[X] Take the hairpin.

{X} Any final things to do on the way out? Any strategies or anything?
-{x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
-{x} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
-{x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor

You know how you can prank people at the beach by burying everything but their head in the sand? That hairpin lets us do that with concrete. That ought to keep the wicked hermit out of commission for a while.

You know, with Ichi/Yumemi I was waiting for the time a folding chair woukd be used to bash someone's head, but I never imagined it would be against Seiga, of all people.

Grabbing the hairpin is really tempting...
But is it worth it? I mean, it could be a great tool to have, but Seiga won't be too happy to part with it (maybe putting a target on our backs), and we have to see if we can even use it.

I'll see what you think about it and vote later.

[X] Take the hairpin.
We can't just leave her with this. She'll be pissed as hell later, but she won't be able to do her usual tricks without it, making it much easier to evade her when necessary. Plus, funny hairpin shenanigans will open up our options so much more and let us get through larger openings we wouldn't need to super squeeze our way through. Plus plus, it's an insane option to have. It may seem simple, but any good TTRPG player knows that even the simplest of magic tools/spells can be used in the most extraordinary and unexpected of ways.

{X} Any final things to do on the way out? Any strategies or anything?
-{x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
-{x} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
-{x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor
And, as a demonstration, we'll knock her out of commission for longer. They're gonna have to fuckin' chisel her outta there.

Anyways, though! It's safe to say that Tsukasa sold us out, considering Seiga's comment about how she was told Kosuzu couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag. That bitch is getting everything she deserves and then some later, hopefully at the first chance we get.

BY GOD IT'S YUMEMI WITH THE STEEL CHAIR

don't trust seiga to not have something anti hairpin theft. and if she wants it back, well. i'd rather avoid making ourselves a target for yet another enemy. and one as dangerous as seiga, at that. but i'm open to more arguments for taking it before caring my vote.

don't forget to grab the zombie!

And well in terms of putting a target on our back, we're already thinking of grabbing the Yoshika... so in for a penny?

[X] Take the hairpin.

{X} grab Yoshika as they go! (remember to remove the Talismans first! not that the one who the alarm is for is conscious enough to receive it right now...

...wait... uh with the hermit knocked out here, is it alright to still call the artillery strike...?

...wait.

>From what I heard, the little fox had no teeth at all

FROM WHO?!?

>>210525
I wouldn't take his hairpin BUT
taking her amulet and stealing Yoshika would really upset her.

>Her face was pale, and she was staring at a bloody red patch on the back of Seiga’s head.

BAHAHAHAHA. Easily one of the best spent votes so far.

Honestly, I don't think we should take the hairpin. At least, we shouldn't permanently take it. I think using it to escape and then leaving it behind as we get away would be a good idea.

Seiga is gonna be pissed enough as is, but she can probably brush if off. If we prank her or steal her shit, though...

Actually... we also can't leave the Probability Space Vessel here, can we? We either need to use it as our get away or make sure it gets hit in the artillery strike.

>>210530
forgot to vote

[X] Leave the hairpin.
{X} grab Yoshika as they go! (remember to remove the Talismans first! not that the one who the alarm is for is conscious enough to receive it right now...

this is going to be fun x)

>>210533

I think that the PSV is somewhere else? Probably still at the crash site and either Yachie or Keiki are securing it?

also... I'd like to add to my vote at >>210529

-{x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
-{x} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
-{x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor

{X} call in that artillery strike when their ride gets going!

...hopefully being only having a head above ground will protect Seiga? do we care? should we add a hard hat to her?

Okay. I've decided. Not gonna argue the using it to escape angle. We fight our way out.

[X] Leave the hairpin.
{X} Reimu covers the front, Kosuzu covers the back, Mayumi covers both.
{X} If we can find a quick way to arm Yumemi, do it. If we can't, just keep moving.
{X} Ask Yumemi if she knows where her ship is as we leave and then fire an artillery strike on it from a safe distance.

If anyone wants to melt the beams, my recommendation would be to vote to take the hairpin. I'm not interested in hinging a plan on getting cornered, though.

>>210535
Is it actually?

Hm.

>>210536
{UNDO} Ask Yumemi if she knows where her ship is as we leave and then fire an artillery strike on it from a safe distance.

Gotta think about this more. This is super open ended, and to be honest nobody who has voted so far has actually come up with a strategy. Shitty thing to say, but we need to get OUT. Not prank Seiga or steal Yoshika.

[X] Leave the hairpin.

There is no way this thing ISN'T cursed, or has a tracking device on it, or is just in general fucked with and booby-trapped. Leave the damned thing.

I can't come up with anything to do on the escape just now.

But just as an aside, I'd like to say thank you to Gooboi, Kosu, Tallyanon and everyone else here on the thread! Cheers to you all!

well it sounds like the escape is already set, we're just being asked for anything else to add on to this, (such as grabbing yoshika or anything to hold Nyan Nyan off longer.) The extract vehicle is already on its way and the way to it thanks to the hole the path to it is clear. (and I think we just dealt with all the outside wolves just now?)

>>210537
>>210535
The PSV exploded when Yumemi tried to use its railgun on Saki. We don’t need to worry about it now that is a pile of rubble.

>>210525
>maybe putting a target on our backs

There’s already a target on our backs. You really think Seiga is going to let hitting her with a steel chair slide? Sure it was Yumemi that did it, but Kosuzu’s interference allowed it to happen.

Might as well deprive Seiga of as many weapons as possible before she goes after us. I mean, if someone came at you with a gun, and you managed to knock them out, would you really let them keep the gun to use against you again?

Besides, that hairpin should make escaping much easier.

[X] Take the hairpin.
- {X} And while we're robbing her blind, try the hairpin out to give her a haircut. You could probably use the hair for... something. This was a very tactical and not at all mischievous idea.
- {X} Stuff her into the floor up to her neck.
- {X} And take a route on the way out to try and pick up Yoshika, if she's still in the hole. (Remember to remove the talismans!)

If we're in for a penny, let's go in for the whole bank. I'd say to go for her wallet if I thought there was a reasonable chance she carried one. Sure, she might be infuriated later, but that's a problem for Futuresuzu.

>>210541
I'm not saying we're safe since it's clear we're still in danger, but there's a huge difference between defending yourself and stealing her stuff. On the former, whatever the next time I see you I'll get you. On the latter be assured I'll hunt you down for my stuff lol

Also, I don't think we should leave the hairpin with her, but I'm saying we shouldn't take it with us either: drop it somewhere, throw it down a river, whatever. The thing is unknown and possibly dangerous to us if it's booby trapped or something.

>>210540
The escape vehicle is coming, but we're not out yet. There are still wolves around ("The sound of howls echoed throughout the building.") and a hole in the wall is probably better access for them than an exit for us.

>>210542
Why not tie her shoes together while you're at it? lol

>>210543
Using the hair as shoelaces would be tactical, but not nearly enough setup for actually using them somehow to be funny. The shoes don't appear to normally have laces, and they'll be too busy being stuck in the floor anyways.

Good spirit, though! If we had the time to doodle on her face, I'd suggest that as well.

>>210543

eh, but the lead in to the vote does sound like the escape strategy has been set, we're just being asked if we're adding anything for support or bonus rather than asking us for an escape strategy itself.

>>210546

do you mean hairpin for your first post?

though that does bring up a good point about keeping the talismans for study... though maybe the first one? the second one might have tracking on top of just the alarm...

also anyone else have any opinions on the artillery strike at this point?

[x] Take the hairpin.

- {x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
- {x} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
- {x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor
- {x} Step 4: Swipe Yoshika and have her be our friend. (Remember to remove the talismans!)

I am all for ruining the hermit’s day.

>>210547
I did mean the hairpin.

[X] Leave the hairpin.
I'm with >>210538, there's no way that thing isn't trapped. I'd be reluctant to even touch it barehanded.

[X] Take the hairpin.
- [X] Ask Reimu to cover it in talismans to seal it just in case, and show it to Keiki the first chance we get.

{X} Get something to tie the hermit before she wakes up, to gain extra time just in case. This is a hardware store, there must be zip ties or rope nearby at hand.

{X} Check on Mayumi. What has she been preparing for the getaway? If she was able to prepare something, now is the time to use it.
- {X} As soon as we're in safe distance, tell her it's boom time.

{X} Don't bother with the jiangshi, she will only slow us down.

This is the most I could come up with. I'll be lurking for a while to see if anyone else has other ideas.
Of course, I'm guessing we're not out of the water yet.

[X] Take the hairpin.

[X] Take the hairpin.

{X} Search Seiga for anything else useful.

{X} If possible, grab Yoshika on the way out. Make sure to remove her talismans.

Let's take everything from her. She's gonna be pissed as hell anyway! Though, in-character, I suppose Kosuzu has no real reason to be so greedy and/or pettily vengeful. At least searching Seiga is good sense, she's an important contractor, the Keiga might have given her keys or an ID card or intel or something that could come in handy if we ever have to bust into another Keiga stronghold at some point.

[X] Take the hairpin.

Not only can we reduce an enemy's capabilities, but we get an item that heavily synergizes with our natural abilities.

[X] Take the hairpin.

{X} Any final things to do on the way out? Any strategies or anything?
-{x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
-{x} Step 2: Stuff SEIGA in the hole up to her neck
-{x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap SEIGA in the floor
-{x} Step 4: If possible, grab Yoshika on the way out. Make sure to remove her talismans.

Write-ins: Screwing your enemies over since 2008.

