[x] Stick with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

I'd like to use Kusanagi as our main weapon. After all, it also seems to be a wanderer.

> [x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

God damn it, I didn't even think of that.

{X} Stick with sword training.
{X} Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

[x] Stick with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

[x] Stick with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

LACK OF VOTES HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!

[x] Stick with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.


Makes sense.

>kusari-gama
AWESOME. But kind of impractical, you need a lot of room to swing that chain around, and it's very difficult to master. But fuck it, we're in magic land.

[x] Start with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

[x] Start with sword training.
[x] Dabble with the sickle and chain. Maybe the skills you got from Alice would apply.

"I should probably start with the swords at least."

"Good," Youmu says, sliding some of the doors shut. "I can at least give you some basic instruction there."

"Just basic?" you ask, a little confused.

"I sure don't have the time to give you a full training course, and I doubt you'll have the energy to keep up with training either." she says, rather flatly.

"I'm a ghost though, would I get tired?" you ask, still confused. Youmu responds by tapping her head.

"Mental energy. You need the focus and drive. You might not get physically tired, but you'd first need the conditioning to deal with the repetition that the training would need. It's not terribly interesting either." Youmu says, walking over to the swords and picking up the bundle. "It took me roughly 14 years of training before I reached the point I'm at now, then..." Youmu trails off. You notice she's clutching one of her swords rather tightly as well. "It's been 9 years since I've had any instruction, at least." she says finally, her voice a little shaky.

... Wait...

"23 years? How old are you?" you ask, now clearly confused. Youmu looks a little puzzled as well.

"Not that it's any of your business, really," Youmu scoffs, "but I'm nearly 29." she continues, looking at your confused expression.

"But... seriously?"

Youmu nods. "'Half' Human, remember. I have a significantly longer lifespan than normal humans, but still nowhere near someone like Lady Yuyuko. I grow a lot slower as well as a side effect. I'll probably live for 400 years. My... fa-" Youmu stops suddenly and takes a breath, eyes turned to the ground. She looks up at you, then looks away. "H-he was around 300 years old when he left..." she says quietly. "Nine years ago."

You're not entirely sure what to say. You don't want to dwell on the subject too much, since she still seems pretty bothered by it, and you'd rather not upset her again, so you leave the silence as is and walk up to her, holding out your hands.

"I'd like to hear your advice now." you say, and Youmu snaps out of her slight depression and hands you your swords, and takes a few steps back, clearing her throat. Over the next few hours she gives you some direction on handling a sword, proper form for holding and drawing blades, various practice kata and drills for you to perform, all under her supervision as she corrects your posture and mistakes. You practice for a while on your own as Youmu excuses herself and leaves the hall. When she returns, she's carrying a tray with two bowls of rice and two cups of tea.

"Time for a break now." she says, placing the tray on the small table and pulling it away from the wall slightly, sitting on her knees behind it. You replace the blade and head over to the table to join her, and she sets a bowl and a cup on the other side of the table for you as you sit as well.

"You have some slight skill at least." she says, picking up her bowl of rice. "You're not a totally hopeless case, though it might take a few days to start see any real results." You feel both deflated and worried at this. Your entire purpose was to be ready in case something extreme happens, but you have no idea when something might happen, or if anything even will. Then again, isn't your training just to deal with other armed swordfighters? You might be okay against someone without a weapon, though they'd likely have something else up their sleeve.

"You think I'd be ready to fight if I needed to?" you ask. Youmu nearly chokes on her rice, coughing as she gulps down a mouthful of tea and gives you a glare of mixed annoyance and anger.

"After one day? This isn't some kind of silly comic book where you can get stronger with a montage page or two. You might be able to beat a child with just a days training." Youmu practically shouts. She shovels down some more rice, and glares at you as she chews. "Maybe you really are hopeless."

"I was just wondering. I've got a bad feeling about the sky, and I'm sure you can't be too comfortable with it either." you say, a little irritated at Youmu's reaction yourself. Youmu huffs and has a few more bites of rice.

"I am concerned, but unlike you I have an actual developed sense of combat and training. Things like this happen from time to time, and while I may not like it, I'll only really be worried if it keeps up." she retorts, returning to her meal. A tense silence rises between the two of you for the rest of the meal. Youmu keeps shooting you annoyed looks, and she sets her bowl down first. "One duel."

You look up at her from your bowl, swallowing a mouthful of rice. "What?"

"One duel, to gauge your progress. I entirely doubt you have much chance at all to stand against me, but if you can even keep me from landing a blow on you, I might concede that you could defend yourself." Youmu says, pushing herself to her feet. "Hurry up and finish." she says, walking towards the far end of the room. You hurry to finish your bowl of rice and tea, then look down at the sword next to you. You've trained with it so far today, though it doesn't look like much compared to Youmu's swords. Maybe you should use the bronze sword instead, but would that really work? You're a little worried now, you don't even know which weapon to use. While your training and practice had been with the katana and you're somewhat familiar with it, maybe you could get a reaction out of Youmu with the bronze sword, throw her off a little and give you an edge, no matter how slight.

[] Katana
[] Bronze Sword

Actual choices this time!?

[x] Bronze Sword

Need to unlock the Kusanagi's powers.

[x] Bronze Sword

{X} Bronze Sword.

[x] Bronze sword, but keep the katana with you in case anything happens.

[] Katana

I'd rather not risk damaging the damn thing before we learn to use it.

[P] Bronze sword

Might as well get some real practice with it.

On another note, if you lack Yoummu images, here's a quick rapidshit .zip of my 470-something Youmu image folder:

http://rapidshare.com/files/149685982/Youmu.zip.html

It's not in any real order, but there should be plenty of useful images in there.

[X] Katana

She said that the bronze sword can't handle direct contact with another weapon. So using it to defend from Youmu's attacks (who hits much faster and stronger than us) before we have a good amount of training will only leave us with a broken relic.

[x] Pick up the bronze sword for a moment, and try focusing intensely into it while making small bendy motions with your hands. If nothing seems to happen, use the katana.

I'm a fence sitter!

[X] Katana

Following >>60635's advice.

Seriously, guys:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi

It's a millennia-old weapon that has been wielded by the gods, used extensively in battle, and has accrued an immense amount of faith, not only from its legend but the from the many people who believe it was historical and even still yet exists. This is a land where faith determines the strength of one's weapon: It is not going to break.

[x] Bronze Sword

[x] Bronze Sword

[x] Katana
Winning with the bronze weapon would be cherry tapping after what Youmu just told us. While any victory would probably seem more significant, it could easily be dismissed as more of the blade's doing than our own ability. Using the katana would demonstrate better combat judgment in as far as Youmu is concerned, which the whole point of the battle.

[x] Katana
The Kusanagi is too much of a wildcard. We're testing our swordsmanship here, if it does have special abilities then we won't learn anything about our own skill, and if it doesn't then we'll be starting at a disadvantage.

>>60635
>She said that the bronze sword can't handle direct contact with another weapon
>>60599
>I don't think it could stand up to a better blade
I think you misread that.

[z] Katana

Katana trainin gaems.

[x] Katana

Hopefully this will help us use the Kusanagi when it's time.

[x] Bronze Sword

If the sword is going to break against Hakurouken, it'd be better to get that out of the way now than to have it shatter in our eventual fight against Tenshi. Not that that will happen. This is Gensokyo: The material something is made of doesn't matter. Youmu's swords are made of folded steel, and yet will stand up against Tenshi's lightsaber. If anything is going to break here, it'd be that katana.

SWR is days away. Our primary concern is getting strong enough to fight Touhous, and to do that we need to discover how to use this weapon. In the legend Yamato Takeru only discovered it's wind controlling power after he tried using it to slash away at grass, so yes Galstaff, you can "swing it around to see if it's magical".

[❖] Bronze Sword

Youmu is going to be surprised~

[x] Bronze Sword

Let's not train with the weapon we'll be fighting with... because it might break?

Fucking stupid.

[x] Bronze Sword
What >>60654 said.

[x] Bronze Sword

You look to the bronze sword. You feel that you should use it after all, and the thought of beating Youmu with it makes you smile a little. Even though the more reasonable part of your brain tells you that you're going to lose regardless, you should still at least make a show of it. Even if you're bound to lose, perhaps if you show some sense of confidence, you might inspire a little bit more faith from Youmu than what you have currently. You walk over to the sword and lift it up, sliding it from the sheath. Almost instantly you hear Youmu scoff from behind you, but she doesn't say anything more. You proceed to the other end of the room, sword in hand. It feels very light, more than you remember it feeling. The handle feels comfortable in your hand, the handle itself warm to the touch, everything about this sword right now just feels right. Maybe you really can win with this sword, after all.

When you reach your mark and turn around, you assume a pose, and immediately Youmu rushes in, drawing her blade as she approaches. She's not moving her fastest, which is good, as you have time to sidestep her approach. As she closes the distance, she opens with a thrust, which you manage to avoid by stepping aside. Another attack, a vertical slash, dodged as well by taking a step back. You definitely get the impression that she's holding back on you, she's nowhere close to the speed she was using against herself. This is too easy, if you do manage to win against her like this, it would have been a victory given to you.

"What's wrong Youmu? Underestimating me?" you say with a grin. Youmu scowls.

"I was just thinking I'd at least give you a chance to change your mind, but now I see you really do want to lose. That's fine." she replies, resheathing her sword. Immediately you feel a change, as if the air in the room got heavier. A chill runs down your spine, maybe you said too much already. Youmu shifts her stance into a semi crouch and rests her hand on her sword, eyes locked on you. You slowly back away, each passing second filling you with more dread as she stalls her attack. She's waiting for something, she has to be. It's a trick to unnerve you and it's working. The only thing between you is a small bronze sword that you very likely couldn't get between the attack she could launch at any secon-

Jump.

You hesitate for a moment. An echo of a voice in the back of your mind resounds it's advice as you detect an almost imperceptible shift of Youmu's arm. You act subconsciously, leaping into the air with full force as a green and white streak blurs through the position you occupied only a moment ago. You land, and stumble into a roll, turning to face Youmu, her sword drawn and pointed towards you. She approaches again, this time much faster. You're still off guard, and you panic for a second too long, raising the bronze sword haphazardly in an attempt to defend against the incoming slash. In the last few seconds, you grit your teeth and tense up, expecting to be hit. Instead, you hear a loud clang and feel a jerk in your wrist as Youmu's blade collides with yours, and your startled slightly by the sound. Youmu follows through with another attack, and you hastily watch her movements and adjust the sword to try to take the hit again. Youmu catches your shift and adjusts her attack from another angle, leaving you mere moments to change your defense. Another loud clang resonates through the training hall, followed by a brief hum. Is that coming from the sword?

Youmu leaps back, and resheathes her sword. You don't even get a chance to react this time, and you hear no echoes in your mind advising you this time. You see Youmu's shift, and watch almost in slow motion as she begins to draw the blade as she leans into her approach. You feel your chest tighten up, you're definitely done now, you've done well enough so far, but even if you block this, you'd likely be thrown across the room. Youmu leaves the ground, approaching in a low flight, the entire thing passing slowly in front of your eyes as she approaches with her sword drawn. It's futile to defend against this, you would be better off attacking. If anything else, you might force her to have to defend, which would save you. You drop your guard and take up one of your practice stances, and holding the sword to your side, you swing the sword forward with the intent of striking Youmu.

With the swing comes an immense force, more than you thought you could put into the sword. So much more that it shocks you, and you lose your form. So much force, that even Youmu is surprised as she intercepts the swing and is sent veering off course until she skids to a stop and turns again to face you, a look of surprise on her face. She doesn't let that stop her though as she once again dashes in for an attack. You respond with another attack, an overhead chop. Youmu raises her sword, and once again your blow is made with overwhelming force, and Youmu's guard is broken entirely as you smash her blade towards the ground. The look of shock on her face makes your heart jump as she locks eyes with you. It's a glorious expression of total confusion, you can't let this moment go to waste, you must take this opening to attack. You draw your arm back, and you feel something, a slight breeze blowing through the room. With new found resolve, you swing at Youmu, and a torrential blast of wind breaks through the windows behind you, kicking up benches, tables, and most of all Youmu, and sends them flying towards the opposite end of the room.

The wind settles immediately, leaving the room in quite a mess. One of the doors had been blown off, several benches are scattered around the room, as well as small tables. The bowls and cups you had used for lunch were scattered around the room as well, but not broken by whatever miracle wind just tore through the room. That couldn't have been a natural wind, not by any means. You look at the bronze sword in your hand, a wave of disbelief running through you. It had to have been this sword that made that wind. It really has such a power though? You wish you'd have thought of that sooner. Youmu pushes a bench aside from her end of the room and staggers to her feet, looking a little disoriented.

