't be anyone else in the mansion we know of that we might mistake her for.

The truth I think is simpler and more innocuous. By not explicitly identifying who she is and who you are (even if there's strong suspicions on both sides), she becomes able to interact with you in a way she cannot under confounding elements of decorum and propriety.

It has occurred to me quite recently that the mood of this story and the discussions that take place is set almost perfectly by Miasma And The Carousel Of Headless Horses, and I highly recommend giving them a listen the next time one is reading through Anon's back and forth conspiracy theories or a tense basement scene. To even attempt to describe them with my meager grasp on proper English would be an insult.

>>22772
> Despite the noble airs she affects, she is in reality quite childish,
Again, she asked politely, which is not in character. A more childish way of telling us to leave would be to throw a tantrum, not to ask politely.

>Actually, I'm pretty sure U.N. Owen has stated that he isn't using that interpretation of Taboo 「Four of a Kind」 as was used in Mystia-tripfag's story.
Right. That's why I didn't explicitely say that it was Four of a Kind that allowed Flandre to do that. I only think she had some method of temporarily (this is key, because otherwise the bonds are useless; and I doubt she'd willingly imprison herself even to make her captors think she couldn't escape) leaving that room and talking to us. I really don't think that was Remilia talking to us.
Or maybe it was even Flandre talking to us normally, and the imprisoned child was someone completely different. I don't know.

>I believe UN Owen even stated that your decision here (along with your justification to Remilia) would have a long-lasted impact on the course of story, not something so simple as HOBO END.
If we screw up, we get a bad end. Simple as that. Go back one choice?

>It'd do justice to the universe if all this intellectual rigor was rewarded.
I believe UNOwen said that he was going to start adding interior monologue to his segments, and for the most part they are taken right out of discussions like these.

> "The Mistress doesn't punish those who disappoint her; she simply forgets they exist."
If nothing else, I can't imagine her feeding and sheltering someone who "doesn't exist". Plus, assuming Meiling was just acting and didn't want sex, she could just throw out this now non-existent person if she chose to.

>I suspect the truth is more complex. She seemed to become genuinely upset, and I can't believe that her tears was only acting. Her ominous parting words, that she kissed you when you had already expressed reservations, and comments that "it's been so long" all indicate that she herself at least in part desired to has sex with you.
While I can't explain the "it's been so long" without ACTING LOL, her being upset and crying could be explained by Remilia's treatment of her; If Remilia did order Meiling to act as a succubus, doesn't that mean she really only sees Meiling as a sex object? (I'm just a useless door guard, only good for my sex appeal) Of course this applies equally to both "Have sex with Anon" and "Entrap Anon to test him", so it doesn't help to narrow that down. I do however think that she was genuinely upset, but not because you were refusing to have sex with her.

>>22776
>Again, she asked politely, which is not in character. A more childish way of telling us to leave would be to throw a tantrum, not to ask politely.

Childish here as in being playful, not bratty.

>If nothing else, I can't imagine her feeding and sheltering someone who "doesn't exist".

If if you didn't grasp the hyperbole there, then again, Remilia wouldn't do something that would harm the reputation she wishes to maintain of being welcoming, charitable, magnanimous. To be more clear, I meant that she would simply have lost all interest in you.

>Plus, assuming Meiling was just acting and didn't want sex, she could just throw out this now non-existent person if she chose to.

If anyone indeed attempted to rape Meiling, yes of course Remilia isn't going to stop her from throwing them into the lake or worse.

>I do however think that she was genuinely upset, but not because you were refusing to have sex with her.

I agree. That's what was meant here:
>The real injustice here is that she is repeatedly subjecting Meiling to this embarrassment, not caring (or maybe not realizing) that the playing field is too uneven to make her proposition fair and that in truth Meiling does not want to play her game any more.