SEIGA Family Guy death pose when? Lol jk

[X] Take the hairpin.
- {X} And while we're robbing her blind, try the hairpin out to give her a haircut. You could probably use the hair for... something. This was a very tactical and not at all mischievous idea.
- {X} Stuff her into the floor up to her neck.
- {X} And take a route on the way out to try and pick up Yoshika, if she's still in the hole. (Remember to remove the talismans!)

[X] Leave the hairpin.
-{X} But first, make a hole to stuff Seiga and trap her inside.
-{X} Make sure the hairpin is out of the trapped Seiga’s reach.

I’m not going to trust that she doesn’t have some way to track her hairpin, but this is a very funny way to knock this wicked hermit out of the picture.

And this burned all my goodwill. We’re punching Tsukasa in the face when we get back.

[X] Leave the hairpin.
-{x} See if Reimu has any amulets/needles which could Yumemi could use as a weapon, if necessary.

Don't want to get whatever bad juju Seiga has. Yumemi probably won't be super helpful, but a third avenue of attack could be useful, especially if surrounded.

>>210556

Wait, did Tsukasa do anything in this last update? Did I miss something?

>>210559

I think it might be one or two things.

1) Kosuzu is making great use of the grimoire right now. Of course, it could be that the grimoire is super useful and is teaching her a bunch of spells, but it could also mean that Tsukasa was slacking in terms of teaching Kosuzu to defend herself

or

2) The serious self-esteem problems Kosuzu has- getting overwhelmed dealing with 20 wolf spirits and the Wicked Hermit, Seiga Kaku is understandable, but because she needed help, Kosuzu has a hard time accepting any credit whatsoever. The way Kosuzu kept deflecting praise speaks to some issues with self-esteem, and the primary suspect for that would be her mum.

So Tsukasa's actions were felt despite her not being here physically.

>>210559

Seiga somehow knows of Kosuzu, and that she is appearently "no teeth at all." And the list of people that know of her and at the same time think she's harmless that could possibly tell ol' Nyan Nyan is a Very Short List. The otters got the danmaku tested on them, so they and all observers know differently. Chen and Yukari gave her the book. And we don't know where Tsukasa went to "scout ahead" so we're pretty sure Tsukasa's scouting was for a deal and not to help with the operation.

Reimu seems to have picked up another one of Bowser's moves there with the shell battering ram! Though it didn't work out quite as well. XD

[X] Take the hairpin.

{X} Any final things to do on the way out? Any strategies or anything?
-{x} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
-{x} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
-{x} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor
-{x} Step 4: Have Reimu seal the hell out of the hairpin just in case.
-{x} Step 5: If possible, grab Yoshika on the way out. Make sure to remove her talismans.

This could very easily backfire, but it's too funny not to attempt.

[X] Take the hairpin.

Well, it'll piss Seiga off, but she's already some kind of enemy and we may well have another run-in with her regardless, so what's a little more ire? Might as well claim an advantage.

It potentially being trapped or trackable is a bigger issue. But provided we're not prevented from using it (which is admittedly possible), that honestly might kinda balance out. The chisel is SUCH a useful item.

oh right, the shelving! I nearly forgot!

>>210535 & >>210529 here adding in:

{X} While waiting for Mayumi Reimu starts weakening one of the shelving units with fire, when Mayumi arrives, knock it over!

{X} Kosuzu: keep in mind how Seiga apparently had heard of you, but also an misimpression of your fighting ability for later.

>And if it could cut through glass as easily as it cut through the wall…

huh, Kosuzu is hoping to use it if she ever get stuck in a test tube again...

[X] Take the hairpin.

Why not? That would take away a huge tool from the enemy as well. Also, come on, it's a guda-gitsune's dream tool.

(Also bad with write-ins - not gonna add anything)

[X] Take the hairpin
- {X} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin
- {X} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck
- {X} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor
- {X} Step 4: Swipe Yoshika and have her be our friend. (Remember to remove the talismans!)

Fun :D
Also, I propose:

{X} When we're out of range, call in the big guns. No kill like overkill.
{X} Search Seiga for anything else possibly useful
{X} Ask Yumemi about the PSV, no harm in seeing if we can find out where it is, for whatever comes next.

Counting to >>210568:
Main Choice #1:
[15] Take the hairpin.
[6] Leave the hairpin.

Potential Additions:
Note that certain votes are highlighted in similar colors due to similarities (Hopefully I do it correctly...)
For [x] Take the hairpin:
-{2} And while we're robbing her blind, try the hairpin out to give her a haircut. You could probably use the hair for... something. This was a very tactical and not at all mischievous idea. (>>210542, >>210555)
-{1} Ask Reimu to cover it in talismans to seal it just in case, and show it to Keiki the first chance we get. (>>210550)

For [x] Leave the hairpin:
-{1} Make sure the hairpin is out of the trapped Seiga’s reach. (>>210556)

Miscellaneous Additions:
-{2} Grab Yoshika as they go! (Remember to remove the Talismans first! Not that the one, who the alarm is for, is conscious enough to receive it right now...) (>>210529, >>210534)
-{2} Stuff her into the floor up to her neck. (>>210542, >>210555)
-{2} And take a route on the way out to try and pick up Yoshika, if she's still in the hole. (Remember to remove the talismans!) (>>210542, >>210555)
-{1} Call in that artillery strike when their ride gets going! (>>210535)
-{1} Reimu covers the front, Kosuzu covers the back, Mayumi covers both. (>>210536)
-{1} If we can find a quick way to arm Yumemi, do it. If we can't, just keep moving. (>>210536)
-{1} Don't bother with the jiangshi, she will only slow us down. (>>210550)
-{2} Search Seiga for anything possibly useful. (>>210552, >>210568)
-{3} If possible, grab Yoshika on the way out. Make sure to remove her talismans. (>>210552, >>210554, >>210563)
-{1} But first, make a hole to stuff Seiga and trap her inside. (>>210556)
-{1} See if Reimu has any amulets/needles which could Yumemi could use as a weapon, if necessary. (>>210557)
-{1} While waiting for Mayumi, Reimu starts weakening one of the shelving units with fire. When Mayumi arrives, knock it over! (>>210565)
-{1} Kosuzu: Keep in mind how Seiga has apparently heard of you, but also had a misimpression of your fighting ability for later. (>>210565)
-{1} When we're out of range, call in the big guns. No kill like overkill. (>>210568)
-{1} Ask Yumemi about the PSV, no harm in seeing if we can find out where it is, for whatever comes next. (>>210568)
----------------
-{5} Step 1: Make hole in floor with hairpin. (>>210524, >>210527, >>210535, >>210554, >>210563, >>210568)
-{5} Step 2: Stuff Seiga in the hole up to her neck. (>>210524, >>210527, >>210535, >>210554, >>210563, >>210568)
-{5} Step 3: Close the hole to trap Seiga in the floor. (>>210524, >>210527, >>210535, >>210554, >>210563, >>210568)
-{2} Step 4: Swipe Yoshika and have her be our friend. (Remember to remove the talismans!) (>>210548, >>210568)
-{1} Step 5: Have Reimu seal the hell out of the hairpin just in case. (>>210563)
----------------
-{1} Get something to tie the hermit before she wakes up, to gain extra time just in case. This is a hardware store, there must be zip ties or rope nearby at hand. (>>210550)
--{1} As soon as we're in safe distance, tell her it's boom time. (>>210550)
----------------

>>210571 here:
Note that it's {6} and not {5} for the counts.
I'm now going to sleep to prepare for the next vote.

:3

>> The gap youkai reached into a summoned gap, pulling out… a pristine, heavy tome, with a deep indigo cover. Kosuzu felt her heart skip a beat. “This is… an instructional book penned by Yakumo Ran herself. It contains detailed descriptions of many of the spells her fox magic can cast, as well as numerous applications and optimisations of each. And even further, it includes a bunch of reference material on all things fox-related.”

>> Kosuzu stared at the book, transfixed. Yukari moved the book left, right, up and down, and the book-keeper’s head dutifully followed.

>> Reimu’s arm stuck between Kosuzu and the book, breaking the not-so-literal spell. The fox blinked, not realizing she’d dried out her eyes.

>> She held the book low, in front of the Kuda-gitsune. “Little Suzu. Would you like to borrow it, for a time?”

>> [ } Don’t take-

>> Reimu blinked. The book was now in Kosuzu’s hands. She traced her hands along the spine, marveling. It was in absolutely immaculate condition.

I was thinking to myself, looking for a bad joke to make in the title but I couldn't find inspiration so I called it a grimoire and called it a day. Introduction to C fox fox?

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

We are unlikely to provide good defense while the rest of the party is still trying to untangle itself from this clown car situation. Give them space so the big guns can get organized.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

Let's not make this a bigger mess than it needs to be. Three people in one row of car seats is always way too cramped for comfort, even with time to properly situate everyone.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

So...
-Mayumi has not used artillery yet
-Many of the spirit wolves are in panic
-Seiga is incapacitated
-Yoshika is ????
-The only person who can stop them is Saki, which is unlikely...

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

>> “Are you trying to burn the building down?!” Yumemi yelled, following close behind the haniwa. “Even jet fuel can't melt steel beams!”

Sorry, had to do it.

I feel this set of options are so deceptively simple that something's up
[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

I feel Kosuzu wants to help anywhere she can, so she can just shoot now, shift to fox form after they're safe (and get petted by Yumemi). Maybe she can even see the artillery barrage when (if?) it arrives, too!

What better way to practice the things she has read in the book than now against live targets? Better sneak a little more practice from the safety and comfort of a cramped, fast moving car!