"W-what the hell was that?" she stammers, looking towards you while holding her head. "Was that you?" she asks.

"I think so." you admit, not entirely sure if it was really you. Youmu doesn't say anything, instead she retrieves her dropped sword and resheathes it. She doesn't look intent on combat anymore, so you don't raise your guard as she walks towards you. She straightens out her skirt as she approaches, and you can see she's turned a little red as well. She stops a few feet from you and hesitates for a second, then bows deeply.

"I'm sorry I underestimated your abilities." she says, sounding truly apologetic. She straightens herself up, but she doesn't look at you. "Had I known you had that kind of power I would have answered differently earlier and, well... m-maybe you are good enough to fight." she continues, her voice wavering slightly. "You lack the proper discipline, and your form was sloppy, but with that kind of strength behind your attacks..."

"I think it's all from the sword, actually." you say, holding up the blade. Youmu had struck it twice, but you can't see any damage to it. You notice again that the sword gives off a faint hum. You thought it was from the vibration of being hit earlier, but now you're not so sure. Youmu's eyes are on the sword as well.

"If it's the sword's power, then you definitely need to work on your swordsmanship. With such a sword in the hands of even a beginner, they would be quite a force to be reckoned with." she says, sounding a little awestruck as she no doubt recalls the recent events.

"So, will you still train me?"

Youmu turns away, and clears her throat. "Well, that's enough for today I think. Start again tomorrow, first thing in the morning?"

You smile.

"Sure thing." you reply. Youmu nods to the wall, and proceeds out of the room, claiming her other sword before leaving. You don't even think about the room until she's left, and you realize the disastrous condition that the room is in is now on your shoulders to clean. Crap.

---

It's an hour later when you finish straightening out the room. You've replaced the benches and tables and picked up the empty bowls and cups. You've reset the door as well, and straightened out the storage racks, since they'd been a little disheveled by the wind as well. You're about to close the storage door when you see one of the kusari-gama that Youmu pointed out. Strange kind of weapon, you think. You pick one up and look it over. It's little more than a simple sickle attached to a chain, really. You imagine that it would take a good amount of skill to use one effectively without hitting yourself or tangling yourself up. You pull the rest of the chain off the wall as well, and hold the sickle on one hand, coil of chain in the other. You take a few half-hearted swings with the sickle. It's kind of too bad that you couldn't possibly control this kind of weapon.

... Control? You look at the weapon, the long chain attached to it, a sickle at one end, and a small weight at the other. It wouldn't really work, would it? You feel a bit of excitement at the idea, and you grab the weighted end of the chain and drop the rest on the floor, taking a few steps back. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. How did it work again? You imagine the chain in your hand, visualize it running to the sickle. That's right, a long metal string, you've done this kind of thing before. You open your eyes, and you focus on the kama at the end. If you will it to move, it should be able to move. You pour your attention into it, visualizing the sickle raising from the ground suspended by it's animated chain. Nothing happens, and nothing continues to happen for a good few seconds. It might not work after all, perhaps the power is incomplete without the body, or maybe it only works on dolls. Right when you've considered it a lost cause, your final attempt causes the sickle to rattle slightly and give you a start. Your excitement swells as you pick up the weapon and chain. It could be possible after all, just this knowledge alone satisfies you for now, and you coil the chain again and set the weapon back into storage. You'll have more time to play with it later. Maybe you could even seek advice for learning to control it better as well. For now though, you should probably head out of the training hall.

You gather the dishes and your swords and leave the hall, closing the door behind you. You can hear distant voices, sounds like Cirno again. So, she is back then, you had forgotten she was missing earlier. Your first stop is the kitchen, where you find Lyrica doing the dishes from what you assume to be everyone else's lunch earlier.

"Ah, you are still here." she says, taking the dishes from you as she looks at the swords you're carrying with a smirk. "Been playing with Youmu have you?" You look to the swords, then back to Lyrica.

"A bit, yeah." you say, smiling back. "She's teaching me how to use a sword correctly."

"I figured as much." she says, returning to the dishes. "You feel that crazy wind a little while ago? It sent things flying everywhere, poor Yuyuko's kimono came loose from it as well." she muses, casting a sidelong glance at your face. You can feel your cheeks getting a bit hot, and you avert your gaze. Lyrica chuckles a bit. "Too bad you weren't there~ Yuyuko's got a pretty nice body~"

"Wouldn't you like to get a better look at it Lyrica? Like say," Yuyuko calls out, causing Lyrica to freeze up as the two of you turn to see her floating through the kitchen. "From inside my stomach?"

"I was just playing around Yuyu~" Lyrica states, recovering nicely from the surprise as Yuyuko stops in front of her. Yuyuko looks over at you with a small smile.

"I'm sure that Kenshiro would have been a gentleman about it and covered me with his body." she says. You feel your face heat even more, and Yuyuko blinks a few times, then giggles. "That sounded a little weird, didn't it? I meant that you would have offered to cover me up while I fixed my state of dress." she goes on, also taking a look at the swords. "You've been busy with Youmu today, haven't you?"

"Ah, yeah. Lyrica just asked me that too. I'm learning from her." you say, and Yuyuko claps her hands a bit.

"I'm sure you'll learn rather easily." she says, bobbing a bit in place.

"By the way, what brings you around here? I thought you were entertaining your friend?" Lyrica says.

"I came here for something, but I've forgotten already..." Yuyuko says, taking a moment to tap her chin in thought. "Maybe I should bring back some crackers just to be safe." Lyrica laughs in response, and Yuyuko joins. One of the cupboards opens itself, and a white blob floats out with a package of rice crackers and deposits it in Yuyuko's hands. She floats away backwards, towards the kitchen door. "By the way, Kenshiro, a friend of mine would like to see you if you're not too busy playing samurai still." Yuyuko says with a grin. "She'll be here for a while still, so no rush. Whenever you want to, just drop by the living room." she finishes, waving to you as she disappears out the door.

You had spent about half the day training already, and everyone seems to be up and about. Now would be the best time to head around and check things out if you wanted to. You also recall your thoughts earlier about practicing danmaku again, and seeing if the rest of Gensokyo was dealing with this strange weather.

>>60659

Forgot my --- at the end.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.

Cheap points for everyone else, and leaves a back-up in case you run into trouble.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.

Why practice with a mundane kusari-gama when you can turn the Tsurugi into one?

>Why practice with a mundane kusari-gama when you can turn the Tsurugi into one?

Reminds me of that thing posted back in last thread. Wonder what would happen if we used a ribbon instead?

>>60666 here, just adding in the :

[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.

On top of this, you can consult with Alice as well. As far as Kenshiro knows, she seems knowledgable about magic, so maybe she'll have an idea.

Come to think of it... would we also want to wrap up the sword in something before we go? Like those white bandage things, since we don't have an actual scabbard. That, and there's still a chance we might run into Marisa, who may accuse us of theft so doing this may keep her from recognizing it. If so, also add in :

[x] Wrap up the sword, this can be done while you're flying.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.
[x] Wrap up the sword, this can be done while you're flying.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.
[x] Wrap up the sword, this can be done while you're flying.

>>60670
>Like those white bandage things, since we don't have an actual scabbard.

derp

>You walk over to the sword and lift it up, sliding it from the sheath.

Anyway, hopefully Alice won't be home and we'll get to go look for her at the SDM, meeting Patchouli and hopefully borrowing a primer on magic.

Maybe we can weave or sew the puppet strings into the bandages instead. Somehow.

>>60781
>Maybe we can weave or sew the puppet strings into the bandages instead. Somehow.

Too visible. We wouldn't be able to utilize our ghost invisibility effectively when using the sword telekinetically.

(/th/ - min/maxing)

Stop munchkin-ing. The fact that we're wielding The Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven should be enough.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.
[x] Wrap up the sword, this can be done while you're flying.

>>60781>>60794
Why do we need to use the wind-generating sword without holding it? That's not what we're getting the strings for.

And besides, we already HAVE a scabbard, you idiots. Stop trying to be Ichigo.

[x] DON'T wrap up the sword

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your SHEATHED sword with you when you leave.

>>60818
>That's not what we're getting the strings for.

It isn't?

The only other use I can see is to quickly draw the weapon or make it return if thrown.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your SHEATHED sword with you when you leave.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your SHEATHED sword with you when you leave.

>That's not what we're getting the strings for.

I thought that's why we're suddenly trying to make it into a combo-kusari-gama. Part of the way it works is that it can also wrap up opponents, and that you can use the chain part to help swing things around.

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your SHEATHED sword with you when you leave.

The Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven + Alice's skills and magic string (bonus to swing and reach) + Hina's skills (bonus to spinning attacks) = LOL HURRICANE

Wait. I can see using the strings solely to retreive the sword, but using it to increase our attack range? Wouldn't we need our skills in both sword-fighting and puppeteering to be greater both Alice's and Youmu's for that to work? And the Tsurugi having a wind-ability that you just figured out existed, let alone mastered?

>>60833
>Wouldn't we need our skills in both sword-fighting and puppeteering to be greater both Alice's and Youmu's for that to work?

I don't see how that follows. Any way you slice it, chucking a sharp object with no moving parts at someone is going to be easier than telekinetically controlling multiple dolls at a time to attack said person. And skill at swordplay a non-issue for such a maneuver.

No matter how much time we spend training under Youmu, studying magic under Patchouli or Alice, or learning ghost tricks from Yuyuko, we will never be as good at these things as they are individually, and it's for this very reason that we need to integrate our abilities to maximize their utility. Phasing through solid objects, invisibility, possession, puppetry, magic, the Kusanagi—all of these must be used if you're going to trump any of the Touhous in the upcoming SWR event.

Speaking of possession, we know we can possess inanimate objects, so might we be able to possess the sword itself? It'd be dangerous to do that outside of Hakugyokurou, since you'd lose the clip that allows you to maintain corporeality, but it might be useful if our back is against the wall.

In this case, the way I see it :

1) Get the strings so you can retrieve the sword if it's knocked out/thrown of your hand. Maybe you can try using them to make the sword launch a last-ditch wind attack, but it's not something you'll be able to rely on. Forget about controlling the sword from a distance, Youmu took years to get to her own level and she had set instruction and style. You have days and even worse, are attempting to make a unique weapon style to go along with it.

2) Get the strings, the bandages, and maybe a weight so you can make a modified sickle-and-chain type weapon. (Well, sword-ribbon-weight thing) Sew the strings into the bandages and have Patchy cast upon it the same protection spells she uses on her books. Alice's stuff may require an actual physical object to use, in this case I wouldn't want to mess with the Tsurugi itself - you can either do something to the bandages or whatever you're using as the other weight. On top of this, it would probably be a little easier to learn than manipulating the sword from a distance - physical feedback, and you can twirl around the weight-and-bandage end without the use of magic or even using up alot of your attention.

Of these two, I'd say the first is the more rational choice, while the second is the more interesting.

>>60839
>Forget about controlling the sword from a distance, Youmu took years to get to her own level and she had set instruction and style. You have days and even worse, are attempting to make a unique weapon style to go along with it.

You don't need to control it, like say a swordsman controls his sword; you just need to launch it, pointy end forward or in a spiral centered about the haft. Think of a Jedi's lightsaber toss, but tied to your hand with a filament.

According to PMiSS, controlling objects with threads of magic has nothing to do with physical dexterity; the control is entirely through magic. So even if we had the skill to wield the sword properly in our hands, that doesn't translate to being able to do so at range.

>>60845

oh god i lol'd

good to see you have a sense of humor over all this munchkining

I thought we were going to use the strings to control the kusarigama, not the sword. The point of it is to wrap the chain around opponent's weapons or limbs or whatever and then strike while their defenses are down, or just hit them with the weight from a distance. Having it fly around independently would give us better range and control and a better melee weapon (sword vs. kama).

Just a little something: why the FUCK are we taking the motherfucking sword with us? Shouldn't we be, like, training our danmaku skills now? You now, that mental note to challenge Cirno again?

>Speaking of possession, we know we can possess inanimate objects, so might we be able to possess the sword itself? It'd be dangerous to do that outside of Hakugyokurou, since you'd lose the clip that allows you to maintain corporeality, but it might be useful if our back is against the wall.

Put the clip on the sword itself. Every time you throw the sword, you dematerialize. Every time you manage to get back to the sword, you rematerialize, ready to strike. (Say, you throw the sword at the other person, it misses. Opponent tries to figure out where you went, you rematerialize and backstab for x4 damage.)