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

> Seiga chucked into a basement instead of trapped in a concrete floor

Weren’t quite willing to let us put Seiga that far out of commission, eh Gooboi. Whelp, better prepare for round 2 then.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

Let’s get everyone untangled first.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was

>>210591
If I had to guess, this choice is mostly about Kosuzu's state of mind (and possibly also the mystery stat). Shifting means giving in to her insecurities, staying human means acknowledging on some level that she's just as competent as Mayumi.
Or maybe I'm overthinking it and it really is just a simple tactical decision.

And Reimu agrees with me! Fuckin' wild.

Whatever. I guess it worked.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

>>210596

It is 100% a purely tactical decision based on the wording of the choices and the line leading into it. None of it reads like rationalizations for some insecurity.

>>210596
That's exactly what I'm thinking. I'm happy to see smol fox Kosuzu any day of the week, but this is a chance to have a little more character growth, so I'm voting otherwise.
Also, even though I wanted a little infiltrator/tactician when I first voted for foxsuzu, her being possibly Ran's kid and Tsukasa's latest appearances made me reconsider following her steps. (and arguably, the latter option is still possible nonetheless).

I might change my tune again and again as the arc progresses, but this is how I feel right now so I'll go with it.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

Less bones to break.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

going to agree with >>210596 and Kosu here

and no Yoshika, nuts (though since Seiga came by perhaps she freed her and we're about to be jumped by Yoshika? might still have a chance then!)

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

Just in case.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

:3

>>210586 here, just posting again before the next update to talk about something interesting I was thinking about earlier in regards to Yumemi. Namely, the way she seems to be experiencing time. We know PoDD happened in this timeline, thanks to Kotohime, so I pieced together a little timeline:

PoDD - 18 year old Yumemi and 15 year old Chiyuri host a tournament in Gensokyo. They return to the outside world (and their home time?) to present their findings and get laughed out of the university, so they return to Gensokyo, likely permanently. (In the original game, they crash at the shrine, so it's funny to think about how they were Reimu's first freeloaders, depending on where you think Mima preferred to live outside her seal.) ~> Some time before EoSD - Future (age undetermined) Yumemi and Chiyuri (age undetermined - 3) time travel back to this date and take on the personas of Ichi and Go, seemingly to influence the Immaterial Children and their families in some way. ~> Around PCB - Young (10-12?) Yumemi crash lands in Animal Hell and is rescued thanks to a request from her future self. Beyond that, we still have to see. ~> Unknown Timeframe (likely before the Week of Fire sometime after UDoALG?) - Yumemi (age undetermined) and Chiyuri (age undetermined - 3) decide to start a time loop in order to change the current path of the future. It's unknown if they did this in the previous timelines too, if doing this let them dodge the effects of Keine's history rewrites (unlikely, given how Chiyuri said their time travel works on much stricter rules), or what happens to Ichi/Go by the time this point rolls back around (likely to be influenced by our decisions).

All of this begs some interesting questions. 1: How does child Yumemi return to her own time to then come back at 18 for PoDD before all this? Does she manage to repair the PSHV? Or does Ichi give her the future version of the PSHV, thus entering that interation of the machine into its own time loop? 2. Does this mean that PoDD Yumemi (in her early 20s now) is present somewhere in all this? I wonder if Ichi is deliberately avoiding her in order to not change her own future too much. 3. Are Ichi/Go following time normally now, are they jumping ahead to important moments, or are they jumping around in a weird order to best achieve their goals?

Is any of this even important? I dunno, maybe some of it? But it IS fun to think about these things. Time travel is fun to analyze and unwind.

Counting to >>210608:
Main Choice #1:
[7] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.
[11] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

:/

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

>>210609

I reckoned that PoDD Yumemi(and Chiyuri) were just chilling in the outside world. If the black fire wasn't contained to Gensokyo, then the Black Pyres could have been what caused the two to head back to Gensokyo and become Ichi and Go.

>>210589
[undo] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

I hope it's just a minor inconvenience.

>>210611
Maybe, but PoDD's final ending (which I think is reached through a 1cc?) DOES show the duo return to Gensokyo after being kicked out by the university again, though rewatching the scene, I see it just ends with Yumemi coming to the shrine to sob. I always felt the implication was that the duo decided to stay, but it's A LOT more up in the air than I'd remembered.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

don't think we're in the clear yet. plus, i'm always down for a high stakes car chase!

>>210614

And with our favorite crazy badass scaredycat-looking otter driver too!

I wonder, could Kosuzu learn to shoot danmaku while in fox form?

>>210615
I think she easily could do so. She just hasn't tried it yet and now probably isn't the time.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

if this ends up being important for kosuzu ill feel bad voting for the other option. if its not importsnt, then they sre just not comfortable, theres nothing to lose too

I had a thought about what Tsukasa may be up to at the moment. I’ll preface it with the fact that I’m firmly in the anti-Tsukasa camp. She’s definitely a bad mom and probably a kidnapper. But as kuda-gitsune it’s in her nature to bring ruin to those she works for. If she cares for Kosuzu on any level and wants to help her, one the best places for her to do so is at the enemy’s side.

>>210618

Yeah i think that's where Seiga got the information about Kosuzu being toothless (as well as Kosuzu's existence at all!)

And that was my suspicion the moment she went "to scout ahead."

But we'll possibly see when she next shows up.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

>>210619
Yeah, I’m saying if she is there, it doesn’t immediately have to be proof of betrayal.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.
-[X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

>>210602 here... I'm pretty sure. I'm one of the people who voted for fox form without additional comment, anyway.

Adding that last write in:
-[X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

>>210622 here, adding:
-[X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

Adding to >>210588
-[X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

Pretty sure we're tied right now? from Tallyanon's last call, we've had 5 votes for human, 2 votes for fox, and 1 retraction from fox, putting both at 12-12

>>210586 here, adding on:

-[X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

I genuinely think this is just a strategic call, and letting people get set up to defense position is more important than getting in offense position ourselves since we'd be delaying everyone.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.
- [X] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm.

Reimu is in position already as she got inside first in the front passenger seat. The only one your delaying is Mayumi, and just a couple seconds. And then theres the other point, what defensive position? Theyre in a getaway car they just have to sit Mayumi next to the window and Yumemi in center. Going in fox form just makes it so they have one less fighter playing stuffed toy with the hostage!

>>210631
Defense position: the two votes literally mention either staying in human form to play defense or switching to fox form to make it easier for the others to get sorted out. The fact that we're voting on it implies it actually means something. The vehicle is described as small and we just threw ourselves into the backseat after the other two already "became a mess of limbs."

If we stay in human form, those couple of seconds it takes for them to get upright and untangled are seconds where we're being pushed and shoved by the other two while they get themselves sorted and thus probably not operating at our best ability.

If every second counts, we want the Haniwa built to fight animal spirits in commission ASAP. If not every second counts, that means we can probably afford a few seconds with just Reimu defending us anyways.

[X] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.

>>210632
Additionally, making sure the panicked kid with (probably) no previous experience in a life-or-death situation is staying calm and not getting in the way of the people who are prepared for this ought to be paramount. Yumemi flailing about could potentially be even more of a hindrance than Kosuzu could be a help.

Counting to >>210633:
Main Choice:
[13] Staying in human shape, so she could play some level of defense while the trio in the back got themselves sorted.
[13] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

:3

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

I'll admit, I usually just lurk, but in this case I'll play tiebreaker.

[X] Switching to fox form, so as to not make the pile-up in the back worse than it already was.

I forgot about potential additions...

Potential Additions:
For [x] Switching to fox form:
-[6] Cuddle with Yumemi to help keep her calm. (>>210624, >>210625, >>210626, >>210627, >>210629, >>210630)

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

You don't throw teammates under the bus. Diffuse blame across the team or refuse to assign it at all. Basic tenet of working with others long-term.

{X} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be trusted.

Caught between the first two options, honestly. Keeping it to herself does no one any good. In fact, it actively endangers everyone to suspect a leak and then do nothing with it. Mainly going with this one because I expect Reimu will put together the clues in the same way we did, and then go ballistic if she doesn't have her parents around to force the more circumspect route. I wanna see that! It's not really the more responsible or effective route, but I want to see it.

As for the mystery stat... Hm. Gonna need to think about it more before I take a guess. I don't see how that last option matches with the hypotheses we had before, and one letter isn't a lot to go on.

>G___ stays at 3.
Called it!

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
No need to throw our teammate under the bus.
{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.
Tsukasa isn't so lucky.

[X] The basic truth at the time. It was Mayumi’s plan, and Reimu hadn’t understood it in enough time to react to it.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

Kaze must have been the otter of Steve McQueen once upon a time.

Nuts, i wasn't sure which one to take, even when i had voted for change back.

If i had to guess, the stat is guilt? (It doesn't sound like Guile, not sure what else would be a guess.)

But now we know if a choice had us choose between being active or not which one to take.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
No need to throw our teammate under the bus.
{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

Hm. Throwing a guess out there, maybe "Guts?" So far, the things that have influenced it or been influenced by it seem to involve some form of bravery - defying her mother, being openly vulnerable, and joining the fight.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

{X} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be trusted.

Generally agree with the majority here- Mayumi's fire might have been more dangerous than we wanted, but she was part of the team and any consequences should be distributed among the team.

Meanwhile, Tsukasa may be family, and perhaps we're all misinterpreting things, but she has a reputation for playing both sides and we've been pretty set since the origin vote that we didn't want to be that kind of schemer ourselves.

As for the mystery stat, I'm not sure either. We could compare every instance of it to any four letter G word, to try and figure out what it could be (and if human would've been positive or if we made the right choice going fox) but that seems like a stretch.