Assumes quite a bit on the cost/time needed to do such a thing. One possible way to improve it, making even more assumptions on the nature of magical threads/constructs, is to have a string/bandage/whatever attached to it, which you possess immediately after releasing the weapon. From the opponent's viewpoint, it looks like you disappeared immediately, and it may serve as a 'grounding wire' for repossessing the sword or using the clip. Furthermore, it doesn't seem the sword or the string would be much as beaten up by any counterattacks by the opponent, making us nearly-invincible for a short period of time.

BTW, for the purposes of this story, does an object need some special preperation before being a suitable object for puppeting?

>>60854
>I thought we were going to use the strings to control the kusarigama, not the sword.
THIS. Fucking hell, DO NOT WANT sword-chucks. sword-chuck. Whatever.

>>60855
>Shouldn't we be, like, training our danmaku skills now? You know, that mental note to challenge Cirno again?
AND THIS.

>>60847

You're a recently deceased human spirit in a magical pocket dimension preparing for the eventuality of battle, against what will be several of the worlds residents that outclass you in multiple different ways. You might have a slightly higher than average ability to manipulate the powers you've encountered through possession, but that doesn't mean you really have a chance. As many advantages as you can get for yourself is a good thing, especially since I'm not going to be following the game mechanics to represent any fights, and character's special abilities won't just be a flavour to their attacks, and I'm not sticking to just the cast of SWR either.

Just be thankful you're already dead.

>I thought we were going to use the strings to control the kusarigama, not the sword. The point of it is to wrap the chain around opponent's weapons or limbs or whatever and then strike while their defenses are down, or just hit them with the weight from a distance. Having it fly around independently would give us better range and control and a better melee weapon (sword vs. kama).

Weren't you guys just whining that a millennia-old magical artifact might break coming up against Youmu's blade, and somehow now you think a mundane, modified farming implement is going to stand up to abuse? Fucking stupid.

Any of the youkai you fight are going to have strength that will far outclass anything you can put up physically or animate through magic. Hell, some of them will cut right through the chain or just tear the links apart. And even if you did manage to catch them and they couldn't extricate themselves, they could just yank it away from you, whether it was in your hands or controlled by magic.

>Just a little something: why the FUCK are we taking the motherfucking sword with us?

I don't know, because here there's a Gensokyo-wide disturbance and to people who are already suspicious of you, like Reimu or the Moriya folks, you're going to be suspect number one? Or maybe because there's a shinigami out for your head who knows now what you look like?

>Shouldn't we be, like, training our danmaku skills now? You know, that mental note to challenge Cirno again?

We had been told in the last thread that combat will not be in the form of danmaku, but by then the bandwagon had already taken hold.

Kenshiro has only two items on his person: The magic sword and Yuyuko's hair clip. His clothes are part of himself. Now, if you're seriously injured or otherwise become unable to manifest physically, you'll be forced to either 1) leave your belongings and flee or 2) attempt to possess either the Touhou (unlikely, because fighting would drive your sync into the negatives) or the sword.

Bandages or any other mundane items are a bad idea. Not just because you'll have to leave them behind if you're forced to possess the sword, but also because burdening yourself with material objects will greatly reduce your ability to use one of few advantages you have—your ghost abilities. With the exception of Yuyuko's hair clip (because it literally is a part of her, a ghost) you likely won't be able to take them belongings with you if you attempt to phase through physical objects. They also will probably not become invisible; while this is not much of a problem for a sword controlled by a gossamer thread, anything else with a larger profile is going to give away your position.

Although people have been using the "sword-chucks" appellation, this is a misnomer. You're not swinging a sword around by a string physically so much as you're controlling the movement of the sword at a distance by magic, same as you would one of Alice's dolls. Instead of "sword-chucks" a more accurate mental image would be "dancing scimitar."

Like EZMode said, this isn't Easy Mode you're playing here.

>Instead of "sword-chucks" a more accurate mental image would be "dancing scimitar."

but it's a short sword

>>60876

Okay, how about "dancing scimitar with a 19-20/x2 threat range that counts as a light weapon"?

>We had been told in the last thread that combat will not be in the form of danmaku, but by then the bandwagon had already taken hold.

Not primarily, of course. It won't be the traditional exchange of spellcards at the very least. Think of SWRs gameplay thrown into 3 dimensions and everyone displays more of their abilities than seen in the actual game.

I'm not convinced that either 'sword-chucks' or 'dancing scimitars' would be a good path to follow. There's not only strings to worry about, but didn't we require a special ring on our fingers? Not to mention Alice makes her own dolls, so it's likely they were made to be manipulated easily in the first place. As for the dancing scimitar, you'd have to figure out how to move the sword while viewing it at a different angle with enough force and speed to make it dangerous - all while keeping in mind that you'll still have to play attention to what your own 'body' is doing. (Too slow, and the enemy can try claiming the Tsurugi for her own - bad!) Alice, who knows her craft better than we do is already slowed down by despite the use of pre-set spell cards and attack patterns.

I'd go with the sword-clip trick, since we can figure out if that works or not right when we leave Hakugyokuro and that it's a potentially powerful defensive option (As well as the option that also takes full advantage of our current state). Then we see if can use the strings to retrieve thrown a thrown Tsurugi or try to see if we can remotely set off a windblast, making it some sort of pseudo-grendade. Both can be strong tricks, and should take much less time to get proficient in.

>I'd go with the sword-clip trick, since we can figure out if that works or not right when we leave Hakugyokuro and that it's a potentially powerful defensive option (As well as the option that also takes full advantage of our current state). Then we see if can use the strings to retrieve thrown a thrown Tsurugi or try to see if we can remotely set off a windblast, making it some sort of pseudo-grendade. Both can be strong tricks, and should take much less time to get proficient in.

An acceptable compromise.

The strings may prove necessary even if only to retrieve the weapon. Even though the Kusanagi seems to carry its own force when swung, if you're caught off-guard it could easily be knocked out of your hands--or simply plucked from your grasp by some of the stronger Touhous. While the ring is material, I'm pretty sure the strings are magic and can't be easily cut or broken, but I may be wrong.

Ghost invisibility is still useful even if you're in melee and the sword itself is visible, as you'll telegraph much less and the enemy won't know where your vitals are. An obvious benefit to sticking with melee is that you might be able to then work the invisibility into your training with Youmu, as preventing her from reading you will go a long way towards equalizing your relative skill levels.

And if this sword-clip idea works and you still want to play dancing scimitar, you can always just possess the sword. Since the ring & thread will be tied to the sword, you'll be leaving nothing behind if forced to flee.

There are a lot of options available to you, but remember that time is a precious commodity. Every minute spent fiddling around with your weapon during Youmu's downtime is a minute you could've also spent learning simple, but useful, elemental magic--something we know we need to learn to complete Alice's route anyway.

>>60871
So in this story, touhous try to kill people when there's an incident rather than having harmless danmaku duels?

>>60922

Keep in mind that Youkai rarely die when they are killed.

>>60923
Seeing as we're liminal at the moment, what happens if we die?

>>60923
Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, maybe Youmu, maybe Eirin.

>As it would be dangerous for any youkai to defeat the Hakurei shrine maiden, many youkai felt that their existences had become meaningless.
>The shrine maiden, who was also tiring of a peaceful daily life with no out-of-the-ordinary occurrences, agreed to the youkai point of view that some battles were necessary. The result of this were the spell card rules, which allowed duelists to (seemingly) stake their lives in individual combat.

>>60922

Danmaku is Gensokyo's paintball, except instead of firing paintballs, they fire real guns loaded with rubber bullets. Even though it's non-lethal, it's still painful to get caught up in. That aside, I didn't intend it as meaning they're out to kill each other, but that you don't have to worry about being killed by potential injuries you could suffer. It's also an advantage, because being a ghost gives you better physical endurance and resilience.

Updating sometime later today. I'll be busy today before night school though so I don't think I'll get a lot of updates in.

Something occured to me.

We're going about with some sort of powerful, ancient sword, right? And we're going to demonstrate some control over it from a distance, possibly possess it at times to attack, and disappear when it's knocked from our hands, right?

Furthermore, we're not likely to outright say that we're a ghost who possess people, but we can get away with saying our name is Kenshiro - which unless it's spelled out could mean any number of things, but COULD have the meaning of sword in there. And if anyone questions our sword skills, we can grumble and say we're just 'a bit rusty'.

In short, people might mistake us for the sword's avatar or something.

>>60950
Awesome. I hadn't thought about it like that.

On an almost entirely unrelated note... In the OP picture, does anyone else keep seeing what Youmu is holding as a miner's pick?

>>60951
Fuck, cannot unsee.

>>60950
>In short, people might mistake us for the sword's avatar or something.

If you possess the sword, you'll gain part of its "memories" and then you could truthfully say that you are its avatar.

>>60969
You want to experience being made dead drunk and then cut into small chunks by a deity?

>>60969

Brush up on your Japanese mythology. The Kusanagi and Orochi are distinct entities.

>>60971

Attacker, Victim, Victee... pbfft! What's the difference?

[x] Make some snacks, and leave a note saying where you are going before investigating.
[x] Venture outside Hakugyokurou to check on the weather.
[x] Plan on dropping by Alice's house to borrow some puppet strings; handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.
[x] Bring your sword with you when you leave.

You decide you should head out and check the rest of the area, see how things are going elsewhere. First however, you're going to make a bit of something to eat to leave behind. Sandwiches are easy enough, and there's more than enough ingredients on hand for you to make several different kinds. You get to work on that first, and in several minutes you make a plate stacked with sandwiches. Now then, to explain where you went. Funny how there never seems to be paper or anything on hand when you need it most, though you do manage to find some in the library after your searches lead you there, along with a quill pen. You scratch out a quick note:

'Gone outside for a while to look around and see how widespread this red cloud phenomenon is. Enjoy these sandwiches in the meantime.'

You sign your current name and head back to the kitchen, and slide the note underneath the plate. With that done, you take your sword and head out of the mansion and take to the sky. The light snow persists, though you notice the occasional hole in the clouds where the sky shows through. On top of it, there seems to be a rather strong wind blowing through the area now too. You didn't notice that earlier when you were out here. Your mind falls to the sword you carry, maybe it really does have some kind of effect. The weather persists as you leave the yards and travel down the long staircase until you reach the gate. Flying over as usual, you're immediately surprised by the sight. Just outside the gate, the sun is shining in a slightly cloudy sky, not a hint of snow anywhere. In the distance, you can see several rainclouds that aren't moving, despite the rest of the normal clouds floating along the winds, and fog covers parts of the land. That's... weird. Patches of clear sky next to heavy, dark clouds, and rain. It's like the weather everywhere is going crazy.

You scan the landscape. There is a lot of odd weather everywhere for sure. Anywhere you go looks like it'll have something different going for it. The question on hand is where you go first. You should stop by Alices at some point at least, since handling that kusari-gama gave you an idea.

---

Felt sick earlier, so I took a bit of a rest. Still not feeling too good, but it's better than I was.

[x] Head for Alice's house.
[x] If she's not home, try the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Pretty straightforward here.

>>60985

[x] Head for Alice's house.
[x] If she's not home, try the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

[x] Head for Alice's house.
[x] If she's not home, try the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Updates?

[x] Head for Alice's house.
[x] If she's not home, try the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

Going to Alice's house now might not be too bad of an idea actually, get it out of the way at least. You begin your descent as you fly in the direction of the forest. It occurs to you along the way that you might run into Marisa, and that you're currently carrying the sword you stole from her house. You really hope you don't run into her.

As luck would have it, you don't, and you arrive at Alice's house without much problem. The only concern of yours is the light hail that currently falls over the area and how soon it had started. You knock on the door, and wait a few seconds for a response. When none comes, you reach to knock again when you hear Alice's voice from inside.

"One second!"

A few seconds later, the door opens slightly, and Alice peeks through the opening, smiling when she see's you. "Oh! Hello!" she says happily, opening the door a little more until she can see the weather, then she gives a start and blinks a few times. "Come in, come in, don't stand there out in the hail!" she says, stepping back as you enter the house. Alice looks like she just woke up, and is currently wrapped up in a blanket. She peeks outside, and you can hear her gasp, then she turns around to you. "The sky is red!"

"Yeah, it's been like this all day so far." you say, looking outside for a second before Alice closes the door.

"I've been asleep since this morning," Alice says with a slightly embarrassed smile. "I was up all night studying more." she says, making a shrugging motion towards the all too familiar table, before tightening the blanket she has wrapped around her, looking a little red.

"Something wrong?" you ask, looking her over. She shakes her head, but remains red.

"No, not really, it's just..." she starts, taking a few steps across the room towards her bedroom. "I'm not really 'decent' for male company..."

"Oh... uh..." you respond, turning your head away in an automatic response. "I didn't know, so..."

"I'll get dressed, one second." she says hastily, retreating to her room. You feel a little bothered now, part of you finds it kind of cute, and another regrets that you never took the chance to check out more of her body when you had the chance. Then again, maybe that's just your male instincts kicking in on their own when they wouldn't have had room to in a female body. A few seconds later, Alice returns to the main room wearing her usual dress, and brushing out her hair.

"Sorry for that. What brings you out here?" she asks, only taking a passing glance at the sword you're carrying.

---

[x] "Nothing to be sorry about. I ventured out today to check if this bizarre weather was affecting the rest of Gensokyo and not just Hakugyokurou, but I stopped by here in particular to ask if you could lend me some of the strings you use to control your dolls. Youmu is teaching me how to use a sword, and I'd think it'd be of some help if I could manipulate it at a distance."

>>"I'm not really 'decent' for male company..."
Fortunately, she lives in Gensokyo.

[x] "I'm sorry for just randomly dropping in on you at an inconvenient time."
[x] "I ventured out today to check if this bizarre weather was affecting the rest of Gensokyo."
[x] "Also, I wanted to ask if you could lend me some of the strings you use to control your dolls. I'd like to see if I can manipulate my sword from a distance."
[x] Remind her to be careful if she goes out today. Something's going on ...

[x] "I'm sorry for just randomly dropping in on you at an inconvenient time."
[x] "I ventured out today to check if this bizarre weather was affecting the rest of Gensokyo."
[x] "Also, I wanted to ask if you could lend me some of the strings you use to control your dolls. I'd like to see if I can manipulate my sword from a distance."
[x] Remind her to be careful if she goes out today. Something's going on ...

[X] "I'm sorry for just randomly dropping in on you at an inconvenient time."
[X] "I ventured out today to check if this bizarre weather was affecting the rest of Gensokyo."
[X] "Also, I wanted to ask if you could lend me some of the strings you use to control your dolls. I'd like to see if I can manipulate my sword from a distance."
[X] Remind her to be careful if she goes out today. Something's going on ...

Hmm. I would've waited a bit longer to see her reaction to this, if she wanted to go to SDM to look up on things I would've suggested going along with her so that you won't be driven away on sight. Being able to look up things would be useful for this and any future routes.

>>61115

We know it's necessary to learn magic to finish Alice's route, through which the SDM is presently the best option. Even alone, I don't think you'll be turned away if you ask Meiling to tell Patchouli that Alice's ghostly acquaintance has stopped by; Patchouli will understand your meaning and tell Meiling to allow you entry.

Also, since this isn't a social visit and we do need to get back to Hakugyokurou before that mystery guest leaves, it might be best to just deal with Patchouli alone, as well as making the meeting less awkward for Patchouli and allowing her to be more frank.

We have more than one in-character reasons for visiting the library, books on magic first of all, but also research about ghosts and their abilities, research on legendary artifacts (in attempt to identify your sword), and to get opinions on this strange weather.

I suppose, I tend to be a shade paranoid at times I guess.

You think Meiling would have rainbow weather?

>>61138
>You think Meiling would have rainbow weather?

This. This would be awesome.

>>61138

She'd be overjoyed if that were true—may not even notice us in her elation.

>>61138

I was about to respond with 'No, she'd have whatever she had in the game'. Then I remembered that she wasn't in SWR and made myself sad.

[x] "I'm sorry for just randomly dropping in on you at an inconvenient time."
[x] "I ventured out today to check if this bizarre weather was affecting the rest of Gensokyo."
[x] "Also, I wanted to ask if you could lend me some of the strings you use to control your dolls. I'd like to see if I can manipulate my sword from a distance."
[x] Remind her to be careful if she goes out today. Something's going on ...

"I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced. I caught you at a pretty inopportune time it seems." you say apologetically. Alice laughs a bit and waves her hand dismissively.

"It's not all that big of a problem, really. I should have dressed before I answered the door, but I was expecting it to be Marisa." she replies. "Would you like some tea? Weather looks terrible out there..." she continues, looking out the window at the hail.

"That would be kind of nice actually." you say, realizing you haven't had much in the way of food or drink so far today.

"Very well then!" she chirps, turning and heading to the kitchen. You follow along behind her and keep talking.

"I originally came out to check out this weather. It's a bit weirder than just a red sky and hail. Hakugyokuro is covered in snow, and from the sky you can see strange weather everywhere. Unmoving clouds, patches of fog, clear sky, it's all pretty strange."

"That does sound pretty odd," she says as Shanghai buzzes past her into the kitchen followed by a few other generic dolls. Alice enters the kitchen and holds the door for you. "I'd like to take a look at it myself sometime later."

"Well, if you do, be careful. I'm not sure how bad the weather can get, and I'm kind of worried that something might be happening." you say, patting the sword. "That's why I'm carrying this, and part of the reason I came here. I was looking for a bit of help on a certain matter."

"Oh? Well I'll try my best to help you." Alice says with a smile.

"I was wondering if you have any spare magic strings. I'd like to try controlling the sword from a distance." you say.

"If it's just something like that," she says, sliding one of the rings off her hand and passing it to you. "Here you go." You accept the ring without question and slide it on. By instinct, you unwrap the string that had been coiled around the ring itself before you even realize you're doing it. "It seems you still remember how they work." she says, turning to the room as a team of dolls hold a mdeium sized paper fan and work in unison to fan the building fire in the stove while Shanghai ringleads by rhythmically tapping a spoon on a metal cup. That's when you remember there's one particular doll missing.

"Where's Souseiseki?" you ask.

"I brought her to Patchouli for her to take a look at. She had a few things she wanted to check, since my- our- progress with it was beyond what she knows normally. She thinks if she can study the doll and the magic, she can try to find some kind of trick to circumvent the circumstances we've found ourselves in."

"Circumstances?" you echo. Alice nods and scratches her arm slightly.

"We don't have enough magicians in Gensokyo to cast a spell that Patchouli says we'll need to. She thinks she could find some kind of way to work around that if she took the time to study the doll. I hope she does." Alice says sadly. "I'd hate to come so far and be forced to quit because we can't fulfill a condition. Even if Marisa did help, she might want to claim partial ownership of the doll as well, knowing her, and that ghostly old master of hers is nowhere to be found. If we could find her..." Alice trails off, then shakes her head and brightens up. "Anyway, you should see if the trick you were looking for works."

"Right." you say, attention falling back to the length of string in your hand. You step from the kitchen and unsheathe the sword, tying the string around the handle. As if it was second nature to you, you release the sword and it floats in the air, suspended from the string. With a little focus, you're able to make the sword move as you wish. Alice provides a short applause for you while you practice.

"Seems that you've become quite skilled at my trick." Alice says, walking up next to you. "You learn pretty quickly, but I suspect that having had access to my memories and technique directly made the difference."

"That would seem to be it," you say, retracting the sword to your hand, and then practicing flying it straight out of your hand. "It's easy enough to do just by remembering how it worked for you. I could probably also perform your spellcards from memory as well."

Alice laughs. "I'd like to see that sometime." she says. She watches you for a while longer, until the whistle of the kettle catches both of your attention. You retract the sword as Alice heads into the kitchen. You resheath the blade and untie the string, letting it return to it's coil automatically as Alice emerges from the kitchen carrying a tray with tea. Once more, the dolls fly past her and clear off a spot on the cluttered table for Alice to set down the tea. You join in helping clear the table, and after a few minutes, you've cleared off the table once more, taking a seat as Alice joins you.

"So, what do you think is wrong with the weather?" Alice asks, taking a rice cracker from a plate. You can only shrug.

"No idea." you say, taking a cracker as well. "No one at Hakugyokuro seems to know. Well, Yuyuko seems to have an idea, and she can control it to some degree somehow. How, I have no idea." you continue, taking a bite of the cracker. "She's pretty confusing actually. She seems to know a bit about the outside world, and she already has a slight handle on this whole situation, but she's so bubbly and playful otherwise." You drift in thought for a while, trying to think of all you know about Yuyuko, and coming up rather empty handed. "I'd like to know more about her though." you say, turning your attention to the clip on your robe. Alice looks at it as well.

"What's that? Is it hers?" she asks, pouring some tea.

"Yeah. I apparently can't keep my form outside of Hakugyokuro on my own without her influence, so she gave me this clip. So long as I have it, I can maintain my form it seems." you say, taking a sip of your tea. After a few seconds of silence, Alice pipes up.

"You know, Patchouli probably has some magic that could help you out." Alice says, taking a drink from her cup. "If I introduce you to her as well, you could probably come and go from the Scarlet Devil Mansion on your own if you were ever looking for something."

That could be helpful, you think. Touching up on your magic, and at the same time you could try to help Alice with the final spell she needs for her doll, though she had mentioned a fourth person, from the sound of things, she might be hard to find. You could also take some time to look into a few other things as well, including anything that might be behind the current weather situation. If you went though, you'd probably spend the rest of the day there, time you could have spent investigating the weather situation and how others are dealing with it. Your decision could go one way or the other.

--

[x] "That would be lovely. Apart from meeting Patchouli properly, there's a number of things I'd like to look into at the library. Now today isn't good for me because I have a prior engagement back at Hakugyokurou, and I'll likely have sword training with Youmu in the morning, but how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As far fulfilling these 'conditions' you mentioned for constructing the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could; it's not just knowledge I've retained from you, but your goals and interests as well. This 'ghostly old master' you mentioned interests me in particular; I'd assumed I had met all the important ghost personalities in Gensokyo back in the Netherworld?"

[x] "That would be lovely. Apart from meeting Patchouli properly, there's a number of things I'd like to look into at the library. Now today isn't good for me because I have a prior engagement back at Hakugyokurou, and I'll likely have sword training with Youmu in the morning, but how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As far fulfilling these 'conditions' you mentioned for constructing the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could; you know it's not just knowledge I've retained from you, but your goals and interests as well."
[x] "This 'ghostly old master' you mentioned interests me in particular; I'd assumed I had met all the important ghost personalities in Gensokyo back in the Netherworld?"

Mima~

Amusement. Suppose if we visit Patchy and end up borrowing a few books? Since our own status might change at any given moment, we'd have to put in a note inside the books to return them to Voile if they are not there by a certain date. Then, to balance things out you put another note for Patchy on what you're borrowing and where the books will be.

End result, we end up starting a card catalog system for Voile.

[x] "That would be lovely. Apart from meeting Patchouli properly, there's a number of things I'd like to look into at the library. Now today isn't good for me because I have a prior engagement back at Hakugyokurou, and I'll likely have sword training with Youmu in the morning, but how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As far fulfilling these 'conditions' you mentioned for constructing the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could; you know it's not just knowledge I've retained from you, but your goals and interests as well."
[x] "This 'ghostly old master' you mentioned interests me in particular; I'd assumed I had met all the important ghost personalities in Gensokyo back in the Netherworld?"

Mima might have an idea about how to go about sneaking into Higan to deliver the letter, seeing as how she's a fellow escapee from the karmic wheel.

We shouldn't lay our whole hand on the table. Besides, from Alice's perspective, all this mentioning of "we still have this and this from you" could understandably be getting a little creepy.

[x] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[x] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

>>61269
Agreed, no reason to be so wordy.

[x] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[x] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

[x] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[x] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

[x] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[x] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

>>61241
Instead of untying the string from the sword, why not remove the ring and leave it hanging from the hilt? That way, we can slip the ring on when we need it.

[X] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[X] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[X] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

[x] "Marisa had a 'ghostly old master'?"
[x] "That would be lovely. There's a few things I'd like to look into at the library. I wouldn't be able to go today though; how about tomorrow afternoon?"
[x] "As for these 'conditions' you mentioned for the doll, I'd be more than happy to lend whatever aid I could."

"Marisa had a ghostly master?" you say after a while. You find that a little surprising.

"Yes. I forget her name, or I'd have used it. I met her once, long ago." Alice says, looking down at her cup with a sad expression. Something tells you there's a memory there, but nothing you recall. "She was pretty strong. It's not surprising that Marisa is as over the top as she is now. She spent some time around the Hakurei Shrine, but a few years ago, she just disappeared. Not too surprising for a ghost, but for her..." Alice goes on, taking a sip from her tea. Afterwards, she smiles. "You might have something in common with her. She escaped from Hell, if she's to be believed. If you ask me though, the reason she disappeared was because she was caught and sent back."

A ghost that escaped from Hell? That's something else entirely, and you feel a little bit of curiosity eating away at the back of your mind. You'd like a chance to meet this woman. She would probably have some good advice for you if you ever got caught again and had to make another getaway. You take a sip of your tea and mull on the thought for a while, but you have no idea how you would even begin to look for a missing ghost, something you find slightly ironic.

"Regarding visiting the mansion," you say, changing topic. "I'd love to go, since there's some information that I'm looking for, but I'm a bit strapped today, and I have obligations in the morning. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon?"