Oh almost the mysterious statistic is reduced so... it's a four letter word (Maybe?) that starts with G but one thing is for sure is that kosuzu has to be valient and not hide.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

it may change in the future.

Kaze probably played crazy taxi in some other life.

>>210646
I also thought about this word but then the statistics would have to go up, not the opposite.

>> G___ stays at 3.
I'm going to be petty on this one, and say "I told you". Then again I'm wrong most time I call these so we can call it even.

[♪] We didn't start the fire, it was always burning as the wheels were turning.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

We told Mayumi to help us escape, and she did perfectly.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

I was torn between telling them or just their kids, but this is serious. If there's information leak then it's a danger that can't just be ignored, disregarding who's possibly doing the leaks.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
Let's not throw Mayumi under the bus.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what SEIGA said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

[X]Downplay Mayumi's culpability. Call it a team effort.

Agreed, let's not throw her under. After all, they all kinda blew it up lol

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

[X] State that the fire helped get Yumemi out safely.

Who cares about blame, what matters is the outcome!

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

We lack too much clarity to count on handling this quietly. Let's shine as much light on the situation as we can.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

The faction heads also probably know exactly who would know such details and would be able to pinpoint the leak quicker than if we tried doing it sneakily.

[x] State that the fire helped get Yumemi out safely.
{x} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be trusted.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

Friendship, yeah. No chance that either of the faction heads would snitch to the Keiga either.

I can't believe we've been messing with Kosuzu's geek level this whole time.

Hm. Of course it's also possible that the alternative might have increased this stat too, but I find that unlikely.

Speaking of our mystery stat, well... even assuming that it's a four-letter word that starts with G... I wonder what it could be.

There's way too many options. "Gaze?" "Gybe?" "Gash?" "Gnaw?" "Gyre?" "Gaps?"

For four letters maybe it's Grip? for Tsukasa's grip over her?
I don't know, maybe it will be slowly revealed the next couple updates.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

-{X} Tell the faction heads about what SEIGA said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

-(X) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

I'm a bit wary that she might take it off us - but we've already proved its value, and opefully if she does want to take it away we can strongarm her into not doing that with whoever we have influence with (Our friends, Yakumos, Tsukasa etc.)

If giving it to Keiki is too much of a risk, I'd give it to Reimu instead to "purify" it, though I'd wager she'd do a shoddier job (Sorry, Reimu!)

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

Never throw a teammate under the bus. Never ever.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

Yachie may be a schemer, but this leak actively endangered the mission SHE assigned. It wouldn't make sense for it to be her.

It might be more than 4 characters

G___
Guilt
G____

I've done it where even though there's more letters than blanks, I would use less as to indicate the length (considering letters like i, l, t, and j are really think compared to the others, so the blanks are indicating the length of the word.

now granted that's just my guess.

though this might indicate, depending on the word length that we have either 3-4 more attempts to lower the stat (if it is 4 I wonder if when we hit below 0 on the stat is it just going to go negative, or be like the Spirit stat, and change name when it goes below the 0 point.)

>>210663
oh dear, that will be interesting if that is the case, the last time a mission was endangered was the Yuuma fiasco, and again it put her daughter in the line of fire of a very powerful and hostile person... she's going to be on the warpath from this.

>>210655

ehhhh, this is Keiki we are telling it to, and that sounds a bit like 'the ends justify the means.' that she might not take well, especially in regards to what Mayumi is learning. us taking responsibility for it sounds better for me. it may have messed up, but we made that choice together and are willing to accept the responsibility for the result. or something like that.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

(X) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

[x] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
{x} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.
-(x) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

We all know that G___ = Gooboi. :3

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.

-(X) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

if there's a leak, then it's best they know about it so they could nip it in the bud, or leak false information instead of the truth and lay down a trap of sorts. they're in the best position to do so instead of just mayumi and reimu, who aren't suited to playing the long game.

only problem i could see is that if tsukasa really did double cross us, it might cast suspicion on kosuzu in turn. i'm hoping the fact that we're the ones who brought this to their attention, kosuzu's an immaterial child alongside reimu, and reimu's own defense of us will be enough to not get skinned.

G___
GACHI

Counting to >>210667:
Main Choice #1:
[1] The basic truth at the time. It was Mayumi’s plan, and Reimu hadn’t understood it in enough time to react to it.
[16] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
[2] State that the fire helped get Yumemi out safely.

Main Choice #2:
{16} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.
{3} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be trusted.
{0} Keep it to herself for now. Look into that matter solo.

Potential Additions:
-(4) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise. (>>210662, >>210665, >>210666, >>210667)

:3

...Is the stat Guts?

[X]Downplay Mayumi's culpability. Call it a team effort.
{X} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.
{X} Tell the faction heads about what Seiga said. She found it unlikely Keiki or Yachie would put Yumemi or Reimu at risk.
-(X) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

Keiki and Yachie needs to know that the enemy has some info on us, so they can minimize the amount of info that leaks.

As suspect as Tsukasa looks, shouldn't we give her a chance. We have been suspecting her from the start, I feel that she is some kind of red herring. We and Reimu expected her to betray us from the start, which is why I feel the Gooboi is leaving us hits of betrayal knowing we would think that Tsukasa is the one doing it, while Seiga got her info somewhere else.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

Hey I had a thought: what if we discover that Kosuzu can't speak about Tsukasa if it incriminates her? Maybe the mental conditioning thing is true and we want to tell Keiki and Yachie but can't because we're a living alibi?

>>210674

I was just thinking on a similar vein, as i was a little surprised considering the rather short suspect list that we didn't have a weighted vote... But that might be that Kosuzu isn't connecting that it might be her mom just yet. Either it won't be an option following this vote once the others bring up that suspicion or a +30 one.

>>210674
I don't see why Kosuzu would be saying anything about Tsukasa, though? There's no indication that she even suspects her mom, but even beyond that there's no reason she needs to include speculation on the culprit at all. All Kosuzu knows is that Seiga had unexpected inside information, and that's all she needs to say as Yachie is frankly going to be better at getting to the bottom of it anyway.

>>210676
Yes, but when she does eventually realize that the list of suspects is so short that she might as well be pointing a finger towards her mom, what will happen?

>>210645 here, adding:

-(X) Have Keiki check Seiga's hairpin for any dangerous enchantments or otherwise.

To my vote.

>>210677
Well, that's exactly why it's good to get the subject out there before that happens.

So it’s probably either Guts (metaphorical) or Guilt (not metaphorical).

Guts would make sense due to Human Kosuzu’s wish to be a braver and more active part of the incident resolvers.

But Guilt is something which gnaws away at the conscience and can create fear. If you’re guilty, you don’t exactly want to tell anybody do you? You would need a lot of bravery (and 30 extra votes) to overcome that guilt and tell someone about the thing you’re guilty of. Then again, maybe if it is Guts, then having a higher stat would decrease the votes you need to get over your fear.

But where Guts breaks apart is probably when Reimu gave sweets to Kosuzu.

> …Well, she’d had more than she intended, but having one little dalliance wouldn’t have any long-term effects. And that’d just mean she’d have to work a bit harder to get it off later.

This reduces G___ to 3.

Why would indulging in sweets and then deciding that the calories can be worked off reduce bravery? It would make more sense that Kosuzu realised that she’s eaten too much and instead of feeling guilty and depressed about it, she decides she’s just going to have to work a bit harder. This is however, a bit shaky, as the stat change could have been not being brave enough to refute Reimu.

Guilt ties in quite a bit with Kosuzu’s story so far too. One example being the feeling of guilt for “letting down” Megumu.

So if it is Guilt, then Kosuzu has to have felt guilty about something in the flashbacks. I’m guessing that getting captured somehow affected someone else (probably Tsukasa) and she feels guilty about that.

On to the voting, as much as I hate her, some people are making good points about Tsukasa helping the enemy to cause their misfortune and Kosuzu probably wouldn’t rat out her mother (figure).

{X} Only tell Mayumi and Reimu. Neither was that sort of schemer, and they at least could be trusted.

I’m a bit conflicted as to whether Reimu should state the fires helped get them out or downplay Mayumi’s culpability. But Mayumi is making a pretty obvious expression, so we can’t exactly deflect blame from the entire team and not tell anyone about who was mostly responsible.

[X] Downplay Mayumi’s culpability. Call it a team effort.

>>210680

I would say it might be a couple more

it could be as Kosu guessed: Grip (eating the sweets is going against Tsukasa's instructions, easing the grip she has over Kosuzu's mindset and actions.) and getting involved in the fighting with the others is turning away from the sneaking Kuda-Gitsune mindset.

or (and this makes things a bit more pressing if my earlier guess that the blanks being filled in here mean that we have as many opportunities as we do remaining letters) it could be Gap, accepting eating with Reimu eased the Gap this new life has left between Kosuzu and the rest, and sitting to the side, not joining as the other 2 fight is leaving Kosuzu still aware of that separation

>>210678 (and thus >>210645 as well)

Adding to my vote:

(X) ask Mayumi how she is (especially regarding that hit to her cheek.)

Maybe it's relevant but Reimu wanted to mention something about the spell Kosuzu cast but couldn't due to the chaos while they were escaping.

>>210686
It was about the "scope thing" (aka the aura or whatnot from TH19 of various shapes depending on the character that 'captures' the animal spirits.) Looks like Kosuzu's is almost an inverse of Aunn's (starts small but snaps wider after initial deployment.)

But yeah, i'm also curious what she was about to say on that, whether to express that it was impressive or just to note that she recognizes it or something.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

Was choosing between this and keep. Breaking it aggros Seiga anyway and while I favoured leaving it, going out of our way to return it now will still leave her with a grudge.

Reimu’s theory:
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

Kosuzu’s theory:
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Let's be forthright. Get our thoughts out there and bounce them around.I guess I'm taking the -15 as a challenge too.

I'll think about it for a while and vote what to do with the hairpin later, but I'm leaning to keep it while asking Keiki to make absolutely sure there's no tracker, curse or surprise on it. To replicate it and return the original (or better yet, keeping it as a bargaining chip for later) is not that bad of an option either, if we manage to do it. Just giving it without trying to replicate it would be bad. No matter what, just breaking it would be the absolutely worse option.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Keep it. It was good to go already, and a godsend to any Kuda-gitsune.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well...as long as she gave the appropriate context, it'd be fine. Probably.

I feel like Reimu and Kosuzu's theories might be related to Tsukasa. They're the only people I can think of who haven't been accounted for in this conversation already, and the only person I can think of who might've betrayed them.

>>210702
*She's the only person I can think of

I just realized I wrote it in plural form lol

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

I actually like the idea of taking the time to replicate the effect, if only because it gives us the artifacts ability without us needing to rely on it.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[x] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{x} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(x) Well...as long as she gave the appropriate context, it'd be fine. Probably.

:3

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

Wanna keep using that book.

{X} Keep it to yourself.

On the whole, probably not the responsible option. On the other hand, Reimu's instinct is extremely well-trained and reliable, so getting second opinions and introducing doubt may be more likely to lead her astray. More importantly, it feels right to me in terms of characterization and narrative for Reimu to keep this one to herself and strike out on her own instead, at least if I'm right about what she's thinking.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Keep it. It was good to go already, and a godsend to any Kuda-gitsune.
[X] Replicate it. It might take some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

Why not both? If Seiga somehow is able to retrieve it by definiting Kosuzu and co., well, we'd have another copy to use and be able to slide around.

Reimu’s theory:
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

Kosuzu’s theory:
(X) …No. Who knew what the consequences of saying something like that would be?

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

We ain't gonna back down from that -15, not when we've overcome greater. Anyways, replicating the hairpin gives us a shot at keeping its effects when Seiga inevitably gets it back, and Reimu should absolutely voice her theory. We know what her intuition is like.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure the -15 modifier ultimately raises the chance of this option getting picked.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Being able to replicate the hairpin gives us a very good tool for use in the future

[X] Break it. Set the witch back a bit, without the risk of creating a liability.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

To be honest, I don't think we will be able to replicate the hairpin. Best case scenario, we end up with a lesser version of it (which I would still be happy to have in a pinch if I were... I don't know... stuck inside a glass vial or something).
The real upside here is being able to get more practice with the grimoire in hand, which is why I'm choosing this.

My concern would be that if it can be copied then maybe Seiga has more hairpins so the copy would not serve much purpose or that it would fall into the wrong hands, I will choose to copy it but I hope it is not my paranoia hahaha.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Come on guys, let the votes reach 30 so that Kosuzu stops doubting :)

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Might change my mind on replicating it, if someone could point out something else better for Kosuzu to do.

>>210711

100%

As soon as I saw the -15 modifier, I knew that option was basically guaranteed to win.

[X] Return it. Minimize the chance of getting the grudge of a wicked hermit.

Fuck this shit.

{X} Keep it to yourself.

Give Kosuzu the floor.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Let's have some Guts.

[x] Keep it. It was good to go already, and a godsend to any Kuda-gitsune.
{x} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(x) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

How considerate of Yachie, keeping her suspect to herself as to not worry Kosuzu. I suppose she will investigate that lead by herself even if the weighted option ends up losing.

Alright, a possible first shot across Tsukasa's bow.

Heck we've even had another indicator of something funky going on... Kosuzu struggled with tubing, but then manages a whole section of Kitsune magic after a short study time?

And hey, this is just investigating, Keiki and Yachie might find how we are wrong about this instead.

And we didn’t even have to worry about Keiki or Yachie scheming about this, Yachie even held back for worry about Kosuzu!

As for the hairpin, replicating, as long as we have the time to pull it off, lets us have the benefit, while at the same time leaving the other options open for later. Keep it? We can lend it to someone and then make our own holes.

Get cornered by Seiga? Toss it back to her, and then start cutting holes, and since we can tube through, our holes will be much smaller than hers, meaning we can cut a hole much quicker, and then squeeze through before she can get to us even with the hairpin back in her possession! (Heck that option is all the better even if we keep the hairpin while running from her ourselves. Fast small holes against her much larger ones she'll need to use, especially if she has a backup.

Also it allows Kosuzu a chance to go through the Tome again.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Interesting how this was at a penalty rather than the other one having a bonus.

Also, I get the feeling that Reimu might be about to catch us off guard here… guess we’ll find out!

>The fox sagged a bit. “I… I really didn’t do much, honestly. It was my dumb plan that screwed up the lock, and all I really did was stall until you got in there.” She looked away. “I wasn’t even the one that took out Seiga, that was Yumemi.”

Kosuzu, you staggered Seiga before she could get in the hole, if at any point you and Yumemi had ended up facing both Seiga and the wolf spirits that would have been it! But you staggered her, and then wiped the floor with the wolf spirits! You Rock!

>Reimu was taking the time to make some fresh talismans ...Yachie had brought out more paper to use for the talismans.

D’aww, a sweet simple moment there!

And this might be a little early but i wanted to get it down before I forget, I do have a spellcard idea for Kosuzu.

< X > Fox Sign ~ writing on the walls

Danmaku in the shape of various characters float around … but more appear when the target looks in different directions, so the more the target jinks about, the more danmaku appear, but if the target moves smoothly in one direction consistently it doesn’t spawn as much. (so in gameplay terms whenever you would change your directional input, it would generate some danmaku in the direction that you imputed, but if you held that input down then more wouldn’t appear. Requiring decisive playing to avoid being overwhelmed.)

A reference to Forbidden scrollery chapter 18 & 19, so yeah, Reimu sees this Spellcard and she’s going to give Kosuzu some stink eye over it XD

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

What appropriate context? I must know!

Hmmm. This time instead of it being +30, it’s -15. This might just be a decision by Gooboi to change how the vote system works, but I feel like it could be a narrative decision. Then again, I can’t really see a difference if it’s easier to get an option compared to harder to get an option in a two option vote.

Let’s assume that the change is arbitrary. G___ hasn’t changed but we can see that the magnitude of the biased votes has changed from 30 to 15. It may be that G___ had a larger effect on the previous vote for some reason but not this one, probably because of the “context”.

The person Reimu and Kosuzu are thinking about is probably Tsukasa, with the context being that Tsukasa is a spy infiltrating the enemy. Personally, I think this vote being affected by G___ probably lessens the possibility of it being Guilt while increasing the chance of it being Grip or Guts.

On to the voting,

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

We might pick up some useful information and having an infinite amount of these hairpins could be useful.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Reiki would definitely bluntly state her theory and Kosuzu would need to jump in to defend Tsukasa even if Tsukasa doesn’t deserve it

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

>>210726

If there was 3 choices than the penalty does make sense there. (Otherwise yeah narrative wise would probably be the reason.)

I'm wondering if we're going to be hit by an trap and have one of the altered votes be the bad one!)

Also wondering if there would be a vote where if one choice succeeded was taken would penalize (or boost) a seperate vote from that set.

The switch to negative is largely stylistic in this case. And like >>210728 says, I feel it makes more sense to penalise more neutral choices if multiple choices are added.

Any choice can have consequences, and the penalities don't necessary lead you down the wrong path. For example, if one's instincts are causing the split, well... instincts exist for a reason.

[x] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{x} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(x) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

>>210724
Nice one. Didn't want to mention it until we actually needed one but I've been thinking of a few as well!

Tome Sign: Bibliophile's Bookshelf
Kosuzu pulls out a book, and starts reading through it at a rapid pace, words literally flying off the page with how fast she reads. The words themselves are chains of connected bullets, and they'll dance around in spirals around the target like eels before closing in to try and deliver a wordy walloping.
"A spell that'll give you the feeling of a book capturing your attention. Careful to not let yourself be surrounded, or you'll go from getting lost in a book to getting trapped in it!"

Faux Sign: Fox's Duplicity
Kosuzu changes into animal form and summons a levy of slave bullets shaped like foxes as well, then all of them start running around midair. (The actual movements aren't too complicated, just running in basic geometric shapes, but there's a lot of them.) Kosuzu will try and blend into the waves of foxes, and if the wrong one is shot down it explodes into a wave of bullets.
"A fanatastical flurry of fluffy foxes fly freely! Kosuzu invented this card to try and burn a few calories to better follow her mother's suggested ideal body type for sneaking through tight spaces."

Recollection: Claustrophobia
A disorienting spellcard about fitting into tight spaces, the target is bombarded with fox magic in order to throw them off balance, before tight (like, approaching LOLK-level tight) rings of Danmaku appear around them. Unless the target is a master of highly precise dodging, the far better option is to get exactly in the middle of all the bullets and hold yourself in a small safe spot. The current bullets fade away after the ring tightens enough, and a new ring appears, forcing them to move to the new safe spot. (Harder difficulties also add Kosuzu firing some lines of bullets sort of like Danmaku Paranoia to make the shrinking harder.)
"You will learn how it feels to be trapped."

---

Tried to give all of these a subtle theme of "surrounding and enveloping" to some degree. The last one's the most obvious about it, but that deep-seated trauma sure does like to whisper itself in where you wouldn't be thinking about it, huh?