"Oh, that's fine." Alice says. "You can come around whenever is convenient for you. I'll tell Meiling and Patchouli to expect you if you show up alone. Just stop by the gate first and let Meiling bring you in. Not even I'm allowed to skip passing the gate without getting chewed out." Alice says with a slightly embarrassed grin.

"That's good then. If all goes well, I might even be able to help you with the final condition that doll needs." you say, with a grin of your own. Alice looks thankful, but a little upset.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but even Patchouli says that she would have a hard time with the spell, and Marisa and I aren't really all that close to Patchouli's level yet either. A year of constant study might get me to that level, but Marisa..." Alice pauses, shaking her head. "She'd be an old woman before she ever got to that level at the rate she actually progresses, if she didn't become a youkai first. Same would happen to you, I'd imagine, though I'm not sure what would happen if a ghost became a magician."

"Even if there's a workaround or not, so long as I can help progress in any way, I'd be glad. It's not just you that's interested in finishing this doll." you say.

"I'd accept any help I could get, in that case." Alice says, sipping at the last of her tea. You've finished yours as well, and you're starting to feel you should get moving, whether you're going to investigate the weather disturbance more, or head back early.

---

[x] Head to the Hakurei shrine.

We want to assure Reimu that we don't have anything to do with this weather before the situation turns even more sour. More importantly, she's our best lead on Mima's whereabouts.

[x] Head to the Hakurei shrine.
[x] After Reimuan gaems, head to SDM

I'm a little worried this will backfire on us...

Kenshiro: Hey Reimu, what's up? Just stopped by to let you know I didn't do any of this funky weather stuff.
Reimu: Wait, you're telling me in advance that you're innocent? Before I had to go out knocking heads?
Kenshiro: ...Well, um... yeah?
Reimu: Bullshit. Nobody pre-empts me! Now I'm even more suspicious of you. IT'S DANMAKU TIME!
Kenshiro: No, Reimu, no!

[x] Head to the Hakurei shrine.

Wait, someone decided this was a good idea? I'll vote for it, but mainly because I find this amusing. Simply because I thought of something for when we would see Reimu again.

[???] Apologize for the other day. Alice is her friend too, right? If some suspicious spirit went out and possess MY friend, of course I'd be mad at it. To say that it was only duty that made her move. Or worse, money.

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou
No bandwagon for me. Besides, we still have houseguests.

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou

>assure Reimu that we don't have anything to do with this
are you insane

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou

>[x] Head to the Hakurei shrine.

Horrible idea.

[X] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[X] Get back to Hakugyokurou

[x] Perform a quick look around Gensokyo, to see if the weather is different anywhere else
[x] Get back to Hakugyokurou

After a bit more idle chatter with Alice, you excuse yourself and get ready to leave. You're going to take a bit more of a look around before heading back. You thank Alice for the hospitality, and make your way into the air. It's still hailing, though not as bad as it had been. Nearby, around the area where Marisa lives, you can see rainclouds. You leave the Forest and pass over the village, noting that there doesn't seem to be any anomalous weather, though you do see that clouds entering the sky over the village rapidly disappear. After a while, you leave the village, passing near the lake. Scarlet Devil Mansion is surrounded by a light fog, and a rainbow looks to hang in the air above it. A pass by youkai mountain shows you strong winds and overcast skies, even though the sky is clear near the peak. Even the bamboo forest has a fog hanging in it, though you're not sure if that's a sign of bizarre weather or somewhat normal for the otherwise misty forest.

Your quick look ends with a pass by Reimu's shrine, where the sky is also clear. You make sure to keep a bit of distance though as you pass, both hoping that the area around it doesn't affect you in some way, and that Reimu doesn't spot you. She might have let you go before, but you're sure if you actually set foot on her shrine grounds she'd waste no time in attacking you. You do notice one anomaly though, a strange, small cloud hovering around the property. It takes you a few seconds to realize that the cloud is moving towards you. You stop to watch it, and before long it's within several feet and not stopping. You start to move again, but the cloud overtakes you anyway and you stop once more. Something is strange about it, the cloud smells like sake.

"I am the mighty God of the Hakurei shrine! You will pay me your respects!" a voice announces, seeming to echo from everywhere. The sound gives you chills, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you feel like you recognize the voice. You're about to question the voice, when a face forms in front of you, and you recognize it immediately. The orange haired horned girl, Suika was it? No wonder you smell alcohol.

"I don't think you're a God, unless this shrine wirships an Oni." you say. Suika's eyes open in surprise, and the cloud dissipates as she reforms, a half-drunk, half-playful smile on her face as she rubs her head.

"If you knew, you could have played along a bit, y'know." she says, before turning on her side and taking a position as if she was laying down and proping her head up with her arm. She pulls out the stopper on her gourd and takes a drink. "Though that makes me wonder how someone I've never met knows my name." Ah, damn.

"I heard about you," you say, digging into the memories you had from Alice's life. You recall some event a while ago where this girl was involved. "From Alice, er, blond girl with dolls?" you say. Suika nods, seems she does remember her. She takes another drink.

"Still, kind of unusual to see a man buzzing around in the sky, which is why I came by to take a look. It's almost as rare as a donation to the shrine." Suika says, chuckling to herself as she sits up, legs crossed. "So what is it you're buzzing around for?" she asks, looking up at the sky. "I bet it's about this weather, huh?"

"Actually, yeah." you reply. "I was a little concerned with the situation with the red sky and the strange weather, so I was taking a look around."

"With a sword?" Suika says, hiding her smile behind a drink from her gourd.

"Well, uh..."

Suika laughs, waving her gourd. "I'm just playin'. All sorts of people carry around weird things with them here." she says, holding her gourd up for a moment. "I don't think anyone would bat an eye at how you look unless they thought you were dangerous." Suika takes another drink, then shakes her gourd. "Anyway, if you want to go now you can. I was just killing time while Reimu has a hissy fit."

"Why would she be doing that?" you ask, your curosity winning.

"People are worried about this weather too. All sorts of people have come by to complain and suggest she do something, like that dead girl from the big house, or that witch." she says. Witch, eh? You definitely need to go then, you don't want Marisa catching you carrying the sword you stole.

"I think I'll get going now," you say, floating away a bit. "I need to get back in case something starts to happen with this weather." With this, you begin to make your way back to Hakugyokuro.

Your return takes several minutes. You reach the top of the staircase, still wishing there was a quicker way in and out of the area. The area is still covered in snow, but it was no longer falling, which felt like a good thing. You could hear some voices and shouting from the front of the house, sounded like Cirno, or at least she was the loudest. No doubt in your mind that the ice fairy would be enjoying snow. You're wondering if Yuyuko's guest is still around as well, and you're wondering if you should go straight there to see or take your time to see the others first.

---

>You're wondering if Yuyuko's guest is still around as well

This person is why we didn't leave with Alice to see the library. We should go see them now.

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

40-40-20 odds it's either Mima, Komachi, or Siki respectively.

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

>>61372
Yuyuko knows about our flight from judgement, so I doubt she'd just bring MachiMachi and Siki to us. It's more likely that it's everyone's favorite gap youkai.

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

Ack. Forgot about that.

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

>>61371
>"I am the mighty God of the Hakurei shrine! You will pay me your respects!"
Acting a little Mima there, Suika.

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

>>61374
>Yuyuko knows about our flight from judgement, so I doubt she'd just bring MachiMachi and Siki to us. It's more likely that it's everyone's favorite gap youkai.

Not if she's convinced them to call off their search. The Yama allows Yuyuko to pick souls to go directly to the Netherworld, remember?

[x] Meet this person Yuyuko wanted to introduce you to.

Best to see whoever it was Yuyuko had by first, since you're not sure how long they would be there for. You head into the mansion and head towards the living room. Your attention is diverted for a moment though by the sound of unfamiliar voices coming from the kitchen. You make a detour towards the kitchen, and stop in the doorway at the sight of nine large, yellow and white tails, attached to an equally tall blond woman doing something at the counter, back to the door.

"Chen, could you bring that plate to me?" the woman asks. Chen? Wait-

"Coming Ran!" Chen calls back, walking into view from the direction of the sink. "Here~!"

"Thank you~" the tall woman says, taking the plate. Chen takes a step back and looks towards the door.

"Ah! There's someone here!" Chen says, her tails flicking behind her. Quickly though, her face changes from excitement to confusion. "Huh, do I know you?" she asks. The tall woman turns around, and smirks as she sees you.

"You must be the 'Kenshiro' Yuyuko has been talking about." the blonde, 'Ran', says maintaining her amused grin. "Yuyuko always has had a thing for poor jokes."

Chen looks back and forth between the two of you, still looking confused. "His name is a joke? I don't get it." she whines, to which Ran simply chuckles and rubs her head.

"It's okay Chen, it's a dumb joke anyway." she says reassuringly to the younger girl before turning back to you. "I have to say, the sandwiches you made were taken pretty well, so Yuyuko asked us to come make some more. You can have the honours of carrying the tray back then." she says, stepping aside. The tray she made has at least twice the sandwiches you originally made, stacked on top of each other. You head across to the counter as Ran and Chen step aside, and take up the tray. Might as well come bearing gifts at least. The two others leave the kitchen before you, but Ran remains in the hall, apparently waiting for you.

"My master's been wanting to meet you, the ghost that's been wandering around after escaping from Higan." Ran says as she walks alongside you. You get a chill from that. A few people know, sure, but for someone that hadn't met you to know? Well, Yuyuko could have told her, but you have a creeping sense of dread.

"How's she know about me? Did Yuyuko tell her?" you ask, a little worried. Ran sighs.

"She knows a lot of things, she spends a lot of time prying in other people's business. It's reaaaAHH!" Ran ascends into a shriek, hopping forward and reflexively grabbing one of her tails, turning around. You nearly drop the tray in surprise, and Ran's looking a little red in the face. She clears her throat and continues walking on. "Got my tail caught on something it seems." she says, not even stopping to wait for you this time. What the hell?

You follow behind Ran in silence until you reach the living room. Ran opens the door and you step inside. The living room is decorated in a western style, much like Yuyuko's room. It looks more like a lounge in a wealthy hotel than somewhere that someone would have in their house, but you don't mind it too much. Chen is hanging from the back of a leather couch, next to another blonde woman with a white hat. Yuyuko sits in a chair across from her, and smiles when she sees you.

"You sure know what to bring with you to entertain." Yuyuko says, eyeing the tray of sandwiches. The woman turns as well, and your chest jumps slightly. That woman, you've seen her in a dream before!

"Ah, the famous 'Nobody'." she says, standing from the couch. From her dress, she looks much more at home in a room like this, a very western styled piece. Wait, did she just say- "So, how is it having your own form again?" she asks without allowing you a chance to speak up. "I'm sure it's better than being a shapeless blob."

"Well, yeah." you say, walking towards her with the tray. She takes several steps back towards another chair and sits herself down, leaving the couch open for you, and the coffee table in front of it. You set down the tray and take a seat, with Ran taking a seat next to you. You catch a faint smile on the other womans face as she looks at Ran, who expertly avoids making eye contact as she hands her one of the sandwiches.

"Kenshiro, this is a friend of mine, Yukari Yakumo." Yuyuko says, gesturing towards the woman as she lifts up a folded fan and waves it once in front of her, then holds up the sandwich and does it again, before putting the fan aside and separating the sandwich into two neatly cut slices. How did she even do that?

"Wondering how I did that, aren't you?" Yukari asks, casually taking a bite from the sandwich. No way, she's not actually reading your mind, is she? "I'm not reading your mind." she says. Bullshit. "I'm quite a follower of your exploits." she says after swallowing. "There's a rather interesting chronicle of your deeds I've been keeping up to date with." she says with a smile that gives you chills. There's something about her you really don't like.

"Do you have anything you'd like to ask me? I'm pretty sure you have something on your mind." Yukari asks.

---

>No way, she's not actually reading your mind, is she? "I'm not reading your mind." she says. Bullshit.

i lold

I'm thinking there's quite a bit. Does Kenshiro remember what was said in "Sanctuary of the Mind"?

Not votes in this case, but possible choice selections.

[ ] Girl in the dream, she has a weird way of helping people, but thank her anyway.
[ ] Who, what are you, Yukari?
[ ] (If Kenshiro doesn't remember SotM) Alot of people die, but why do I retain such abilities? Why me?
[ ] I am being used here I think, but for what?
[ ] (If Ken remembers) Collateral damage? They don't simply kill me on purpose or even accidently kill me, I'm just acceptable collateral damage. All my hopes, dreams, friends and fears just to be given up and to be replaced as they were a piece of candy dropped by a spoiled child. And I am the evil one here?

>>61403

These are good, though a few might have unexpected answers.