< X > Kaizou sign: KonKon Beam!
"It's over, Seiga. Taste the wrath of my Kaizou/Kosuzu!!!"

On the subject of spell cards, I wonder if it might be worth trying to combine Kosuzu's history of bibliophilia with her ongoing fox stuff by having spell cards that invoke famous stories of foxes. I haven't had a chance to try to contribute to the spell card discussions yet, so bear with me if it's not so good. Maybe something like:

Poison Sign: Illustration of the Sessho-Seki
Kosuzu throws out a piece of paper with a section of the myth of Tamamo-no-Mae written on it. Wherever it stops, a huge bullet is positioned. A barrage of the dreaded curvy lasers, designed to evoke Tamamo-no-Mae's nine tails, attempts to drive the targets into the faux-killing-stone. Just before the spell ends, the 'stone' splits in half and attempts to 'crush' the target.

Ancient Tale: Kuzu-no-Ha's Farewell Poem
A series of kanji from the poem appear, and burst into masses of ivy that move away from Kosuzu. Kosuzu spends the entire spell card moving around to make herself harder to hit, make the ivy less predictable, and evoke the image of Kuzunoha fleeing back to Shinoda after being caught.

Fox-Dragon: The Telling of Masaki's 999 Lives
Kosuzu produces eight prayer beads with "Even thus can a beast conceive a heart to know truth" written on them, as in the Hakkenden, the novel Masaki comes from (although they're not actually connected to Masaki at all). More pop up at random and burst into fast-flying bullets, representing the 999 lives she saved. Finally, an image of the fox-dragon she became as a reward spirals into the centre of the target area and then bursts into a pattern evoking a splash.

---

And then, since one of Kosuzu's running gags in Forbidden Scrollery was misunderstanding news from distant countries, we could probably throw in fox tales from elsewhere, too.

Water Sign: Fox Confessor's Flood Song
Kosuzu pretends to read aloud from a Ukrainian bible, evoking the image of the fox posing as a priest. The spell card works similarly to Knockout in Three Steps, but moving downward instead of outward. Bullets appear in sequence from near Kosuzu, attempting to force the target away, then a huge flood appears at the 'bottom of the screen' (as it were), thus putting the target into the role of the wolf who is fooled into throwing itself into the ocean.
(I really only know this one from a song based on it, hence the name I gave the card)

Fox Sign: Fabill of Lowrence and the Lion King
Kosuzu and danmaku in the image of a wolf chase the target around, leaving bullets in their wake (think Green-Eyed Monster). When the spell is about to end, or Kosuzu successfully corners the target, a huge danmaku lion 'eats' her, and ideally catches the target as well - thus recreating Henryson's story, where a wicked feudal lord of an animal kingdom dies and his equally wicked bastard son inherits his land, but before he can enjoy his reign, he's summoned before the king's court, sent alongside a dimwitted wolf to track down a fugitive, and ultimately executed for his crimes.

---

... most of them ended up having some connection to parenthood, huh. Kuzunoha is famously Abe-no-Seimei's mother, Masaki's story largely revolves around her deciding to care for a child she killed the caretaker of, and Lowrence is defined by his inheritance and heredity. I guess I had those theories we've been passing around on the brain. And hell, if one of them in particular turns out to be right, Tamamo-no-Mae and figures of false authority would be pretty relevant, too.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

Counting to >>210735:
Main Choice #1:
[1] Return it. Minimize the chance of getting the grudge of a wicked hermit.
[1] Break it. Set the witch back a bit, without the risk of creating a liability.
[3] Keep it. It was good to go already, and a godsend to any Kuda-gitsune.
[22] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

Main Choice #2:
{24} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
{2} Keep it to yourself.

Main Choice #3:
(1) …No. Who knew what the consequences of saying something like that would be?
(25) (10) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

:3

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.
{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.
(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

reimu pov, nice.

[X] Replicate it. It might takes some time, but perhaps the Grimoire had some information on how to study magical artifacts.

even if seiga manages to get it back (or if it ends up breaking), it's pretty damn useful.

{X} Tell everyone your out-of-the-box theory.

reimu's intuition is pretty damn good, and yachie and kosuzu both know it. keiki and mayumi might not have known her as long, but i'm hoping yachie and kosuzu might convince them to at least consider it.

(X) Well… as long as she gave the appropriate context, it’d be fine. Probably.

>She looked up. “I suspect this tipoff is part of a conspiracy. At the hands of the Moriya Shrine.”

SHE SAID THE THING

I knew Reimu was going to go a Waaaayyy different direction tha I had assumed she would when i voted for it! Dangnabbit Reimu!

...you know her instinct may have misfired, but it wad weirdly close at the same time. Yeah they were involved with a tip off, and the Pyres. But the tip off was for Youmu (and that was Chiyuri.) And the pyres bit was because Suwako had turned into one. Neither of which had to do with Seiga or Kosuzu...

Oh heavens we have Youmu working one side to distrust Yachie... And now we have Reimu working to mistakenly work the other to mistrust Moriya... This is going to be a hilariously confusing clash when the two developing factions come together isn't it?

I have no idea where Reimu is coming from here. Come to think of it, does she even know Sanae is missing yet?

Though I suppose if she had heard, it kind-of makes sense that the Moriya Shrine would stop at nothing to get an IC for information. That's sort-of what happened in Youmu's arc if you squint.

Also, Kosuzu getting active support from Keiki and Yachie is heartwarming.

It's a Moriya shrine kon-spiracy!

>>210747
She doesn't know anything about Tenshi or Sanae or why the Moriya shrine (Suwako) wanted an IC. All the information she has only comes from Akyuu's letter and the Tengu crows invading the human village by Kosuzu.

Also the entire youmu arc happened yesterday, I doubt she knows anything else.

Looks like Youmu is going to be thinking Reimu is kon-promised due to Yachie(and potentially Kosuzu thanks thanks to Tsukasa) whereas Reimu will think Youmu(and maybe Akyuu) is compromised due to the Moriya konspiracy. Absolute scenes.

>>210747

Reimu's instincts have tipped her off that Moriya is involved with a tip off regarding the ICs and the pyres, but she misinterpreted it from a lack of context.

Granted the others should(?) Be able to point the issues of logistics there. How would Moriya be able to learn... Well any of the info needed for the tip off? That the three were going to be at the werehouse? And how would either of the goddesses be in contact with Seiga to tell her of such?

Also, do we have any guesses on who Keiki's new librarian is? Sounds like it isn't a Haniwa... They would be a spirit here in the animal realm? Right?

And also can i say that mamachie just continues to be awesome? I don't know about canon her, but R/R Yachie is one of my favorite characters here! And the trust between her and Keiki as they work and counsel together here is great. And being comfortable enough to poke fun at each other like with Yachie's snort there.

what's with the sudden switch to reimu's pov instead of kosuzu's? i'm not complaining, just curious.

hm. for all we went on about reimu's instinct, i think we forgot about the fact that instint doesn't necessarily mean it's correct. i mean, she's not entirely wrong, the moriya shrine does have an interest in the immaterial children. they're involved with a tip-off regarding them. just. not the way she thinks they do.

>>210747
she suspects something's wrong with the moriyas, at least. akyuu states that reimu also asked her to give a recount of the moriya's history. nothing about sanae, but she definitely suspects something's not right about them, seeing as she's written notes and questions about their actions before pofv (which shouldn't have been a thing in the first timeline). no time for news about sanae or youmu to have made it to the animal realm, youmu's arc happened just yesterday. youmu didn't learn the truth about sanae until the night of, and the letters are gonna take a while to send- even if youmu's closer and sends a letter of her own, as of right now it's likely she's headed up to the netherworld instead of writing one.

i don't think we were wrong to trust reimu's intuition- it's really, really good. but i do think she's misreading her instincts here- something being wrong with the moriya and general bad feeling about the tip-off making her jump to the wrong conclusions. she's shown to have done that in canon, but i guess we'll wait and see how true her guess ends up being, huh...

Damn it. This is why I wanted to have Reimu keep the trap shut and give Kosuzu the floor.

The Moriya will probably get a pass once they're investigated. Akyuu probably will, too, and it will make her redouble her instinct/hypnosis resistance training, but it will probably wast shitloads of Keiki and Yachies time/resources.

>>210753
Reimu's instinct always worked like that: she's only pointed towards the goal more or less, but doesn't know how or why (that's why she ends up fighting against unrelated people at first most of the time).

.

>> Complexity being seen as a sign of quality. Common fault of the ambitious ones.

Yachie preaching the wisdom of a certain programmer prophet. "Keep it simple, stupid!"

For some reason, the latest update has increased my doubt of Tsukasa's guilt.

On the upside here, at least Reimu's interpretation of her instincts are out in the open? Though whether that means that it ends up being headed off by someone in the room pointing out the issues with the idea... or that all it ends up doing is leaving Kosuzu standing/floating beside Akyuu as they both watch the oncoming trainwreck between Reimu and Youmu develop... or possibly not past the palms that they have put in their own faces respectively.

I am hoping we're about to be interrupted by an urgent letter arriving via... whatever the Rabbit gang's name is. (because I'd think that not only is there 2 more Immaterial children to look for... But also that there was a fight with a Pyre would be a priority message that Akyuu would want to get to Reimu NOW. regardless of if Tewi is cooperative, or that Akyuu owes her one. (or whatever method of delivery Akyuu would use, Tewi just sounds like the best one on hand for her, even if a favour ends up being owed.)
anyways, the urgent letter would probably recontextualize Reimu's instincts and head off her theory here... but that would be too convenient, wouldn't it?

a little follow up to my post of >>210752 unlike with Ichi&go who has knowledge of the future (and was invovled wit hteh planning.) or with Yukari who can just peep in with her Gaps, what does Moriya have that would be able to observe that the trio was at the werehouse and that Seiga needed to intercept them?

I'm guessing that she thinks that Moriya knowing about Kosuzu at all was via Megumu? but how would either goddess convey that information? who does she think is the courier for that information? (maybe she's going to piggyback that to Tsukasa?)

also I have a feeling that if Kosuzu had gone to check out the idea by herself Tsukasa would have given her the "you were supposed to be gone by the time she arrived, what delayed you?" spiel, and without Yachie's followup about how delays should be factored in, Kosuzu would have been guilt tripped to accept the explanation...

>>210756
You know that's not how intuition/instinct works, right? It's not magically generating information from nowhere. It's a subconscious process by which information that would otherwise be filtered out or otherwise go unnoticed by the conscious mind is interpreted, compared, and synthesised into (hopefully) useful conclusions, which are then received by the conscious mind. It can appear baseless, since the conscious mind never even knows it has that information (much less how the conclusion was reached from it) and it can be unreliable because you can't go back and double check the process, but it's a real and valid expression of intelligence.

For what it's worth, I think Reimu's probably not wrong on the level of "the Moriya Shrine is suspect and probably working behind the scenes," she's just taking that conclusion further than she can support by assuming they're responsible for her current problems. It's not like that's never happened before. It's not like that's never happened with specifically Kanako before.

>>210761

well it is Reimu's intuition, in Gensokyo... so it quite possibly could be magical, or some flavour of supernatural here.

as a couple of us have pointed out, Reimu's intuition was spot on on 2 pieces of information, one of which she could not have been informed of by this point (namely, the invovlement of a Pyre with the Moriyas.) the problem is that Reimu's intuition, supernatural or not, does not give full context and so Reimu here has misinterpreted the particulars. Thus our current pickle.

>>210762
Now that you mention it, it is true that for Reimu, some of the "otherwise unnoticed" information is any nearby gods talking among each other/to themselves/to her, which does give her a leg up over everyone else.

Sorry, I spoke a little too soon. I just have a chip on my shoulder about the devaluation of irrational modes of knowledge.

... it occurs to me that WAHH established that Reimu is a really good oracle who can reliably and frequently get accurate prophecies out of the gods... and that she does that mostly as a side attraction at her shrine for a quick buck, and basically never for anything else. I guess that's Reimu for you!

>>210763
This was just a conspiracy/intuition joke.

>>210764
Yeah, I was out of line. Sorry.

The swap to Reimu PoV here is interesting, I'd say. I can't remember if Youmu's arc had any full shifts to Akyuu's PoV or not. Either way, this is getting complicated, and I hope Youmu's revelation can reach Reimu soon. Either way!

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
I never like splitting the party, and I do feel like Kosuzu is probably the one that needs more help than Yumemi right now. Plus, Yumemi's gonna grow up as a child prodigy and become a college professor by the age of 18. Girl's gonna love sticking her nose in a good book.

[X] Pair up and split up. Divide and conquer, so everyone’s seen what they wanted to by dinner.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.

I don't think there's a right or wrong option here. We're in a safe zone, with no apparent risk. Library would advance Kosuzu's research, I assume going to the production lines would not. Dividing doesn't seem bad either, but we might lose on info from the ones that didn't go with Kosuzu.
For now, until someone makes a good argument against, I vote:

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

I feel that Yumemi would have a hard time saying no after that. Pic related.

Source of the translation:
https://x.com/KangaerunaMiyo/status/1710271185756311943
Original image:
https://x.com/atamasummer/status/1703136127774011516

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

Given what we've just pulled, I really don't want to split up, and I think Kosuzu's research takes priority.

[X] Pair up and split up. Divide and conquer, so everyone’s seen what they wanted to by dinner.

:3

[X] Go to the production lines. Perhaps learning more about the construction stuff there would help Kosuzu learn more.

Maybe we could learn something about cosntructing our own golems, or learn about their weaknesses if Keiki and her lot... become a problem.

Plus, by watching an learning how the Haniwa are profuced, we could write a book on it! Or "acquire" a manual for Haniwa production/schematics. Would Keiki even need such a thing? Probably, if she's wanting to expand with production. Can't do all the work herself.

[X] Go to the production lines. Perhaps learning more about the construction stuff there would help Kosuzu learn more.

[X] Pair up and split up. Divide and conquer, so everyone's seen what they wanted to by dinner.
- [X] And maybe take a chaperone each?

we're in a safe zone right now, and if nothing goes to hell before dinner (hoping i'm not jinxing anything here) we can swap information then. on the off chance that we can't make it to dinner, then at least each pair of girls have someone else with them.

[X] Pair up and split up. Divide and conquer, so everyone’s seen what they wanted to by dinner.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

I prefer that they focus on one thing, it won't be like the choice of the ring that in the end Kosuzu didn't find anything because she didn't specialize in looking for something specific.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

maybe find a book like "how to build a haniwa 101"

>>210773
Giving you the benefit of the doubt about Keiki (which I very much doubt will turn against us, at least willingly). As for their weakness, Reimu knows the haniwa already, she fought against them in the previous timeline(s?). It's not that they are super powerful either, just effective against spirits.

Why would Kosuzu get sidetracked on trying to replicate the hairpin's effects? Making our own golems is not a priority right now.

>>210775
Agreed on that we can share information if everything goes well after splitting up. As for chaperones for both groups, (for example) Kosuzu going with Reimu and Yachie to the library opens the possibility to watching more of their regular day to day (maybe), I like that. As long as they're not paired with regular haniwas... (both Yachie and Keiki might be busy right now).

>>210779
Admittedly my suspicion of Keiki is unfounded, and creating golems is a long shot. But the children long for the factory.Finding a weakness in the Haniwa isn't so redundant - Reimu is more of a brute strength type, and her knowledge of the Haniwas is probably very good in terms of their tactics and attacks, but not in terms of their biology/construction. The knowledge of where to hit for best effect could be useful for our lower power teammates should the need arise. I also personally keep note of the weaknesses of everyone I know, and let me tell you, it does wonders for your mental health, relationship stability, and social standing!

But as an extra point, I predict that this option could lead to a "power-up" for Yumemi and/or Mayumi, just like how the library option is a power-up for Kosuzu. "Come hither, Mayumi-san, so I can install a water cooling system in you before you seal up those cracks..."

But, to shoot myself in the foot here, maybe the library option would be better because I think that hairpin has to be super cursed. Better to avoid a potential threat by replicating it and thus not being dependent on it, than gambling on a power-up... I admit as well that my choice was influenced by the fact Yumemi's one of my favourites...

Alright, I'm in agreement with you now. But I'll allow myself a write-in as well, to make sure my girl's not missing out:

[UNDO] Go to the production lines. Perhaps learning more about the construction stuff there would help Kosuzu learn more.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.

- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

- [X] When we arrive at the library, make sure that Yumemi's not left out. Let her study with Kosuzu, or refer her to the librarian to find something she'd like to study herself.

>>210780

Sorry, I'm >>210773. forgot to put that in the post there.

>>210780
Let me admit that you do make a good point about a possible power up there for Mayumi. Maybe Yumemi can improve her design a little?
But yeah, the hairpin should be priority I think.

Even if it is a peaceful area, I am still worried about splitting them up right now, we have 3 potential sources of the leak out and about right now that might show up with one of the groups... I know which one I'm thinking of, but regardless I'd rather have as many supportive people around Kosuzu right now. as for choosing the library first, Yumemi seems to have largely recovered from the danger, meanwhile Kosuzu just had to seriously theorise that her own mother might've just put her in danger, on top of everything else so far this day. so I feel a little comfort reading is in order

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.
-[X] also make up for the delay by introducing Yumemi to the wonders of Youma books,
--[X]while not likely in Keiki's Library, try to find a youma book with either a particular amount and/or type of Youma energy it is manifesting for to show to Yumemi.

A good chunk of Kosuzu's enjoyment of the Youma books was the Youkai/Youma energy she could feel while reading them so with Youmemi's interesting in magic, even if Kosuzu had to read it for her.

also for our librarian, is there any PC-98 characters it could be?

of the characters interested in books,

Kosuzu: well, she's right here, so its not her

Akyuu: above ground, can't be her...

Patchouli: The Unmoving Great Library? outside of the SDM? probably not.
- Koakuma: I mean, more likely than Patchouli? but not by much? unless Patchouli and/or Remilia had her here to help prep for Remilia's proper incident?

Kiene?: a stretch, but she was a teacher?

The last one I can think of actually makes sense on a couple of points, while as a librarian she is not directly learning from Keiki, being able to work in some capacity for her, and be able to access her creation research in the library would be an incredible boon to her goals that she would have right about now...

Are we about to run into Alice?!

Or does anyone else have an idea who the librarian might be?

>>210783
From PC-98 I can see Elis or maybe Ellen. It would be funny if it were Ellen in her alternate colors so she briefly gets mistaken for Marisa lol.

Another possible librarian could be Unnamed book-reading youkai Tokiko, but unlikely?

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.
-[X] also make up for the delay by introducing Yumemi to the wonders of Youma books,
--[X]while not likely in Keiki's Library, try to find a youma book with either a particular amount and/or type of Youma energy it is manifesting for to show to Yumemi.

>>210783
For some reason, my gut wants to say Eika, even though I can't imagine her leaving her duties at the River, or why she'd be a librarian at all. I guess maybe as a favour to her little sister? As a candidate, all she has going for her is access to the afterlives and a non-violent disposition.