[x] >>61403

>"She knows a lot of things, she spends a lot of time prying in other people's business. It's reaaaAHH!" Ran ascends into a shriek, hopping forward and reflexively grabbing one of her tails, turning around. You nearly drop the tray in surprise, and Ran's looking a little red in the face. She clears her throat and continues walking on. "Got my tail caught on something it seems." she says, not even stopping to wait for you this time. What the hell?

I see what you did there, Yukari.

Having reread Sanctuary of the Mind:

[x] Continue to stare at her in bewilderment for a moment, then regain your composure. "Yeah. We've met before. I remember you. I was sitting on a leather sofa much like this one. And I remember what you said: 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' In spite of those words, or maybe because of them, I have the feeling you've done a lot for me. However, now that I'm given time to really respond, I can say for all your apparent omniscience that you're wrong: I am not unfortunate, what I've done is not at the expense of others, and this life I've lead, bodied or not, is no tragedy."
[x] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

[x] Continue to stare at her in bewilderment for a moment, then regain your composure. "Yeah. We've met before. I remember you. I was sitting on a leather sofa much like this one. And I remember what you said: 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' In spite of those words, or maybe because of them, I have the feeling you've done a lot for me. However, now that I'm given time to really respond, I can say for all your apparent omniscience that you're wrong: I am not unfortunate, what I've done is not at the expense of others, and this life I've lead, bodied or not, is no tragedy."
[x] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

>[] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

Regardless of how Yukari actually responds, I think here we're given the first chance to really communicate with Yuyuko on a deeper level. Our completion rate with her was still below 20% last checked, so we still have a way to go there. Given that the only other karmic renegade we know of in Gensokyo is Mima, herself polar opposite in character (haughty, worldly, and possibly malevolent), we may have a chance to truly influence Yuyuko here for the better.

x] Continue to stare at her in bewilderment for a moment, then regain your composure. "Yeah. We've met before. I remember you. I was sitting on a leather sofa much like this one. And I remember what you said: 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' In spite of those words, or maybe because of them, I have the feeling you've done a lot for me. However, now that I'm given time to really respond, I can say for all your apparent omniscience that you're wrong: I am not unfortunate, what I've done is not at the expense of others, and this life I've lead, bodied or not, is no tragedy."
[x] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

>>61419

That makes sense.

[x] Continue to stare at her in bewilderment for a moment, then regain your composure. "Yeah. We've met before. I remember you. I was sitting on a leather sofa much like this one. And I remember what you said: 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' In spite of those words, or maybe because of them, I have the feeling you've done a lot for me. However, now that I'm given time to really respond, I can say for all your apparent omniscience that you're wrong: I am not unfortunate, what I've done is not at the expense of others, and this life I've lead, bodied or not, is no tragedy."
[x] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

[x] Continue to stare at her in bewilderment for a moment, then regain your composure. "Yeah. We've met before. I remember you. I was sitting on a leather sofa much like this one. And I remember what you said: 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' In spite of those words, or maybe because of them, I have the feeling you've done a lot for me. However, now that I'm given time to really respond, I can say for all your apparent omniscience that you're wrong: I am not unfortunate, what I've done is not at the expense of others, and this life I've lead, bodied or not, is no tragedy."
[x] Explain to Yukari how you think you fit into the grand scheme of things: You haven't been thrown wholesale from the Wheel of Life; you're just waiting for the appropriate time to climb back on.

You feel momentarily dumbstruck. This woman is something else entirely, on a whole other level from everyone, even breathing feels wrong when she's around. Despite this, you recover your senses and come up with what you're going to say.

"Yeah, we've met before. It was in a room a lot like this one, leather sofa and all. You said something to me, 'How unfortunate you are, even when laid to rest you never truly sleep; you reclaim life at the expense of others; collateral damage, such a tragedy.' " you say, recalling your memories of the experience. "Despite that, I think you've done a bit more for me than you let on. However, even with your apparent omniscience, you're wrong about a few things. I am not unfortunate, and what I've done is not at the expense of others. This life I've lead, with or without a body, is not a tragedy."

The air seems to hang still, and Yukari sits with her face partially concealed behind her fan. You feel good about what you said, but the feeling slowly fades into dread once more as the silence continues. No one responds, no one even moves. You look around, feeling a slight panic, before turning back to Yukari. She's taken her fan down, and wears a smile that looks warm, but feels overwhelmingly condescending.

"You think so?" she asks finally, crossing her legs as she sits. "I'll give you credit for remembering, but do you really know the entire truth about your existence here?"

"What?" you start, before getting cut off once more.

"You died in the outside world, this much is known to you. A terrible traffic accident claimed your life." she says, giving a pause you assume is meant for you to acknowledge this. You give a nod, even though your memories of the incident is unclear. "How would you feel if I told you that you weren't supposed to die in that crash?" she continues, pausing once more. This time, you don't feel like you have a response. "What if you had survived the crash, and only died because the emergency crew were careless in handling you? That you died because someone didn't do their job properly?"

"I... what happened?"

"Even I'm not sure. There's not much I can know about events on the outside when I'm so busy in Gensokyo. What I do know is that your family is launching a lawsuit over the incident, and more events will come into the light when that goes through." Yukari says, shifting her seat slightly. Aside from her, no one else has said anything or moved. Yukari's smile persists, she has to be doing something here.

"I still died though," you say in the pause. "Even though that..."

"Yet still, you went on to remake your life here, taking liberties as you please. The dollmaker in the forest, she has a happier life now, but what did it cause? The librarian girl's servant is jealous of the true relationship between them, and the undead princess is upset that someone else is taking away one of her friends, and so she orders around her loyal dog with more selfish commands in an attempt to make herself happier, which filters through to everyone else she interacts with as she deals with the new stress in her life." Yukari says. "Or the witch in the forest you stole that sword from. You broke the lock on her door as well, and she doesn't even know it's broken still. What she does know is that someone stole an object she considered precious to her, and also took some notes that were important to her research. She's lost quite a bit of sleep trying to remake what she lost, even through her depression."

You don't know what to say. You had no idea about things like that happening. Yukari meets your eyes and her smile widens.

"The curse goddess of the mountain, she's realized her love for the kappa girl. That kappa girl, however, spends more time watching movies and playing games than she does working with machinery now. There's a good chance it'll turn into an addiction that she'll cover up as an interest in outside technology. Her decline in interest in technology comes as a burden to that scientist friend of hers, who has to turn to other sources for mechanical help. Their friendship might even drift apart if this goes on too long." Yukari says, standing from the chair and walking over to you. She lowers herself into your lap, sitting across your legs and leaning towards you. "You even did a little something to that cat my shikigami owns, a little corruption of innocence." Yukari says, her smile staying consistent. "But your life isn't unfortunate at all. You get to have the happy moments of their lives to yourself and leave them in confusing new situations they might not feel entirely comfortable with, even if they secretly wanted it, and all the new problems that come with it." Yukari says with a slight giggle as she runs a gloved finger along your jaw. "As long as you get their happiness, it's a job well done, and you stay ignorant of the ripple you've caused. A little selfish, wouldn't you think?"

You don't have anything to say. It's true, isn't it. You made these changes in their lives because it was what they wanted, and though it brought them happiness, you've caused more problems in the aftermath you were completely ignorant of, and you have no idea how to handle them without trying to fix the problems yourself, which might involve revealing the secret of your work to everyone involved.

"I'm sure might understand why I'm here now then," Yukari says, running her finger down your neck. "I've seen what you've been doing, and how you change people lives. Right now, you're working on a very, very good friend of mine," Yukari says, turning her head to Yuyuko. "A dear friend to me that I would do anything to protect. I warn you to be careful, handle her with kid gloves and treat her with the kindness and respect that comes from the bottom of your heart instead of the mind. If you hurt my friend, either in the course of events or the aftermath..." Yukari trails off, turning her body and adjusting her position so that she's straddling your legs, she leans in, her breasts pressing against your chest as she brings her mouth to your ear. "I know many, many ways to destroy a man, ghost or not." she whispers, the same cool tone in her voice that causes you to shiver. She leans back, brushing some of her hair aside.

"Of course, you could always give up now. No harm will be done, and everything will be fine, or..." she trails off again as she slides herself forward, moving farther into your lap. "You could come with me, if you think you have what it takes to fix a very important problem that everyone in this little world doesn't even know about yet. You'd also have less of a chance to have something terrible happen to you as a result of your actions, and only stand to face the normal course of terrible things happening to you from lack of caution." she says as she works herself back a bit and proceeds to stand. She takes a step back and lifts her legs into the air as if she was sitting. From this position, she floats back to the chair she was in, returning to the position she was in, and once more unfolds her fan an holds it in front of her face. Silence fills the air for a few seconds.

"Well? You don't have anything to ask her?" Yuyuko asks, causing you to jump slightly. You look to Yuyuko, then back to Yukari. You can almost see that damnable simle through her fan. It makes you cold just thinking about it.

"No, I guess I don't." you say. There's nothing you can really do about this. Whatever Yukari did, no one else had even seen a minute of it. This womans power is truly unnerving. Yuyuko looks at Yukari as she takes a sandwich.

"You're quite lucky, Yuyuko." Yukari says as her friend picks up a sandwich. "I was just admiring Kenshiro's look, it reminds me of a time long ago when I had a man around my home. Shame he had to be human." she says with a sigh. "Human lives are a little more than a minor fling of passion to long lived folks like us, it's a bit sad, don't you think Yuyuko?" she continues, casting a small glance to you.

"Mmm, maybe." Yuyuko replies, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Though if you have good memories of the time you spent together, it's not such a minor thing. Still..." Yuyuko stops for a moment, taking another bite. "In my case I could always bring them back to me if they died." she adds with a wink.

"Oh, that's true." Yukari says. "Guess you've got a hand on the situation if you ever have a mortal love." Yukari says, once more shooting you a sidelong glance. Yuyuko doesn't respond to this, she just continues to quietly eat her sandwich. After a few moments, Yukari speaks up again, turning her attention towards you. "Look at us! Reminiscing like old women, I'm sure you're not interested in hearing us chatter about such things. You have anything you'd like to talk about?"

---

[ ] "How is bringing happiness to some a bad thing just because others become unhappy? Isn't this what life is - the changing relationships, interests and the growth of people the whole basis of living? You can't stay friends forever unless you both let your lives stagnate bit by bit.
So what if Marisa is upset over something she lost? Perhaps now she may appreciate what others feel when she takes things that are important to them.
So what if this 'undead princess' is upset her friend is moving away from her, maybe it's time she learned that people have their own lives and that she doesn't have the right to feel she owns them like that.
So what if Nitori's friend has had to turn to other sources? Maybe they'll becomes new friends to her, maybe she might like one of them, maybe she might fall in love, maybe... i don't know!
If people knew the consequences of every action they took then would people ever bother to do anything anymore? Would they take chances? Would they be impulsive at all? If people could tell the future like that... THEN WHAT IS THE POINT OF EVEN LIVING? Don't blame me just because i'm at least choosing to live and in living I try to help those I can! I'm not a god who can help everyone he happy! I'm just me!"

Write in MAX!

>>61433

Fuck no. You may be okay with that shit, but I hate it.

Okay yeah, i was kinda wordy. condense it or something, but i basically want him to be asking exactly why Yukari wants to blame him for shit no-one could have predicted given she's y'know, no better half the time *and* is standing in a position of stagnation herself and even willfully wanting others to be just as bad from the sounds of it.

[X] "Well, I'd wanted to mention that it seems weather all over Gensokyo has gone wild, not just up here. You're obviously more familiar with Gensokyo than I am, so I was wondering if you might have any idea why. I'd hate to think this weather might keep me from being able to continue trying to help others."
[X] Give Yukari a nice, friendly smile.

We do need to get back to that at some point. Resolve the problems we might create without realizing it, etc. Idealism is fine, ideals are a goal that you keep trying for, etc.

>>61433
There's just one problem: the way we've been solving problems has been through possession, that is, taking away other's will in order to impose our own view on their lives.
Teaching Remilia or Marisa a lesson? Is that not the highest level of arrogance possible? To consider one to be above others to the degree that you see them as naught but manipulable toys that must be scared straight.
You speak of relationships changing over time, yet you ignore that the relationships are not yours, you are nothing but a puppeteer, setting the stage to your liking. You speak of idology, to use pure thought to arrive at definite conclusions in a world the very nature of which defies such molds, and scorns at rigid thought patterns that are supposed to be applied to all that is.
Nay, you claim that it is Yukari that's a mastermind manipulator behind the scenes, yet all she is doing is trying to keep a closed world with limited resources in balance, to keep the very world you want to change, alive.
Angry Desu, Anonymous, it is you that is evil.

>>61439
>Angry Desu, Anonymous, it is you that is evil.
Well yeah, I was kinda hoping people would have picked up on that by now.

Anyway it's not that we intend to teach Marisa or Remilia a lesson, just pointing out that they can learn lessons from those experiances that have developed due to our work with other people. Let us not forget that almost the moment we had left Alice, Marisa had come along and stolen half the notes we'd done - leaving Alice upset thinking she couldn't understand them due to the missing parts.
Yes we ignore that relationships we directly mess with are not ours but i would point out that we are acting on memories and feelings we have been told already exist within the person we're controlling. Perhaps, yes, it is arrogance, but is it not just as arrogant for Yukari to 'maintain the balance' by essentially denying everyone the chance to change themselves in any meaningful way? Not only that but it seems, to me at least, that she's even doing this with Yuyuko, a person she claims as her best friend - she's seemingly not all that happy that Yuyuko is changing slightly after all.

If you want to take this a step further we could, and i stress could, even claim that anon is not simply causing changes for the sake of it but is perhaps making the changes that Yukari has denied them for so long actually happen. Admittedly such a view is pretty damn arrogant, but if you consider that we're making many years of denied small changes occur all in one go, then it does bear up to a certain level of scrutiny. (though just 'cuz i said that i know someone is going to step in pick it apart with ruthless efficiency now)

I'm under the impression that Yukari may think we have complete control over when we de-possess people, giving us the image of someone who just cuts and runs before responsibility mounts. We haven't even had a chance to view a prolonged "epilogue" to our former actions until this possession. She's spot-on about our opinion of our actions being directed only towards the benefit of the individual we are possessing, I guess; I don't recall us ever paying involved attention to another secondary party's affairs. Like mentioned, however, we get extracted almost capriciously.

... or am I the only person who's thought we were being justifiably selfish this whole story?

I don't have a response to contribute to the pool of ideas. Whatever it IS, though, KISS.

Damn, EZMode. Your Yukari just handed No Body his own ass verbally. And to be honest, I don't think I'd have it any other way.

Still, No Body believes in the essential rightness of his mission. Yukari is hypocritical here. Direct manipulation through possession is no worse than her manipulation of countless lives through coercion and manipulation of boundaries: Both infringe upon the agency of others to bring about a desired end. Yet No Body may still maintain the moral high ground because for lacking the malice and selfish attachment Yukari is apparently motivated by. The fact that Yukari has lived so long and hasn't ascended up karmic chain herself means the veracity of her views and thoughts are not inviolable. That doesn't mean he can or should fight her or make her his enemy, but that doesn't mean he should just roll over and take the abuse.

Yukari also errors here in thinking of No Body only in terms of the person who died, when in reality who he is now is a conglomeration of hopes and dreams of those he has possessed as well. She assumes there is a fundamental self-other distinction to be made between him and the person he possess when it seems that may not be the case. His actions as Alice for example at least initially were not done out of desire for self-preservation (as a possessing spirit that is) or karma or morality, but were merely the fulfillment of Alice's, and hence No Body's, desires.

[x] "Far be it for a good houseguest to snub one of his hostess's friends, but the prospect of further conversation with you leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Yukari Yakumo." Stand and leave for your room while avoiding Yuyuko's gaze. You need to sulk.

The price of embarrassment and indignation here is that you are unable to ask her about the cause of the weather (and possibly many other pertinent questions), yet it is one that I feel must nonetheless be paid.

>[x] "Far be it for a good houseguest to snub one of his hostess's friends, but the prospect of further conversation with you leaves a bad taste in my mouth, Yukari Yakumo." Stand and leave for your room while avoiding Yuyuko's gaze. You need to sulk.

Changing vote to this due to previous discussions.

>>61443
>The price of embarrassment and indignation here is that you are unable to ask her about the cause of the weather (and possibly many other pertinent questions), yet it is one that I feel must nonetheless be paid.

To be fair, it's not like she's all that likely to tell us straight out what's going on with the weather anyway - so we're probably not loosing out too much there.

[x] “You're right Yukari. When I was 'helping' those people it wasn't just for their sake, but you have to understand that my existence at that time was somewhat different than it is now. I had no way of existing that didn't involve taking someone's body without their permission, so I tried to make things better for them as a sort of payment. If the ramifications of my actions have caused you grief then I do sincerely apologize. However, it seems far more likely you're just trying to manipulate me into feeling sad and threatened enough to drop everything and help you with that very important problem you mentioned.”
[x] “And you succeeded, congratulations. Now tell me about it.”

[x] "Sorry, I stopped paying attention about halfway through your speech. It was a little long winded."

[x] Inquire about the strange weather.

Screw being a sensitive bitch. I noticed in every CYOA that anon turns into a little emo girl. Crying is for women and children. I hope Yukari rages a bit.

>> even through her depression.
[ ] "Yukari can we talk alone for a bit?"
[ ] "Sure, I'll help, but get somethings right. Its not as if I chose to steal bodies, and my help was mostly to TRY to make up for my theft of their irreplaceable time. Though I admit satisfying my charitable and other desires is a nice side effect. If not for the body snatching I would have no more impact than anyone else I'm sure."
[ ] "Do not take me for some selfless martyr either, the whole point of my escaping from the shinigami was to extend and enjoy my allotted time and was completely selfish. You will not be able to just guilt trip into doing what you say. I thank you for telling me about the witch though, she has sparked my interest and I do have concern for her."

>>61451

your write in is surprisingly similar to what I was trying to vote for, but with less angry at Yukari

>>61451
>>61454

You guys realize Yuyuko didn't hear anything Yukari said to us right? All she has to do is feign ignorance, being the capable actress she is, and you look like a total spazz in front of Yuyuko, doing Yukari's work (that of splitting apart any relationship you two share) for her. Just as planned!

hah, watch as the problem we can fix is the fact that we're distracting Machi' from ferrying other souls causing another buildup of souls

>>61457
notice sir, the "speak to you alone" part of my post

also, after having spent years and years with Yukari if we told Yuyuko that she border talked us it'd be so unbelievable to her?

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

As to why I put this in -

Counter a bunch of words with only a few. While I often like long write-ins, short ones can do if they're well-directed.

Yukari already pointed out the unintended consequences of what we are doing, she can also get within our dreams as well, she already knows all the justifications or excuses we can tell her.

But, despite her lecturing, the fact she gave us this power, guided us on our way, shows that she herself believes that we can be a force of good. And that we know that she believes. If we have to change our approach, our attitude, then fine. If we have to go back for the rest of eternity and make adjustments, then fine. But you haven't brought down the shinigami on us, we are still here.

>>61459
>notice sir, the "speak to you alone" part of my post

Are you >>61455? If you are, notice sir, I did not reference your post number.

>also, after having spent years and years with Yukari if we told Yuyuko that she border talked us it'd be so unbelievable to her?

Asking her to choose to trust you over her friend is something you do not want to do at this stage in the relationship. She simply doesn't have the emotional investment in you to side with you against someone whose friendship she has treasured for millennia. You're playing right into Yukari's hand.

>>61466
just call me EFG

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

I like this one the most. Short and to the point, and not even bothering to try and get the last word in or justify yourself to Yukari with walls and walls of text, which is what I'm sure she wants to see(she is an extradimensional troll).

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

Eh, long-winded speech isn't the virtue here. Short and precise, show her we don't just sulk like a bitch.

>>Still, No Body believes in the essential rightness of his mission. Yukari is hypocritical here. Direct manipulation through possession is no worse than her manipulation of countless lives through coercion and manipulation of boundaries: Both infringe upon the agency of others to bring about a desired end. Yet No Body may still maintain the moral high ground because for lacking the malice and selfish attachment Yukari is apparently motivated by.

Ah, I don't think Yukari is the only one being hypocritical here. Your motives may be more "pure" (or at least, you believe them to be so) but the fact still remains that no matter how in-line you believe yourself to with someone's desires, you are still ultimately robbing them of their free will to attain them. Yukari might manipulate others into doing what she wants them to, but at least her targets are technically choosing to play into her hand. You can say that what she does is no better than what you do, but you cannot honestly say that what you do is fundamentally any better than what she does, either. Your motives might not be as bad as Yukari's generally are, but so long as your methods include hijacking someone's body, mind, life, and free will, you can't rightly claim the ethical high ground over the gap demon.

Even the lesser of two evils is still, essentially, EVIL.

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

Short.

>>61482

You commit the same fallacy Yukari does in assuming the will of No Body and the will of his host is extricable. From what we've heard from our previous hosts, the line of intentionality between the possessed Touhou and the unpossessed Touhou is continuous; their consciousness doesn't seem to be trapped or placed on the back burner.

Secondly, everyone possessed so far has been thankful for it, in spite of the gross invasion of their privacy. QED.

>>61489
Just because they're thankful for having their mind and body invaded, their most private thoughts and desires laid bare for a total stranger without their permission, does not mean it's not still in some way "wrong".

Of course THEY'RE thankful. In exchange for the loss of what should be the highest level of privacy anyone could hope for, something no one should be ABLE to have violated let alone actually have it happen, they get to have their toughest decisions made for them and the things they wanted given to them, all without having to overcome the burden of deciding for themselves or considering the consequences. They've been given what they want through a means so easy for them they didn't even have to DO anything themselves, completely guilt-free. Of course they're thankful, and of course they don't mind. If someone wants something badly enough, they'd gladly sign away their very soul for all eternity to get it. Becoming the temporary "victim" of the ultimate trespass and violation of privacy isn't much different, just with a shorter duration where they give something up in exchange for the loss of being able to agree or disagree to enter into the arrangement. But there are some things that should never be given up, some boundaries you should never allow others to cross, no matter how briefly.

Of course, this isn't even taking into account the repercussions these little "exchanges" have. Is it right to help one relationship to bloom while at the same time sewing the seeds of another's destruction? Is it right to teach someone a lesson by sinking to their level and making yourself no better than they are to do it? And while you might think absolutely nothing of the heart of the selfish "princess", what about the heart of poor helpless servant?

>>61497
>Of course THEY'RE thankful. In exchange for the loss of what should be the highest level of privacy anyone could hope for, something no one should be ABLE to have violated let alone actually have it happen, they get to have their toughest decisions made for them and the things they wanted given to them, all without having to overcome the burden of deciding for themselves or considering the consequences. They've been given what they want through a means so easy for them they didn't even have to DO anything themselves, completely guilt-free. Of course they're thankful, and of course they don't mind. If someone wants something badly enough, they'd gladly sign away their very soul for all eternity to get it. Becoming the temporary "victim" of the ultimate trespass and violation of privacy isn't much different, just with a shorter duration where they give something up in exchange for the loss of being able to agree or disagree to enter into the arrangement. But there are some things that should never be given up, some boundaries you should never allow others to cross, no matter how briefly.

You undercut your own argument that personal sovereignty is inalienable by the assertion that the consequences of these actions—that of Nitori making a hobby of watching movies, of Marisa working hard (her raison d'etre) to regain from the loss of notes and a sword she stole in the first place, and any other of these consequences that you apparently think are so terrible that they override any good that was brought about in the first place—because you here again are deciding for them so paternalistically that these outcomes are wrong, and that their lives should be lived some other way, willfully ignoring whatever their own feelings on the matter are.

As far as a utilitarian claim, the statement the amount of good done does not justify the means, there is in fact very little empirical evidence to back it up. Yukari could simply be lying or exaggerating or mistaken, while you have seen clear as day the good that has come of your actions. Her own hypocrisy, vested interests, history of manipulation, threats, and unwillingness to allow you to respond to her in a reasonable fashion all point to the fact she has an angle, and this brings everything she says into question.

>Of course, this isn't even taking into account the repercussions these little "exchanges" have. Is it right to help one relationship to bloom while at the same time sewing the seeds of another's destruction? Is it right to teach someone a lesson by sinking to their level and making yourself no better than they are to do it? And while you might think absolutely nothing of the heart of the selfish "princess", what about the heart of poor helpless servant?

And you could continue second-guessing any action done for the sake of someone else in this same manner, to the point where you are paralyzed for fear of unforeseen consequences, paradoxically leading to yet greater evils through your inaction.

Your moral philosophy seems to be more concerned with being good rather than doing good; while this might suit the life of the recluse, it doesn't suit someone whose life is so actively intertwined with that of others, such as the protagonist, and, yea, even Yukari herself.

>>61498

And to add to this, let me reiterate, again, that you assume the will of No Body and the people he possesses can be clearly delineated, that they exist as distinct, robust entities, when it appears from No Body's interior monologue and actions that there simply is no fact of the matter regarding where the will of No Body ends and the will of Alice or Hina beings.

Congratulations, EZMode. No one knows what to do anymore.