But I think you're right, Alice is the safest bet. Known to travel between otherworlds, works with golem-adjacent magic, and works with books. Mind you, keeping a library is a separate skill entirely from using them, but nevertheless.

Let's find out! And make a possibly catastrophic introduction in the process!

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.
-[X] also make up for the delay by introducing Yumemi to the wonders of Youma books,
--[X]while not likely in Keiki's Library, try to find a youma book with either a particular amount and/or type of Youma energy it is manifesting for to show to Yumemi.

Actually, wait, no. Keine has been conspicuously missing for quite a while, if I'm remembering right. And she's a divine beast... at least once out of every moon cycle... so she'd probably be able to vanish into the crowds in the Animal Realm. And she is staunchly human-aligned, which gives her a reason to be involved with Keiki, and she is an educator, which is somewhat adjacent to being a librarian.

Is this where she's been?

>>210783
>>210784
>>210787
>>210788
I just want to point out that according to Reimu, Keiki was looking for a group rather than any specific individual:
>Reimu raised an eyebrow, as Yachie’s face snapped up. Had Keiki really found one? In the animal realm? That… was rather shocking. It wasn’t exactly the place Reimu expected any of them would be.

>>210789

well I was thinking Reimu was thinking of any sort of Librarians, not sure why there wouldn't be one among the human spirits so you might be right? but I don't know what sort of specific group that isn't librarians Reimu (and Yachie) would be thinking of...? also:

>Had Keiki really found one?

and one of said group, so...? yeah I dunno. I think my though process holds, but it looks like we'll be finding out!

>>210789
That seems to me to say that Keiki was looking for one librarian, and that Reimu didn't think there were any librarians at all in the Animal Realm.

Keiki also refers to "my librarian," singular, so even if she were looking for multiple, she only found one.

Or did you mean to say that you don't think Keiki was looking for one specific librarian? That's a fair assessment, but I don't think anyone made that claim - only guessed at who the librarian she found was.

Counting to >>210787:
Main Choice:
[11] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
[1] Go to the production lines. Perhaps learning more about the construction stuff there would help Kosuzu learn more.
[4] Pair up and split up. Divide and conquer, so everyone’s seen what they wanted to by dinner.

Potential Additions:
For [x] Prioritize the Library first:
-[9] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face. (>>210770, >>210771, >>210777, >>210778, >>210780, >>210783, >>210785, >>210786, >>210787)
-[1] When we arrive at the library, make sure that Yumemi's not left out. Let her study with Kosuzu, or refer her to the librarian to find something she'd like to study herself. (>>210780)
-[3] Also make up for the delay by introducing Yumemi to the wonders of Youma books. (>>210783, >>210786, >>210787)
--[3] Try to find a Youma book with either a particular amount and/or type of Youma energy it is manifesting for to show to Yumemi. (>>210783, >>210786, >>210787)

For [x] Pair up and split up:
-[1] And maybe take a chaperone each? (>>210775)

:3

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.

Yeah this makes the most sense. I wouldn't mind splitting up either since there is no immediate danger but it's probably more of a pain to write and follow. This seems like more of a "what do you want writing-wise" choice than even a slightly meaningful story choice.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.

>>210724

a clarification of a part of my spellcard suggestion, the "characters" is supposed to be 'Kanji" instead, I blanked on what the word was.

[X] Prioritize the Library first. Maybe Yumemi would find the info she needs there.
- [X] Try to convince Yumemi to go there using fox form. If that doesn't work, use your sad puppy face.

We are not forklift certified and should therefore avoid construction sites. Also lets us see what's up with that librarian.

[X] Kitsune.
(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

Finally another family reunion. cannot wait for the Suzu to interact with her human family in the village

[X] Kitsune.

(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

well... the appearance of kosuzu's grandfather is canon although only one page of the manga appeared lol

Ah, got my last one in too late. Anyway,

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

Let's see how much grandpa knows. Pretty unexpected place for a reunion though.

[X] Kitsune.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Kitsune.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

I kind of feel bad about "lying" to her grandfather by omission about her new species, but I think it's better that way for now and in the long run.

Interesting twist. I can't wait to see where this leads.

I almost want to see if I could write in something along the lines of, well both. she's specifically a Kuda-gitsune, but as Yukari pointed out the line between being one of those and a Kitsune in general is not set in stone, and she's been doing amazing with Kitsune magic... from the sounds of it better than her training with the Kuda-gitsune magic...

so something along the lines of "the Kuda-gitsune sub-species of Kitsune." and talking about how she's able to pick up kitsune magic very quickly and so that distinction might not matter soon? or something like that?

It sounds like Kosuzu's grandfather was hired very recently from the way that Yachie and Reimu reacted, If I had to guess, Keiki probably sought him out knowing that Kosuzu was one of the ICs from Reimu just in case Kosuzu ended up here in some form or another. The only other idea, that even can be tied to the first, is that he's here thanks to EIki and not that he was a part of the human spirit population in the first place? (Reimu didn't think that Keiki could have found them in the animal realm. so maybe he wasn't and was sent? especially since Youki probably reported to Eiki personally after the first arc.)

Though speaking of Eiki, Seiga probably want to be careful right now since she doesn't have her escape tool (unless she has some sort of backup.) if the Yama catch wind, well Komachi might show up to deal with an actual hermit... eventually... after a nap... and a chess game...

Ok so Seiga probably doesn't have to worry too much.

also what was Reimu reacting about when she was looking at the sealing talisman of Kosuzu's ear...?

[ ] Kitsune.

'Kitsune' does just refer to foxes in general. It's true one way or the other.

... but I understand that that's not the intention of this option, and what I'm saying is more in line with

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.

As far as Kosuzu's concerned, being a youko/nogitsune/bakegitsune/[any of the various other terms for sorcerous foxes] is something Yachie made up for misdirection purposes, not something she'd introduce herself as to family. But as for our perspective (and maybe Kosuzu's also starting to form some small doubt by this point), it's not at all certain that she's much of a tube fox at all. So I say we take the undecided route here.

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

Did the emotional damage of Kosuzu's discorporation somehow lead him to become a serial killer or something? That seems ridiculous, but what's a nice old man like him doing in an afterlife for people who live by the law-for-the-wolves?

[X] Kitsune.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Kuda-gitsune.

(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

[X] Kuda-gitsune.

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
I hope she'll introduce herself as herself.

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

I'm still not sure at this point which to pick… i want to pick Kitsune as I am pretty sure at this point that is the truth. But Kosuzu doesn't know that herself and then what in that case?

On the other hand, Yukari had pointed out that she is still a Kitsune even if she is a kuda-gitsune so would she actually feel she isn't being truthful to her gramps? She hasn't felt proud of being a gitsune since ever it seems like, and on the other hand, being associated as a Kitsune by Yukari resulted in her receiving a spellbook of a ninetails and told she could use it, and then doing just that. Furthermore she has been praised and encouraged by Yachie to think and advertise herself as a Kitsune.

Though what if this is a g___ stat answer?

If its (Tsukasa's) grip then calling herself a kitsune probably would reduce the stat? (With kuda raising it and neutral keeping it as is?) Though if its Guilt then it might(?) Be reversed there? Or stay the same?

… screw it, if you wanted her to be proud to call herself a kuda gitsune to her former family Tsukasa, you should have helped her be proud of it. >=(

[X] Kitsune.

…hm now what for the second choice…

I think he got there thanks to the Yama and/or Keiki seeking him out in case Kosuzu showed up thanks to Reimu's description of her… though how does he know anything about her to fill Mayumi in with…?

(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Kitsune.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Kitsune

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

Counting to >>210816:
Main Choice #1:
[2] Kuda-gitsune.
[8] Kitsune.
[6] Don't name a specific subspecies.

Main Choice #2:
(7) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?
(9) No wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

:3

[X] Don't name a specific subspecies.
(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

[X] Kitsune.
(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[X] Kitsune.

(X) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

This seems like the natural first response, and I don’t see why we can’t do both, but never mind about that.

For the second vote, Kosuzu probably wants to show off or make herself look better for her grandfather. Introducing her as a kuda-gitsune isn’t the best way to do that, being a more renowned kitsune though? That’d be a lot more impressive.

[X] Kitsune

>>210813 here

I did try to guess at the reason for the second question (why is grandpa here?) but in the end it is just a guess? and it probably would be Kosuzu's probable response to hearing her grandpa is here? sooo

(UNDO) No, wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

(X) First question: What was he doing here? In the Animal Realm? He had died by this time in her last life, too, but surely he wasn't meant to be here?

Gonna need a tiebreaker for the second half; first vote after >>210822 decides which question to ask first.

[x] No wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

>>210804
About Kosuzu's talisman in his ear, maybe Reimu remembers that Ran also has a lot of talismans in his hat?

It looks like we might be about ready for a new thread. I was wondering on either a new thread or a new arc, would we be able to get a summary of each of the Heroine's stats? (Maybe all of the currently revealed ones at the start of the arc, and just the currently active ones for the new thread?)

Also sorry for tying things up there! Just felt like it was the better question for Kosuzu to ask her grandpa first after thinking about it... Not that it ended up changing anything !XD

[x] No wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[x] No wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

[x] No wait, did he say he told Mayumi some bits? Did he know about her being a youkai, somehow?

>>210827
>>210829
>>210830

The vote was called as of >>210824, (see >>210823) so the extra votes aren't necessary. (Though it would've been a touch hilarious if they had been for the other option and/or somehow tying it up again. Tough I'd guess that Gooboi would just go off of the initial tiebreaker vote in that situation XP )