Just respond to her the same way you respond to anything else that's tl;dr:

[X] "Yeah, well you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

Yukari knows enough pop culture to catch a FotNS reference. Let's see if she's cool enough to catch this one.

Hm? Am I seeing something here that others dont? Because I don't think Yukari is actually telling us to stop. What I do see however, is her saying not to get so full of ourselves and think. She's playing Devil's Advocate.

Until now, we've been in easy mode. Unless we went out of our way, we wouldn't have been able to fuck up things too badly. Heck, our first possession was Cirno, which may have been a tutorial on Yukari's part - Cirno's an idiot anyway, you'd have actively try to get her into a worse situation. And all of the things Yukari pointed out? They're still problems that aren't insurmountable to fix. But keep doing what we've been doing, and we WILL do something that cannot be repaired.

I think it would also be good to look at things from Yukari's perspective. Despite being a pain in the ass, I believe she still does good - people just don't like, understand, or even know that she's doing it, but she does it anyway because no one else would. (For instance, in SWR she actually destroys Reimu's shrine a /second/ time - because Tenshi didn't actually learn her lesson the first time and tried to turn Reimu's shrine into a second home for herself. Can you see any other character doing this?) Maybe after a thousand years of doing this, knowing that people have and will use her name as a cuss word - maybe she feels a bit lonely, just a little bit?

Meanwhile, we're measuring how we do good by the immediate effects and how much our hosts like us. To her, it would be like a researcher bragging about all the drugs he made making people feel good without considering the side-effects. Remember how she was saying that maybe we died because the emergency crew was careless? I doubt it's because they didn't want to help you.

Finally, keep in mind this is the person whom Yuyuko calls 'friend'. There's a reason for that.

>>61503

Yukari launched into a hypocritical tirade against meddling in the lives of others in response to the protagonist's attempt to justify his own existence, and then prevented any chance of rebuttal. She is not interested in your thoughts on the matter; in fact, every move she has made here is calculated to make you react emotionally rather than rationally.

This is not her making polite suggestions, and this is not her looking out for your best interests; she is giving you an ultimatum: Cross me at the threat of your own ruin. No number of apologist arguments can change the fact that she is pulling a dick move.

>Until now, we've been in easy mode.

And we've been in lunatic mode ever since it became write-in only, all because Anonymous chose to take a card from the deck rather than the ones handed to you. EZ_Mode has confirmed such.

>Yukari launched into a hypocritical tirade against meddling in the lives of others in response to the protagonist's attempt to justify his own existence, and then prevented any chance of rebuttal. She is not interested in your thoughts on the matter; in fact, every move she has made here is calculated to make you react emotionally rather than rationally.

Do you even know what hypocrisy is? It's not 'telling you something in a way you don't like'. I don't see her even claiming to help anyone.

>This is not her making polite suggestions, and this is not her looking out for your best interests; she is giving you an ultimatum: Cross me at the threat of your own ruin. No number of apologist arguments can change the fact that she is pulling a dick move.

Read it again. She didn't say anything about crossing /her/, she threatened you if you did anything to /Yuyuko/.

>And we've been in lunatic mode ever since it became write-in only, all because Anonymous chose to take a card from the deck rather than the ones handed to you. EZ_Mode has confirmed such.

Hard mode, with an example of Lunatic being pissing off Reimu while possessing Suika. Try again.

>Yukari launched into a hypocritical tirade against meddling in the lives of others in response to the protagonist's attempt to justify his own existence, and then prevented any chance of rebuttal. She is not interested in your thoughts on the matter; in fact, every move she has made here is calculated to make you react emotionally rather than rationally.

Do you know what hypocrisy is? It's not simply 'telling you things in a way you don't like'. Yukari never claimed to be the one going about doing good.

>This is not her making polite suggestions, and this is not her looking out for your best interests; she is giving you an ultimatum: Cross me at the threat of your own ruin. No number of apologist arguments can change the fact that she is pulling a dick move.

No. She threatened you in the case you did anything to Yuyuko. Try reading it again.

>And we've been in lunatic mode ever since it became write-in only, all because Anonymous chose to take a card from the deck rather than the ones handed to you. EZ_Mode has confirmed such.

As of Thread 14 post 51561, this is hard mode, with an example of Lunatic being pissing off Reimu enough so she hunts you again, while possessing Suika. He specifically said that it would be like this regardless.

>>61506>>61507
The card we pulled from the deck was the same as one of the choices. This is just hard mode, I think.

Yukari's a hypocrite using a warped argument and vague threats to manipulate us against our will.
Any type or degree of interaction with another person will affect their life somehow. No matter where you draw the line on how strongly you impose your will on another, Yukari has been crossing that line farther than we have. Who is she to judge which changes in someone's life are positive and negative, whether one outweighs the other, and whether this should have been expected beforehand? Who is she to come into our life and tell us not to do the same to others?

All she has is raw power over us, not authority, not moral high ground. We aren't buying her bullshit, and we were planning to help fix the weather in the first place.

Best one so far:
[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

>>61506>>61507
The card we pulled from the deck was the same as one of the choices. This is still just hard mode.


Yukari's a hypocrite using a warped argument and vague threats to manipulate us against our will.
Any type or degree of interaction with another person will affect their life somehow. No matter where you draw the line on how strongly you impose your will on another, Yukari has been crossing that line farther than we have. Who is she to judge which changes in someone's life are positive and negative, whether one outweighs the other, and whether this should have been expected beforehand? Who is she to come into our life and tell us not to do the same to others?

All she has is raw power over us, not authority, not moral high ground. We aren't buying her bullshit, and we were planning to help fix the weather in the first place.

Best one so far:
[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

*Grumbles* No more arguing when the server is on the fritz...

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

Hmmm... posting seems to not work too well at the moment.

>Yukari launched into a hypocritical tirade against meddling in the lives of others in response to the protagonist's attempt to justify his own existence, and then prevented any chance of rebuttal. She is not interested in your thoughts on the matter; in fact, every move she has made here is calculated to make you react emotionally rather than rationally.

Do you know what hypocrisy is? It's not simply 'telling you things in a way you don't like'. Yukari never claimed to be the one going about doing good.

>This is not her making polite suggestions, and this is not her looking out for your best interests; she is giving you an ultimatum: Cross me at the threat of your own ruin. No number of apologist arguments can change the fact that she is pulling a dick move.

No. She threatened you in the case you did anything to Yuyuko. Try reading it again.

>And we've been in lunatic mode ever since it became write-in only, all because Anonymous chose to take a card from the deck rather than the ones handed to you. EZ_Mode has confirmed such.

As of Thread 14 post 51561, this is hard mode, with an example of Lunatic being pissing off Reimu enough so she hunts you again, while possessing Suika. He specifically said that it would be like this regardless.

>>61499

To clarify this point a little.

Initial possession begins, and you're simply residing within their body, with access to all their motor functions and surface thoughts. At this point, it would be similar to climbing into a car, sitting on the owners lap, and driving the car from vague clues they give you about where to go. As you live in their body and increase your sync rate, you actually begin to merge with the Touhou's own soul and mind, taking on more of their memories, more control of their abilities. It's because of this that if you attain full completion, you can opt to remain a character, and permanently become them, attaining a non-standard End, even though that hasn't exactly been explored. Near the beginning, there's a distinct difference that fades as you begin to merge, and soon enough you are the driver.

Anyway, I think I've let this stew long enough.

>>61508
>Do you even know what hypocrisy is? It's not 'telling you something in a way you don't like'. I don't see her even claiming to help anyone.

Hypocrisy is holding someone accountable for the unforeseen, indirect fallout of their actions while ignoring one's own role in their genesis.

>Read it again. She didn't say anything about crossing /her/, she threatened you if you did anything to /Yuyuko/.

Oh please. Her angle is as clear as day:

>"You could come with me, if you think you have what it takes to fix a very important problem that everyone in this little world doesn't even know about yet. You'd also have less of a chance to have something terrible happen to you as a result of your actions, and only stand to face the normal course of terrible things happening to you from lack of caution."

Her warning, her touching, her feigned concern for her friend (and really, how is it even possible for you to hurt Yuyu?), all of her posturing is in order to get you to do something for her.

>>61512
Yeah, there are double posts EVERYWHERE.

They're as abundant as those damnable baby-folk.

>>61506>>61507
The card we pulled from the deck was the same as one of the choices. This is still just hard mode.


Yukari's a hypocrite using a warped argument and vague threats to manipulate us against our will.
Any type or degree of interaction with another person will affect their life somehow. No matter where you draw the line on how strongly you impose your will on another, Yukari has been crossing that line farther than we have. Who is she to judge which changes in someone's life are positive and negative, whether one outweighs the other, and whether this should have been expected beforehand? Who is she to come into our life and tell us not to do the same to others?

All she has is raw power over us, not authority, not moral high ground. We aren't buying her bullshit, and we were planning to help fix the weather in the first place.

Best one so far:
[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

>>61506>>61507
The card we pulled from the deck was the same as one of the choices. This is still just hard mode.


Yukari's a hypocrite using a warped argument and vague threats to manipulate us against our will.
Any type or degree of interaction with another person will affect their life somehow. No matter where you draw the line on how strongly you impose your will on another, Yukari has been crossing that line farther than we have. Who is she to judge which changes in someone's life are positive and negative, whether one outweighs the other, and whether this should have been expected beforehand? Who is she to come into our life and tell us not to do the same to others?

All she has is raw power over us, not authority, not moral high ground. We aren't buying her bullshit, and we were planning to help fix the weather in the first place.

Best one so far:
[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

[x] Silence.
[x] "And even though you knew, counted on that this would happen..."
[x] "...here I am, still."
[x] "What do you want?"

>>61517
>Anyway, I think I've let this stew long enough.

Writing now?

>>61523

I'll write the update, but I won't post it until the site stops being so dodgy.

>>61524

It seems to have stopped an hour or so ago

>>61525

Hmm.

>>61531

testing

>>61517
Oh ho, so you've been chortling at us, have you?
I can hardly wait to see how this turns out.

>>61533

I admit I let it go for longer than I would have because I was interested in seeing where it would go. However, I lost track of what people were saying and I have no idea half of what you all were talking about. I think I only just barely understand the write in that won as well.

>I think I only just barely understand the write in that won as well.

I hope you'll be taking things into consideration then.

>>61535

Definitely not following. I'm rather slow tonight.

>>61536

You should be able to solve this.

Still, maybe lighter fare like your story in /other/ would be a better focus at present?

>>61534
I have no clue what it means. Voting's closed now but I would have gone with something simple:

[ ] "Er--uh, I ..." Recovery. "I'm really still much of a stranger myself. I still don't know much about how most people spend their time in Gensokyo."
[ ] "What do you do with your time, Ms. Yakumo?"

Innocuous.

On second thought, though, "Sleep" is a short answer ...

>>61544

>On second thought, though, "Sleep" is a short answer ...

Ohohoho...

>>61551

WILL YOU QUIT WITH THE COCKTEASING AND UPDATE ALREADY

>>61534

Hmmm... maybe I could try explaining it better.

First off, Kenshiro does not try to defend himself. I doubt that Yukari would be interested in what words he would offer anyway, and he should have time to allow her own words to sink in anyway. But, you probably already know this part.

Second one would be the trickier one. If Yukari predicted us as an irredemmable screw-up, then she would have never did what she did for us already, including offering a choice that would allow us to possess the other one close to her. But instead, she lets us blunder a little bit and simply lectures us instead of making us disappear.

In short it's taking the fact of our continued existence here and now, tying it the fact the only reason that is is because Yukari allows it. And then, realizing that between Yukari's intelligence and power such a thing is not done out of ignorance or lack of power - that she MUST have saw something in us.

Thus, the response is a way to acknowledge that fact to her in a rather cryptic way - Yukari can probably catch on to what we're saying.

Does this help any? It makes perfect sense in my own mind, but I'm not good at explaining things.

>>61553

>possess the other one close to her

I mean, possess Youmu who is close to Yuyuko. Gah.

>>61553

I think the issue is probably more that it reads totally out of place given the actual context you're supposed to be responding to:

>After a few moments, Yukari speaks up again, turning her attention towards you. "Look at us! Reminiscing like old women, I'm sure you're not interested in hearing us chatter about such things. You have anything you'd like to talk about?"

Note that this after he'd already answered no to Yuyuko's question of whether he had something to ask Yukari.

I'm afraid this is an example of Anonymous choosing a response arbitrarily to bandwagon on for the sake of expedience, without really thinking things through, and as a result leading to the opposite of the intent: Confusion on how to write the response causes the writing progress to grind to a halt.

Well, this turned out to be a clusterfuck all-around, didn't it?

I blame myself.

>>61562
>I blame myself.

So do I

inb4autosage